Non-commissioned officers. Non-commissioned officers of the Russian army
Junior officers. As a rule distinguished soldiers.
Most are former peasants, not all are literate, it is those who raised the soldiers to attack by personal example.
According to the tactics of the battle of those years, they went on the attack with a chain, with an attached bayonet, catching bullets and shrapnel with their chests. Among them are many of the Cossack families, many trained in Cossack combat, scouts with the skills of trackers, camouflage skills.
It is noticeable that they feel insecure in front of the lens, although most of them had to see enemy guns. Many have awards of St. George's crosses (the highest military award of military prowess for lower ranks and soldiers). I propose to look at these simple and honest faces.
On the left is a senior non-commissioned officer of the 8th company of the 92nd Pechora infantry regiment of the 23rd infantry division Mikhail Petrov
Senior non-commissioned officer of the 12th Starodubovsky Dragoon Regiment (or non-commissioned officer rank rider
Vasilevsky Semyon Grigorievich (02/01/1889-?). Senior non-commissioned officer L.-Guards. 3rd Infantry E.V. Regiment. From the peasants of the Samara province, Buzuluk district, Lobazinsky volost, the village of Perevozinka. He graduated from the parochial school in the village of Perevozinka. Called for service in 1912 in the Leningrad Guards. 3rd Strelkovy E.V. regiment. In the regiment he listened to the course of the training team. Awards - St. George's Cross 4th Art. No. 82051. and St. George medal No. 508671. On the same sheet there are inscriptions in pencil “G. Cr. III Art. Presented to G. Cross. II and I degrees. Above the text is a handwritten inscription in pencil “Write down the number of crosses of the 3rd, 2nd and 1st st.” and a resolution in two lines: “Verified. / Sh-K. Ko... (inaudible)
The grenadier is the one who during the assault threw the enemy with hand grenades.
Non-commissioned officer of the 8th Grenadier Moscow Grand Duke of Mecklenburg - Schwerin Friedrich - Franz IV Regiment, in winter dress uniform of the 1913 model. The non-commissioned officer is dressed in a marching uniform with a fastened dark green collar and a yellow lapel. A non-commissioned officer galloon is sewn along the upper edge of the collar. Peacetime shoulder straps, yellow with light blue piping. On shoulder straps the monogram of the chief of the regiment of the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg - Schwerin is applied. On the left side of the chest, attached to the marching uniform, a regimental badge for the lower ranks, approved in 1910. On the lapel - a sign for excellent shooting from a rifle of the 3rd degree and a medal: in memory of the 100th anniversary of the Patriotic War of 1812 on the Vladimir ribbon (1912), in memory of the 300th anniversary of the reign of the Romanov dynasty (1913) on the ribbon state colors. Approximate shooting period 1913-1914
Senior non-commissioned officer, telegraph operator, Cavalier of the St. George Cross, 4th degree.
Art. non-commissioned officer Sorokin F.F.
Glumov, senior non-commissioned officer of the Life Guards of the Finnish Regiment.
Selected military units designed to protect the person and residence of the monarch
Zhukov Ivan Vasilyevich (05/08/1889-?). Junior non-commissioned officer L.-Guards. Keksgolmsky regiment. From the peasants of the Kaluga province, Medynsky district, Nezamaevsky volost, the village of Lavinno. He studied at the parochial school in the village of Dunino. Called for military service in 1912 in the Leningrad Guards. Kexholm regiment. He served in the 5th company, and since 1913 - in the machine gun team. He was awarded the St. George medal of the 4th class, as well as two St. George's crosses of the 4th class. No. 2385, 3rd st. No. 5410, medals "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Patriotic War of 1812", "In Commemoration of the 300th Anniversary of the House of Romanov" and "For Works on the Mobilization of 1914". Signs on the left side of the chest: L.-Guards. Keksholmsky regiment and “In memory of the 200th anniversary of the L.-Guards. Keksholmsky regiment.
From wealthy peasants, if he received a home education.
Stetsenko Grigory Andreevich (1891-?). Junior non-commissioned officer L.-Guards. 2nd Infantry Tsarskoye Selo Regiment. From the peasants of the Kharkov province, Kupyansky district, Svatovolutsk volost, Kovalevka farm. Home education. Called for service in the fall of 1911 in the Leningrad Guards. 2nd Tsarskoye Selo Rifle Regiment. All the time he served in the L.-Guards. 2nd Rifle Regiment of Tsarskoye Selo, only at the beginning of mobilization in 1914 - he served in the Preobrazhensky Regiment for two months. Awarded with St. George's medals of the 4th class. No. 51537, 3rd st. No. 17772, 2nd st. No. 12645, 1st st. No. 5997, St. George's crosses of the 4th class. No. 32182 and 3rd Art. No. 4700, Presented to the St. George Crosses of the 2nd and 1st Art.
Efremov Andrei Ivanovich (27.11.1888-?). Junior non-commissioned officer L.-Guards. Kexholm regiment. From the peasants of the Kazan province, the Sviyazhsky district, the Shirdan volost, the village of Vizovy. Competent sailor by occupation. He was called up for military service on November 2, 1912 in the Leningrad Guards. Kexholm regiment. He has two St. George's crosses of the 4th century. No. 3767 and 3rd Art. No. 41833. On the left side of the chest, the badge of the L.-Guards. Kexholm regiment
Gusev Kharlampiy Matveyevich (02/10/1887-?). Junior non-commissioned officer of the 187th Avar Infantry Regiment. From the peasants of the Kharkov province, the Starobelsky district, the Novo-Aidar volost, the village of Novo-Aidar. Before the service - a laborer. On July 1, 1914, he was called up from the reserve and enrolled in the 187th Avar Infantry Regiment. (From recruitment, he served in the 203rd Sukhum Infantry Regiment, from which he was transferred to the reserve on November 12, 1910). In February 1916 he was enlisted in the 3rd Reserve Infantry Regiment. He was awarded the St. George Cross 4th Art. No. 414643.
Porfiry Panasyuk. He was taken prisoner by the Germans and tortured.
The Germans cut off his ear piece by piece. He said nothing, according to the press about this case.
Alexey Makukha.
On March 21 / April 3, 1915, during one of the battles in Bukovina, the Austrians managed to capture one of the Russian fortifications defended by the fighters of the Caspian regiment. During this battle, which preceded the shelling of our position by enemy artillery, almost all the defenders of the fortification were killed or wounded. Among the latter was the telephonist Alexei Makukha. Hoping to get valuable information about the location of our troops on this sector of the front from the Russian telephone operator, who had access to valuable information by the nature of his service, the Austrians took him prisoner and interrogated him. But just like Porfiry Panasyuk, Makukha refused to tell his enemies anything.
