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For illustrations of the uniforms of Peter's Army from Viskovatov see here.
Already in the last century the date of birth of the Russian Guard was considered to be 1683 when martial “entertainments” customary for youths of the reigning family became with 9-years-old Czar Pyotr Alekseyevich more serious than archery and damaging toy drums. He enlisted his comrades in children's games to a “poteshnaya druzhina” (entertainment cohort) and led it in a number of marches over the environs of the court palace villages near Moscow, studying the elements of military science.
Around 1690 Peter divided “men of poteshny formation of various ranks” into two regiments - Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky, imparting to them the structure similar to that of the “selected” soldiers' regiments. The Preobrazhensky Regiment at that time numbered about 2000 men divided into companies comprising 60 to 80 privates, 3 officers, 8 “uryadniks” (sergeants) and 4 musicians.(1)
The newly raised regiments continued to improve their combat skills in the fields near Moscow, where they fought with the conventional enemy — strel'tsy and selected soldiers. In 1695-1696 they got their baptism of fire near the walls of the Azov fortress. At that time both regiments had already acquired the function of a sort of school for training officers for the new army being founded at that time, which was necessary for Peter in the duel with the menacing Swedish neighbors.
In the very first major battle of the Great Northern War near Narva, besieged by the Russians, on November 19, 1700, the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky Regiments justified the honorable denomination of 'Life Guard' granted them three months before, on the 22th of August of 1700. Exerting due resistance to the swift thrust of about the best army in Europe, the Guards saved the Russian troops from the peril of destruction.
Starting from this notable though lost battle, both Guard Regiments missed not a single however outstanding military event in the Russian history of the 1st quarter of the 18th century. Under Peter's colors they finished their combat service in 1722 near the walls of conquered Derbent. During all that time the organization of the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky Regiments practically didn't change. According to that organization, the former consisted of four battalions, and the latter - of three battalions divided into four fusilier companies. Besides that, both regiments included a grenadier company and an artillery team. In the Preobrazhensky Regiment the latter was called the Bombarder Company, and the Czar himself was its captain. In 1704 the grenadier companies in both regiments consisted of three commissioned officers, eight non-commissioned officers, one hundred seventy nine corporals and privates, three drummers and four non-combatant servicemen. The fusilier companies comprised each four officers, eleven NCOs, one hundred seventy two corporals and privates, four drummers and five non-combatant servicemen. The strength of the companies was changing in time, but there were no organization alterations during all the Peter's reign.
From 1707 the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky Regiments were “established mounted” — i.e. for the sake of convenience and speed were mounted on horses and supplied with dragoon ammunition. The Frenchman, Moreau de Brasais, serving with the Russian Army during the Prut campaign of 1711 was writing in his notes about that: “...these regiments though belong to infantry, in the march mount on horses and proceed with kettledrums, standards and trumpets (and the Ingermanlandsky and Astrakhansky as well). In camps or in towns they get back their drums”.(2) The dragoon-like style of movement was preserved with the Guard until the very end of the Great Northern War, the last time they were mounted being the triumphal march in Moscow after the seizure of Derbent on the 18th of December 1722.
On January 24, 1722, Peter established the law regulating the order of state service and consisting of “The table of ranks” and 18 articles commenting on it. Therein a clause was contained manifesting the due credit to glorious combat deeds of Peter's Guard. According to “The table” the Guard staff and company officers acquired two ranks seniority over their Line counterparts, achieving thus certain advantages in advancing in their careers.
On return in 1698 from his foreign tour with the “Great Embassy” mission Czar Peter initiated the change of uniform in his army that was aimed at the approximation of their look to the European standards. At that time an order was issued at the General Yard in Preobrazhenskoye prescribing to manufacture for comparison samples of “Hungarian fashion” and “French fashion” coats.(3) The preference was given to the “Hungarian fashion”, and it became the uniform of Russian soldiers. At the same time Czar Peter decided to change the clothing of the country's urban population, and issued a decree on January 4, 1700, that required from male subjects, excluding clergy and peasants, “in Moscow and towns...to wear Hungarian dress”.(4) Peter the Great's contemporary, Muscovite clerk (dyak) Zhelyabuzhsky mentioned the decree of August 26, 1700, on “French and Hungarian dress” supplemented with “models, that is to say patterns of dress”(5) hung near gates of the capital. In December 1701 another decree appeared that obliged men to wear “German, Saxon, or French dress”.(6) That legislative act did not contain any mention of “Hungarian” dress, that probably marked the trend toward its deliberate abolishment in the army as well as for civilians.
A year later, after the capture of Nöteburg, Czar Peter decided to make the appearance of his selected soldiers more European. A direction was dispatched from the field army to the capital ordering to furnish five hundred suits of new uniform for the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky Regiments.(7) On December 4, 1702, on the streets of Moscow a parade was held of “His Majesty's Preobrazhensky Regiment, 400 men in number, dressed in German coats of green cloth with red turnbacks and wearing hats bordered with white silver lace. They were followed by a detachment of the Semyonovsky Regiment, also of His Majesty's Guard, dressed in light blue coats with red turnbacks.”(8)
The change to the “German fashion” dress was completed in the Guard the next year, in 1703.(9) Since that time West European style tunic became an integral part of the appearance not only for the Guard, but also for the Line. All the subsequent evolution of uniform items in Russia went on along the common European paths, and fluctuated after the European vogues.
