Cossack Formations in 1812
Adapted from translations by Mark Conrad of “Vollständiges Verzeichnis aller Kosaken-Formationen 1812,” by Dr. Freiherr von Baumgartner & of Viskovatov's multi-volume work on the Russian Army; Dr Stephen Summerfield “Cossack Hurrah!”; Isaac Bykadorov “Cossacks in the Patriotic War of 1812”; Richard Partridge & Mark Oliver “Napoleonic Army Handbook”, Haythornthwaite “Napoleonic Source Book”, Pivka “Armies of the Napoleonic Era”, Osprey MAA, etc.
During 1812 roughly three times as many mounted cossack regiments served in the Russian army as regular cavalry regiments, and two times as many combatants.
Cossack was used for ethnic national regiments, and the Opolchenie (mass levy) raised in 1812 (due to their partial uniforming and to a great extent armed with lances, which thus gave them an appearance similar to that of cossacks). For Opolchenie the term mass-levy cossacks was the usual usage, but a number of units were officially titled as cossack regiments. Some were even organized in the cossack manner. Although the mounted mass levies were regular troops, they should be considered cossacks.
Included under the names of irregulars or cossacks:
A) Troops raised by cossack communities,
B) Formations raised from ethnic nationalities,
C) Mounted units of the mass levy,
D) Small volunteer corps raised against Napoleon.
The following formations assigned to the groups above took the field against Napoleon, and those which also existed in both Europe and Asia.
A) Troops raised by cossack communities.
Old cossack communities formed during the course of the 16th century were designated as hosts(voiska). Communities that were artificially created were called either a host or in many cases simply a regiment. Also, in Siberia since the 16th century there were small independent cossack groups in towns as well as village settlements (stanitsy) that were called town or settlement commands. Each community had a so-called ataman as its chief.
Cossack officer ranks were equivalent to army ranks. Rank titles for general officers and field-grade officers were the same except for the field-grade of voiskovoi starshina (literally, the “host elder”), roughly a lieutenant colonel but placed between that grade and major. Yesaul corresponded to captain; sotnik to first lieutenant; and khorunzhii (literally “ensign”) to second lieutenant or cornet. There were also the quartermaster-adjutant in the rank of a sotnik and the polkovoi pisar' (regimental clerk, also called the kaznachei or cashier) who corresponded to a paymaster but was counted as a combatant.
For non-commissioned officers there was only one rank — uryadnik (corporal). The non-commissioned officer used for administrative work was called a pisar', had the same rank and was also counted as a combatant. A desyatnik (decurion), also called a prikaznyi kazak (command-giving cossack) or simply prikaznik, was between a private soldier and a non-commissioned officer. An officer's servant was called a putzer.
Cossack regiments normally comprised 5 sotnias (centuries or equivalent to a squadron) with the following regulation strength: 1 general or field-grade officer as commander, 1 quartermaster-adjutant, 1 paymaster, and 2 non-commissioned officers (pisarya) formed the staff. Each of the five sotnias consisted of 1 yesaul, 1 sotnik, 1 khorunzhii, 4 uryadniks, 10 prikazniks, and 100 cossack privates. For the regimental commander 1 putzer was authorized. He was the only officer's servant, and also the sole non-combatant!A regiment thus numbered 18 officers, 22 non-commissioned officers, 50 prikazniki, 500 privates, and 1 noncombatant, or 591 persons in all.
Mounted cossack battery (officially called a horse-artillery company) counted 12 light cannons.
The following formations were raised by individual cossack communities:
1. Don Host [Donskoe voisko.]
a) One Life-Guards Regiment of 3 squadrons, classed as regular guards cavalry. Squadron strength: 6 officers (including one field-grade officer as commander), 1 sergeant, 12 non-commissioned officers (including 2 trumpeters), and 160 guard cossacks (including 16 marksmen with muskets).
b) 86 mounted regiments of 5 sotnias. 60 regiments required, but further 26 raised voluntarily.