The stubbornness of the Russian telephone operator pissed off the Austrian officers, and from abuse and threats they turned to torture. One of the pre-revolutionary publications describes what happened next: “The officers threw him face down on the ground and twisted his hands behind his back. Then one of them sat down on him, and the other, turning his head back, opened his mouth with a dagger-bayonet and, stretching out his tongue with his hand, cut him twice with this dagger. Blood gushed out of Makukha's mouth and nose...
Since the prisoner mutilated by them could no longer speak, the Austrians lost all interest in him. And soon, during a successful bayonet counterattack by the Russian troops, the Austrians were driven out of the fortification they had captured, and non-commissioned officer Alexei Makukha was again among his own. At first, the hero could not speak and eat at all? the operator's cut tongue dangled from a thin bridge, and his larynx was swollen with bruises. Makukha was hurriedly sent to the infirmary, where the doctors performed a complex operation, suturing him on a wound inflicted on 3/4 of his tongue.
When the press reported about the torments endured by the Russian telephone operator, was there no limit to the indignation of the Russian society? everyone expressed their admiration for the courage of the hero and was indignant at the atrocities committed by the representatives of the "cultured nation". The Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich, expressed personal gratitude to the hero, promoted him to junior non-commissioned officer, awarded him all the degrees of the St. George Cross and 500 rubles at once, asking the Sovereign to assign Makukha a double pension. Emperor Nicholas II supported the presentation of the Grand Duke, and the junior non-commissioned officer Makukha "as an exemption from the law" upon dismissal from military service was given a pension of 518 rubles 40 kopecks. in year.
Non-commissioned officer of the 10th Novgorod Dragoon Regiment. 1915
Cavalry non-commissioned officer
Vasily Petrovich Simonov, senior non-commissioned officer of the 71st Belevsky Infantry Regiment, platoon
non-commissioned officers - commanding lower ranks. During the initial formation of regular armies, there was no sharp difference between officers and U.-officers. The production of the latter to the first officer rank was carried out in the usual order of movement along the hierarchical ladder. A sharp edge appeared later, when the nobility achieved the replacement of the posts of captains and their assistants exclusively by the nobles. Such a rule was established for the first time in France, first for the cavalry, and then (in 1633) for the infantry. Under Friedrich Wilhelm I, it was adopted in Prussia, where it received a strictly consistent application, partly as a measure of material support for the nobility. The class line between officers and commanders from the lower ranks fell in France during the revolutionary period, in Prussia - after 1806. In the 19th century. another foundation was put forward, on which even now rests a no less sharp difference between officers and U.-officers - the degree of general and special military education. Activities U.-officer. not independent, but the importance of a good cadre of them is very great, since they live with their subordinates a common barracks life, under the same conditions and the same environment, and in age and level of development differ little from the rank and file. U.-officers, according to the apt expression of A. Rediger, are technicians, artisans of military affairs. The reduction of the terms of compulsory military service, brought everywhere to 2-5 years, has created the so-called U.-officer question, which is now of concern to all states. On the one hand, the number of reliable, practically trained U. officers, with frequent changes in the contingent, has become smaller, on the other hand, the need for them has increased due to the difficulty of making a combat soldier out of a recruit in a relatively short time. The most common means of resolving it is the involvement of U. officers in overtime service (see Extended service), but it can hardly resolve it completely: experience shows that, despite all the measures taken, the number of U. officers remaining on extended service in the army is far from enough. The same short service life, in connection with the complication of military equipment, was the reason for the formation of U.-officer schools, occupying a middle place between military units and educational institutions; young people who have passed them are obliged to remain in the service of U.-officers for longer periods than if they had entered the conscription. There are 8 such schools in Germany (6 Prussian, 1 Bavarian and 1 Saxon); each constitutes a battalion in combat terms (from 2 to 4 companies); hunters aged 17 to 20 are accepted; three-year course; the best pupils are released into the troops of U. -officers, less successful - corporals; those who have completed school are required to remain in the service for 4 years (instead of two years). In Germany, there are also preparatory U.-officer schools, with a two-year course, from where pupils are transferred to one of the above 8 schools. In France, the name U.-officer schools was given to educational institutions that prepare U.-officers for promotion to officers (corresponding to our cadet schools). For the preparation of U.-officers proper, there are 6 preparatory schools, 400 - 500 students in each; graduates are required to serve 5 years; are made in U.-officers not at the time of graduation, but upon awarding the combatant authorities. In Russia, the training U.-officer battalion has a similar character (see). U. officer schools nowhere satisfy the entire need for U. officers (even in Germany they are only one-third of the pupils of the schools). The main mass receives training in the troops, where training teams are formed for this purpose (see). U. officers in all armies have several degrees: in Germany - sergeant major, vice sergeant major, sergeant and U. officer; in Austria - sergeant major, platoon U.-officer and corporal; in France - adjutant, sergeant major and U. officer (there are also corporals - in the cavalry brigadiers, but they correspond to corporals); in Italy - senior furier, furier and sergeant; in England - sergeant major, sergeant and junior sergeant. In Russia, since 1881, the U.-officer rank was awarded only to the lower ranks of the combatant; for non-combatants it has been replaced by the rank of non-combatant senior rank. In the ground forces of the 3rd degree: sergeant major (in the cavalry sergeant major), platoon and junior U.-officers (in the artillery - fireworks, among the Cossacks - sergeants). In the navy: boatswain, sergeant major (on the shore), boatswain, quartermaster, artillery, mine, machine and fireman U.-officers, quartermaster galvanizer, musician U.-officer. and others. The number of U. officers per company varies: in Germany 14, in France and Austria 9, in Russia 7, in England 5, in Italy 4. The main conditions for production in U.-officer. according to current Russian legislation: serving in the rank of private for at least the established period (for those who are on a total service life of 1 year 9 months, for volunteers and those on a reduced term - much less) and passing the course of a regimental training team or passing a test with it. An exception is production for military distinction; in addition, in hunting teams (in the infantry) and in scout teams (in the cavalry) there may be one U. from the training team that did not complete the course. Proceedings in U. are carried out by the authority of the commander of a regiment or other separate unit, deprivation of a rank - by court or disciplinary procedure, by the authority of the head of a division. The title of U. does not create any estate rights and advantages and exempts from corporal punishment only for the time of being in it. Privates punished for theft, equally subjected to corporal punishment, cannot be promoted to U.-officers.
Wed A. Rediger, "Manning and organization of the armed force" (Part I); his own, "The non-commissioned officer question in the main European armies"; Lobko, Notes of the Military Administration.
