"number of men in Russian Napoleonic companies" Topic

how many men were in a Russian line infantry company during the French invasion of Russia?

thanks
noizehive.blogspot.com

160 men per company in 1812, is a commonly quoted figure (e.g., Nafziger, Zhmodikov & Zhmodikov, etc.).

link

Hi Otto, nice blog but I have 2 comments on the British Soldier, firstly as a Flank Company he should have a green Light Company) or a white (Grenadier) cockade, and will all the other detail you have painted, why no Shako plate?

The 1802 regulations call for 141 men and 3 drummers and for the grenadiers 2 fifers, 10 NCO's and cadets, and 4 company officers. Of course that's nominal, and like all nations they would run more or less depending upon recruiting. The Jaegers had a smaller establishment, but are believed to have adopted the same organization after Austerlitz.

I overlooked the note in Zhmodikov and Zhmodikov that 24 men were added to each company upon mobilization.

Depends a bit on when – the Russians lost a lot of people in 1812 and by the end of the campaign most units were seriously understrength

Fredd,

Honestly I was really tired and didn't feel like painting the shako plates at the time. I did them earlier today. As for the cockades, I didn't know that. I changed them to green to be used at Light Infantry.

thanks for the info guys!

So, maybe some useful details on Russian company organization.

From:
Русская пехота в бою.
Ульянов Илья Эристович
Москва: Эксмо, 2008
eksmo.ru
ISBN 978-5-699-29768-9

But you can find the same in the organizational decrees for the regiments formed in April 1812, in various Shtats, etc.
There was, later in the year, the adoption of a so-called "heavy" battalion, first for the purpose of moving units from Finland to the 1st Corps and then more broadly applied for moving units over long distances. However, the aim was that upon arrival the units would likely conform to the standard organization after losses in transit.

1 major or captain
1 of the following (see note):
-- Майор / mayor / major (3 not otherwise assigned in a regiment)
-- Капитан / kapitan / captain (4 not otherwise assigned in a regiment)
-- Штабс-капитан / shtabs-kapitan / staff-captain ( 5 not otherwise assigned in a regiment, called "kapitan" in grenadier regiments)

3 officers
1 x Поручик / poruchik / lieutenant
1 x Подпоручик / podporuchik / sub-lieutenant
1 x Прапорщик / praporshchik / ensign

10 non-commissioned officers
1 x Фельдфебель / feldfebel/ company sergeant-major
1 x Портупей-прапорщик / portupey-praporshchik / cadet
1 x Подпрапорщик / podpraporshchik / master-sergeant
1 x Каптенармус / kaptenarmus / supply-sergeant
6 x Младший унтер-офицер / mladshiy unter-ofitser / junior under-officer (similar to corporal)

drummers, fifers & hornists
3 x Ротный-барабанщик / rotnyy-barabanshchik / company drummer
2 x Ротный-Флейтщик / rotnyy-fleytshchik / company fifer (grenadier company only, except in the Leib-Grenadier regiment)
1 x Волторнист / voltornist / hornist (guard-jagers only, but see note)

non-combatants
1 x Ротный-цирюльник / rotnyy-tsiryulnik / company barber (also could act as a sort of medic)
3 x Фурлейт / furleyt / driver

servants
1 to 3(+) x Денщик / denshchik /servant (see note)

Notes :
- the major or captain was not always available: assumes none of these is assigned to command a combined grenadier battalion, or to brigade, division, corps or army command, or as an adjutant to a general officer, or with the fourth (reservyy) battalion of an infantry or jager regiment, or is sick, wounded, on leave, captured, dead, under arrest, etc., etc. -- likely less than 50% availability on campaign
- staff-captain and above were mounted, the others not
- portupey-praporshchik was a non-commissioned rank for nobles only, and sometimes only a nominal or "paper" rank for a child not joined with the regiment
- kaptenarmus was not a command rank, but a support function responsible for company weapons, supplies, equipment, encampments, etc.
- for the grenader rot only, there were 2 company drummers & 1 fifer with the grenader vzvod (right side of the line of battle), 1 company drummer & 1 fifer with strelkovyy vzvod (left side of the line of battle)
- it is possible that in a few line jager regiments' fifers were given horns or that musicians from the regimental band performed this role, at the shef's direction and expense
- from March 1812, the drivers were officially allotted only two wagons when on campaign, one for ammunition and the other for provisions
- there was a total of 94 official servants allowed to the lieutenants and higher officers of a regiment -- these were the personal property of the officer and carried at his expense, but were allowed a green or gray outfit without distinctions for identification, rations, army travel documents, etc. -- higher ranks were allowed more servants.
- companies in the fourth (reservyy) battallion had only 1 (junior) officer

