NAP. RUSSIAN GRENADIERS. 1804-1808.

The Russian army at the end of the 18th century was probably the largest and arguably one of the strongest armies in Europe. During the reign of Catherine II the Great (1762-1796), she won several important victories in the course of the wars with Turkey, won the war with Poland in 1792 and was instrumental in suppressing the Kościuszko Uprising in 1794. Also in the course of the wars with revolutionary France (1792-1799), she did not show her wrong side. However, the defeats at Austerlitz (1805) and at Iława Pruska and especially at Fridland (1807) forced changes in the Russian army, which also affected its infantry, including grenadier units. Shortly before the Battle of Austerlitz, there were 13 grenadier regiments in the Russian army, and despite losses in the 1805-1807 campaign, in 1810 this number increased to 14 regiments. This number continued until the end of the Napoleonic Wars. In 1811, their organization was also changed. The grenadier regiment consisted of 3 battalions: two field battalions and one "spare" or rear battalion. Until 1810, a single battalion consisted of four companies, each of them - two platoons. It is worth adding that the armament of the Russian grenadiers was not uniform at that time and was often made of the 1805 flintlock musket or the domestic production model 1808. As a curiosity, it can be mentioned that during the campaign of 1805, Russian grenadiers did not wear Bermycas, but shaka with tall and specific kits. During the campaign of 1812, the shako was still their headgear, but it already had a traditional kit.