Don Cossack regiments were named after their commanders, and changed when the commander changed. If a new commander was not immediately assigned, the regiment kept the name of its last commander with the prefix “formerly” or “temporarily.” When the commander was absent for only a short time and the regiment was commanded by another officer, it retained its name. As several members of the same family served as officers at the same time, for the purpose of distinguishing them they were (as in the army) assigned an identifying number.
The exception to the naming convention was the Ataman Regiment, which formed a guard unit for the commander of the Don Host and always kept the designation “Ataman”.
The regiments in existence on 1 November 1812 were as follows, in alphabetical order (name changes before or after this date are in parentheses):
Ataman Regiment. Commander – the Ataman, General-of-Cavalry Graf Platov, but in practice commanded by Major General Kuteinikov II. Each sotnia 4 officers, 10 non-commissioned officers, 160 privates (including 16 marksmen with muskets). Total strength with staff and 2(?) servants: 879 men.
Ageev II Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Ageev III Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Andreyanov II Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Arakantsov II Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Astakhov IV Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Formerly Lt. Col. Balabin I (commanded by Yesaul Polyakov) Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Barabanshchikov II Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Chernozubov VIII (until 27 June Gordeev I, then until 5 Sept. Krasnov I) Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Chikilev's Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Danilov I Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Denisov VII Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Dyachkin Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Grekov IV Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Grekov VIII Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Grekov IX Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Grekov XVIII (titled Denisov VI until about 27 June) Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Grekov XXI Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Il'in I Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Ilovaiskii IV Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Ilovaiskii V Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Ilovaiskii X Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Ilovaiskii XI Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Ilovaiskii XII Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Isaev II Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Izvalov Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Karpov II Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Kharitonov VII Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Kireev II Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Kisel'ev II Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Kuteinikov IV Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Loshchilin I Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Lukovkin II Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Melent'ev II Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Formerly Melent'ev III (commanded by Gorin II) Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Mel'nikov IV (until about 27 June Slyusarev II) Donskoi Kazachii Polk;;
Mel'nikov V Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Molchanov II Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Panteleev II Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Platov IV Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Platov V Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Popov XVI Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Pozdeev VIII Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Rodionov II Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Rogachev I Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Rubashkin Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Ryabinin Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Safonov Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Selivanov II Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Semenchikov Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Sysoev II Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Sysoev III Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Turchaninov Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Vlasov II Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Vlasov III Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Yanov II Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Yezhov I Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Zhirov (until 27 June Ilovaiskii VIII, then until 8 Aug. Mel'nikov III) Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Zhitchov III Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Voluntarily Raised Units:
Andreyanov I Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Andreyanov III Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Bikhalov I Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Belogorodtsev (at end of the year Gorin I) Donskoi Kazachii Polk;.
Chernozubov IV Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Danilov II Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Golitsyn's (from about 27 Dec. Rebrikov III) Donskoi Kazachii Polk;;
Grebtsov II Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Grekov I Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Grekov II (from about 27 Dec. Chernozubov V) Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Grekov III Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Grekov V Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Grekov XVII Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Ilovaiskii III Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Ilovaiskii IX Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Komissarov I Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Kuteinikov VI Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Popov III Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Popov XIII Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Shamshev II Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Slyusarev I Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Sulin IX Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Suchilin II Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Troilin (from about 22 Dec. Koshkin) Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Yagodin II Donskoi Kazachii Polk;
Yezhov II Donskoi Kazachii Polk.
c) 2 and 1/2 mounted batteries - 2 permanent batteries usually referred to by the names of their commanders - No. 1 Tatsin and No. 2 Suvorov. 1/2battery raised in 1812 from captured Turkish cannon barrels but disbanded before the end of the year.
d) Various detachments:
2 sotnias in Kazan.
Very small number in fortresses of Azov and Taganrog.
12 officers and 242 men conveying recruits in Voronezh Province.
Post service, at quarantine stations, and as a guard cordon along the Don territory's borders.
Police force.
