RUSSIAN DRAGOONS 1812-1815

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 Frydland (1807) forced changes in the Russian army, which also affected its cavalry, including dragoons. In 1805, there were 20 Dragoon regiments in the Russian army, at the beginning of 1812 - as many as 37, and a year later - only 19 regiments. It is worth adding that these changes in numbers were partly due to the fact that at the turn of 1812/1813 some of the Dragoon regiments in the Russian army were transformed into Uhlan regiments. The basic tactical unit of the Russian dragoons was a squadron, and 5 squadrons made up a regiment. It is worth adding that the 1st squadron of each regiment was referred to as the Leib squadron. Russian officers and non-commissioned officers of this formation were armed with two pistols in olars and sabers. The privates also received muskets, and until a certain stage of the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815) also bayonets for them. Already this element could indicate that the Russian dragoons, on the one hand, were treated as medium cavalry, and on the other hand, they had armaments predestining them to fight as infantry. It is assumed that one of the best dragoon regiments in the Russian army was the Saint Petersburg Dragoon Regiment, which took part in the Battle of Frederick (1807) and in the battles in the Berezina region in 1812.