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Russian Pandur Hussars (part one)
Introduction Russian regular army in the SYW was mono-national, with the only exception for light cavalry, consisted of regiments of Pandur Hussars. They were raised from Serbs, Hungarians, Georgians, Wallachians & Moldavians. To explain their origins I have to make a brief excursion to the 1730-ths. During the War 1736-39 with Turkey, many volunteers from Orthodox countries (Serbia, Moldavia, Wallachia & Georgia) entered Russian service & raised numerous volunteer troops of light cavalry, commonly named Hussars. When the War ended, most of them wished to stay in Russia, because they were from countries stayed under Turkey rule & couldn't return home. They were allowed to stay in Russia & were suggested either to enlist Russian regular army or to settle in the Southern regions of Ukraine. This predetermined the following development of Pandur troops in Russia: some of them became a part of the regular army, other formed settled military like Austrian Grenz military.  Georgian , Yellow,, Hungarian Moldavian and Serbian Hussars Regular Hussar regiments On October 14, 1741 Princess Anna Leopoldovna of Braunschweig-Lunenburg, who ruled Russia from November 11, 1740 to November 25, 1741, authorized the raising of 4 Hussar regiments from natives who had remained in Russia: Serbskiy (Serbian) Moldavskiy (Moldavian) Vengerskiy (Hungarian) Gruzinskiy (Georgian) They were raised from above-mentioned various Hussar companies, converted to regular service after the War 1736-39. This regiments were enlisted, not conscripted as the rest of Russian army, & were on a level between regular and irregular cavalry. Hussars were recruited only from the title nation, i.e. this regiments were national units on Russian service: all troops (incl. officers) were national and commands were given in the national languages. Each regiment was supposed to have a fixed organization of 10 companies, each of about 100 men, but these regiments were recruited from different sources, so they were less then authorized strength. Later in 1759-60 3 more Hussar regiments were raised: Zeltiy (Yellow) Makedonskiy (Macedonian) Bolgarskiy (Bulgarian) but completed was only Yellow Hussars, & they took part in the final actions of the SYW. Pandur Hussars took active part in the SYW, for details see Regimental histories. Uniform & equipment I have not found the exact date when the Hussars received their first uniform regulation. I believe it was about 1741-42 and dated from first years of the reign of Empress Elizabeth. Nevertheless, Viskovatov in "Historical description..." (Vol. 3, p. 56) gives a detailed description of their uniform and equipment. Russian Hussars received uniform like Austrian one. Uniform. Pelisse: short cloth jacket without collar, decorated with cords and buttons. Pelisse was trimmed with black fur & was usually worn over the left shoulder. It was worn as a jacket only in inclement weather. Dolman: cloth jacket with small stand-up collar, decorated with cords and buttons. The Dolman was bordered with lace of the same colour with cords. Usually it was belted with Kushak, a wide barrel sash. It had two parts: the base barrel sash & some vertical barrels. They were of different colors. As a rule, vertical parts were the same color with cords & lace. Chashkirry: tight, cloth breeches decorated with cords. Epancha: a kind of cloak used in Russian army. It reached mid-calf. The Epancha was worn in cold and inclement weather. Black cloth cravat. Tsipely: short leather boots, as a rule black. All buttons on the dress were copper. Shako: a fur head-dress decorated with cords, with the top of the regimental color. Equipment. Broadsword or sabre: worn in leather sheath with metal fittingd. The sheath was carried on a special belt, called a Pasak. It was hidden under Kushak. Sabretache: leather with a cloth cover. It was suspended from 3 straps on the left side, and dangled about knee. It was decorated with monogram and bordered with lace of the same color as the monogram. A short Fusil or Carbine with bayonet. Baldric was worn over the left shoulder and Cartridge-box over right shoulder. All cross belts were made of black leather. Mounted Hussars also had a pair of pistols carried in the saddle holsters. Non-commissioned officers (corporals, quartermasters, vakhmeisters) had the same uniform and armament as the other ranks but wool lace changed to gold. All non-commission officers had one braid on the border of the collar. Quartermasters also had one braid on sleeves & vakhmeister (senior corporal in Pandur units) &endash; two. Corporals did not have any special distinctions, except the braid on the collar. Hussars non-commission officers were armed with a sabre & a pare of pistols. Their equipment consisted of a sabretache & pistol cartouche. Hussar officer wore the same uniform like other ranks but better decorated. All cords & lace were gold in spite of the regimental color. Tsipely were yellow. They were armed with sabre & a pare of