2. URAL COSSACK HOST [Ural’skoe kazach’e voisko.]
a) 1 Life-Guard Sotnia, part of the Don Guard Regiment. Strength 5 officers, 120 men, and 6 non-combatants.
b) 10 mounted regiments (numbered 1 to 10 Ural’skii Kazachii Polk), each of 5 sotnias.
3. ORENBURG COSSACK HOST [Orenburgskoe kazach’e voisko.]
a) 1 mounted Ataman Regiment, usually called the Orenburg Ataman Regiment to distinguish it from the Don unit of the same name – with 10 sotnias. Prescribed strength of 34 officers, 43 non-commissioned officers, 100 prikazniks (an in between rank: command giving Cossacks), 1,000 privates, and 1 officer's servant, or 1178 men in all.
b) 3 mounted regiments (numbered 1 to 3 Orenburgskii Kazachii Polk), each of 5 sotnias.
c) 4 Line Sector Detachments with average strength of 1,000 men, half on foot and half on horseback.
4. ASTRAKHAN COSSACK HOST [Astrakhanskoe kazach’e voisko.]
Although this community was designated a “regiment”, it was required to provide 3 mounted regiments (numbered 1 to 3) each of 5 sotnias (since 1808).
5. BUG COSSACK HOST [Bugskoe kazach’e voisko.]
Required to provide 3 mounted regiments (numbered 1 to 3) each of 5 sotnias, 4th regiment raised in fall of 1812.
6. DANUBE-MOUTH HOST.
(Formed in 1807 from a part of the Zaporozhians who had accepted Turkish sovereignty and been settled by them at the mouth of the Danube.) About 500 strong and by 1812 still had no organized units. Apparently they were only used for occupation duties in newly acquired Moldovia.
Following below are the cossack communities that were on the so-called Caucasian Line, being from west to east:
7. BLACK SEA HOST [Chernomorskoe voisko].
a) 1 Guard Sotnia (raised 1811), organised as the Guard Ural Sotnia, and part of the Don Life-Guard Regiment.
b) 10 mounted regiments(numbered 1 to 10), each of 5 sotnias.
c) 10 foot regiments(numbered 1 to 10), each of 5 sotnias, also called druzhinas or plastun battalions. Same organization and strength as the mounted regiments.
The remaining Caucasian cossack communities on the Caucasian Line, which went along the Kuban River and then the Terek, were lumped together under the designation of CAUCASIAN LINE COSSACK HOST [Kavkazskoe lineinoe kazach’e voisko]. Combat units were not specially organized, but rather covered “the line” in various sized detachments. Each community provided 100 men and 3 officers. To the east and ending on the shore of the Black Sea were:
8. Caucasian Regiment - 515 men.
9. Kuban Regiment - 1,236 men.
10. Khoper Regiment - 618 men.
11. Volga Regiment - 824 men.
12. Mozdok Regiment - 824 men.
13. Greben Cossack Host - 412 men.
14. Terek-Family Cossack Host - 515 men.
15. Terek-Kizlyar Cossack Host - 206 men.
Out of the above Caucasian Line Cossacks (but not the Black-Sea Cossacks) jointly formed:
a) 1 mounted regiment of 5 sotnias - 515 men.
b) 2 mounted batteries of 12 guns each.
SIBERIAN LINE COSSACK HOST [Sibirskoe lineinoe kazach’e voisko]
In West Siberia there were:
16. (West) Siberian Line Cossack Host.
a) 10 mounted regiments (numbered 1 to 10), each of 5 sotnias (strength of a regiment 596 men). Regiment No. 4 was the Ataman's.
b) 2 mounted batteries, each of 12 guns.
17. West Siberian town commands - 10 combined provided 1000 men on foot and about 30 officers.
In East Siberia there were:
18. Abakan and Sayansk border settlements– 6 combined provided 500 horsemen.
19. Krasnoyarsk, Yeniseisk, and Turukhansk – 3 town commands combined provided 500 horsemen.
20. Tunginsk border settlement – 4 detachments combined provided 300 horsemen.
21. Irkutsk Town Regiment(with Kirensk), provided 500 horsemen.
22. Trans-Baikal border settlements -12 detachments combined provided 900 horsemen divided into five line sector commands along the Chinese border between Lake Baikal and the Amur River, each averaging 180 horsemen. These cossacks were also called East-Siberian line cossacks.