From 1702 the regular headgear of the Guard Fusiliers became a hat. They were made of wool or down and had a round (spherical or cylindrical) crown and brims 13-16 cm wide. Their edges in 1702-1705 were bordered with a white or occasionally silver lace. In 1706 cloth came into use for bordering, including that of used coats.(10) It is not unlikely that every company had its own bordering color. To the same year the mention dates back about the “custom” according to which hat brims in the Guard were turned up at three sides forming thus a tricorn.(11) Judging from the iconographical evidence, approximately until the mid-1710s the hat brims were not pulled immediately to the crown, but were just turned upward. Until the very end of the Great Northern War the documents did not testify on the presence of any decorations on the hats of Guard Fusiliers except galloon or cloth bordering. According to the Army Regulation of 1720 the edges of the brims should be bordered with white tape and, at a certain distance, with cord of the same color. It is not known, however, whether that regulation applied also to the Guard. In the roll of the belongings of the 4th company of the Life Guard Semyonovsky Regiment of 1722 one of the items is specified as 125 “new hats with pompons” available.(12) Comments on that can be furnished with other evidence on the headgear of the Russian Army and Navy of that time. Thus in 1723 the Line artillerists were to be issued “a black hat with white woolen bordering and a pompon”.(13) In 1729 the privates of the Army and the Navy were ordered to “make pompons for their hats and to border them with galloon”.(14) The older, i.e. pre-1732, style hats with cord, pompons and buttons were issued in January of 1734 to the soldiers of the naval regiments.(15) All these facts enable us to affirm that there was one pompon on hats in 1720s and it was probably attached at the left side, as if over the cockade. In the bas reliefs made by B. C. Rastrelli in 1720s for the unaccomplished project of the Triumphal Column, the fusiliers wore hats with a button sewn in the left in the spot of cockade.
The NCOs' hats appear to have had golden or silver galloon bordering in accordance with the rank. The brims of the officers' hats were bordered also with metal galloon, and those of staff officers were additionally decorated with plume. The pictorial evidence from the late 1710s on occasionally represents officers wearing hats to the left side of which a white bow cockade is attached, that would be later — in 1731 — officially adopted as “the Russian field badge”.(16)
The Dutch traveller, Cornelius de Bruin, giving an account of the triumphal march of the Russian Guard in Moscow after the victory at Nöteburg mentions the soldiers of the grenadier company of the Preobrazhensky Regiment “wearing green coats with red turnbacks after the German fashion except for caps bordered with bear fur instead of hats”.(17) There is quite a lot more evidence for the wearing by the Preobrazhensky grenadiers in 1700s of hats with fur bands.(18) The latest known documentary mentioned dates back to the spring of 1707, when the Preobrazhensky Regiment was issued “200 grenadier caps with tops of red cloth, bands of bear fur and lining of red and green flannelette”.(19) That concise description confronted with the appearance of the Guard grenadiers waiting at Peter's wedding on February 19, 1712 in the print by A. Zubov lays the foundation for the assumption that the Preobrazhensky's grenadier caps of 1700s were similar to those of Austria and Bavaria of around 1700. The data on the appearance of the Semyonovsky grenadiers headgear before 1712 are by far not available. It can only be assumed that they were unlikely to differ from those of the Preobrazhensky.
On March 2, 1712, A. D. Menshikov was paid from the cabinet fund of His Majesty 2527 rubles “for the grenadier caps that were ordered from England for the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky Regiments, namely for 12 those for officers with silver emblems and feather, and for 400 those for soldiers with tin emblems”.(20) The caps were safely shipped to Arkhangelsk from where they were delivered to the regiments.(21) That was the first evidence of the Guard grenadiers receiving the caps of new issue, that would become widely known due to “Historical Description of Dress and Armament of the Russian Troops...” They had a round leather crown with two also leather peaks. The front one was attached vertically and decorated with a metal (tin or silver) plate with the two-headed eagle, and the second one covered the neck like the nape piece of the shishak helmet did. Over that peak a small plate with the sovereign's monogram was fixed on the crown, which covered the tube into which a plume of ostrich feather was inserted. According to the painting “The Poltava battle” by L. Caravacc (1718) that plume consisted of two red feathers on privates' caps, and of three white - on those of officers.
