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Reform of Ivan IV: the creation of a streltsy army
The world-famous “fiery archers” of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, or the archery regiments, as the Russian ruler himself called them, were formed in Moscow in 1550. Of course, at that time they differed significantly from the image we are used to from the paintings, which appeared a hundred years later. However, from the first years of operation, this army has proven itself to be an effective combat power in the assault on fortresses and sieges of city walls.
It should be noted right away that the classical models that were in use in the period of the middle of the sixteenth century should not be regarded as the prototype of the Streltsy army of Grozny. Russian archers were completely different from typical German landsknechts or Polish mercenary drabs.
The purpose of the creation of the archery army
Modern researchers of the biography of Ivan Vasilyevich argue that, creating regiments, Grozny was inspired by a model close to the Ottoman Janissaries. This version is also confirmed by the words of I. Peresvetov, who turned to the tsar with a proposal to create a life guard on the Ottoman model to protect state borders from Tatar raids.
In addition, this theory is supported by an entry made in the Kholmogory chronicle of that period, which reports that in 1559 the ruler Ivan the Terrible sent his governor Danila Adashev, as well as regiments of janissaries and archers, to fight in the Crimea with boyar children. However, even with such direct evidence, it is difficult to talk about Ivan Vasilyevich's direct borrowing of the Ottoman experience.
Chronicle evidence of the formation of the Streltsy army
So, the chronicles describe that at the end of the summer of 1550, “fiery archers” settled near the suburban royal residence, located in Vorobyovo, which became the beginning of the Russian archery army. Also, it is said that they did not remain idle for long, and already in the early spring of 1551, the sovereign sent archers on a military campaign against the Kazan Khanate as part of a single Russian army. The main task of the Streltsy army in this campaign was to divert the attention of Kazanians from the Sviyazhsk fortress being built next to them, the construction of which was entrusted to the deacon I. Vyrodkov.
Streltsy army and Kazan campaigns
After the first Kazan baptism, most of the streltsy troops stayed for a year in the fortress under construction, which was supposed to act next year as a staging post for the main forces. At the same time, many shooters died of disease and starvation.
On the thirteenth of August, 1552, the assembled archers met their sovereign, who arrived with the main military forces in the fortress. However, the Kazan battle cost the archers dearly, who fought in the front ranks in front of the very walls of the fortress. According to legend, even this could not break the fighting spirit of the Janissaries of Ivan the Terrible, who was later marked even by the king.
After the events of the third Kazan campaign, an active replenishment of the ranks of the archery troops begins, because many soldiers remained in the occupied Kazan in garrison service. The rest of the army took part in the Astrakhan campaigns of Ivan the Terrible, where they also distinguished themselves by their endurance, skill and iron discipline.
Another streltsy order in 1555 advanced to the northwest, where he fought in a military campaign organized by the tsar against Vyborg, which took place during the Russian-Swedish war, which lasted from 1554 to 1557. Researchers believe that the same sex later settled in Novgorod, laying the foundation for the Pskov and Novgorod archers.
Despite the constant decline in the number of archers as a result of losses during the battles, as well as those that remained in other cities, their numbers in the capital almost doubled by the end of the fifties. So, at the beginning of the winter of 1557, before the start of the Livonian War, the tsar held a review of Moscow archers, as a result of which a number of 5,000 people was recorded, despite the fact that some of the troops by that time had been sent by Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible to Novgorod to participate in the previously prepared military trial campaign against the Livonians.
Streltsy army during the Livonian War
At the beginning of the Livonian War, the order of maintenance and organization of the streltsy troops were already well established. By this time they were already divided into capital and city. In such large cities as Polotsk, Moscow, as well as Smolensk and Novgorod, there were several five hundred orders, which were divided into hundreds, and hundreds into fifty, which were led by Pentecostals. There were also dozens headed by foremen.
Most archers were armed with matchlocks, axes and sabers. By that time, the system of payment for such soldiers was also established. So, in addition to money, the Janissaries of Grozny received the so-called grain salary, money for salt, and some land salaries and even estates. But, the latter referred, most often, to the archery heads and centurions.
Video lecture: the history of the archery army
Until recently, almost the only source of information on the issue of interest to us here was considered the 1st part (volume) of A.V. Viskovatov's "Historical Description of Clothing and Armament of the Russian Troops". Over the century and a half that have passed since its publication, enough new information has accumulated to make it possible to compile a more complete and accurate description of the archery costume, to correct the mistakes made in this famous work.
The history of archers as a regular Russian infantry begins in 1550, when 3000 pishchalniks that existed by that time were selected, who formed 6 articles (later orders) of 500 people each. They were settled in Moscow, in Vorobyeva Sloboda. Already under Ivan IV, the number of archers reached 7,000 (of which 2,000 were mounted), commanded by 8 heads and 41 centurions. By the end of this reign, there were 12,000 archers, and at the coronation of Fyodor Ivanovich in the summer of 1584 - 20,000. At first, the Streltsy izba, and then the Streltsy Prikaz, which was first mentioned in 1571 on June 28, 1682, was in charge of all streltsy affairs. After the streltsy revolt, the Moscow archers, who had practically seized power in the capital, renamed themselves the “outdoor infantry”, their own order into the “Order of the outward infantry”, but already on December 17, the former names were restored. In 1683, the orders were renamed into regiments, and the hundreds that made up them were renamed into companies.
Streltsy service was mostly hereditary. Streltsy received an annual salary, were exempt from taxes, and, in addition to service, were engaged in the same activities (crafts, trade, etc.) as the rest of the townspeople.
In addition to Moscow, there were also city archers. The Muscovites undoubtedly occupied a more privileged position - their salaries and various "dachas" (grants in things) were much larger than those of the policemen.
Orders (regiments) were called by the names of their commanders and had serial numbers, in each city starting with the number 1. The lower the number, the more honorable - for the service the order could, for example, welcome from the 11th to the 6th, etc. .d. In Moscow, the first in number was the so-called stirrup order (regiment), usually 1.5-2 times larger in number than the rest - the Streltsy of this unit were partially or completely mounted on horses, were never sent from Moscow to the border cities for service and constantly were with the person of the king. From this, in fact, the name "stirrup" was obtained - located at the sovereign's stirrup. Among the city archers, cavalry units were encountered quite often, but in the full sense they cannot be called cavalry - it was only infantry mounted on horses.