pistols. Hussars did not powder and plait their hair. Usually they grew it in long curls and wore long hanging moustaches. Each regiment had 1 kettle-drummer & 10 trumpeters, one for each company. They changed from other Hussars by small wings on shoulders & galloon of different colors. Unfortunately, this decorations were not regulated punctually & images of Hussars musicians didn't saved. All musical instruments were made from copper in regular cavalry pattern and decorated with lace & cords of the regimental color. First immigrants from Balkans settled in the southern regions of the Russia & Ukraine since 1720-ths, but main flow was in 1740-ths after Belgrad Peace of 1739. Serbia fell into hands of Muslim Turkey & many Serb families moved to the Orthodox Russia. They established national settlements in the Southern Ukraine & in 1751-52 gained an administrative & military autonomy from Russian officials. There were 2 Serbian districts: Novaia Serbia (New Serbia) on the right bank of Dnepr. Administrative centre - Novomirgorod. Leader - Horvat, the former lieutenant-colonel of Austrian service. Slaviano-Serbia (Slavian Serbia) on the left bank of Dnepr Russian Serbs were organized like Austrian Grenz infantry. Novaia Serbia had to provide 2 Pandur (Foot) & 2 Hussar regiments. Foot regiments were of 5 Grenadier & 15 Pandur (Musketeer) companies each. I don't find individual names of this regiments, probably they were named 1-st & 2-nd. 2 Hussar regiments, Horvat & Novo-serbskiy (New Serbian), were of 20 Hussar companies. Later an independent garrison battalion in Novomirgorod was raised. It was of 1 Grenadier & 3 Pandur companies. Slaviano-Serbia provided only 2 Hussar regiments, each of 20 companies, named after colonels: Shevich & Preradovich. Uniform The uniform of the settled Pandurs was not regulated punctually. They did not belong to the regular army & information about them is desultory. They were regulated & managed by local officials & I haven't found any information about them in the open state archives (Most of archives in Russia are still closed for readers). Viscovatov in the "Historical description..." (Vol. 3, p. 60) gave a little information about Settled Hussars but described Foot Pandurs in details. After Viscovatov New Serbian Hussars (both Horvat & New Serbian regiments) had the same uniform as Moldavian field Hussar regiment. About Slavian Serbian troops he wrote that their uniform was not regulated during reign of Empress Elizabeth. In the later descriptions of the Russian uniforms their description was omitted. Pandur infantry uniform Russian Pandur infantry had a uniform and armament like Austrian Grenz infantry. They were organized in two settled regiments and one garrison battalion. These units had different colors of uniform and I will describe them separately.
Settled Pandur regiments Each regiment consisted of 5 Grenadier and 15 Pandur, or Musketeer, companies. Viscovatov gave the same colors for these regiments, but Grenadiers and Musketeers had some differences in uniform and equipment. Private of Musketeer company. Uniform. Gunetz: long, black coat with red cuffs, lace and cords. Brusluk: green jacket (vest), with red lace and cords. Chashikirry: tight, red breeches. Kushak: a wide, red barrel sash. Tsipely: black boots, yellow for parade. Shako: black, in Hussar style, but higher and tighter, without cords. It was decorated in front with cooper plate bearing the Russian Arms. Epancha: a red cloak. Armament. Sabre: short carried in a black leather sheath. The hilt was cooper. Pasak: black leather sword-belt with cooper fittings. Fusil: infantry pattern, without bayonet. Cartridge-box. Grenadiers had the same armament and uniform as the Musketeers but carried a grenade-box instead of a cartridge-box. A small cartridge box was worn on the waist belt. In addition they had a large plate on the headgear with a monogram of the Empress and a prospect of New Serbia. NCO's had the same uniform and armament as the other ranks but with tight gold braid on the cuffs. Quartermasters had one braid, vakhmeister (senior corporal in Pandur units) &endash; two. Corporals did not have any distinctions. Officers wore another kind of coat, called a Kaput. It was green, with red cuffs. Brusluk and Chashkirry were red. Cords and lace were gold. Tsipely (boots) were yellow. Officers were armed with sabre and a pair of pistols. Drummers and fifers had the same uniform as the other ranks, but with small wings on the shoulders.
It consisted of 1 Grenadier and 3 Musketeer companies. They had the same uniform and armament as the other Pandur infantry, but differed in colours. Soldiers and NCO's had following colors: Gunetz - light blue, with red cuffs, lace & cords; Brusluk & Chashkirry &endash; red, with light blue cords & lace; Kushak &endash; light blue; Epancha &endash; red. Officers: Kaput &endash; light blue with red cuffs; Brusluk & Chashkirry &endash; red; Kushak &endash; black with gold; all cords & lace were gold.
Vlad Gromoboy 
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