First the idea of the replacement of older fur caps with leather shishaks occurred to Peter as early as in 1705, when he wrote to the English merchant A. Stales to Arkhangelsk: “Tell Leud to issue 150 such leather caps I have got a sample of; they each should be supplied with feather like those ancient iron ones had, for which I am sending a sample to memorize”.(22) It is probably about those caps that Lieutenant Colonel of the Preobrazhensky Regiment Mark von Kirchen wrote Peter a year later: “And the grenadier caps seem to be inferior to older ones, which can hinder the soldiers in engagements”.(23) Whether due to the tardiness of the English merchants or to von Kirchen's authority in the uniform issues, the receipt of new caps by the Guard grenadiers was postponed by seven years. On the other hand since 1712 the leather caps persisted on their heads without substantial changes in design until 1796, excluding 1762, when they were only once replaced for a short time with Prussian style miters during Peter III's reign. One of the confidants of his father, Kammer Junker F.-W. Bergholz of Holstein origin included into his widely known “Diary” a fine description of the Guard grenadier caps seen by him for the first time in 1721: “The grenadiers wear caps like helmets of ancient Romans and looking like casques; but they are made not of iron, but of thick leather and decorated from behind with a big plume of white and red colors that make them look especially good when many of them are assembled together. In the front the caps have a tin state emblem of Russia, which is golden on officers' caps”.(24)
The “French” uniform coats introduced in the Guard in 1702 had no differences from the sort of men's upper dress spread at that time all over Europe, which was known as “just au corps”. Such a coat was knee length at the back, and at the sides it had incisions, which were framed with two to four counter-pleats from each side of the incision. The coat was cut fitted at the waist, was rather tight in the upper part and widened downward by side pleats. Rather loose sleeves reaching the middle of the forearms ended with wide (about 20 cm) turned-up cuffs, exposing lower parts of the shirt sleeve having shirt cuffs. In the front the pocket holes were cut, covered with flaps of various shape with loops and buttons on them. In the early 1700s the pockets were positioned rather low — at mid-thigh level, while by 1725 they were moved to waist level. The coat was buttoned with buttons put through cut loops, which were originally positioned along the entire coat-breast length, from one or two sides. Since 1708 the buttons and loops, 11-12 in number, were positioned above the waist level.(25) The coat might have a turn-down collar about 5 cm wide. The first mentions about that detail of the uniform coat goes back to 1704.(26) The collars on the Guard coats were first noted in 1711.(27) In case there was no turn-down collar, the neck cut of the coat might be framed with a narrow (to 2 cm) standing collar. The principal material for “constructing” uniform coats was cloth, the Guard Regiment receiving for their uniforms, as a rule, thin imported cloths. From inside the coats were lined with thick linen and touched up with colored flannelette, or “yaryonka”.(28)
The buttons for coats were made of different materials — metal, bone, wood — and often covered with cloth or metal galloons. The buttons were attached to the coat with a thin rawhide belt passed from the down side through their eyes, that were inserted into specially made holes. The number of buttons on the coat depended on their positioning on the coat-breasts. Thus in 1704, for instance, a coat for an artillerist must have had “2 portisches and 2 buttons” (1 portische containing 12 pieces).(29) The dragoon coats in 1706 had 30-36 buttons.(30) In the summer of 1709 on one soldier's coat of the Semyonovsky Regiment 26 buttons were put.(31) According to the regulation of 1720 one uniform coat must have had 24 buttons.(32) On each cuff and each pocket flap usually three buttons were sewn, one was sewn on each side incision in the bodice, and the rest - along the coat-breast.
In 1702-1720 both Guard Regiments preserved the coat colors assigned to them as early as in 1698 — dark green (“dark nettle”) for the Preobrazhensky and blue (“cornflower”) for the Semyonovsky. In 1702 with changes in the cut the color of cuffs and lining was changed to red, and so was that of the collars in 1711. In 1720 the Semyonovsky Guards also received dark green coats and from that time on they differed from the Preobrazhensky Guards only with the color of collars that became “cornflower” as if to remind the original color of the coat.
The coats of the Guard NCOs differed from those of soldiers with galloon bordering. The data on the amount of golden and silver galloon issued to NCOs and corporals of the Semyonovsky Regiment noted in the registers make the ground for an assumption about richness of their decoration.(33) It could take 6 to 12 m of galloon, which possibly depended on the rank. The positioning of the galloon bordering on NCOs' coats can be restored from the description of the uniform of Empress Yelizaveta Petrovna's Life Company. To the parade on the Epiphany day of 1742 they were issued “green coats with incised small cuffs, scarlet kamzols and trousers, coats and kamzols being bordered with golden galloon”.(34) According to the evidence of contemporaries, the uniform of the Life Company Guards “turned out to be nothing but restoration of the uniform established by Peter the Great for the Guard officers and NCOs”.(35) In early 1720s the trimming of the NCOs' uniform possibly got simplified to a certain extent. F. W.Bergholz, being a witness of the Guard's parade of 1721, points out that “the NCOs' turnbacks and collars (which are of different colors depending on the regiment) are bordered with a narrow golden galloon”.(36)
The officers' uniforms in 1702-1720 according to the data available were not of different color from those of lower ranks. The “Historical Description...” without sufficient basing informs us about the presence on the officers' uniforms of the galloon bordering “...on the coat and kamzol, over the coat-breast and edges of cuffs and pocket flaps; near side cuts of the trousers and around the hat brims”.(37) All reliable “uniform” portraits of Peter himself up to 1720 do not show the galloon trimming. It is absent also on the memorial “Poltava” uniform kept currently in the State Hermitage. An interesting exception in the iconographical series are Peter's figures in the three battle compositions by P. D. Martin ordered by the Czar during his visit to France in 1717.(38) On those paintings Peter himself and some of the officers surrounding him are represented in dark green coats with red cuffs and lining, profusely bordered with galloons along the coat breasts, pocket flaps, and all seams. It is known that Martin in his work was guided by detailed descriptions and plans of the battles, that were sent to him by the customer who in 1717 was able both in person and through confidants to familiarize the artist with the details of the Russian army uniforms of the Poltava and Lesnaya times. Finally, Martin could just watch the Guard uniform on Peter himself and on the persons from his retinue. The coats with galloon bordering similar to that shown by the French battle-painter are presented on the Guard officers in the prints by P. Pikart and A. Zubow illustrating the triumphant march of the Russian troops in Moscow after the Poltava battle, which were made in 1710-1711. Documents contain evidence on the fact that on April 30, 1705, 64 rubles and 30 altyn were issued from the Cabinet fund for “golden bands (196 zolotniks) and buttons for captain coat” of Peter.(39) The 196 zolotniks could include 15 to 30 m of golden galloon, depending on its width. Even if the minimum quantity of galloon were laid on a typical uniform of 1700s-1710s according to Martin's configuration, it would prove to be quite enough. Taking into account that all the galloons of the Czar's coat were unlikely to have the maximum (about 6 cm) width, one can imagine the richness of trimming. It was natural to make such an expensive uniform a full dress, and to replace it during marches and battles with an “everyday” one, like Peter's “Poltava” uniform. This can be also confirmed by an order given to the Semyonovsky regiment in parole on July 4, 1709, a couple of days after the Poltava victory: “Let the officers arrange for their coats”- i.e. arranged getting from the train their full dress uniforms for the forthcoming celebration on the battlefield.(40) The first regulation for the full dress uniform of any kind was contained in the Decree of February 28, 1702, prescribing “generals and colonels and commanders of other ranks” on holidays and ceremonial days “to wear French cloth (coats — S. L.) with golden trimming, also golden kamzols”.(41) It was according to that regulation that the Petrine age officers decorated their full dress uniforms. “The Russian generals had exuberant uniforms, gold and silver was seen everywhere, and the officers of infantry regiments all had rich uniforms, so that due to the multitude of golden and silver galloons the cloth could hardly be seen, similarly staff and company officers of all the line regiments wore rich uniforms” — tells us the “Diary of Combat Actions in Poltava Battle” about the celebration on June 29, 1709.(42)
In 1720 all the Guard officers were issued general dark green single- breasted coats with buttons above the waist, a small turn-down collar, incised cuffs, and pocket flaps cut in an obtuse angle. Along the coat- breast, collar, cuffs, pocket flaps, tails, and back cut the officer's uniform coat of 1720 was bordered in one line with golden galloon. According to portraits and to one of the Peter's uniforms being preserved in the State Historical Museum, round that time a special pattern for the Guard officer's galloon was being introduced — with lengthwise stripes in the middle and jagged at the edges — which together with the uniform remained unchanged with short intervals up to 1796.