The command structure of the order (regiment) - "initial people" - consisted of the head (thousand), half-head (five hundred), centurions and sergeants (Pentecostals and foremen). Senior commanders were recruited from nobles and boyar children, and princes were also heads; officers - from the archers themselves. On March 25, 1680, despite the reluctance of the archers, they were ordered to "be in charge against the foreign rank" - the initial composition to be "from heads to stewards and colonels, from half-heads to half-colonels, from centurions to captains." This renaming took place as part of the general reorganization of the army, started by Prince V.V. Golitsyn.
As you know, Peter 1 abolished the Moscow archers in 1711, while separate city formations existed until 1716.
Let us now turn to the archer's suit - the immediate topic of our article.
Very little is known about him, the main sources can be easily listed. Let's start with the visual materials of the era, which we, in fact, will rely on in this small study:
- the image of an archer in the book of travel notes by A. Meyerberg (1661 - 1662);
- "Painting sheet" from the collection of the Department of Manuscripts of the State Public Library. M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin in Leningrad, - “Drawing of the image in the faces of the release of archers in courts by water on Razin” (1670);
- drawings in the "Book of the election to ... the throne ... Mikhail Fedorovich" (1672-1673);
- drawings in the book of travel notes by E. Palmqvist (1674).
It should be noted that the drawings from the “Book of Election to ... the Throne ...” cannot be used to reconstruct the costume of 1613 - the time of the event (as it was erroneously done in the “Historical Description ...”), but only for that period when they were executed - the beginning of the 1670s. We deliberately refuse to develop one of the well-known sources - a series of etchings by J.-B. Leprince depicting various archery ranks - their historical authenticity is doubtful, because. they were created in the second half of the 18th century. (1764).
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The ranks of the Moscow orders in the ceremonial "colored" caftans. 1670 (according to the watercolor "Drawing of the image in the faces of the release of archers in the courts by water on Razin"): 1. Half-head of the 3rd order Fedor Lukyanovich Yashkin 2. Denominator of the 3rd order with a hundredth banner 3. Head of the 3rd Order Ivan Timofeevich Lopatin 4. Guard head 5. Elected Sagittarius Head Guard 6. Sagittarius 7. Sagittarius with a "fraternal" (fiftieth) banner 8. Officer (Pentecostal) 10. Drummer from juvenile archers |
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The written sources that we have are the memoirs of foreigners who placed the Russian state at various times, and the few surviving domestic documents with episodic references to the supply of archers - the archive of the Streltsy order itself died in a fire under Anna Ioannovna.
Let's try to compile a description of archery clothing, based on this very scarce information.
Most likely, at the time of formation, and for a long time after that, the archers did not have any suit regulated in cut and color. D. Horsey, speaking about the Moscow archers during the time of Ivan the Terrible, noted that they were “very neatly dressed in velvet, multi-colored silk and stamed (woolen braided fabric, - R.P.) clothes.” He also pointed out the diversity in the colors of the archer's caftans: "... a thousand archers in red, yellow and blue clothes, with shiny guns and squeakers, were placed in ranks by their superiors."
In 1588, J. Fletcher gave a detailed description of the weapons: “The archer or infantryman has no weapons other than a gun in his hand, a reed on his back and a sword on the side. The stock of his gun is not like that of a musket, but smooth and straight, somewhat like the stock of a hunting rifle, the finish of the barrel is rough and unskilled, and it is very heavy, although it is fired with a small bullet.
V. Parry, describing the royal departure in 1599, mentions the royal “...guards, which were all mounted, numbering 500 people, dressed in red caftans, they rode three in a row, having bows and arrows, sabers at the waist and axes on the thigh ... ". However, we do not have solid grounds to consider this the first mention of a uniform red color for archery caftans - a foreigner could call both residents and someone else from the Sovereign Regiment "guards".
We can talk about the presence of something like this, based on the testimony of Paerle, referring to May 1606: “... foot Moscow archers up to 1000 people were lined up in two rows, in red cloth caftans, with a white bandage on the chest. These archers had long guns with red stocks; not far from them stood 2,000 cavalry archers, dressed just as accurately as on foot, with bows and arrows on one side and with guns tied to the saddle on the other. Such a number of archers - much more than one order - allows us to assume that during this period all Moscow archers were already dressed in red and had relatively uniform equipment and weapons. This, of course, is not yet a uniform, but only a partially regulated general civilian costume, so characteristic of permanent military formations in Europe in the 17th century. Later, in 1658, “service dress” was mentioned for the first time - apparently, a special term for this kind of clothing.
The following information refers to 1661 - 1662. A. Meyerberg gives an image of archers in high hats with fur cuffs, long caftans with an obscure collar and boots with heels. It is noteworthy that their saber does not hang on a waist belt, as was customary at that time, but on a sling over the right shoulder. If Meyerberg only mentions “... an honor guard of 50 archers, dressed in scarlet cloth”, then Kemfer, who visited Moscow in the same years, gives a fairly detailed description: “Their weapons (streltsy. - R.P.) consisted of a gun, whom they saluted; a reed, having the form of a crescent, stuck in front of each in the ground, and a saber, hanging on the side. Their caftans were quite elegant, one regiment of light green, and the other of dark green cloth, fastened, according to Russian custom, on the chest with golden laces one quarter long. From this we can assert that by the beginning of the 1660s. Muscovite archers already wore caftans of distinctive colors according to the orders, but we do not know anything about other color options besides those mentioned.
The watercolor we mentioned among the main sources, depicting the departure of a combined detachment from the units of all 14 Moscow orders to fight the troops of Stepan Razin in 1670, does not clarify this issue either. his immediate surroundings. However, details of the costume, weapons and official distinctions of most of the depicted 845 archers and the initial people who made up the detachment are clearly distinguishable here. We list some of them:
- colors of clothing details - red, crimson and green in different shades (the distribution of color options according to individual orders is impossible due to the lack of specific instructions and careless coloring of the main space of the picture);
- the colors of the details of the clothes of the archer's head (detachment commander), five hundred and bannerman, depicted in the semantic center of the picture (crimson hat, light green upper and red lower caftans, yellow boots), correspond to the colors of the centenary banner (light green cross on a crimson background with white frame) and, most importantly, identical to the colors of the clothes and the banner of the 3rd Streltsy Order, as they were later depicted by E. Palmqvist (more on that below);
- the initial people (five hundred and 12 centurions), except for the head itself, are armed with protazans with crimson tassels; some hold gloves with leggings, decorated with embroidery and fringe;
- the officers are armed with spears, halberds and protazans (more modest than those of the initial people), and ordinary archers, with the exception of musicians and bannermen, with reeds and self-propelled guns;
- near the head are archers in richer caftans, and obviously fur coats - that is, with fur (apparently, bodyguards - the so-called elected archers).