23. Verkhne-Udinsk Town Command (with Selenginsk) - provided 150 horsemen.
24. Nerchinsk Town Command - provided 100 horsemen.
25. Yakutsk Town Regiment (also called Command) - provided 500 men on foot.
26. Kamchatka Town Command - provided 100 horsemen.
With the regular troops withdrawn from Siberia for the struggle against Napoleon, border defense lay entirely with the cossacks. All Siberian cossack formations remained in their home territories, with town cossacks reinforcing the border cossacks.
B) Troops from ethnic nations and peoples.
For these troops the organization of sotnias into regiments was the same as for true cossacks. Regiments were commanded by army officers, but there were exceptions. Other army officers were likewise incorporated along with ethnic officers. The former naturally carried army rank titles while the latter those for cossacks. Only mounted troops were raised, namely by the following nationalities:
1. Kalmucks.
a) Stavropol Kalmucks, 1 mounted regiment of 10 sotnias. From May of 1812 the prescribed strength was 1,178 men, analogous to that of the Orenburg Ataman Regiment.
b) Kalmucks of the lower Volga (from the former Khoshut Horde) - two 5-sotnia regiments (one each from Astrakhan and Samara provinces).
2. Crimean Tatars.
Organized into 4 regiments (named after the main towns of their recruiting districts in the Crimea: Perekop, Eupatoria, Simferopol, & Feodosia - each of 5 sotnias;.
3. Teptyars (in the Ural Mountains, Orenberg Province).
2 mounted regiments (numbered 1 & 2 Teptyarskie polki) of 5 sotnias each. A regiment comprised 622 men.
4. Bashkirs (in the Ural Mountains, Orenberg Province).
2 mounted regiments (numbered 1 & 2) of 5 sotnias each. Further 18 regiments (numbered 3 to 20) levied in 1812. A regiment comprised 579 men.
5. Meshcheryaks (in the Ural Mountains, Orenberg Province).
2 regiments (numbered 1 & 2) of 5 sotnias each. A regiment comprised 579 men.
6. Caucasians.
Mozdok Mountaineer Command provided 3 officers and 100 horsemen.
7. Isker Tatars (in West Siberia).
Tobolsk, Tyumen, and Tomsk combined provided 500 horsemen with about 15 officers.
8. Buryats (in the Trans-Baikal).
4 regiments (numbered 1 to 4) of 5 sotnias (presumably) each of 120 men and 18 officers.
9. Tungus (in the Trans-Baikal).
1 regiment of 5 sotnias with 500 men and about 15 officers.
C) Mounted Mass-Levy Formations.
Mass-levy (opolchenie) wcall-up made at the provincial level in August/September, which led to individual mass-levy regiments being named after the particular province. Simultaneously a small number of units were raised by either government officials or private persons at their own expense. Officers were mostly retired army officers or government officials, the latter with ranks equivalent to their civil-service grade. Non-commissioned officers were often called uryadniks as in the cossacks, and likewise privates were titled cossacks.
Regiments could be 5, 8, or 10 squadrons, also called sotnias. The fighting strength of a squadron was between 100 and 150 privates. Combatants in a regimental staff were 1 commander, 1 or 2 adjutants depending on the number of squadrons, 1 quartermaster, and if musicians were planned for—also a staff trumpeter (sergeant). Each regiment had 2 more field-grade officers besides the commander, assigned as either battalion (half-regiment) or squadron commander, depending on the regimental organization.
All mounted mass-levy units took part in the campaign against Napoleon after they were raised, although some set forth only in December.