The (administrative) staff of the Рот / rot / company
1 of mayor, kapitan or shtabs-kapitan (often absent)
1 x feldfebel
1 x portupey-praporshchik (sometimes fictional)
1 x kaptenarmus
1 x rotnyy-barabanshchik (forms with the senior or right-hand platoon)
1 x rotnyy-tsiryulnik (non-combatant)
3 x furleyt (non-combatant)
3(+) x denshchik (civilian, only with the officer that owns them)

The basic maneuver and combat unit was the Взвод / Vzvod / Platoon
1 of poruchik or podporuchik
1 of praporshchik or podpraporshchik
3 x mladshiy unter-ofitser
1 x rotnyy-barabanshchik
1 x rotnyy-fleytshchik (grenader vzvod & strelkovyy vzvod only)
82 or 83 x Рядовой / ryadovoy / soldier (~27 files in 3 ranks)
0 or 1 x denshchik (with the poruchik)

«За Бога, Императора и Отечество!»

Frayer

I assume the portepee-ensign was an officer candidate out of the Cadet Schools, but not necessarily a noble. Is Ulyanov specific on this point?

Was the sub-ensign some kind of NCO honoria like the French eagle guards?

The staff-captains were essentially, and previously named as, captain lieutenants. The rank developed because the lieutenants of the field officer's companies ended up commanding them all the time, yet were not captains.

I would have assumed the field officers were mounted, but not the captains.

Ooh, I see it's not the Russian Regular Infantry I'm familiar with, but a new book… mmm…

For Портупей-прапорщик, the rank was a little odd during the reign of Aleksandr I. Usually, it is described as a noble's under-officer rank, with equivalence to cadet (in the table of nobility, in epaulets, in bearing the officer's sword). But I really cannot find "exactly this usage" before 1826. I do not think that this was a position for a graduate of the cadet corps, but rather was an alternate for a person of similar age. I think the cadet corp graduate was commissioned a прапорщик.

In the reign of Paul, I get the impression of just the trusted senior, experienced non-commissioned officer, to carry the flag. Similar to the French model, perhaps.

In Aleksandr's reign, I find a wide variety of people at least nominally in this rank. Some examples :
- Нарышкин Михаил Михайлович, from a major noble family, was age 17 when appointed Портупей-прапорщик in the Pskovskiy infantry. He likely never saw the regiment, as he was at home, and the regiment was not even fashionable.
- Платон Петрович Щербаков, ennobled only late in life, entered serivce as a подпрапорщик in the 2-й полк Нижегородского ополчения in 1812 about age 17, promoted портупей-прапорщик a few days later, transferred to the line jagers as a прапорщик in early 1816.
- фон Фок Александр Александрович, of a noble family of Saint-Petersburg, entered service as подпрапорщик in the л.-гв. Измайловский полк age 17, портупей-прапорщик a few months later, but at home with his tutors the whole time.
- Катенин Павел Александрович, noble and son of a Lieutenant-General, at age 14 entered service in the департамент Министерства народного просвещения, коллегии-юнкер a few months later, титулярный советник at age 16, портупей-прапорщик л.-гв. Преображенского полка in 1810 at age 18 and (surprise) likely serving with the regiment, прапорщик a year later.

For the mounted kapitan – I do not know if this was authorzed (government paid) or just their own horse, or a borrowed one, etc. But enough memoirs have then riding here and there.

Подпрапорщик looks like plain sergeant to me. It gets translated as "master sergeant", but I think that reflects more recent usage. He was a vzvod deputy commander, a line/combat NCO, above Младший унтер-офицер and below Фельдфебель. Given the way the officers got detached or stepped up to fill vacancies, or were sometimes (ahem …) not perfectly trained and experienced, I imagine it was intended that he could actually command the vzvod in comabt, if not in administration.

But hey, I am not 100% on any of this. The little green-painted metal guys are not exactly too talkative on this detailed stuff. The just keeping sharpening their bayonets and asking that the Icon be paraded.

Frayer