You can see the reconstructions made on the material of this painting in our illustrations.
The Moscow archers, who endured the main hardships of the hostilities of 1670-1671, undoubtedly suffered heavy losses (the combined detachment described by us was completely destroyed by the rebels). Therefore, already in 1672-1673. along with the replenishment, apparently, a significant "re-equipment" of the shabby Moscow orders was also made. It should not be forgotten that the award of colored cloths was considered one of the forms of reward for service (if we take into account the fact that the cloths used for ceremonial caftans were of Western European production and were very expensive). For example, in 1672 in Kyiv, among the military supplies, “405 caftans of archers of the Onburg (Hamburg. - R.P.) cloth of green and azure” were stored. Such large awards are indirectly indicated by the demands of a part of the Moscow archers related to 1682 for the issuance of the cloths finally promised in 1672-1673 to them - then, apparently, they were not given to everyone. Apparently, for the period from 1672 to 1682. there was practically no supply, except perhaps for the award for the “Chigirin seat” of 1677.
One way or another, but by 1674 the Moscow archers, when they were seen and sketched by the Swedish officer E. Palmkvist, were dressed in new elegant caftans, somewhat different in their cut from the previous ones. The color drawings in Palmquist's book are the most detailed and thorough source on archery costume. On them we see the color options for the details of the clothes of all 14 orders. We cannot say whether this multicolor (see table at the end of the article) was an innovation in 1672-1673. or the new suits followed the color scheme established long before. On the one hand, we do not have any mention of any colors other than shades of red, crimson and green until 1672, on the other hand, the complete coincidence of the colors of the costumes and the banners of the ranks of the 3rd order on the “painting sheet” and in the Palmquist drawing is obvious. .
Information about colors (according to Palmquist) is given in the "Historical Description", but, apparently, the compilers, writing off colors from miniature pictures, made at least one serious mistake. The indicated colors of the chest laces - buttonholes (crimson and black, and in one case green) immediately cause concern. The fact is that none of the written sources - neither before nor after 1674 - mentions colored laces, they only talk about gold, less often silver stripes (for example, in 1680 in the description of the royal retinue during the trip of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich in the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, “400 equestrian archers in scarlet caftans with gold and silver stripes” are mentioned (obviously, the “stirrup” regiment. - R.P.) Having carefully examined the original drawings, we came to the conclusion that Palmqvist really tried to depict gold and silver laces, although at first glance they look like crimson and black (there are no green ones in the drawings at all - this is an obvious mistake).This is explained by the fact that in Russia of that time it was practiced to add red or crimson threads to gold cords to achieve the effect of worm-like (red) gold - visually this mixture could be perceived as crimson-gold - conscientious reproduction of this in miniature led to the suppression of the color of gold more intensely clear raspberry; working through the texture of the silver cords, the draftsman involuntarily depicted them as almost black.
From Palmquist's drawings, we cannot determine the colors of the ports, the lower caftan and the sash. Presumably the latter was the color of the cap - judging by the 3rd order. In Russia, this practice also existed later: on February 25, 1700, Peter I ordered the ranks of the Preobrazhensky Dragoon Regiment "... to put on dark green cloth caftans and buy red hats and sashes."
Having examined the figures, let's try to make some generalizations that are not reflected in the "Historical Description":
- all archers wore gloves with brown leather cuffs;
- in the campaign, the muzzle of the musket was closed with a short leather case;
- the berdysh was worn behind the back over any shoulder;
- a sash was worn over the waist belt, to which a Polish-type saber was attached;
- there were no buttonholes on the marching caftan;
- the external difference between the initial people was the upper caftan lined with fur, the image of the crown embroidered with pearls on the cap and the staff;
- the head differs from other commanders in the ermine lining of the upper caftan and cap (although, most likely, this indicates not a rank, but a princely origin).
In general, pearl embroidery is often indicated as a characteristic feature of the archery chief. So, in 1675, in the description of the Trinity Campaign, a head in “rich clothes studded with pearls” was mentioned.
Practically the last of the information we have about the archery suit, relating to 1682-1683, affects only supply issues - they do not add anything significant to our information.
Let us now try to summarize all the materials we have collected, sequentially describing the items that were part of the complex of the ceremonial archery suit.
The hat is velvet, with a rather high cap, and almost always with a fur trim, sheepskin for archers, and sable for the initial people.
The upper caftan is of the Eastern European type, with two small slits on the sides on the floors. Length above the ankles. Fastened from right to left, buttons are round or oval (spherical), buttonholes made of gold or silver cord with tassels at the ends or flat galloon. There is an arbitrary number of buttonholes on the chest, and from one to three on the side slits. Presumably, since 1672 he had a small standing collar, before that, apparently, a turn-down - "shawl". For the initial people, it was lined with sable or other expensive fur, for ordinary archers - with mutton or goat ("fur coat caftan"), or with colored cloth.
The lower caftan is a zipun. Same as the top, but shorter and in any case without fur lining.
The ports are rather narrow at the knees, reaching to the middle of the lower leg.
Boots - leather, mostly yellow, knee-length, with heels. The shape of the sock is varied.
Gloves - for archers of brown skin, with soft leggings, for the initial people they also met with hard leggings, decorated with embroidery, galloon and fringe.
The sash is made of colored fabric, for the initial people with gold embroidery and fringe.
As for camping clothes, we find its detailed listing in the list of things sent in 1677 from Voronezh to the Don to the archers: “... sheepskin hats under different colored bad cloths 160 ... varezes with bootlegs 100, fur coats. .. 859, ... gray and black homespun caftans 315 ... homespun and black and white cloth 1500 arshins ... ". Camping caftans, also called "wearing ones", were built from homespun (homespun) cloth of gray, black or brown color and did not have stripes. At the same time, the hats remained bright colors.
The archers received caftans from the state or built them in regiments according to “samples” from the received cloths. There were even special books about "giving the initial people and soldiers fur coats." Attempts to force the archers to make clothes at their own expense met with fierce resistance from their side. Here is a characteristic document - on April 30, 1682, a decree was issued to the archery colonel Semyon Griboedov on the resignation and punishment for the oppression of subordinates. One of the sections of this decree read: “And colored caftans with gold stripes, and velvet hats, and yellow boots, I reluctantly made them (Pentecostals, foremen and ordinary archers of their regiment. - R.P.) ordered.”
