Combined Grenadiers of the 27th Infantry division
1st Combined Grenadier battalion – Major of the Odessa Infantry Mikhail Ivanovich Karpov-1 *
--- 2nd Grenadier company of the 49th Jäger regiment
--- 2nd Grenadier company of the Odessa Infantry regiment
--- 2nd Grenadier company of the Tarnopol Infantry regiment
2nd Combined Grenadier battalion – Major of the Vilna Infantry Grigoriy Titovich Federov-1
--- 2nd Grenadier company of the 50th Jäger regiment
--- 2nd Grenadier company of the Vilna Infantry regiment
--- 2nd Grenadier company of the Simbirsk Infantry regiment
* wounded and concussed at Borodino but refused evacuation – on 21 November promoted for bravery to Lieutenant-Colonel
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The regiments of the 27th Infantry division had been raised only from 6 November 1811.
The six regiments were formed from 4 and 1/2 battalions of the Moscow Garrison, 2 battalions of the Archangel Garrison, 2 battalions of the Uglich Infantry, 2 battalions of the 35th Jäger (ex- Sofia Infantry), 1 battalion of the Kazan Garrison and 1/2 battalion of the Viatka/Uralsk Garrisons – plus 6 battalions of recruits. Thus there were enough experienced soldiers for 12 "active" battalions (1st and 3rd battalion of each regiment) of the new 27th Infantry division.
Hence perhaps the "surprise" for the French when the supposed "raw recruits" of the 27th Infantry division fought like tigers in the rearguard actions before Smolensk.
Recruits would have formed the the bulk of the 2nd "replacement" battalions of the six regiments of the 27th Infantry division. They were not all that "raw", having been in training since the autumn of 1811. Nonetheless, the "replacement" battalion Grenadier companies which made up the two Combined Grenadier battalions would not have been on a par with the General Graf Vorontsov's other units.
The 18 center companies of the 2nd "replacement" battalions of the regiments of the 27th Infantry division formed the 2nd brigade of the 37th Reserve division, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel of the Vilna Infantry Yakov Yakovlevich Kolen-2. This brigade was part of the garrison of the fortress of Bobruysk near Mogilev in eastern Belarus.