The information on the uniform of the Guard musicians is quite scarce. The Dane, Just Jul, describing the march of the Guard in Moscow after Poltava mentions “musicians choir of trumpeters and kettledrummers in fine attire”.(43) The beauty of that attire can be assessed from the correspondence of Peter with Lieutenant Colonel von Kirchen of 1706. In one of his letters the Czar gives a lengthy instruction on the decoration of musicians' uniforms of the Life Guard Preobrazhensky Regiment: “For the haubists (oboists - S. L.) it would suffice to trim the loops with gold, make crescents on the shoulders and spread golden galloons, while for the drummers to spread woolen galloons on the shoulder crescents”.(44) Requests of von Kirchen testify that it was not unusual for the Guard musicians to wear “front dress...with silver or golden lace in one or two lines”.(45)
The uniform kamzol of the Petrine age reproduced in general the cut of the coat, being 6-10 cm shorter, without collar, cuffs, and pleats in side cuts. Its pocket flaps didn't differ in shape and design from those of coat and were positioned at almost the same level. Kamzol sleeves were buttoned with several buttons in the place of cuffs at wrists. The total number of buttons necessary for a kamzol was different in different years and depended, just like in the coat's case, on the positioning of buttons on the coat-breast. In 1704 they numbered “a portische and 10 buttons (22 — S. L.)”, in 1706 — 24, and in 1720 — 21 pieces.(46) The lining on the soldiers' kamzols was made of linen, whereas on those of officers it was, as a rule, of silk.
During summer, kamzols could be used as an outer garment, i.e. be worn not under the coat, but instead of it. Thus in the painting by L. Caravacc “The Poltava Battle” the Guard grenadiers attacking the enemy are shown wearing red kamzols. The red color was generally invariable for this piece of the Guard uniform from 1702, which, however, can not be said of officers. The colors of their kamzols depended on the capacities and wishes of their owners; for instance, the “Poltava” kamzol of Peter was made of dark green cloth, while the kamzol of a grenadier officer on Caravacc's painting is red, as are the officers' kamzols in Martin's paintings. From 1720 all the Guard officers were issued dark green kamzols trimmed along the coat- breast and pocket flaps with golden galloon of the same pattern as that on coats.
In 1702-1725 the uniform trousers were rather loose, they had at their front a turning-off flap — latzband, and from behind they were tightened over the body with a tape or cloth belt with a clasp, the ends of which were fastened in side seams. They were just below knee length. Underneath on the outer seams they had cuts tightened with a belt or a garter and buttoned with several buttons. The trousers were sewn of cloth or leather. Leather, being popular due to its utility and cheapness, came into especially frequent use in the Guard after 1707, when the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky Guards became mounted. The cloth trousers of the soldiers of both regiments were, as a rule, red. The color of the officers' trousers changed like that of kamzols, but from 1720 the dark green was established. The trousers of lower ranks were lined with cloth, those of officers — with silk. Besides, the officers' trousers of 1720 design had in the side cuts near the knees with bordering of golden uniform galloon. The way they were decorated before that time can only be assumed on the basis of the reconstruction of the full dress uniform of 1702-1720.(47)
Stockings were at the Petrine time a necessary piece of uniform for all arms. The Guard soldiers in 1702 were issued red stockings. It is not known how long that color was retained; thus, in Caravacc's painting the Guard grenadiers are already shown wearing white stockings. Perhaps, the change took place in early or mid- 1710s. Judging from the iconographical sources, the stockings were worn over the trousers and tied under the knees. According to the Regulation of 1720, the soldiers of field infantry regiments were to receive two pairs of stockings each year.(48) The stockings of the Guard officers were made of different materials. Their color also appears to have been un-regulated. Thus, for instance, Peter's stockings of the “Poltava” suit were green. The schedule of belongings of A. D. Menshikov dated 1715 includes a series of various stockings that helps one imagine variety in that part of an officers' dress: “Four pairs of felt stockings of different colors / Three beaver felt stockings of wild color / Three red silken stockings trimmed with gold / Two pairs of worsted yarn stockings, one trimmed with gold, another with silver / Three pairs of worsted yarn stockings of different color”.(49)
The principal kind of shoes of the Guard Infantry in the Petrine age were bashmaks. Made of strong, coarse leather, the bashmaks stood on rather thick leather soles and heels of medium height. Having obtuse noses, they almost covered the ankles and were clasped in front over a long leather tongue (occasionally turned forward) with thongs and clasps. In December of 1711 Peter ordered that “bashmak clasps, stored for soldiers, should not be supplied to the army; as...currently everywhere in other states clasps are replaced with thongs”.(50) The officers' bashmaks did not differ in their design from those of soldiers, though the Decree of 1711 on clasps seems to have not spread to them. At least the bashmaks of Peter's “Wax person” have clasps. Officers often wore bashmaks together with leggings or shtiblets. In appearance they resembled Wellingtons but were “constructed” of softer skin and had on the outer side of the bootleg a cut buttoned with buttons or vertical steel strip with a loop and a hook. To the down side of the bootleg a leather peak was attached that covered the bashmak's clasp and a foot strap was sewn that enveloped the bashmak from beneath and was fastened with a button or a hook from the outer side of shtiblet. The shtiblets of Peter himself, stored in the collection of the Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineering Troops and Signals, together with extensive enough iconographical material give a good idea about both design and scope of use of that kind of shoes. Thus “bashmaks, shoes and shtivens” (shtiblets - S. L.) ordered in April of 1705 for Peter cost 3 rubles 6 altyns and 4 dengas, while in June of 1709 “for the affair of colonel shtiblets” 2 rubles were provided.(51)