Let's finish this conversation with information from Kotoshikhin's book published in Sweden in 1660, concerning the Moscow archers: "Yes, they are all given cloth from the royal treasury for a dress every year." And about the archers of the policemen: "... and cloth is sent for a dress at three and four years." It is unlikely that such a truly remarkable supply existed for a long time and existed at all. The city archers, apparently, did not have ceremonial "colored" caftans at all.
Something is also known about those cases when ceremonial caftans should have been worn. On December 30, 1683, in the memorandum about the removal of unreliable archers from Moscow and their settlement in the cities, there is a curious mention of this: angels. - R.P.) and on other deliberate days in colored caftans against the same as in Moscow.
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The ranks of the Moscow orders after 1672 (according to E. Palmqvist): |
"Colored dress" and hundreds of banners of the Moscow Streltsy orders. 1674 (according to E. Palmquist): 1st (stirrup) - Egor Petrovich Lutokhin - (1500 people) |
Now about hairstyles. Neither the Moscow Cathedral of 1551, which prescribed that “beards should not be shaved or trimmed, and mustaches should not be trimmed”, nor the prohibition of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich to cut their hair, forced all archers to wear beards and long hair without exception. In fact, judging by the images, they cut their hair "in a circle", and decided whether to wear a beard, mustache or completely shave their face.
The idea of the whole complex of the archery military suit will be far from complete if you do not consider the details of the weapons. Traditionally, an ordinary archer is represented with an armed self-propelled gun, an oriental-type saber and a reed. However, this was not always the case. And if the berdysh can really be considered an integral part of the archery weapons, then the situation with the rest is more complicated. The saber, for example, in 1674 was with a Polish-style guard, and some city archers were generally armed with Western European swords (Savvino-Storozhevsky in 1659, Kirillo-Belozersky in 1665, etc.). Self-propelled guns (Russian guns) were in service with archers only until the second half of the 17th century, and then they were gradually replaced by larger-caliber, reliable and light Western European muskets. By the way, Moscow archers did not favor flintlock weapons, almost all of them were armed with matchlock muskets, until the end of the 17th century. Among the archers there were also those armed with protazans - protazans. The armament of the flagmen and musicians (sip and drummers) was quite diverse. Although the archers were sometimes armed with spears, they did not know how to use them, and even such a category - “spearman” - did not exist among the archers until the 1690s.
There were several types of berdysh. Many of them have holes punched from the blunt side, some have images whose purpose is not yet clear. The most common is the fight of a horse with a snake. The size of the berdysh shaft was supposed to ensure its use as an emphasis for firing from a musket. At the bottom of the shaft, faceted or oval in cross section, a small spear was made to stick the reed into the ground. Berdysh in the campaign was worn behind his back on a running belt, fastened by two rings on the pole.
The archery commander was armed only with a saber. The rest of the initial people, in addition to sabers, also had richly decorated piercers.
Quite often, for solemn occasions, archers took special, richly decorated weapons from state stocks, but then handed them back.
The entire complex of archery weapons was either personal, or partially personal, or completely issued by the state.
Regarding protective armor, we note the mention of those among the archery bannermen. So, when describing the royal review on the Maiden's Field in 1664, the denominators of the order of A.S. Matveev are mentioned, of which two went to the review in cuirasses and one in armor.
From the 40s of the 19th century (the time of the release of the 1st part of the Historical Description), images of archers of the early 17th century in steel helmets of a not very clear style went to all publications with the light hand of Viskovatov. However, it is not difficult to recognize in them Western European cones of the Schutzenhaube type, standard for the second half of the 17th century. As noted above, the drawings from the “Book of the Election to ... the Throne ...”, which depict archers in helmets, can be used as material for the reconstruction of the archer's costume of the 1670s, and by no means the beginning of the 17th century.
The only known mention of a protective headgear among archers is found in the Zhelyabuzhsky Notes in the description of the campaign against the Kozhukhovsky maneuvers on September 23, 1694: “... there were five regiments of archers: 1) Stremyannaya Sergeev, 2) Dementiev, 3) Zhukov, 4) Krivtsova, 5) Moksheeva. All these five regiments were 3522 people. They were dressed in the old style (in Eastern European dress. - R.P.) in long semi-caftans, wide trousers, with small helmets on their heads, they carried guns on their shoulders, and blunt spears in their hands.
This mention is also interesting in that a costume of a clearly Polish type is described, since it was among the Poles that the lower caftans were no less long than the upper ones and wore wide rather than narrow trousers.
In conclusion, a few words should be said about the numerous banners of the archery orders (regiments). There were three types of banners: command (regimental), hundreds (company) and "fraternal" (fifty). The regimental banner - a richly decorated large-sized cloth depicting various religious subjects - was brought into service extremely rarely, on solemn occasions, the function of a permanent regimental distinction was performed by hundreds of banners, which were due to each hundred (company). Their coloring often coincided with the coloring of ceremonial clothes. Finally, the "fraternal banners" - rather badges - were small square pieces of colored fabric, sometimes decorated with some kind of geometric figure, such as a cross.
Literature:
Adelung O. Critical and literary review of travelers in Russia until 1770 and their writings. - M., 1864.
Belyaev I.O. About the Russian army in the reign of Mikhail Fedorovich and after him. - M., 1864.
Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Institute of History. Historical notes. No. 4. - [M.], 1938.
Viskovatov A.V. Historical description of the clothes and weapons of the Russian troops with drawings, compiled by the highest command. Ed. 2nd, part 1. - St. Petersburg, 1899.
Military history collection. Proceedings of the State Historical Museum, vol. XX. - M., 1948.
Uprising in Moscow in 1682: Sat. documents. - M., 1976.
Denisova M. Russian weapons of the XI-XII centuries. - M., 1953.
Zabelin I. Home Life of Russian Tsars in the 16th and 17th Centuries. - M., 1862.
The book is about the election to the highest throne of the great Russian kingdom of the Great Sovereign Tsar and Grand Duke Mikhail Fedorovich of All Great Russia Autocrat. - M., 1672 - 1673. (State Armory Chamber. Inv. No. Kn-20.).
Kotoshikhin G. About Russia in the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich. - St. Petersburg., 1840.
Levinson-Nechaeva M. Fabrics and clothes of the XVI-XVII centuries. / State Armory of the Moscow Kremlin. - M., 1954.
Lizek A. The legend of the embassy from the Emperor of Rome Leopold to the Tsar of Moscow. - St. Petersburg, 1837.
