RUSSIAN INFANTRY IN OVERCOATS STANDING SHOULDER ARMS (NAPOLEONIC WARS)

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 84 musketeer (line infantry) regiments in the Russian army. In the period 18051809 their numbers increased to 96, and in 1810 it fell to 82 regiments, many of them transformed into jegr regiments. However, as early as 1811, the number of line infantry regiments increased again - up to 97 regiments. This number continued until the end of the Napoleonic Wars. In 1807, the Russian line infantry regiment had about 1,750 full-time personnel, including 60 officers and 120 non-commissioned officers. However, due to the difficult conditions of the service and the poor medical service, the facts very often differed significantly from the regular ones. After 1810, the line infantry regiment consisted of three battalions, each of which consisted of four companies, and these in turn had two platoons. It is worth adding, however, that only two battalions were in the line - one was a "backup" or a rear battalion. It is worth adding that the armament of the Russian line infantry was not uniform at that time and was often made of the 1805 flintlock musket or the domestic production model 1808, but also (especially in the period 1812-1813) it could also be an imported musket from Great Britain.