| |
This shows the administrative organization
for comand and control of the Muscovite armed forces. At the top is the
'bol'shoi voyevod'=field commander ; the 'voyevod gulyavi '=commander of the
gulai gorod; 'voyevod u naryada'=commander of the artillery and trains;
then the 'bol'shoi polk'=main body (battl); the 'storozhevoi polk'=security
unit; the 'zasadnii polk=ambush unit; the golova strelitskii=commander of the
streltzi; beneath him are the several 'strelyetskii prikazi'=units of 800 to
1000 strelets which are in turn divided into 100's and 10's; with the main body
are the 'peredovoi polk=lead body or advanced guard; the 'polk levoi ruki and
polk pravoi ruki '=left and right wing bodies; they are organized into
sotni=100's and desyatki=10's; and at bottom the 'artoul' or trains. Typically
during the earlier middle ages the 'national' army if assembled for a major
campaign would be composed of the forces brought by various serving princes
which would be amalgamated into the total force. But by the reign of Ivan IV
practically all forces with the exception of native (Tatar) or cossack units
were already contained in one armed force. While the term 'polk' in
modern Russian is translated into 'regiment', in the medieval army the
'polk' was not a standing body regiment - rather, the term should be
translated into the western term 'battle' or corps.
|
|