Meyeberg A. Types and everyday paintings of Russia in the 17th century. - St. Petersburg, 1903.
Essays on Russian culture of the 17th century. - M., 1977.
Essays on Russian culture of the 17th century. - M., 1979.
Rabinovich M. Ancient clothing of the peoples of Eastern Europe. - M., 1986.
Savvaitov P. Description of ancient Russian utensils, clothes, weapons, military armor and horse equipment, arranged in alphabetical order. - St. Petersburg, 1886.
Fomicheva 3. A rare piece of Russian art of the 17th century. / Old Russian art of the 17th century: Sat. articles. - M., 1964.
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A. B. V. A. Summer field uniform of a military pilot of Russian aviation. On shoulder straps, officer emblems of the military aviation of the Russian Empire are visible, on the pocket of the jacket - the sign of a military pilot, on the helmet - an applied emblem, which was supposed only to pilots of the Imperial Air Force. Pilotka - a characteristic feature of the aviator. B. Officer-pilot in dress uniform. This uniform is for military pilots.
Military uniforms in Russia, as in other countries, arose earlier than all others. The main requirements that they had to satisfy were functional convenience, uniformity in the branches and types of troops, a clear difference from the armies of other countries. The attitude to the military uniform in Russia has always been very interested and even loving. The uniform served as a reminder of military prowess, honor and a high sense of military camaraderie. It was believed that the military uniform was the most elegant and attractive
1 Don Ataman, XVII century The Don Cossacks of the XVII century consisted of old Cossacks and Golota. The old Cossacks were those who came from the Cossack families of the 16th century and were born on the Don. Golota was called the Cossacks in the first generation. Golota, who was lucky in battles, grew rich and became old Cossacks. Expensive fur on a hat, a silk caftan, a zipun from bright overseas cloth, a saber and a firearm - a squeaker or a carbine were indicators
At the very end of the XVII century. Peter I decided to reorganize the Russian army according to the European model. The basis for the future army was the Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky regiments, which already in August 1700 formed the Royal Guard. The uniform of the soldiers of the Fusiliers of the Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky Regiment consisted of a caftan, camisole, trousers, stockings, shoes, a tie, a hat and an epanchi. The caftan, see the image below, is made of dark green cloth, knee-length, instead of a collar it had a cloth
In the first half of 1700, 29 infantry regiments were formed, and in 1724 their number increased to 46. The uniform of the army field infantry regiments did not differ in cut from the guards, but the colors of the cloth from which the caftans were sewn were extremely colorful. In some cases, soldiers of the same regiment were dressed in uniforms of different colors. Until 1720, a cap was a very common headdress, see fig. below. It consisted of a cylindrical crown and a band sewn on
The goal of the Russian Tsar Peter the Great, to which all the economic and administrative resources of the empire were subordinated, was the creation of the army as the most effective state machine. The army, which was inherited by Tsar Peter, who had difficulty perceiving the military science of contemporary Europe, can be called an army with a big stretch, and the cavalry in it was much less than in the armies of the European powers. The words of one of the Russian noblemen of the late 17th century are known. It is a shame to look at the cavalry of the horse
Artillery has long played an important role in the army of Moscow Russia. Despite the difficulties with the transportation of guns in the eternal Russian impassability, the main attention was paid to the casting of heavy guns and mortars - guns that could be used in the siege of fortresses. Under Peter I, some steps towards the reorganization of artillery were taken as early as 1699, but only after the Narva defeat did it begin in all seriousness. The guns began to be reduced to batteries intended for field battles, defense
There is a version that the forerunner of the Lancers was the light cavalry of the army of the conqueror Genghis Khan, whose special detachments were called oglans and were used mainly for reconnaissance and outpost service, as well as for sudden and swift attacks on the enemy in order to disrupt his ranks and prepare an attack on the main forces. An important part of the weapons of the oglans were pikes, decorated with weathervanes. In the reign of Empress Catherine II, it was decided to form a regiment that seems to contain
The corps of military topographers was created in 1822 with the aim of topographic topographic and geodetic support of the armed forces, carrying out state cartographic surveys in the interests of both the armed forces and the state as a whole, under the leadership of the military topographic depot of the General Staff, as a single customer of cartographic products in the Russian Empire . Chief officer of the Corps of military topographers in a semi-caftan of the times
In 1711, among other positions, two new positions appeared in the Russian army - adjutant wing and adjutant general. These were especially trusted military personnel, belonging to the highest military leaders, and from 1713 to the emperor, who carried out responsible assignments and controlled the execution of orders given by the military leader. Later, when the Table of Ranks was created in 1722, these positions were included in it, respectively. Classes were defined for them and they were equated
The uniform of the army hussars of the Russian Imperial Army of 1741-1788 the army had little need for regular light cavalry. The first official hussar units in the Russian army appeared during the reign of the Empress
The uniform of the army hussars of the Russian Imperial Army of 1796-1801 In the previous article, we talked about the uniform of the Russian army hussars during the reign of Empresses Elizabeth Petrovna and Catherine II from 1741 to 1788. After Paul I ascended the throne, he revived the army hussar regiments, but introduced Prussian-Gatchina motifs into their uniforms. Moreover, from November 29, 1796, the names of the hussar regiments became the former name by the name of their chief
The uniform of the hussars of the Russian Imperial Army of 1801-1825 In the two previous articles we talked about the uniform of the Russian army hussars of 1741-1788 and 1796-1801. In this article we will talk about the hussar uniform of the reign of Emperor Alexander I. So, let's get started ... On March 31, 1801, all the hussar regiments of the army cavalry were given the following names: hussar regiment, new name Melissino
Uniform of the hussars of the Russian Imperial Army of 1826-1855 We continue the series of articles on the uniform of the Russian army hussar regiments. In previous articles, we reviewed the hussar uniforms of 1741-1788, 1796-1801 and 1801-1825. In this article we will talk about the changes that occurred during the reign of Emperor Nicholas I. In 1826-1854, the following hussar regiments were renamed, created or disbanded.
