Russian Army 1812-1814 - EN - Organisation

The Russian army entered the Patriotic War after a major reorganization in response to the army's not-so-good performance in the Third Coalition wars.  The exact line-ups of the Tsarist army at the start of the war are easily traceable on the internet, for example here or here, and are not worth dwelling on too much.

Simply put the entire army was divided into several combined arms corps, of course the number of corps changed during the war and the numbering was never entirely accurate.

At the start of the war, the army had eight corps and three reserve cavalry corps in the 1st and 2nd Western Armies. Four other corps in General Tomasov's Reserve Army and five corps in Admiral Chichagov's Danube Army. In addition, detachments in Finland and along the entire length of the borders of the Russian Empire. The list includes the Fifth Guards Corps in the First Western Army.

Evgeniy Demakov Adieu 1812

The corps usually had a fairly regular structure, consisting of two infantry divisions, two artillery brigades, possibly a reserve artillery brigade (the Russian army had 10 reserve brigades, so not every corps get one), and usually a detachment of light or irregular cavalry or dragoons, depending on the task. In the case where cavalry was assigned to a corps, a horse artillery company, or half company, was also assigned to it.

Each division has six regiments divided into three brigades, usually two brigades of heavy infantry and one brigade of light infantry, but the order of the brigades varies with the tasks of the division or corps. It was not a rigid system.  You count right, the Russian army does indeed have one battalion of jagers for every two battalions of heavy infantry.

Each regiment is formed from two field battalions. These are the 1st battalion of the regimental owner (the SHEF is not the owner of the regiment, but is responsible for its equipment, but not always in command) and the 3rd battalion of the regimental commander. Next, the regiment is formed by the 2nd Reserve and 4th Depot Battalions (the formation of the fourth battalions is linked to the extraordinary conscription in early 1812), which remain in the barracks. Except for the 2nd grenadier company (i.e. the grenadier company of the reserve battalion) of the regiments of the division, they join the division in the field, where they form two combined battalions per division. While standard battalions are formed of 4 companies, the combined battalions are formed of three companies - two heavy and one light. These battalions then form the corps' combined brigade. Sometimes, however, the combined brigades are detached and assigned to another corps.

Battle at Klyastitzy where 2nd Reserve battalion of Pavlovsk Grenadier covered themselves with glory

However, due to the need to increase the number of troops in the field, the remaining soldiers from the second and fourth battalions are eventually brought out of their barracks (recall that grenadier companies form the combined battalions and have long been with the field armies). They are supposed to form 18 new divisions, but are eventually disbanded rather to their original regiments to replace the losses. The main exception in this case is Lieutenant General Wittgenstein's 1st Independent Corps, which is tasked along with the Riga garrison and the Finnish Army Corps (which is yet to arrive) to block the approach to St Petersburg. In fact, Alexander has taken everything he has in St. Petersburg and sent it to Peter Christianovich as reinforcements. Thus, in the corps organisation, reserve battalions of grenadier regiments or reserve squadrons of Guards cavalry and cuirassiers are fighting. Above all, a combined regiment of cuirassiers must be a sight to behold, because every squadron is a different uniform.

To each division is assigned a field artillery brigade of the same number. Thus, the 5th Infantry Division has a 5th Field Artillery Brigade at its disposal. Each artillery brigade has three artillery companies, each of twelve guns. A battery artillery company of the same number as a brigade consists of three divizions of four 12-pounder guns of medium proportions, four 12-pounder guns of small proportions, and four half-pud unicorns. The light artillery companies are intended for direct fire support of the battalions and are deployed in divizions of four guns, or platoons (platoons) of two guns on the flanks of the battalions. The armament consists of eight 6-pounder guns and eight quarter-pud unicorns.  Each corps thus has an artillery of 72 guns.

The cavalry detachments of the corps are so variable that we will discuss the organization when we deal with cavalry in a separate article. It may be a few squadrons, whole regiments, Bashkirs, or Cossacks. I'll just remind you of mounted artillery companies. These, as a rule, together with reserve artillery brigades form the artillery reserve of the battlefield commander. A mounted artillery company also has twelve barrels, six 6-pounder guns, and six quarter-pud unicorns.

During the wars - that is, the Patriotic War and the War of the Sixth Coalition - the composition of the armies changes regularly, so the Russian army almost never operates as a single army, but is divided among various units under the command of non-Russian generals. Thus, there is more or less no regulation and further in response to the tasks on the battlefield, the composition and deployed corps naturally changes. Partisan detachments and flying columns are formed. The corps commanders define their battle formations, but this basic structure is more or less maintained until the end of the war.