It was for half a century the main source of replenishment of the officer corps. Peter I considered it necessary that every officer should certainly begin military service from its very first steps - as an ordinary soldier. This was especially true for the nobles, for whom lifelong service to the state was mandatory, and traditionally it was military service. Decree of February 26, 1714
Peter I forbade the promotion to officers of those nobles "who do not know the fundamentals of soldiering" and did not serve as soldiers in the guard. This ban did not apply to soldiers "from ordinary people" who, having "served for a long time", received the right to an officer's rank - they could serve in any units (76). Since Peter believed that the nobles should start serving precisely in the guards, the entire private and non-commissioned officers of the guards regiments in the first decades of the 18th century. consisted exclusively of nobles. If during the Northern War the nobles served as privates in all regiments, then the decree to the President of the Military Collegium dated June 4, 1723 stated that, under pain of a court, “except for the guards, do not write anywhere for noble children and foreign officers.” However, after Peter this rule was not respected, and the nobles began to serve as privates and in army regiments. However, the guard for a long time became the forge of officer cadres for the entire Russian army.
Service of the nobility until the mid-30s. 18th century was indefinite, every nobleman who reached the age of 16 was enlisted in the troops as a private for subsequent promotion to officers. In 1736, a manifesto was issued allowing one of the landowner's sons to stay at home "to look after the villages and save money", while the service life of the rest was limited. Now it was prescribed “all gentry from 7 to 20 years of age to be in the sciences, and from 20 years old to use in military service and everyone should serve in military service from 20 years of age of his 25 years, and after 25 years of all ... dismiss with an increase in one rank and let them go to their homes, and who among them voluntarily wishes to serve more, give them to their will.
In 1737, registration was introduced for all minors (this was the official name for young nobles who had not reached military age) over 7 years old. At the age of 12, they were assigned a test to find out what they were studying and to determine who wanted to go to school. At the age of 16, they were called to St. Petersburg and, after checking their knowledge, they determined their fate. Those who had sufficient knowledge could immediately enter the civil service, and the rest were allowed to go home with the obligation to continue their education, but at the age of 20 they were obliged to appear in the Heraldry (in charge of the personnel of nobles and officials) to be assigned to military service (except for those) who remained for housekeeping on the estate; this was determined at a review in St. Petersburg). Those who remained untrained by the age of 16 were recorded as sailors without the right to serve as officers. And whoever received a thorough education acquired the right to an accelerated promotion to officers (77).
The head of the division promoted to officers for vacancies after an examination in the service by balloting, that is, elections by all officers of the regiment. At the same time, it was required that the officer candidate had a certificate with a recommendation signed by the regiment's society. Both nobles and soldiers and non-commissioned officers from other classes, including peasants recruited into the army by recruitment, could be made officers - the law did not establish any restrictions here. Naturally, the nobles, who received an education before entering the army (even if it was at home - it could be of very high quality in some cases), were produced first of all.
In the middle of the XVIII century. among the upper part of the nobility, the practice of enrolling their children in the regiments as soldiers at a very early age and even from birth, which allowed them to rise in ranks without undergoing active service, and by the time they entered the actual service in the troops to be not ordinary, but already have a non-commissioned officer and even officer rank. These attempts were observed even under Peter I, but he resolutely suppressed them, making exceptions only for those closest to him as a sign of special mercy and in the rarest cases (in subsequent years this was also limited to isolated facts). For example, in 1715, Peter ordered that the five-year-old son of his favorite G.P. Chernyshev, Peter, be appointed as a soldier in the Preobrazhensky Regiment, and seven years later he was appointed chamber-page in the rank of lieutenant-captain at the court of the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein. In 1724, the son of Field Marshal Prince M. M. Golitsyn, Alexander, was enrolled as a soldier in the guard at birth, and by the age of 18 he was already the captain of the Preobrazhensky Regiment. In 1726, A. A. Naryshkin was promoted to midshipman of the fleet at the age of 1 year, in 1731, Prince D. M. Golitsyn became an ensign of the Izmailovsky regiment at 11 years old (78). However, in the middle of the XVIII century. such cases have become more widespread.
The publication of the manifesto "On the Liberty of the Nobility" on February 18, 1762 could not but have a very significant effect on the order of promotion to officers. If earlier the nobles were obliged to serve as long as the recruit soldiers - 25 years, and, naturally, they sought to get the rank of officer as quickly as possible (otherwise they would have had to remain privates or non-commissioned officers for 25 years), now they could not to serve at all, and the army was theoretically in danger of being left without an educated officer cadre. Therefore, in order to attract the nobles to military service, the rules for the production of the first officer rank were changed in such a way as to legally establish the advantage of the nobles upon reaching the officer rank.
In 1766, the so-called "colonel's instruction" was issued - rules for regiment commanders on the order of rank production, according to which the term for the production of non-commissioned officers was determined by origin. The minimum period of service in the non-commissioned officer rank was set for the nobles for 3 years, the maximum for persons accepted by recruitment sets was 12 years. The guards remained the supplier of officer cadres, where most of the soldiers (although, unlike in the first half of the century, not all) were still noblemen (79).
In the Navy, since 1720, production was also established for the first officer rank by balloting from a non-commissioned officer. However, there already from the middle of the XVIII century. combatant naval officers began to be produced only from the cadets of the Naval Corps, which, unlike land military schools, was able to cover the fleet's need for officers. So the fleet very early began to be completed exclusively by graduates of educational institutions.
At the end of the XVIII century. production from non-commissioned officers continued to be the main channel for replenishing the officer corps. At the same time, there were, as it were, two lines for achieving the officer rank in this way: for the nobles and for everyone else. The nobles entered the service of the troops immediately as non-commissioned officers (for the first 3 months they had to serve as privates, but in a non-commissioned officer's uniform), then they were promoted to ensigns (junkers) and then to ensigns (junkers, and in cavalry - Estandart-Junker and Fanen-Junker), of which vacancies were already made in the first officer rank. Non-nobles before being promoted to non-commissioned officers had to serve as privates for 4 years. Then they were promoted to senior non-commissioned officers, and then to sergeant majors (in the cavalry - sergeants), who could already become officers for merit.
