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Russian
Auxiliary Corps
in Saxon Service 1704-1706
As a
consequence of the Saxon army's setbacks in Poland the Russian tsar promised
to assist the Saxon elector August the Strong with an auxiliary corps of 12
000 men. A corps numbering 10 000 men commanded by Johann Reinhold von
Patkul also arrived to the theatre of war in 1704 when they conquered Warsaw
and laid siege on Posen (Poznan). But it retreated to Saxony when the
Swedish main army approached. A Cossack force of 1 200 man on foot was
destroyed by the Swedes when they did not manage to cross the river Oder in
time. In Saxony the corps, now only 6 000 men strong, reorganised and later
took part in the battle of Fraustadt 1706. There they suffered a
catastrophic defeat with over 4 000 men killed. The remains of the corps
were merged into a single Regiment which would join the Russian main army.
The information I have on the auxiliary corps in the tables below come from
Vlad Velikanov's blog
Oderint dum probent and Oskar Sjöström's book "Fraustadt 1706 -
Ett fält färgat rött". Velikanov's notes refer to 14 June 1704 when the
corps left Kiev to join the Saxons while Sjöström has focused on 1706.
Between these dates a reorganisation of the corps occurred in Saxony which
explains the different lists of regiments.
According to Höglund/Bespalov
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According to Vlad Velikanov
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According to Oskar Sjöström
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1704 |
Battalions |
Strength |
1704 |
Battalions |
Strength |
1706 |
Battalions |
|
Biltz |
2 |
800 |
Bils |
9 |
956 |
Bilits |
1 |
|
Leviston |
1 |
310 |
Lewinston |
9 |
979 |
Schöpping |
1 |
|
Romanovski |
2 |
696 |
Romanowskiy |
9 |
895 |
Arnstedt |
1 |
|
Kahovski (streltsy) |
1 |
500 |
Kakhowskiy (streltsy) |
4 |
438 |
Cadeus (streltsy) |
1 (400 men) |
|
Danilov (streltsy) |
1 |
500 |
Danilov |
8 |
910 |
|
|
Kanishev |
2 |
1000 |
|
|
Nelidov |
2 |
1000 |
Nelidov |
8 |
865 |
|
Goltz |
1 |
400 |
Gulits |
8 |
937 |
Gulitz |
1 |
|
Hertigen av Holstein |
2 |
800 |
Holstein |
9 |
985 |
Holstein |
1 |
E. von Delden
(Hallart 1706) |
2 |
700 |
Herman Deldin |
8 |
919 |
|
|
Kro |
2 |
800 |
Krikowskiy |
8 |
942 |
|
Buturlin |
1 |
300 |
Baturyn |
8 |
972 |
|
von Patkul |
2 |
1000 |
|
Patkul |
3 (including a grenadier battalion) |
|
Belikov (Belling) |
1 |
400 |
Belling |
1 |
| |
|
Polentz |
2 |
800 |
|
Sytin |
1 |
350 |
|
Dedyt |
1 |
300 |
|
SUM |
26 battalions,
over 10 600
men
plus officers and NCOs |
SUM
|
88 companies,
9 798 men plus
54 man in the
corps staff |
SUM |
10 battalions,
6 300 men |
| |
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= Regiments that according to Höglund/Bespalov and Vlad
Velikanov were raised in 1700 and had experience of campaigns against
Sweden. |
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= Streltsy regiment (according to Höglund(Bespalov from
Smolensk). |
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= According to Vlad Velikanov, these regiments were
raised in Sevsk in the autumn of
1703. According to Höglund/Bespalov they were raised in Sevsk in 1700
except Holstein which was raised in Moscow in 1703, but most of the men
were former streltsies and Danilov was still a streltsy regiment. |
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= Raised in Moscow during the winter of 1703-04. |
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= According to Vlad Velikanov, Baturyn consisted of
recruits.
Höglund/Bespalov has no information about Buturlin, which I assume is
the same regiment. |
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= I have no information about the creation of these
regiments. |
The 1 800 Russians who survived the battle of Fraustadt and
escaped captivity created a new regiment (3 battalions) led by Rentzel.
This then found their way to Russia and participated in the
Poltava campaign. It received the provincial name of Suzdalski. 1718.
Because
of this I chose not to report Höglund's descriptions of the auxiliary corps' uniforms.
But regardless of the accuracy of this data it is actually not particularly
relevant for the battle of Fraustadt.
Only
Höglund/Bespalov mention the uniforms of each regiments and these are
described on this page.
But these description are not particularly relevant for the battle of
Fraustadt. During its stay in Saxony the
auxiliary corps was reorganised in such manner that the number of regiments
was reduced. It is likely that several regiments then received white coats
with red facings. The sources have however conflicting information whether
the Russians had green or white coats at Fraustadt. But one source says that
they had both and that seems most likely to be true. In any way, from the
Swedish point of view at Fraustadt the Russians would have appeared as if
they were wearing red coats. The Saxon commander von Schulenburg had
actually ordered the Russians to turn their uniforms inside out so that they
would look like Saxons.
There are also pages covering the
Saxons and
Swedes in the battle of Fraustadt. |