From 1707 the Guard's shoes set included cavalry Wellington boots. They were made of coarse leather, had a thick sole, relatively soft head and nearly unbendable tops ending with wide leather bells. For driving the horses iron spurs were fastened to the boots with a leather flap (spur cover) and a strap, which rested from behind on a specially sewn heel piece made of a leather band folded in the middle. For longer marches during the cold season infantry soldiers were also issued boots that differed from those of cavalrymen in the absence of bells and in softer tops. The term of use for a pair of soldier's boots or bashmaks was determined by the Regulation of 1720 as half a year, and when it expired they were to be replaced.(52)
This kind of outer dress of the first quarter of the 18th century had two varieties. The first one was a round sleeveless overcoat reaching the middle of the calves with a wide turn-down collar fastened at the neck with a button or a hook. Yepancha of that sort was a prescribed outer field garment of lower ranks of the Russian army of the Petrine age and was preserved as such to the end of the 18th century, when it was replaced with a greatcoat by Paul I. It was already Peter's contemporaries who paid attention to the discomforts of that garment in the service. In a report to the Military Board General Glebov wrote about that matter the following: “If a soldier during the rain would lay a skirt over another skirt, he wouldn't be able to act freely with his hands, and especially for cavalrymen it is uncomfortable to ride a horse”.(53)
The soldiers' yepanchas of the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky Regiments were of dark green and dark cornflower colors respectively. The first mention of that difference is encountered around 1711.(54) It was preserved also after 1720 when the Semyonovsky Guards changed the color of their uniform, on which fact we find evidence of F. W.Bergholz.(55)
The other variety of yepancha, resembling the European redingote, had sleeves with wide cuffs, a doubled collar, and was buttoned with buttons positioned from the edge of the upper collar to the middle of the thigh. From the back it had a cut necessary for riding. Such kind of yepanchas was evidently a part of the officers' dress, since it is not mentioned in the registers of soldiers' belongings of the described time . However, basing on the clothes of Peter himself that were preserved until now, one can presume that the officers could wear both varieties, trimming yepanchas of the first sort, to make distinction from soldiers, with galloon over breasts and collar.(56) Numerous indications are encountered that the officers' yepanchas could have a fur lining.(57)
Captions for pages 5-7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 20-21
The battle at Lesnaya of September 29, 1709. Painted print by N. Larmessen after the drawing P.-D. Martin Jr. 1720s. The military historical museum of A. V. Suvorov. St. Petersburg. The print represents the defeat caused by the Russian Army to the Swedish corps of General Lewenhaupt. In the left part is represented Peter with his retinue. The Czar himself and some of the officers of his retinue are dressed in the full uniform of the Life Guard Preobrazhensky Regiment. In the middle ground dragoons in red uniforms are moving to form the combat line. An aide-de-camp with a white band on his sleeve is riding toward them. In the background the Russian and Swedish regiments are represented in the fight.
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Peter the Great in the Poltava Battle. Part of the painting “The Poltava battle” by P.-D. Martin. 1720s. The Catherine's Palace in Pushkin. Peter is represented in the full uniform of an officer of the Life Guard Preobrazhensky Regiment — dark green coat with red cuffs profusely trimmed with golden galloons. Martin used in the process of his painting the materials afforded by the customer himself, i.e. Peter. That enabled the author to employ such specific details in Peter's appearance as his uniform and weapon — dirk — often used by him in battles.
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Peter the Great. Portrait by L. Caravacc. The Central Navy Museum. St. Petersburg. Conventionally dated 1716. The uniform, represented in the portrait, that was introduced in 1720, as well as the Emperor's staff in Peter's right hand enables us to date it to the 1720s.
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Staff officer's uniform of the Life Guard Preobrazhensky Regiment that belonged to Peter the Great. The State Historical Museum. Moscow. The dark blue coat with golden galloons was introduced for the Guard officers in 1720. It was worn, with short breaks, until 1796 becoming in Russia a sort of symbol of adherence to the state ideas of Peter the Great. The coat is supplemented with a gilded officer's gorget of 1698 pattern and three-colored officer's scarf worn in the Guard until 1741-1742.