Provinces succeeded in raising the following formations:
1. Moscow - 1 Mass-Levy Cavalry Regiment, of 10 squadrons. Combatant strength of a squadron consisted of 1 captain or in 2 squadrons a field-grade officer, 2 subaltern officers, 12 non-commissioned officers, 120 privates. Total authorized strength with staff (4 officers) was thus 1,354 combatants but regiment incomplete as forced to leave with the main army when it retreated through Moscow.
2. Tula - 2 Mass-levy cavalry regiments (numbered 1 & 2) and 1 mounted battery. Like the Moscow Mass-Levy Cavalry Regiment, they had 10 squadrons each.
Battery was to consist of 12 guns but by the turn of the year, only a half-battery set forth, while the other half, probably never completed!
3. Kaluga - 1 Mass-Levy Cavalry Regiment, of 10 squadrons. Organized like the Moscow Mass-Levy Cavalry Regiment
4. Ryazan- 1 Mass-Levy Cavalry Regiment, of 10 squadrons. Organized like the Moscow Mass-Levy Cavalry Regiment.
5. Smolensk - 6 mass-levy squadrons, organized like the Moscow regiment, each of 135 combatants. Raising a complete regiment did not happen due to the swift enemy advance into this province. Insofar as circumstances permitted, the districts of Beloe, Sichevka, Yukhnov, Roslavl, and Smolensk, plus the districts of Dorogobuzh, Vyazma, and Gzhatsk, all had to each raise an approximately squadron-sized mounted detachment. Because the district mass levies of this province had to operate separately and large distances were involved, their mounted detachments were never combined into a regiment.
6. Tver - 1 Mass-Levy Cavalry Regiment, of 5 squadrons. A prescribed strength like that of the Moscow Regiment but for only 5 squadrons and with one less adjutant on the staff, thus 678 combatants.
7. Yaroslav – 1 Mass-Levy Cavalry Regiment, of 5 squadrons. Organized like the Tver Regiment. Set forth in September.
8. Kostroma – 1 Mass-Levy Cavalry Regiment, of 5 squadrons. Organized like the Tver Regiment
9. Nizhnii-Novgorod - 1 Mass-Levy Cavalry Regiment, of 5 squadrons. Organized like the Tver Regiment
10. Simbirsk - 1 Mass-Levy Cavalry Regiment, of 5 squadrons. Organized like the Tver Regiment
11. Penza – 1 Mass-Levy Cavalry Regiment, of 5 squadrons. Organized like the Tver Regiment
12. Kazan - 1 Mass-levy cavalry, as an exception only 3 squadrons were formed. In other details formed like the Tver Regiment. Set forth in December.
13. St. Petersburg - 2 Mass-levy cavalry regiments, each of 5 squadrons. Prescribed combatant strength of a squadron consisted of 6 officers, 1 squadron sergeant, 9 non-commissioned officers, 2 trumpeters (non-commissioned officers), and 100 privates, the last also being called cossacks. Regiment's authorized strength was 594 combatants (including 3 officers and 1 staff-trumpeter in the regimental staff)
14. Ukraine - 4 Cossack regiments, each of 8 squadrons in 2 battalions (numbered 1 to 4). First three regiments were from Kiev Province and No. 4 from Podolia Province. Although officially designated cossacks they were in all ways mass-levy formations whose officers and men were enrolled in the same way as the rest of the mass levy. They had nothing in common with real cossack except for the name (the last remnants of the Ukrainian Cossack Host was disbanded in 1784!). To distinguish them from true cossacks they were often referred to as regular cossacks. Besides the commander each regimental staff had two other field-grade officers who served as battalion (half-regiment) commanders, but they were not given an adjutant or staff-trumpeter. Squadron comprised 4 officers, 1 squadron sergeant, 10 non-commissioned officers, 2 trumpeters (non-commissioned officers), and 150 privates, the last being called cossacks. Regimental staff: 3 field-grade officers, 2 adjutants, 1 quartermaster, and 1 staff-trumpeter. Regimental strength was 1,342 men.