Since the nobles were recruited as non-commissioned officers outside of vacancies, a huge superset of these ranks formed, especially in the guard, where only nobles could be non-commissioned officers. For example, in 1792, in the state guards, it was supposed to have no more than 400 non-commissioned officers, and there were 11,537 of them. In the Preobrazhensky regiment, there were 6,134 non-commissioned officers for 3,502 privates. Guards non-commissioned officers were promoted to officers of the army (over which the guard had an advantage of two ranks) often immediately through one or two ranks - not only ensigns, but also second lieutenants and even lieutenants. The guardsmen of the highest non-commissioned officer rank - sergeants (later sergeants) and sergeants were usually made lieutenants of the army, but sometimes even immediately captains. At times, mass releases of guards non-commissioned officers into the army were carried out: for example, in 1792, by decree of December 26, 250 people were released, in 1796 - 400 (80).
For an officer vacancy, the regimental commander usually represented the senior non-commissioned nobleman, who had served for at least 3 years. If there were no nobles with this length of service in the regiment, then non-commissioned officers from other classes were promoted to officers. At the same time, they had to have length of service in the non-commissioned officer rank: chief officer children (The class of chief officer children consisted of children of civil officials of non-noble origin who had the ranks of "chief officer" classes - from XIV to XI, who gave not hereditary, but only personal nobility, and children of non-noble origin who were born before their fathers received the first officer rank, which brought, as already indicated, hereditary nobility) and volunteers (persons who entered the service voluntarily) - 4 years, children of the clergy, clerks and soldiers - 8 years, received by recruitment - 12 years. The latter could be promoted immediately to second lieutenants, but only "according to their excellent abilities and merits." For the same reasons, nobles and chief officer children could be promoted to officers earlier than the prescribed terms of service. Paul I in 1798 forbade the promotion of officers of non-noble origin, but the following year this provision was repealed; non-nobles had only to rise to the rank of sergeant-major and serve out the prescribed term.
Since the time of Catherine II, the production of officers "zauryad" has been practiced, caused by a large shortage during the war with Turkey and an insufficient number of non-commissioned noblemen in the army regiments. Therefore, non-commissioned officers of other classes, who had not even served the established 12-year term, began to be promoted to officers, however, with the condition that seniority for further production was considered only from the day of service of the legalized 12-year term.
The production of officers of various classes was greatly influenced by the terms of service established for them in the lower ranks. Soldiers' children, in particular, were considered accepted for military service from the moment of their birth, and from the age of 12 they were placed in one of the military orphanages (later known as "cantonist battalions"). Active service was considered to them from the age of 15, and they were obliged to serve another 15 years, that is, up to 30 years. For the same period, volunteers were accepted - volunteers. Recruits were required to serve for 25 years (in the guard after the Napoleonic wars - 22 years); under Nicholas I, this period was reduced to 20 years (including 15 years in active service).
When during the Napoleonic wars a large shortage was formed, then those of non-noble origin were allowed to be promoted to officers even in the guards, and chief officer children even without vacancies. Then, in the Guards, the period of service in the non-commissioned officer rank for promotion to officers was reduced for non-nobles from 12 to 10 years, and for single-palaces seeking nobility (The descendants of single-palaces included the descendants of petty service people of the 17th century, many of whom at one time were nobles, but subsequently recorded in a taxable state), determined at 6 years. (Since the nobles, who were produced for 3 years of service for vacancies, were in a worse situation than the chief officer children who were produced after 4 years, but without vacancies, then at the beginning of the 20s a 4-year term was also established for the nobles without vacancies.)
After the war of 1805, special benefits were introduced for educational qualifications: university students who entered the military service (even not from the nobility) served only 3 months as privates and 3 months as ensigns, and then were promoted to officers out of vacancy. A year before, in the artillery and engineering troops, before being promoted to officers, a rather serious examination for that time was set.
At the end of the 20s. 19th century the term of service in the non-commissioned officer rank for the nobles was reduced to 2 years. However, during the then wars with Turkey and Persia, unit commanders, interested in experienced front-line soldiers, preferred to promote non-commissioned officers with long experience, that is, non-nobles, and there were almost no vacancies for nobles with 2 years of experience in their units. Therefore, they were allowed to be produced for vacancies in other parts, but in this case - after 3 years of service as non-commissioned officers. Lists of all non-commissioned officers who were not produced due to the lack of vacancies in their units were sent to the Ministry of War (Inspection Department), where a general list was compiled (first nobles, then volunteers and then others), in accordance with which they were produced for opening vacancies in the entire army .
The code of military regulations (without fundamentally changing the provision that has existed since 1766 on different terms of service in the non-commissioned officer rank for persons of different social categories) more accurately determined who, on what rights, enters the service and is promoted to officer. So, there were two main groups of such persons: those who entered the service voluntarily as volunteers (from classes that were not obligated to recruit duty) and those who entered the service through recruitment kits. Consider first the first group, divided into several categories.
Those who entered "as students" (of any origin) were promoted to officers: those with a candidate's degree - after 3 months of service as non-commissioned officers, and the degree of a real student - 6 months - without exams and in their regiments in excess of vacancies.
Those who entered “with the rights of nobles” (nobles and who had an indisputable right to nobility: children, officials of the VIII class and above, holders of orders that give rights to hereditary nobility) were made after 2 years for vacancies in their units and after 3 years - in other parts.
All the rest, who entered “as volunteers”, were divided by origin into 3 categories: 1) children of personal nobles who have the right to hereditary honorary citizenship; priests; merchants of 1-2 guilds who have a guild certificate for 12 years; doctors; pharmacists; artists, etc. persons; pupils of orphanages; Foreigners; 2) children of the same palaces, who have the right to seek the nobility; honorary citizens and merchants of 1-2 guilds who do not have a 12-year "experience"; 3) children of merchants of the 3rd guild, philistines, one-palaces who have lost the right to find nobility, clerical servants, as well as illegitimate children, freedmen and cantonists. Persons of the 1st category were made after 4 years (in the absence of vacancies - after 6 years in other parts), the 2nd - after 6 years and the 3rd - after 12 years. Retired officers who entered the service of the lower ranks were promoted to officers according to special rules, depending on the reason for dismissal from the army.
Before production, an exam was held for knowledge of the service. Those who graduated from military educational institutions, but who were not promoted to officers due to poor progress, but released as ensigns and cadets, had to serve as non-commissioned officers for several years, but then they were made without an exam. Ensigns and estandard junkers of the guards regiments took an exam according to the program of the School of Guards Ensigns and Cavalry Junkers, and those who did not pass it, but were well certified in service, were transferred to the army as ensigns and cornets. Produced and artillery and sappers of the guard took the exam at the relevant military schools, and in the army artillery and engineering troops - at the relevant departments of the Military Scientific Committee. In the absence of vacancies, they were sent as second lieutenants to the infantry. (First, graduates of the Mikhailovsky and Nikolaevsky schools were enlisted for vacancies, then cadets and fireworks, and then students of non-core military schools.)
