| Preobrazhensky Lifeguard Regiment | |
|---|---|
 Badge of the regiment | |
| Active | 1683–1917 |
| Country |  Tsardom of Russia Russian Empire |
| Branch |  Imperial Russian Army Russian Army (1917) |
| Type | Infantry |
| Size | Regiment |
| Part of | 1st Guards Infantry Division, Guards Corps |
| Garrison/HQ | Saint Petersburg |
| Commanders | |
| Colonel-in-Chief | Emperor of Russia |
| Insignia | |
| Banner of the regiment |  |
The Preobrazhensky Life-Guards Regiment (Russian: Преображенский лейб-гвардии полк, Preobrazhensky leyb-gvardii polk) was a regiment of the Imperial Guard of the Imperial Russian Army from 1683 until the Russian Revolution in 1917.
The Preobrazhensky Regiment was one of the oldest infantry regiments in Imperial Russia, along with the Semyonovsky Regiment. It served as a gendarmerie unit for the state Secret Chancellery, the first secret police of Russia headed by Prince Fyodor Romodanovsky. The regiment formed part of the 1st Brigade of the 1st Guards Infantry Division stationed on the Fontanka in Saint Petersburg. It was disbanded shortly before the October Revolution in 1917 by its last commander.
The Preobrazhensky Regiment was recreated in 2013 by President Vladimir Putin as the 154th Preobrazhensky Independent Commandant's Regiment, the official honor guard regiment of the Russian Armed Forces, stationed in Moscow.
Founding
editThe Preobrazhensky Regiment was officially founded in 1690 by Tsar Peter the Great, and was named after the village where its barracks were located, Preobrazhenskoye, which is now a district of Moscow. But the regiment races its origins to 2 June [O.S. 26 May] 1683, when Peter assembled the so-called toy army of his friends, who were the sons of the Russian nobility, where they would play war, which was Peter's favorite game in his childhood. In January 1683 Peter ordered from the government uniforms, banners, and wooden cannons for his toy army, and the cannons were replaced with real ones in June 1683. Two years later they also received pistols and carbines. By the time Peter was fourteen, his family's estate in Preobrazhenskoye was turned into a military camp. Peter expanded his toy army with family servants that had a lack of work to do, and they were also joined by more sons of noblemen or their servants. Eventually their numbers reached a total of 300 volunteers, who lived, trained, and were paid like soldiers in Preobrazhenskoye. Because they ran out of room at the original barracks, a second one was established in the village of Semyonovskoye (now in Moscow's Sokolniki District).[1][2]
Both the Preobrazhensky Regiment and the Semyonovsky Regiment had about 300 soldiers organized as infantry, cavalry, and artillery, and their organization and training became no different from the regular army (the Streltsy). They also received Western-style uniforms, which were distinguished by dark green coats for the Preobrazhensky and blue for the Semyonovsky. Peter started himself off at the lowest rank of drummer boy, refusing to take the highest rank of colonel, and lived in the same conditions, with the same work load, as the other members of the regiment. Eventually he agreed to be promoted to bombardier, because he liked firing artillery, and later to higher ranks. He believed that meritocracy was more important than being of noble birth. He also brought foreign officers to teach the regiments military skills, and the senior ranks of both regiments consisted of foreigners, while the sergeants and enlisted soldiers were Russian. In the 1690s the two regiments had about 600 soldiers between them, compared to 20,000 men in the regular army, the Streltsy, and they participated in large scale exercises together.[1] These exercises sometimes also had real casualties,[3] and expanded from games by a few hundred boys to real military drills involving 30,000 men.[4]
Russo-Turkish War of 1686–1700
edit
In the summer of 1695 Tsar Peter made the decision to resume Russia's war against the Ottoman Empire, which had started years earlier. His motivations included conquering a warm water port on the Sea of Azov and to test his new army, but it was also in response to the continued Muslim Tatar slave raids into Russian territory from Crimea and the coast of the Black Sea. The king of Poland, Jan Sobieski, also threatened to end his alliance with Peter if Russia did not take action against Turkey.[5] The campaign against the fortress of Azov was a two prong attack, with the main force moving by boat down the Don River to Azov, while the second force would suppress the fort of Ochakov and several other forts by traveling down the Dneiper River. The Preobrazhensky Regiment was part of the first group, which also included the Semyonovsky Regiment and other Western-style units.[6]
The second group left on campaign in March 1695 and was followed by the first group in May. Peter led the force down the Moscow River, then the Volga River to Tsaritsyn, where they continued down the Don to Azov. The army was undermined by several problems and the first siege of Azov failed to capture the fort, with Peter withdrawing his forces in October.[7] In the five months from the fall of 1695 into the winter of 1696, Peter made preparations for a second expedition, including with the help of foreign and Russian shipbuilding experts to build a large fleet of galleys and river barges to move an army and counter Turkish warships. The newly finished galleys were manned by a force of marines that was drawn from the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky regiments in particular. The second campaign, launched in May 1696, only had one attack, on Azov itself, but the force was larger than the one that attacked in the previous year. By the end of May the entire force was near the city. After a siege that lasted until July 1696, the Turkish garrison surrendered and the Russian army entered the fort.[8]
Great Northern War
editRusso-Turkish War of 1877–1878
editWorld War I
editRecruitment
editInitially the Preobrazhensky Regiment was staffed almost entirely by nobles, but towards the 18th century the enlisted ranks consisted of peasant conscripts. Soldiers that served in the regiment had the opportunity to become officers in other regiments of the army.[2]
Ranks and insignia
editUniform
editThe first uniform of the Preobrazhensky Regiment when it was founded in the 1690s consisted of black boots, a three-cornered black hat, and a green broad coat that went down to the knees.[9]
Preobrazhensky March
editThe March of the Preobrazhensky Regiment was used since 1725, and was made in reference to the role of the regiment in the 1709 Battle of Poltava. The composer and the author of the original lyrics are not known. The lyrics were changed several times, such as after the Napoleonic Wars. In 1816 the March of the Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment was entered into the official catalog military music and later became known as the main march of the Russian Empire, being played at parades, other official functions of the Imperial family, and at receptions of foreign ambassadors. After the Russian Revolution it was used as an unofficial Russian anthem by some White émigrés.[10]
References
edit- ^ a b Massie 2011, pp. 67–70.
- ^ a b Osipov, Yuri, ed. (2015). "ПРЕОБРАЖЕ́НСКИЙ ЛЕЙБ-ГВА́РДИИ ПОЛК" [PREOBRAZHENSKY LIFE-GUARDS REGIMENT]. Great Russian Encyclopedia (in Russian). Vol. 27. Moscow: Ministry of Culture. p. 433.
- ^ Massie 2011, pp. 121–122.
- ^ Massie 2011, p. 137.
- ^ Massie 2011, pp. 136–137.
- ^ Massie 2011, p. 138.
- ^ Massie 2011, pp. 140–142.
- ^ Massie 2011, pp. 144–146.
- ^ Massie 2011, p. 69.
- ^ "Как менялся главный военный марш Российской империи — марш Преображенского полка" [How the main march of the Russian Empire changed – the march of the Preobrazhzensky Regiment]. Radio Zvezda. Zen News. 17 October 2023.
Sources
edit- Massie, Robert K. (2011) [1980]. Peter the Great: His Life and World. New York: Random House. ISBN 978-0-307-81723-5.