15. Little-Russian - 15 Cossack regiments, each of 8 squadrons in 2 battalions. 10 regiments from Poltava Province (numbered 1 to 10) and 5 regiments from Chernigov Province (numbered 1 to 5). Prescribed strength for combatants was the same as laid down for the Ukrainian cossacks. These cossack regiments were plain mass-levy formations that were commanded exclusively by Russian officers.
16. Livonia - 1 Cossack Regiment, of 8 sotnias (squadrons), possibly in 2 battalions. Sotnias comprised 3 officers, 10 non-commissioned officers, and 100 privates; for total strength of 910 combatants. Other than name this regiment had nothing in common with cossacks!
From persons in state service there were formed:
17. Coachmen's Mass-Levy Regiment (stage and relay drivers), of 10 squadrons (sotnias) - each having 3 officers, 10 non-commissioned officers and 100 privates. Prescribed strength including staff (4 officers) was 1,134 men. Raised in October on the Czar's orders in addition to the normal mass levy in Tver Province from government stage and relay drivers. Unit appears under a number of names Tver Train Personnel, Tver Postmen, Beshentsov's Regiment, and in 1813—simply (and not entirely accurately) Tver Mass-Levy Cavalry Regiment.
18. Two squadrons of mounted forestry personnel, one each from Volhynia and Minsk. Volhynia squadron 165 men, and Minsk squadron 113 men.
The following were raised by private persons at their own cost:
19. Graf Saltykov's Hussar Regiment, raised in Moscow Province and was to comprise 10 squadrons. However, Napoleon's swift advance on Moscow interrupted the unit's formation. Personnel on hand (150 men as a result in many sources unit is called Saltykov's Squadron) joined the main army as it retreated through Moscow. In January 1813 it was incorporated into the Irkutsk Dragoon Regiment, which was converted into a hussar regiment.
20. Maj. Gen. Graf Mamonov's Lancer Regiment, raised in Moscow Province and was to comprise 5 squadrons but the formation of this regiment was interrupted by the loss of the city. The 150men on hand joined the main army and Major General Graf Mamonov transferred to the regular cavalry. At this time the regiment’s few men were sent to the cavalry reserve where the unit could be filled out. Regiment eventually 600 strong.
21. von Skarzinski's Cossack Squadron, raised in Kherson Province, modeled on a Ukraine cossack squadron with 169 combatants. Another unit whose only thing in common with cossacks was the name.
22. Simbirsk, Kostroma, and Penza each formed a mass-levy reserve cavalry regiment (of 5 squadrons for Simbirsk Province and 3 squadrons for the other two). None of this mass-levy reserve ever went into service, no more so than the voluntarily raised mass-levy of some other provinces such as Kharkov with 1 cavalry regiment possibly formed and Kursk with 7 cavalry regiments, each to have been of 10 squadrons. None of these formations appeared during the campaign against France into 1814, and their actual raising is doubtful.
D) Volunteer corps raised against Napoleon.
Lieutenant Colonel Diebitsch’s force [otryad Podpolkovnikova Dibicha], raised September/October 1812 from willing deserters of various nationalities. Reached strength of 3 sotnias (squadrons) and disbanded at start of November. Czar granted Diebitsch petition for the German volunteers to being placed back under his command. Unit incorporated into the Russo-German Legion in 1813.
Schmidt's Volunteer Horse-Jäger Corps, usually called just Schmidt's Volunteer Regiment or Freikorps, raised in the fall of 1812 from Livonians with 3 sotnias each of 10 non-commissioned officers and 100 privates, there being a total of about 15 officers.
Col. Figner's corps raised during the 1813 truce at Fraustadt near Glogau in Silesia from Italian and Spanish deserters, achieved a strength of 150 mounted men..
Russo-German Legion, first raised in 1813, included two hussar regiments, was never classed with the cossacks!
Russian Regimental Names
Reply With Quote
skov, Moscow, Libau, and Sofiya Infantry, and 36th and 11th Jägers.