Those graduating from the training troops enjoyed the rights of origin (see above) and were promoted to officers after the exam, but at the same time, nobles and chief officer children who entered the training troops from the cantonist squadrons and batteries (in the cantonist battalions, along with the soldiers' children, children poor nobles), were made only in the part of the internal guard with the obligation to serve there for at least 6 years.
As for the second group (who entered by recruitment), they had to serve in the non-commissioned officer rank: in the guard - 10 years, in the army and non-combatant in the guard - 1.2 years (including at least 6 years in the ranks), in the Orenburg and Siberian separate buildings - 15 years and in the internal guard - 1.8 years. At the same time, persons who were subjected to corporal punishment during service could not be made officers. Feldwebels and senior watchmen were immediately promoted to second lieutenants, and the rest of the non-commissioned officers were promoted to ensigns (cornets). For promotion to officers, they had to pass an exam at the divisional Headquarters. If a non-commissioned officer who passed the exam refused to be promoted to officer (he was asked about this before the exam), then he forever lost the right to production, but instead received a salary of ⅔ of the salary of an ensign, which he, having served for at least 5 more years, received in retirement. He also relied on a gold or silver sleeve chevron and a silver lanyard. In case of failure to pass the exam, the objector received only ⅓ of this salary. Since in material terms such conditions were extremely advantageous, the majority of non-commissioned officers of this group refused to be promoted to officers.
In 1854, due to the need to strengthen the officer corps during the war, the terms of service in non-commissioned officer ranks for promotion to officers were halved for all categories of volunteers (respectively 1, 2, 3 and 6 years); in 1855, it was allowed to accept persons with higher education immediately as officers, to promote graduates of gymnasiums from noblemen to officers after 6 months, and others - after half their term of service. Non-commissioned officers from recruits were made after 10 years (instead of 12), but after the war these benefits were canceled.
During the reign of Alexander II, the order of production for officers was changed more than once. At the end of the war, in 1856, the reduced terms for production were canceled, but non-commissioned officers from the nobility and volunteers could now be produced in excess of vacancies. Since 1856, masters and candidates of theological academies have been equated in rights with university graduates (3 months of service), and students of theological seminaries, pupils of noble institutes and gymnasiums (i.e., those who, in case of entering the civil service, had the right to rank XIV class) granted the right to serve in the rank of non-commissioned officer before being promoted to officer for only 1 year. Non-commissioned officers from the nobility and volunteers were given the right to listen to lectures externally in all cadet corps.
In 1858, those of the nobility and volunteers who did not pass the exam when entering the service were given the opportunity to hold it throughout the service, and not 1-2 years (as before); they were accepted as privates with an obligation to serve: nobles - 2 years, volunteers of the 1st category - 4 years, 2nd - 6 years and 3rd - 12 years. They were promoted to non-commissioned officers: nobles - no earlier than 6 months, volunteers of the 1st category - 1 year, 2nd - 1.5 years and 3rd - 3 years. For the nobles who entered the guard, the age was set from 16 years old and without restrictions (and not 17-20 years old, as before), so that those who wish could graduate from the university. University graduates took the exam only before production, and not when they entered the service.
Graduates of all higher and secondary educational institutions were exempted from exams when entering the service in the artillery and engineering troops. In 1859, the ranks of lieutenant, sword-ensign, standard - and fanen-junker were abolished, and a single rank of cadet was introduced for officers of nobles and volunteers who were waiting for production (for seniors - junker-belt). All non-commissioned officers from recruits - both combatant and non-combatant - were given a single term of service of 12 years (in the guard - 10), and those with special knowledge - shorter terms, but only for vacancies.
In 1860, non-commissioned production was again established for all categories only for vacancies, except for graduates of civilian higher and secondary educational institutions and those who were promoted to officers of the engineering troops and the corps of topographers. Non-commissioned officers from the nobility and volunteers who entered the service before this decree could, after their years of service, retire with the rank of collegiate registrar. Nobles and volunteers who served in the artillery, engineering troops and the corps of topographers, in the event of an unsuccessful exam for an officer of these troops, were no longer promoted to infantry officers (and those who were released from the institutions of military cantonists - internal guards), but were transferred there as non-commissioned officers and were made to vacancies already on the proposal of the new bosses.
In 1861, the number of junkers from the nobility and volunteers in the regiments was strictly limited by the states, and they were accepted into the guards and cavalry only for their own maintenance, but now a volunteer could retire at any time. All these measures were aimed at raising the educational level of the junkers.
In 1863, on the occasion of the Polish rebellion, all graduates of higher educational institutions were accepted as non-commissioned officers without an exam and promoted to officers 3 months later without vacancies after an exam in the charters and awarding superiors (and graduates of secondary educational introductions - after 6 months for vacancies). Other volunteers passed the exam according to the program of 1844 (those who did not pass were accepted as privates) and became non-commissioned officers, and after 1 year, regardless of origin, by honoring the authorities, they were admitted to the competitive officer exam and were promoted to vacancies (but it was possible to apply for production even in the absence of vacancies ). If, however, there was still a shortage in the unit, then after the exam, non-commissioned officers and) recruits were made for a reduced period of service - in the guard 7, in the army - 8 years. In May 1864, production was again established only for vacancies (except for those with higher education). As cadet schools were opened, educational requirements intensified: in those military districts where cadet schools existed, it was required to take an exam in all subjects taught at the school (graduates of civilian educational institutions - only in military ones), so that by the beginning of 1868 produced non-commissioned officers and cadets either graduated from the cadet school, or passed the exam according to its program.
In 1866, new rules for the production of officers were established. To become an officer of the guard or the army with special rights (equal to a graduate of a military school), a graduate of a civilian higher educational institution had to pass an exam at a military school in the military subjects taught in it and serve in the ranks during the camp collection (at least 2 months), a graduate of a secondary educational institution - to pass the full final exam of the military school and serve in the ranks for 1 year. Both those and others were produced out of vacancies. To be promoted to army officers without special rights, all such persons had to pass an exam at the cadet school according to its program and serve in the ranks: with higher education - 3 months, with secondary education - 1 year; they were produced in this case also without vacancies. All other volunteers either graduated from cadet schools, or passed an exam according to their program and served in the ranks: nobles - 2 years, people from estates not obliged to recruit duty - 4 years, from "recruit" estates - 6 years. Examination dates were set for them in such a way that they had time to serve their deadlines. Those who passed the 1st category were made out of vacancies. Those who did not pass the exam could retire (having passed the exam for clerical servants or under the program of 1844) with the rank of collegiate registrar after seniority: nobles - 12 years, others - 15. To help prepare for the exam at the Konstantinovsky Military School in 1867 a one-year course was opened. What was the ratio of various groups of volunteers, can be seen from table 5 (81).
