Russian army at the end of the reign of Empress Anna (1693-1740)
Empress of all Russia 04.03.1730 - 17.10.1740

by Vlad Gromoboy

Russian Empress Anna died on October 17, 1740. At the end of her reign Russian army consisted of:


Below are given the names of the Russian regiments. As a rule, they were named after Russian towns or provinces. Exceptions are Guard & Butyrskiy infantry regiments, named after small suburbs of Moscow, & Cuirassier regiments, named after mestre-de-camps. For other regiments are given the names of towns & provinces, this regiments named after. Adjectives are made in Russian language by addition of ending -skiy (or -sky, some variants are possible) to the noun, for example: Kiev - Kievskiy regiment. Exceptions from this rule are given in the brackets.

 

Guard - 4 regiments

… Horse Guard (5 squadrons)

… Preobrazenskiy Lieb-Guard (4 bat.)

… Semenovskiy Leib-Guard (3 bat.)

… Izmailovskiy Leib-Guard (3 bat.)

Musketeer regiments - 38

… Ingermland

… Butyrskiy

… 1-st Moscow

… 2-nd Moscow

… Kiev

… Troitsk

… Sankt-Peterburg

… Vladimir

… Novgorod

… Schlisselburg

… Kazan

… Siberia (Sibyrskiy reg.)

… Pskov

… Smolensk

… Azov

… Voronej

… Nizniy Novgorod (Nizegorodskiy reg.)

… Chernigov

… Riazan

… Suzdal

… Rostov

… Velikie Luky (Velikolutskiy reg.)

… Arkhangelsk (Arkhangelogorodskiy reg.)

… Yaroslavl

… Perm

… Viatsk (Viatskiy reg.)

… Vologda

… Narva

… Tobolsk

… Neva (Nevskiy reg.)

… Koporie (Koporskiy reg.)

… Vyborg

… Uglich (Uglitskiy reg.)

… Ladoga (Ladozskiy reg.)

… Belozersk

… Murom

Cuirassier regiments - 3

… Lieb

… Field Marshal Minih

… Prince v. Braunshveig

Dragoon regiments - 29

… Kazan

… Moscow

… Troitsk

… Kiev

… Vladimir

… Sankt-Peterburg

… Novgorod

… Astrakhan

… Siberia (Sibyrskiy reg.)

… Pskov

… Tver

… Perm

… Viatka (Viatskiy reg.)

… Nizniy Novgorod (Nizegorodskiy reg.)

… Riazan

… Rostov

… Arkhangelsk (Arkhangelogorodskiy reg.)

… Azov

… Ingermland

… Lutsk

… Vologda

… Narva

… Olonetc

… Yamburg

… Kargopol

… Tobolsk

… Novotroitsk

… Riga

3 companies of Georgian Hussars.

This units were raised from volunteers joined Russian army during the War with Turkey 1736-39. Numerous irregular units, formed from Slavs of the Orthodox faith, were transformed to the regular Russian service after the end of hostilities. This 3 companies were enrolled in 1739-40, other in 1741 (see below).

Ostzeiskiy garrison infantry - 20 regiments

"Ostzeiskiy" means "north-western". This garrison units were stationed in the Baltic region. They garrisoned fortresses along the western frontier of Russia.

Inner garrison infantry - 35 regiments & 3 separate battalions

Inner garrison troops were used for the most part for the police duties in the inner regions of Russia.

Garrison dragoons - 7 regiments & 1 separate squadron (in Moscow)

Ukrainian Landmilitia - 20 horse regiments

Landmilitia were settled military on the southern border of Russia in Ukraine.

Zakamskaia Landmilitia 3 horse & 1 foot regiments

The same as above but settled in Orenburg region near river Kama.

Nizovoi Corps - 12 Musketeer regiments

… Apsheron

… Derbent

… Dagestan

… Salian

… Baku

… Shirvan

… Kabarda

… Nasheburg

… Nizovsk

… Kurinsk

… Tengin

… Navaginsk

Nizovoi Corps was formed for garrison duties in provinces of Dagestan & Azerbaijan, captured by Russia from Persia in 1722. This units formed a separate Corps of Russian Army.

Malorussian Cossacks - 10 regiments

Malorussian Cossacks were the former Ukrainian Cossacks. They saved their military & administrative organization.

Enlisted Ukranian Cossacks, called "companeiskiy" - 3 regiments.

Slobodian Cossacks - 5 regiments

Slobodian Cossacks differed from Malorussian only in some details. They lived in the Southern regions of the Russia (Muskovia), not Ukraine.

Artillery regiment (1 bombardier & 6 gunners companies)

Siege Corps (1 bombardier & 3 gunners companies)

Mecklenburg Corps

This unit appeared in Russia in 1719. The duke of Mecklenburg Karl Leopold was married to niece of Peter the Great, & when in 1719 hostilities between Russia & Great Britain began, his duchy was occupied by British forces. The duke with his military forces about 1 900 men run to Russia. All Mecklenburg troops were stationed (settled) in the Ukraine. This Corps didn't have any stable organization or strength. Its staff is unknown.

Detachment of Serbian Hussars

A unit of light cavalry formed from Serbian natives. Its staff wasn't fixed & depended on the available volunteers. During the War 1736-39 the Detachment expanded to several companies & later was increased to the Hussar regiment


All infantry regiments (field, garrison, Nizovoi Corps & foot regiment of Zakamskaia Landmilitia) were of 8 fusilier companies strong. Each company included 16 Grenadiers.

Dragoon regiments (field & garrison), horse regiments of Landmilitia were of 10 fusilier companies strong. Each company included 10 Grenadiers.

Horse Guard & Cuirassier regiments consisted of 5 squadrons (10 companies).

All field regiments (infantry & dragoons) had an artillery detachment.