Uniform of the hussars of the Russian Imperial Army of 1855-1882 We continue the series of articles on the uniform of the Russian army hussar regiments. In previous articles, we got acquainted with the hussar uniform of 1741-1788, 1796-1801, 1801-1825 and 1826-1855. In this article we will talk about the changes in the uniform of Russian hussars that took place during the reign of Emperors Alexander II and Alexander III. On May 7, 1855, the following changes were made to the uniform of officers of the army hussars
The uniform of the hussars of the Russian Imperial Army of 1907-1918 We are finishing a series of articles on the uniform of the Russian army hussars of 1741-1788, 1796-1801, 1801-1825, 1826-1855 and 1855-1882. In the last article of the cycle, we will talk about the uniform of the restored army hussars in the reign of Nicholas II. From 1882 to 1907, there were only two hussar regiments in the Russian Empire, both in the Imperial Guard of the Life Guards, His Majesty's Hussar Regiment and the Grodno Life Guards
The uniform of the soldiers of the infantry regiments of the New Foreign system at the end of the 17th century consisted of a Polish-style caftan with buttonholes sewn on the chest in six rows, short, knee-length pants, stockings and shoes with buckles. The headdress of the soldiers was a cap with fur trim, the grenadiers had a cap. Weapons and ammunition: a musket, a baguinet in a scabbard, a harness, a bag for bullets and a beret with charges, the grenadiers have a bag with grenade. Before 1700 soldiers of amusing Preobrazhensky had a similar uniform
Field infantry At the beginning of 1730, after the death of Peter II, the Russian throne was occupied by Empress Anna Ioannovna. In March 1730, the State Senate approved the models of regimental coats of arms for most of the infantry and garrison regiments. In June of the same year, the Empress established the Military Commission, which was in charge of all issues related to the formation and supply of the army and garrison regiments. In the second half of 1730, the newly formed Life Guards was introduced into the imperial guard
During the First World War of 1914-1918, in the Russian Imperial Army, the tunic of arbitrary imitation models of English and French models, which received the general name French after the name of the English General John French, became widespread. The design features of the service jackets mainly consisted in the design of a soft turn-down collar, or a soft standing collar with a button closure, like the collar of a Russian tunic, adjustable cuff width with the help of
From the author. This article provides a brief excursion into the history of the emergence and development of uniforms of the Siberian Cossack army. The Cossack form of the era of the reign of Nicholas II, the form in which the Siberian Cossack army went down in history, is considered in more detail. The material is intended for novice historians-uniformists, military-historical reenactors and for modern Siberian Cossacks. In the picture on the left is the military sign of the Siberian Cossack army
The story about the uniform of the Semirechensky Cossack Army of the early XX century will be incomprehensible if we do not briefly touch on the topic of the uniform of the entire Russian Imperial Army, which had its own long history and traditions, regulated by the Highest approved orders from the Military Department and circulars of the General Staff. After the end of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. the reform of the Russian Army was launched, including changes in the form of clothing. Beyond some return to uniforms
The accession to the throne of Emperor Alexander I was marked by a change in the uniform of the Russian army. The new uniform combined fashion trends and traditions of Catherine's reign. The soldiers dressed in tailcoat-style uniforms with high collars, boots replaced all ranks with boots. Jaegers of the light infantry received hats with a brim, reminiscent of civilian top hats. A characteristic detail of the new uniforms of heavy infantry soldiers was a leather helmet with a high plume.
In the history of the domestic military uniform, the period from 1756 to 1796 occupies a special place. The stubborn and energetic struggle between progressive and reactionary tendencies in the national military art indirectly left its mark on the development and improvement of the uniforms and equipment of the Russian troops. The level of development of the Russian economy formed a serious basis for the transformation of the Russian army into a modern military force for that era. Advances in metallurgy contributed to the expansion of the production of cold
At the end of the 18th century, the military uniform of the Russian army again underwent changes in its significant part. In November 1796 Catherine II suddenly died and Paul I ascended the throne. her reign. Paul openly declared his intention to bring
The science of ancient Russian weapons has a long tradition; it originated from the moment of discovery in 1808 at the site of the famous Lipitsk battle in 1216, a helmet and chain mail, possibly belonging to Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich. Historians and experts in the study of ancient weapons of the last century A. V. Viskovatov, E. E. Lenz, P. I. Savvaitov, N. E. Brandenburg attached considerable importance to the collection and classification of items of military equipment. They also began decoding and its terminology, including -. neck
A military uniform is not only clothing that is supposed to be comfortable, durable, practical and light enough so that a person carrying the hardships of military service is reliably protected from the vicissitudes of weather and climate, but also a kind of visiting card of any army. Since the uniform appeared in Europe in the 17th century, the representative role of the uniform has been very high. The uniform in the old days spoke about the rank of its wearer and what kind of troops he belonged to, or even
1. PRIVATE GRENADER REGIMENT. 1809 Selected soldiers, designed to throw hand grenades during the siege of fortresses, first appeared during the Thirty Years' War 1618-1648. The grenadier units selected people of high stature, distinguished by their courage and knowledge of military affairs. In Russia, from the end of the 17th century, grenadiers were placed at the head of assault columns, to strengthen the flanks and to act against cavalry. By the beginning of the 19th century, the grenadiers had become a kind of elite troops that did not differ in weapons
Almost all the countries of Europe were drawn into the wars of conquest, which were continuously waged by the Emperor of France Napoleon Bonaparte at the beginning of the last century. In the historically short period of 1801-1812, he managed to subjugate almost all of Western Europe to his influence, but this was not enough for him. The emperor of France claimed world domination, and Russia became the main obstacle on his way to the top of world glory. In five years I will be the master of the world, he declared in an ambitious impulse,
The Russian army, which owns the honor of victory over the Napoleonic hordes in the Patriotic War of 1812, consisted of several types of armed forces and military branches. The types of armed forces included the ground forces and the navy. The ground forces included several branches of the military, infantry, cavalry, artillery and pioneers, or engineers now sappers. The invading troops of Napoleon on the western borders of Russia were opposed by 3 Russian armies of the 1st Western under the command
107 Cossack regiments and 2.5 Cossack horse artillery companies participated in the Patriotic War of 1812. They constituted irregular searches, that is, part of the armed forces that did not have a permanent organization and differed from regular military formations in recruitment, service, training, and uniforms. The Cossacks were a special military estate, which included the population of certain territories of Russia, which constituted the corresponding Cossack army of the Don, Ural, Orenburg,
The army is the armed organization of the state. Consequently, the main difference between the army and other state organizations is that it is armed, that is, in order to perform its functions, it has a complex of various types of weapons and means that ensure their use. In 1812, the Russian army was armed with cold and firearms, as well as protective weapons. To edged weapons, the combat use of which is not related to the use of explosives for the period under review -
Illustrations of uniforms of the Russian army - artist N.V. Zaretsky 1876-1959. Russian army in 1812. SPb., 1912. Light cavalry general. General of the retinue EIV General of the light cavalry. Walking form. General of the retinue of His Imperial Majesty in the quartermaster department. Parade uniform. Parade uniform. Private Izyum Hussar Regiment. Parade uniform.