In 1869 (March 8) a new provision was adopted, according to which the right to voluntarily enter the service was granted to persons of all classes with the general name of volunteers on the basis of "education" and "descent". “By education” only graduates of higher and secondary educational institutions entered. Without exams, they were promoted to non-commissioned officers and served: with higher education - 2 months, with secondary education - 1 year.
Those who entered "by origin" became non-commissioned officers after the exam and were divided into three categories: 1st - hereditary nobles; 2nd - personal nobles, hereditary and personal honorary citizens, children of merchants of 1-2 guilds, priests, scientists and artists; 3rd - all the rest. Persons of the 1st category served 2 years, the 2nd - 4 and the 3rd - 6 years (instead of the previous 12).
Only those who entered "according to education" could be promoted to officers as graduates of a military school, the rest as graduates of cadet schools, under which they took exams. The lower ranks, who entered the recruiting set, were now required to serve 10 years (instead of 12), of which 6 years as a non-commissioned officer and 1 year as a senior non-commissioned officer; they could also enter the cadet school, if by the end of it they served their term. All those who passed the examinations for the officer rank before being promoted to officers were called sword-junkers with the right to retire after a year with the first officer rank.
In the artillery and engineering troops, the conditions and terms of service were common, but the exam was special. However, since 1868, persons with a higher education had to serve in the artillery for 3 months, others for 1 year, and everyone was required to pass an exam according to the military school program; since 1869, this rule has also been extended to engineering troops, with the difference that for those promoted to second lieutenants, an examination was required according to the program of a military school, and for those promoted to warrant officers, an exam according to a reduced program. In the corps of military topographers (where earlier promotion to officers was carried out according to length of service: nobles and volunteers - 4 years, others - 12 years) since 1866, non-commissioned officers from the nobility were required to serve 2 years, from "non-recruiting" classes - 4 and " recruits" - 6 years and take a course at the topographic school.
With the establishment of universal military service in 1874, the rules for the production of officers also changed. Based on them, the weight of the volunteers were divided into categories according to education (now this was the only division, the origin was not taken into account): 1st - with a higher education (served for 3 months before being promoted to officer), 2nd - with a secondary education (served 6 months) and the 3rd - with incomplete secondary education (tested under a special program and served 2 years). All volunteers were accepted for military service only by privates and could enter cadet schools. Those who entered the service by conscription for 6 and 7 years were required to serve at least 2 years, for a 4-year term - 1 year, and the rest (called for a shortened term) were required only to be promoted to non-commissioned officers, after which they all, as and volunteers could enter military and cadet schools (since 1875, Poles were supposed to accept no more than 20%, Jews - no more than 3%).
In artillery, chief fireworks and masters from 1878 could be produced after 3 years of graduation from special schools; they took the exam for a second lieutenant according to the program of the Mikhailovsky School, and for an ensign - a light one. In 1879, for the production and officers of local artillery and ensigns of local search, an exam was introduced according to the program of the cadet school. Since 1880, in the engineering troops, the officer examination was held only according to the program of the Nikolaev School. Both in the artillery and in the engineering troops it was allowed to take the exam no more than 2 times, those who did not pass it both times could take the exam at the cadet schools for the ensign of the infantry and local artillery.
During the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. there were benefits (cancelled after its completion): officers made military distinctions without an exam and for shortened terms of service, these terms were also applied for ordinary distinctions. However, these could be promoted to the next rank only after the officer's exam. For 1871-1879 21,041 volunteers were recruited (82).
The role and place of non-commissioned officers - the closest assistants to the officers, the motives for their entry into the army, the intellectual level and financial situation, the experience of selection, training and performance of official duties are instructive for us today.
The institute of non-commissioned officers in the Russian army existed from 1716 to 1917.
The military charter of 1716 referred to non-commissioned officers: a sergeant - in the infantry, a sergeant-major - in the cavalry, a captain, a lieutenant, a corporal, a company clerk, a batman and a corporal. The position of a non-commissioned officer in the military hierarchy was defined as follows: "Those who are below the ensign, have their place, are called" non-commissioned officers, "that is, the lower initial people."
The non-commissioned officer corps was recruited from soldiers who expressed a desire to remain in the army for hire after the expiration of their military service. They were called "overtimers". Before the appearance of the institution of long-term servicemen, from which another institution was later formed - non-commissioned officers, the duties of assistant officers were performed by the lower ranks of military service. But the "urgent non-commissioned officer" in most cases differed little from the ordinary.
According to the plan of the military command, the institution of long-term servicemen was supposed to solve two problems: to reduce the understaffing of the rank and file, to serve as a reserve for the formation of non-commissioned officer corps.
After the expiration of the term of active military service, the leadership of the Ministry of War sought to leave as many soldiers (corporals) as possible in the army, as well as combat non-commissioned officers for extended service. But on the condition that those left behind will be useful for the army in terms of service and moral qualities.
The central figure of the non-commissioned officers of the Russian army is the sergeant major. He obeyed the company commander, was his first assistant and support. The duties of the sergeant major were quite broad and responsible. This is also evidenced by a small instruction published in 1883, which read:
"The sergeant major is the head of all the lower ranks of the company.
1. He is obliged to monitor the maintenance of order in the company, the morality and behavior of the lower ranks, and the exact performance of duties by the commanding lower ranks, the company on duty and orderlies.
2. Transfers to the lower ranks all orders given by the company commander.
3. Sends sick people to the emergency room or infirmary.
4. Performs all drill and guard crews of the company.
5. When appointed to the guard, he oversees that experienced and agile people are appointed to posts of special importance.
6. Distributes and equalizes between platoons all the regular orders for service and work.
7. Is in training sessions, as well as at lunch and dinner of the lower ranks.
8. At the end of the evening roll call, he receives reports from platoon non-commissioned officers.
9. Verifies the integrity and good condition of the weapons in the company, uniform and ammunition items and all company property.
10. Daily submits a report to the company commander on the state of the company: about everything that happened in the company, about household chores and food for the company, about the needs of the lower ranks.
11. In the absence of his own in the company, he transfers the performance of his duties to the senior of the platoon non-commissioned officers.
The second most important non-commissioned officer was the "senior non-commissioned officer" - the head of all the lower ranks of his platoon. He was responsible for the order in the platoon, the morality and behavior of the rank and file, for the success of training subordinates. Produced lower rank outfits for service and work. He fired the soldiers from the yard, but not later than before the evening roll call. Conducted evening roll call and reported to the sergeant major about everything that had happened during the day in the platoon.