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Left to right.
Musketeer of the Life Guard Semyonovsky Regiment in 1702-1708.
Grenadier of the Life Guard Preobrazhensky Regiment in 1708-1712.
Oboist of the Life Guard Preobrazhensky Regiment in 1706.
Ill. by S. Lyotin.
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Left to right.
Non-commissioned officer of the Life Guard Semyonovsky Regiment in 1709.
Company officer of the grenadier company of the Life Guard
Preobrazhensky Regiment in 1712-1720.
Ill. by S. Lyotin.
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1) Kamzol. 1702-1708.
“Sleeved yepancha”. 1st quarter of the 18th century.
Kaftan of the full dress uniform of the Guard officers. 1702-1720.
Trousers. The 1st quarter of the 18th century.
Stockings. The 1st quarter of the 18th century.
Bashmaks. The 1st quarter of the 18th century.
Ill. by S. Lyotin.
2) Guard grenadier cap. 1712-1725.
Forehead piece of a grenadier cap of a Guard officer. 1712-1725.
Coat. 1708-1725.
Kamzol. 1708-1725.
Yepancha. The 1st quarter of the 18th century.
Hat of Guard musketeers. 1720-1731.
Ill. by S. Lyotin.
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Company officer of the Life Guard Preobrazhensky Regiment.
* * *
On his return from the European tour with the “Great Embassy” mission Peter the Great on the 27th of August of 1698 “...watched the military exercises of his regiments; as soon as he became convinced of the inferiority of those hordes to real troops, he showed them different gestures and movements by himself, teaching with the bow of his own body the kind of physical condition those disorderly masses should try to acquire”. With energy and impatience so peculiar to him Peter got to bringing his selected regiments to proper order both in formation and marching skills and in appearance. To improve the latter so called “Hungarian” coats were introduced from the autumn of 1698 as a uniform common for soldiers and officers. By the beginning of 1699 the change of uniforms was completed, as according to the evidence of I. G. Korbi, the soldiers of the Preobrazhensky, Semyonovsky, and Butyrsky Regiments appeared in new dress already during the Epiphany holiday on January 15, 1699. The documents confirm the manufacturing of the “Hungarian” uniforms from the autumn of 1698 to December of 1701. An excellent description of the Preobrazhensky uniform was given by the Austrian diplomat O. Pleier in his account of the Epiphany holiday of 1700 when the Guards wore “dark green coats with red boots and hats; officers also wore dark green Hungarian coats lined with fur and having golden tabs and buttons”. Starting in 1699 to organize a new regular army for a supposed campaign against the Swedes, Peter employed the “Hungarian” uniform already introduced in the Guard as a model for the dress of soldiers of newly formed regiments.
The headgear of soldiers and officers of the Guard and the Line in 1698-1702 was a topped hat of East European style. The hats for privates were made of “kurpey” (a sort of astrakhan - S. L.) and those for officers - of more expensive furs - of beaver, fox and the like. The grenadiers possibly wore headgear shaped as a fur cylinder widening to its top.
The uniform coat, cut after the pattern of the Hungarian dolman, was rather short (about 1 m long), widened downward making a number of pleats at sides and had fitted sleeves (about 70 cm long) with so called “Polish” cuffs buttoned at wrist with several buttons. Turned up sleeve flaps (as a rule, of a different color) were fastened to a button sewn a little below the elbow. Along the coat-breast, from collar to waist, a fastening of round buttons and thrown over loops was positioned having horizontal tabs (co called “bordering”) of metal cord and galloon over both coat-breasts. During the cold season, the coats were lined with fur. They were worn over an undercoat having the same cut but more humble trimming.
The soldiers of the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky Regiments had dark green and dark blue coats respectively decorated with silver cords and buttons. The NCOs of the both regiments differed from the privates only in the richness of trimming. The Guard officers had coats trimmed with gold. The schedule of A. D. Menshikov's wardrobe, who was in the early 1700s a company officer of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, that is dated to January of 1709, contains the following description: “Coat of dark green cloth, Hungarian, with overlaid loops and tassels in gold and silver, braided buttons in gold and silver, golden galloon is laid round the coat and along the seams, no lining”. The staff officers' coats, according to documents, were trimmed even richer. As insignia for the Guard officers gorgets were introduced from 1698, shaped as crescents with truncated ends, which were silver for company officers and golden for staff officers. In the middle the cross of St. Andrew the First Called was represented. In 1701 to commemorate the heroism displayed in the lost battle at Narva of 1700 the Guard company officers were granted the inscription on their gorgets containing the date of the battle “1700. 19N”.
A more detailed account of the uniforms and outfit of the Russian army in the beginning of the Great Northern war will be published in one of the following issues of the magazine.
End Notes
{1} Bobrovsky, P. O. The History of the Life Guard Preobrazhensky Regiment.
Vol.I. St. Petersburg, 1900. P. 205 (further on — Bobrovsky).
{2} Pushkin, A. S. Complete Collection of Works. Vol.6. M., 1950. P.
612.
{3} Bobrovsky. P. 343.
{4} The Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire. Vol.4. St.
Petersburg, 1830. No. 1741 (further on — CCLRE).
{5} Zhelyabuzhsky, I. A. Notes from 1682 to July 2, 1709. St.
Petersburg, 1840. P. 168.
{6} CCLRE. Vol.4. No.1887.
{7} Letters and Papers of Emperor Peter the Great. Vol.2. St.
Petersburg, 1889. P. 444-446 (further on - LPPG).
{8} Travelling of Cornelius de Bruin through Muscovy // Readings in the
Society of Russian History and Antiquities. [S.l.] 1872. P. 102- 103.