His Imperial Majesty's Own Convoy was the formation of the Russian guard, which carried out the protection of the royal person. The main core of the convoy were the Cossacks of the Terek and Kuban Cossack troops. Circassians, Nogays, Stavropol Turkmens, other mountaineers-Muslims of the Caucasus, Azerbaijanis, a team of Muslims, from 1857 the fourth platoon of the Life Guards of the Caucasian squadron, Georgians, Crimean Tatars, and other nationalities of the Russian Empire also served in the Convoy. The official date of the founding of the convoy
Officers of the Cossack troops, who are under the Office of the Military Ministry, full dress and festive uniforms. May 7, 1869. The Life Guards Cossack Regiment marching uniform. September 30, 1867. Generals in the army Cossack units full dress. March 18, 1855 Adjutant General, listed in the Cossack units in full dress. March 18, 1855 Adjutant wing, listed in the Cossack units in full dress. March 18, 1855 Chief officers
Until April 6, 1834, they were called companies. January 1827, 1 day - On officer epaulettes, to distinguish ranks, forged stars were installed, as at that time introduced in regular troops 23. July 10, 1827 - In the Don horse artillery companies, round pompoms are installed at the lower ranks of red wool, officers have silver drawings 1121 and 1122 24 . 1829 August 7 days - Epaulettes on officer uniforms are installed with a scaly field, following the model
THE EMPEROR, on the 22nd day of February and the 27th day of October of this year, the Highest command deigned to 1. Generals, Headquarters and Chief Officers and lower ranks of all Cossack troops, except for the Caucasian, and except for the Guards Cossack units, as well as civil officials consisting in the service in the Cossack troops and in the regional boards and administrations in the service of the Kuban and Terek regions, named in articles 1-8 of the attached list, Appendix 1, to have uniforms according to the attached ones
Military uniforms are called clothes established by rules or special decrees, the wearing of which is mandatory for any military unit and for each branch of the military. The form symbolizes the function of its bearer and his belonging to the organization. The stable phrase honor of the uniform means military or corporate honor in general. Even in the Roman army, soldiers were given the same weapons and armor. In the Middle Ages, it was customary to depict the coat of arms of a city, kingdom or feudal lord on shields,
Since 1883, the Cossack units began to favor only standards that fully corresponded in size and images to the cavalry standards, while the cloth was made according to the color of the uniform of the army, and the border was the color of the instrument cloth. From March 14, 1891, the Cossack units were granted banners of reduced size, that is, the same standards, but on black banner poles. Banner of the 4th Don Cossack division. Russia. 1904. Sample 1904 is fully consistent with a similar model of cavalry
Astrakhan Cossack Army The Astrakhan Cossack Army was formed in 1776-1799 from settlers from the Don, Kalmyks and Tatars. After the Napoleonic wars of 1817, the Astrakhan army was re-formed. The seniority of the army has been assigned since 1750 - the date of the founding of the Astrakhan Cossack regiment. In 1854, it was ordered to have 3 cavalry regiments in the army. The Astrakhan army consisted of two departments, the 1st department included the villages of Kazachebugrovskaya, Krasnoyarsk, Chernoyarsk,
Adjutant General, Chief Officer of the Life Guards of His Majesty's Cossack Regiment and Cossack of the field cavalry regiments of the Ural Cossack Host in the ordinary form orders for the military department of 1883 64 and 72. Headquarters and Ober-officers serving in the military district departments and institutions subordinate to them, ordinary uniform and chekmen order of the military department of 1892 305. Life Guards Caucasian Cossack squadrons 1 Trumpeter of His Imperial Majesty,
As the researcher of the history of the Caucasian linear Cossacks V.A. Kolesnikov, the Khopersky Cossack regiment existed for almost a century and a half 1775-1920, starting with a convoy-police team, staffed from residents of only four settlements on the eastern outskirts of the Voronezh region, then by the beginning of the 20th century. grew into a serious fighting unit, replenished with Cossacks from two dozen villages of the Khopersky regimental district of the Kuban army ... The Khopertsy can deservedly be called the old-timers of the Kuban
In the reign of Alexander III there were no wars or major battles. All decisions on foreign policy were made personally by the Sovereign. The post of state chancellor was even abolished. In foreign policy, Alexander III took a course towards rapprochement with France, and in building the army, much attention was paid to recreating the naval power of Russia. The emperor understood that the absence of a strong fleet had deprived Russia of a significant part of its great-power weight. During his reign, the foundation was laid
The clothing of military personnel is established by decrees, orders, rules or special normative acts. Wearing a naval uniform of a naval uniform is mandatory for military personnel of the armed forces of the state and other formations where military service is provided. In the armed forces of Russia, there are a number of accessories that were in the naval uniform of the times of the Russian Empire. These include shoulder straps, boots, long overcoats with buttonholes.
The sign system of the uniform of the White armies was directly influenced by the symbols of the White movement of the state national, St. George and parts of death. By 1917, white, blue and red were considered state colors, while white, black and yellow were erroneously associated with the idea of a monarchy, as an example of this is the ribbon on the jubilee medal of the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty. At the beginning of 1918, white-blue-red
From the author. In this article, the author does not claim to fully cover all issues related to the history, uniform, equipment and structure of the Russian army cavalry, but only tried to briefly talk about the types of uniforms in 1907-1914. Those who wish to get more deeply acquainted with the uniform, way of life, customs and traditions of the Russian army cavalry can refer to the primary sources given in the bibliography for this article. Dragoons At the beginning of the 20th century, the Russian cavalry was considered
The gorget is a crescent-shaped metal plate approximately 20x12 cm in size, suspended horizontally by the ends on the officer's chest near the throat. Designed to determine the rank of an officer. More often in the literature it is referred to as an officer's badge, neck badge, officer's badge. However, the correct name for this element of military clothing is gorget. In some publications, in particular in the book A. Kuznetsov Awards, the gorget is mistakenly considered a collective award sign. However, this
Perhaps there is no more well-known and noticeable element of the officer uniform of the Russian tsarist army than epaulettes on the shoulders of officers and generals, but the history of epaulettes in the Russian army has less than one century, more precisely about eighty years. Sometimes in some publications you can find the statement that epaulettes appeared on Russian military uniforms in 1762-63. However, this is not true. These are epaulettes from a garus cord. Some similarity with epaulettes is given by the ends hanging down from the shoulder in the form of a fringe.