According to the charter, non-commissioned officers were entrusted with the initial training of soldiers, constant and vigilant supervision of the lower ranks, and monitoring of internal order in the company. Later (1764), the legislation assigned to the non-commissioned officer the obligation not only to train the lower ranks, but also to educate them.
However, the number of re-enlisted personnel did not correspond to the calculations of the General Staff and was far inferior to the staffing of re-enlisted personnel in the Western armies. Thus, in 1898, there were 65,000 non-commissioned non-commissioned officers in Germany, 24,000 in France, and 8,500 in Russia.
The formation of the institution of long-term employees was slow - the mentality of the Russian people affected. The soldier understood his duty - to honestly and disinterestedly serve the Fatherland during the years of military service. And to remain, moreover, to serve for money - he deliberately opposed.
In order to increase the number of long-term servicemen, the government sought to interest those who wished: they expanded their rights, salary, established a number of awards for service, improved uniforms and insignia, and at the end of the service - a good pension.
According to the regulation on the lower ranks of combat extended service (1911), non-commissioned officers were divided into two categories. The first is ensigns promoted to this rank from combat non-commissioned officers. They had significant rights and benefits. The second - non-commissioned officers and corporals. They enjoyed somewhat fewer rights than ensigns. Ensigns in combat units held the positions of sergeant majors and platoon officers - senior non-commissioned officers. Lance corporals were promoted to junior non-commissioned officers and were appointed squad leaders.
Extra-conscript non-commissioned officers were promoted to ensigns under two conditions: to serve as a platoon (senior non-commissioned officer) for two years, to successfully complete the course of a military school for non-commissioned officers. Ensigns were promoted by order of the head of the division. Senior non-commissioned officers usually held the positions of assistant platoon commanders. The rank of junior non-commissioned officer was, as a rule, the commander of the departments.
Military servicemen of the lower ranks for impeccable service complained with a medal with the inscription "For diligence" and the sign of St. Anna. They were also allowed to marry and have families. Extra-conscripts lived in the barracks at the location of their companies. The sergeant major was provided with a separate room, two senior non-commissioned officers also lived in a separate room.
In order to interest in the service and emphasize the commanding position of non-commissioned officers among the lower ranks, they were given uniforms and insignia, in some cases inherent in the chief officer: a cockade on a headdress with a visor, a checker on a leather harness, a revolver with a holster and cord.
Combat servicemen of the lower ranks of both categories, who served fifteen years, received a pension of 96 rubles. in year. The salary of a lieutenant ranged from 340 to 402 rubles. in year; corporal - 120 rubles. in year.
The deprivation of the non-commissioned officer rank was carried out by the head of the division or a person of equal authority with him.
It was difficult for commanders of all levels to train an excellent non-commissioned officer from semi-literate extra-enlisted soldiers. Therefore, foreign experience in the formation of this institution was carefully studied, first of all, the experience of the German army.
Non-commissioned officers did not have the knowledge to lead subordinates. Some of them naively believed that orders should be given in a deliberately rude voice, that it was this tone that would ensure universal obedience.
The moral qualities of a non-commissioned officer were not always at the proper height. Some of them were drawn to alcohol, which had a bad effect on the behavior of subordinates. In society and the army, demands were heard more and more insistently about the inadmissibility of an intrusion of an illiterate non-commissioned officer into the spiritual education of a soldier. There was even a categorical demand: "Non-commissioned officers should be forbidden to invade the soul of a recruit - such a tender sphere." The non-commissioned officer was also illegible in the ethics of relations with subordinates. Others allowed something like a bribe. Such facts were sharply condemned by the officers.
In order to comprehensively prepare a conscript for responsible work as a non-commissioned officer in the army, a network of courses and schools was deployed, which were created mainly under the regiments.
To make it easier for a non-commissioned officer to enter his role, the military department published a lot of different literature in the form of methods, instructions, and advice. Recommendations included, in particular:
Show subordinates not only strictness but also a caring attitude;
In relation to the soldiers, keep oneself at a "known distance";
In dealing with subordinates, avoid irritation, irascibility, anger;
Remember that the Russian soldier, in his treatment of him, loves the commander whom he considers his father;
Teach soldiers in battle to save cartridges, at rest - crackers;
To have a worthy appearance: "a non-commissioned officer is taut, that a bow is stretched."
Training in courses and in regimental schools brought unconditional benefits. Among the non-commissioned officers there were many gifted people who could skillfully explain to the soldiers the basics of military service, its values, duty and duties.
Before us is a fragment of a conversation between one of the experienced ensigns, who are in love with the service, with soldiers about the role and value of such concepts as "banner", "courage", "theft", "sneak".
About the banner. “Once the general came to do a review. That’s just on literature (a survey of personnel. - Auth.) He asks one soldier: “What is the banner?”, And he answers him: “The banner is the soldier’s God, Your Excellency.” So what are you Do you think? The general turned him down and gave him a ruble for tea. "
About courage. "A brave soldier in battle only thinks about how he could defeat others, but that he is being beaten - my God - there is no place in his head for such a stupid thought."
About theft. “Theft among us, the military, is considered the most shameful and serious crime. Guilty in something else, even though the law will not spare you either, but comrades and even bosses will sometimes regret you, show sympathy for your grief. A thief - never. Except for contempt, nothing you will not see, and they will alienate you and avoid you as crazy ... ".
About the hawk. "Yabednik is such a person who brings out every little thing in order to denigrate his brother, and to advance himself. Yabedniks do it on the sly and only ... A soldier, as a matter of duty of honor and service, openly reveals such misdeeds that clearly dishonor his pure family ".
Mastering knowledge and gaining experience, non-commissioned officers became the first assistant officers in solving the tasks facing companies and squadrons.
The state of military discipline in the units and subunits of the Russian army in the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries was assessed as satisfactory. The reason for this was not only the work of an officer who worked, in the figurative expression of analysts of that time, "like a slave on a cane plantation", but also the efforts of the non-commissioned officer corps. According to the report of the commander of the troops of the Odessa military district in 1875, "military discipline was maintained strictly. The number of fined lower ranks was 675 people, or 11.03 per 1000 people of the average payroll."
It is generally believed that the state of military discipline would be even stronger if the officers and non-commissioned officers managed to get rid of drunkenness among the soldiers. It was the root cause of all military crimes and violations.