{9} LPPG. Vol.2. P. 248. No. 586.
{10} Ibid. Vol.4. P. 1811-1813.
{11} Ibid. P.432.
{12} Kartsov. The History of the Life Guard Semyonovsky Regiment. 1683-1854.
Vol.I. St. Petersburg, 1852. Supplements. P.36-37.
{13} The Archive of the Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineering
Troops and Signals (further on - Archive of MHMAETS). Fund 2. List 3. File 113.
Sheet 50.
{14} Materials for the History of the Russian Navy. Vol.5. St.
Petersburg, 1875. P.780 (further on - MHRN).
{15} MHRN. Pt.7. P. 661.
{16} CCLRE. Vol.43. P. 120. No. 5836. Art. 2.
{17} See note {8}.
{18} Giesen. The Journal of His Majesty Peter I from 1695 to 1709. Pt.
1-3.//The Collection of Various Notes and Works Serving to Afford Full
Information on Life and Deeds of His Majesty Emperor Peter the Great. Published
by work and maintenance of Fyodor Tumansky. Pt.III. St. Petersburg, 1787. P.
370.
{19} LPPG. Vol.5. P. 587.
{20} Bicentennial of the Cabinet of His Emperor's Majesty. 1704-1904.
St. Petersburg, 1911. P.198 (further on — Bicentennial of Cabinet).
{21} Bobrovsky. Vol.2. Supplements. P. 18.
{22} LPPG. Vol.3. St. Petersburg, 1893. P. 455.
{23} LPPG. Vol.4. St. Petersburg, 1900. P. 1811.
{24} The Diary of Kammer Junker F.-W.Bergholz. 1721-1725. M., 1902. Pts.
1 and 2. P. 31-32.
{25} Golikov, I. I. The Deeds of Peter the Great, Wise Reformer of
Russia... 2nd ed. M., 1837. Vol.3. P. 289 (Further on - Golikov).
{26} Archive of MHMAETS. Fund 2. List 1. File 37. Sheets 704-705.
{27} Reports and Verdicts of the Senate. Vol.I. St. Petersburg, 1880. P.
423. No. 582.
{28} The Department of Manuscripts of the State V. I. Lenin Library. Fund 313
(of Fyodorov). File 24 (Menshikov letters from 1704 to 1713). Sheet 34rev; The
Schukinsky Collection. Issue 4. M., 1905. P.403.
{29} See note {26}.
{30} Volynsky, N. P. The Progressive Development of the Russian Regular
Cavalry in the age of Peter the Great with Most Detailed Account of Its
Participation in the Great Northern War. Issue 1 (1698-1706). St.
Petersburg, 1912. Book 3. P.415-416; Book 4. Supplements. P.546-547.
{31} The Archive of Prince F. A. Kurakin. Book 3. St. Petersburg, 1892.
P. 125.
{32} CCLRE. Vol.43. P. 116. Table to No. 5836.
{33} The Archive of Prince F. A. Kurakin. P.117-118.
{34} The History of the Household Cavalry. St. Petersburg, 1851.
Supplements. P.X.
{35} The Collection of the Russian Historical Society. Vol.VI. St.
Petersburg, 1871. P.391.
{36} See note {24}.
{37} The Historical Description of Dress and Weapons of the Russian Troops.
Vol.2. St. Petersburg, 1899. P.21-22.
{38} Presently the two compositions by P. D. Martin “The Battle at
Lesnaya” and “The Poltava Battle” are in the collection of the
Catherine's Palace in Pushkin town. There are large cartoons for wall- paper
made by the same artist on the basis of the paintings which represent the
battle at Poltava in the State Tretyakov Gallery and in the Museum of the
Poltava battle in Poltava. Besides that, a copy of “The Battle at
Lesnaya” of the 19th century belongs to the collection of the State
Hermitage.
{39} Bicentennial of Cabinet. P. 185.
{40} The Archive of Prince F. A. Kurakin.
{41} CCLRE. No.1898.
{42} The Works of the Emperor's Russian Military Historical Society.
Vol.III. St. Petersburg, 1909. P. 294.
{43} Just Jul. Notes // The Russian Archive. 1892. No.5. P. 51.
{44} LPPG. Vol.4. P. 432.
{45} Ibid. P. 1813.
{46} See notes {29}, {30}, {32}.
{47} LPPG. Vol.2. P. 446.
{48} CCLRE. Vol.43. P. 123.
{49} The Schukinsky Collection. P. 445.
{50} Golikov. Vol.5. P. 32.
{51} See note {39}.
{52} See note {48}
{53} Grigorovich, A. The History of the 37th Dragoon Military Order Regiment
of General Field Marshal Mienich. Vol.I. St. Petersburg, 1907. P. 10.
{54} See note {27}.
{55} See note {24}.
{56} Moiseyenko, Ye. Yu. The schedule of wardrobe of A.D.Menshikov: A
Contribution to the History of Men's Clothes of the 1st Quarter of the 18th
century in Russia // The Culture and Art of the Petrine Age: Publications
and Researches. Leningrad, 1977. P. 98-99, 108.
{57} The Schukinsky Collection. P. 403.
(1) Bobrovsky, P. O. The History of the Life Guard Preobrazhensky Regiment.
Vol.I. St. Petersburg, 1900. P. 205 (further on — Bobrovsky).
(2) Pushkin, A. S. Complete Collection of Works. Vol.6. M., 1950. P.
612.
(3) Bobrovsky. P. 343.
(4) The Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire. Vol.4. St.
Petersburg, 1830. No. 1741 (further on — CCLRE).