Espanton protazan, halberd Espanton, protazan partisan, halberd are actually ancient weapons of the pole type. Espanton and pierced weapons are piercing, and the halberd is piercing and chopping. By the end of the 17th century, with the development of firearms, they were all hopelessly outdated. It is difficult to say what Peter I was guided by when introducing these antiquities into service with non-commissioned officers and infantry officers of the newly created Russian Army. Most likely on the model of Western armies. As weapons, they played no role,
A document regarding the clothing of the army, filed by General Field Marshal Prince Grigory Potemkin-Tavrichesky in the name of the Highest Name in 1782 as far as his prosperity, he burdened himself with iron armor of protection, such that they even extended to horses; then, undertaking long trips and forming squadrons, they began to lighten themselves; full armor changed into half and
They do not emit a warlike roar, they do not sparkle with a polished surface, they are not decorated with chased coats of arms and plumes, and quite often they are generally hidden under jackets. However, today, without this armor, unsightly in appearance, it is simply unthinkable to send soldiers into battle or ensure the safety of VIPs. Body armor is clothing that prevents bullets from entering the body and therefore protects a person from being shot. It is made from materials that scatter
Not only historical documents, but also works of art that take us back to the pre-revolutionary past are filled with examples of the relationship between servicemen of different ranks. The lack of understanding of a single gradation does not prevent the reader from isolating the main theme of the work, however, sooner or later, one has to think about the difference between the addresses Your Honor and Your Excellency. Few people notice that in the army of the USSR the appeal was not abolished, it was only replaced by a single one for all
The shoulder straps of the tsarist army of 1914 are rarely mentioned in feature films and historical books. Meanwhile, this is an interesting object of study in the imperial age, during the reign of Tsar Nicholas II, uniforms were an object of art. Before the start of the First World War, the distinctive signs of the Russian army differed significantly from those that are used now. They were brighter and contained more information, but at the same time they did not have functionality and were easily visible in the field.
Very often in cinema and classical literature there is the title of lieutenant. Now there is no such rank in the Russian army, so many people are interested in the lieutenant, what is the rank in accordance with modern realities. To understand this, we need to look at history. The history of the appearance of the rank Such a rank as a lieutenant still exists in the army of other states, but it does not exist in the army of the Russian Federation. It was first adopted in the 17th century in regiments brought to the European standard.
Considering all the stages of the creation of the Russian armed forces, it is necessary to delve deeply into history, and although during the time of the principalities we are not talking about the Russian empire, and even more so about the regular army, the birth of such a thing as defense capability begins precisely from this era. In the XIII century, Russia was represented by separate principalities. Although their military squads were armed with swords, axes, spears, sabers and bows, they could not serve as a reliable defense against extraneous encroachments. United army
In Russia, the name of Tsar Peter I is associated with numerous reforms and transformations that radically changed the patriarchal structure of civil society. Wigs replaced beards, shoes and over the knee boots replaced bast shoes and boots, caftans gave way to European dresses. The Russian army, also under Peter I, did not stand aside and gradually switched to the European equipment system. One of the main elements of the uniform is the military uniform. Each branch of the military receives its own uniform,
An example of the shoulder straps of the personnel of the Officer Rifle named after. General Drozdovsky division. In this case, the arrows. The ranks are the same as in the Imperial Army. Shoulder straps of the personnel of the Kornilov shock division. The Kornilovites have a black and white color on the flank. These are their siblings, these are the Markovites in a hurry. The ranks are the same as in the Imperial Army. For the not long independent history of Ukraine after 1917
service people who made up the first permanent army in the Russian state of the 16th - early 18th centuries. The streltsy troops, created in 1550, were armed with firearms (squeaked) and edged weapons (berdyshes on their backs and swords or sabers on their sides). Initially, 3 thousand people were recruited into the archery army, it was reduced to separate "orders" of 500 people each and constituted the personal guard of the king. By the end of the XVI century. there were already 25 thousand people in the streltsy troops, and their service took place in almost all major cities of the country. Initially, the archery army was recruited according to the "device" (i.e., recruitment) from the free rural and urban population, then the service became lifelong and hereditary. Sagittarius received a salary in money, bread, sometimes land. While serving in various cities on the border of the state, the "instrument people" settled in special settlements and, if possible, were provided with collective land plots, from which plots for personal use were allocated. The landless received grain and cash salaries, which were issued irregularly, so they had to engage in crafts and trade, which distracted them from service and reduced the combat effectiveness of the troops.
Originally the ancient Slavic word "sagittarius" denoted an archer, which was a very important unit of any army of the Middle Ages. But later in Russia they began to call the representative of the first regular troops that way. In 1550, the pishchalnik militiamen (the formation of the streltsy army began in the 1540s under Ivan the Terrible) were replaced by the streltsy army, which numbered three thousand people and were divided into six orders-articles, five hundred people each. Heads of the boyar children were appointed to command the archery articles (Yakov Stepanov, son of the Bunds, Fedor Ivanov, son of Durasov, Vasily Funikov, son of Pronchishchev, Ivan Semyonov, son of Cheremesinov, Matvey Ivanov, son of Rzhevsky, and Grigory Zhelobov, son of Pusheshnikov). The centurions of the streltsy articles also acted as boyar children. The archers were quartered in the suburban Vorobyova Sloboda and they were given a salary of four rubles a year (the heads and archery centurions received local salaries). It was these archers who made up the Moscow permanent garrison.
Thus, by decree of the tsar, the beginning was laid for the unification of the tsar's army - the archery army. The first baptism of fire of the Moscow archers was the battle during the storming of Kazan (1552), after which they fought in all major historical military campaigns. In peacetime, the city and Moscow archers carried out garrison service (they were supposed to perform the functions of firefighters and police in cities).
By the beginning of the seventeenth century, the number of Russian streltsy troops amounted to twenty thousand military men, of which about half were Moscow. The total number of archers by 1632 was already 33,775 people, and by the eightieth year it was increased to 55 thousand. The replenishment of the streltsy troops was mainly carried out by adding Moscow soldiers, of which in 1678 there were 22,504 people (twenty-six regiments).
In order to control the archery army in the 1550s, the Streltsy hut was formed, which after a while renamed to Streltsy order. Food, as well as the funds necessary for the archers, came from various departments.
In the seventeenth century, the archers became active participants in many political processes that took place in the country and more than once opposed the government with weapons in their hands (the uprising of 82 and the riot of 98). Researchers believe that this is what prompted Peter the Great to liquidate the archery army.