(5) Zhelyabuzhsky, I. A. Notes from 1682 to July 2, 1709. St.
Petersburg, 1840. P. 168.
(6) CCLRE. Vol.4. No.1887.
(7) Letters and Papers of Emperor Peter the Great. Vol.2. St.
Petersburg, 1889. P. 444-446 (further on - LPPG).
(8) Travelling of Cornelius de Bruin through Muscovy // Readings in the
Society of Russian History and Antiquities. [S.l.] 1872. P. 102- 103.
(9) LPPG. Vol.2. P. 248. No. 586.
(10) Ibid. Vol.4. P. 1811-1813.
(11) Ibid. P.432.
(12) Kartsov. The History of the Life Guard Semyonovsky Regiment. 1683-1854.
Vol.I. St. Petersburg, 1852. Supplements. P.36-37.
(13) The Archive of the Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineering
Troops and Signals (further on - Archive of MHMAETS). Fund 2. List 3. File 113.
Sheet 50.
(14)] Materials for the History of the Russian Navy. Vol.5. St.
Petersburg, 1875. P.780 (further on - MHRN).
(15) MHRN. Pt.7. P. 661.
(16) CCLRE. Vol.43. P. 120. No. 5836. Art. 2.
(17) See note {8}.
(18) Giesen. The Journal of His Majesty Peter I from 1695 to 1709. Pt.
1-3.//The Collection of Various Notes and Works Serving to Afford Full
Information on Life and Deeds of His Majesty Emperor Peter the Great. Published
by work and maintenance of Fyodor Tumansky. Pt.III. St. Petersburg, 1787. P.
370.
(19) LPPG. Vol.5. P. 587.
(20) Bicentennial of the Cabinet of His Emperor's Majesty. 1704-1904.
St. Petersburg, 1911. P.198 (further on — Bicentennial of Cabinet).
(21) Bobrovsky. Vol.2. Supplements. P. 18.
(22) LPPG. Vol.3. St. Petersburg, 1893. P. 455.
(23) LPPG. Vol.4. St. Petersburg, 1900. P. 1811.
(24) The Diary of Kammer Junker F.-W.Bergholz. 1721-1725. M., 1902. Pts.
1 and 2. P. 31-32.
(25) Golikov, I. I. The Deeds of Peter the Great, Wise Reformer of
Russia... 2nd ed. M., 1837. Vol.3. P. 289 (Further on - Golikov).
(26) Archive of MHMAETS. Fund 2. List 1. File 37. Sheets 704-705.
(27) Reports and Verdicts of the Senate. Vol.I. St. Petersburg, 1880. P.
423. No. 582.
(28) The Department of Manuscripts of the State V. I. Lenin Library. Fund 313
(of Fyodorov). File 24 (Menshikov letters from 1704 to 1713). Sheet 34rev; The
Schukinsky Collection. Issue 4. M., 1905. P.403.
(29) See note {26}.
(30) Volynsky, N. P. The Progressive Development of the Russian Regular
Cavalry in the age of Peter the Great with Most Detailed Account of Its
Participation in the Great Northern War. Issue 1 (1698-1706). St.
Petersburg, 1912. Book 3. P.415-416; Book 4. Supplements. P.546-547.
(31) The Archive of Prince F. A. Kurakin. Book 3. St. Petersburg, 1892.
P. 125.
(32) CCLRE. Vol.43. P. 116. Table to No. 5836.
(33) The Archive of Prince F. A. Kurakin. P.117-118.
(34) The History of the Household Cavalry. St. Petersburg, 1851.
Supplements. P.X.
(35) The Collection of the Russian Historical Society. Vol.VI. St.
Petersburg, 1871. P.391.
(36) See note {24}.
(37) The Historical Description of Dress and Weapons of the Russian Troops.
Vol.2. St. Petersburg, 1899. P.21-22.
(38) Presently the two compositions by P. D. Martin “The Battle at
Lesnaya” and “The Poltava Battle” are in the collection of the
Catherine's Palace in Pushkin town. There are large cartoons for wall-paper
made by the same artist on the basis of the paintings which represent the
battle at Poltava in the State Tretyakov Gallery and in the Museum of the
Poltava battle in Poltava. Besides that, a copy of “The Battle at
Lesnaya” of the 19th century belongs to the collection of the State
Hermitage.
(39) Bicentennial of Cabinet. P. 185.
(40) The Archive of Prince F. A. Kurakin.
(41) CCLRE. No.1898.
(42) The Works of the Emperor's Russian Military Historical Society.
Vol.III. St. Petersburg, 1909. P. 294.
(43) Just Jul. Notes // The Russian Archive. 1892. No.5. P. 51.
(44) LPPG. Vol.4. P. 432.
(45) Ibid. P. 1813.
(46) See notes {29}, {30}, {32}.
(47) LPPG. Vol.2. P. 446.
(48) CCLRE. Vol.43. P. 123.
(49) The Schukinsky Collection. P. 445.
(50) Golikov. Vol.5. P. 32.
(51) See note {39}.
(52) See note {48}
(53) Grigorovich, A. The History of the 37th Dragoon Military Order Regiment
of General Field Marshal Mienich. Vol.I. St. Petersburg, 1907. P. 10.
(54) See note {27}.
(55) See note {24}.
(56) Moiseyenko, Ye. Yu. The schedule of wardrobe of A.D.Menshikov: A
Contribution to the History of Men's Clothes of the 1st Quarter of the 18th
century in Russia // The Culture and Art of the Petrine Age: Publications
and Researches. Leningrad, 1977. P. 98-99, 108.
(57) The Schukinsky Collection. P. 403.