In the fight against this evil, non-commissioned officers were helped by the Law on the Prohibition of Lower Ranks from Entering Drinking and Tavern Establishments. Drinking establishments could not be opened closer than 150 fathoms from military units. Shinkari could dispense vodka to soldiers only with the written permission of the company commander. The sale of alcohol was prohibited in the soldiers' shops and buffets.
In addition to administrative measures, measures were taken to organize the leisure of soldiers. In the barracks, as they said then, "decent entertainments were arranged", soldiers' artels, tea rooms, reading rooms worked, performances were staged with the participation of the lower ranks.
Non-commissioned officers played a significant role in solving such an important task as teaching the soldiers to read and write, and the recruits of the national outskirts to know the Russian language. This problem acquired strategic importance - the army turned into an "all-Russian school of education." Non-commissioned officers very willingly engaged in writing and arithmetic with the soldiers, although there was very little time for this. The efforts bore fruit. The percentage of illiterate soldiers was declining. If in 1881 there were 75.9% of them, then in 1901 - 40.3%.
Another area of activity of non-commissioned officers, in which they were especially successful, was the organization of economic, or, as they were also called, "free work".
For military units, such work had both minuses and pluses. The pluses were that the money earned by the soldiers went to the regimental treasury, some of it went to officers, non-commissioned officers and lower ranks. Basically, the funds were directed to the purchase of additional provisions for the soldiers. However, economic work also had a negative side. The service of many soldiers took place in arsenals, bakeries, and workshops.
Soldiers from many units, such as the East Siberian Military District, loaded and unloaded ships with heavy commissary and engineering cargo, fixed telegraph lines, repaired and built buildings, and performed work for the parties of topographers. All this was far from combat training and had a negative impact on the course of military education in units.
In a combat situation, the vast majority of non-commissioned officers were distinguished by excellent courage, carried the soldiers along with them. In the Russo-Japanese War, non-commissioned officers often acted as officers called up from the reserve.
Generality:
General chase and:
-Field Marshal General* - crossed wands.
-general of infantry, cavalry, etc.(the so-called "full general") - without asterisks,
- lieutenant general- 3 stars
- major general- 2 stars
Headquarters officers:
Two gaps and: 
-colonel- without asterisks.
- lieutenant colonel(since 1884, the Cossacks have a military foreman) - 3 stars
-major** (until 1884 the Cossacks had a military foreman) - 2 stars
Ober-officers:
One light and: 
-captain(captain, captain) - without stars.
- staff captain(headquarters captain, podesaul) - 4 stars
-lieutenant(sotnik) - 3 stars
- second lieutenant(cornet, cornet) - 2 stars
- Ensign*** - 1 star
Lower ranks
-zauryad-ensign- 1 galloon stripe along the length of the shoulder strap with the 1st star on the stripe
- Ensign- 1 galloon stripe in the length of the epaulette
- sergeant major(wahmistr) - 1 wide transverse stripe
-st. non-commissioned officer(st. fireworks, st. constable) - 3 narrow cross stripes
- ml. non-commissioned officer(ml. fireworks, ml. sergeant) - 2 narrow cross stripes
- corporal(bombardier, orderly) - 1 narrow transverse stripe
-private(gunner, cossack) - without stripes
*In 1912, the last Field Marshal Dmitry Aleksevich Milyutin, who held the post of Minister of War from 1861 to 1881, dies. This rank was not awarded to anyone else, but nominally this rank was preserved.
** The rank of major was abolished in 1884 and was no longer restored.
*** Since 1884, the rank of warrant officer has been left only for wartime (assigned only during the war, and with its end, all warrant officers are subject to either dismissal or they should be assigned the rank of second lieutenant).
P.S. Ciphers and monograms on shoulder straps are not conditionally placed.
Very often one hears the question "why does the junior rank in the category of staff officers and generals begin with two stars, and not with one like the chief officers?" When, in 1827, stars on epaulettes appeared in the Russian army as insignia, the major general received two stars on the epaulette at once.
There is a version that one star was supposed to be a foreman - this rank had not been assigned since the time of Paul I, but by 1827 they still existed
retired brigadiers who had the right to wear uniforms. True, epaulettes were not supposed to be retired military men. And it is unlikely that many of them survived until 1827 (passed
for about 30 years since the abolition of the brigadier rank). Most likely, the two general's stars were simply copied from the epaulette of a French brigadier general. There is nothing strange in this, because the epaulettes themselves came to Russia from France. Most likely, there was never a single general's star in the Russian imperial army. This version seems more plausible.
As for the major, he received two stars by analogy with the two stars of the Russian major general of that time.
The only exception was the insignia in the hussar regiments in the front and ordinary (everyday) form, in which shoulder cords were worn instead of shoulder straps.
Shoulder cords.
Instead of an epaulette of a cavalry type, the hussars on dolmans and mentics have
hussar shoulder cords. For all officers, the same from a gold or silver double soutache cord of the same color as the cords on the dolman for the lower ranks, shoulder cords from a double soutache cord in color -
orange for regiments having the color of the instrument metal - gold or white for regiments having the color of the instrument metal - silver.
These shoulder cords form a ring at the sleeve, and a loop at the collar, fastened with a uniform button sewn half an inch from the collar seam.
To distinguish the ranks, gombochki are put on the cords (a ring from the same cold cord covering the shoulder cord):
-y corporal- one, of the same color with a cord;
-y non-commissioned officers tricolor gombochkas (white with St. George's thread), in number, like stripes on shoulder straps;
-y sergeant major- gold or silver (as for officers) on an orange or white cord (as for lower ranks);
-y ensign- a shoulder cord of a smooth officer with a gombochka of a sergeant-major;
officers on officer cords have gombos with stars (metal, as on shoulder straps) - in accordance with the rank.
Volunteers wear twisted cords of Romanov colors (white-black-yellow) around the cords.
The shoulder cords of the ober and headquarters officers do not differ in any way.
Headquarters officers and generals have the following differences in uniform: on the collar of a dolman, generals have a wide or gold galloon up to 1 1/8 inches wide, and staff officers have a gold or silver galloon 5/8 inches wide, having the full length "
hussar zigzags", and for chief officers, the collar is sheathed with only one cord or filigree.
In the 2nd and 5th regiments of the chief officers along the upper edge of the collar, there is also galloon, but 5/16 inches wide.
In addition, on the cuffs of the generals there is galloon, the same as the one on the collar. The stripe of galloon comes from the cut of the sleeve with two ends, in front it converges over the toe.
For staff officers, the galloon is also the same as the one on the collar. The length of the entire patch is up to 5 inches.
And the chief officers are not supposed to galloon.
Below are pictures of the shoulder cords
1. Officers and generals
2. Lower officials
The shoulder cords of the chief, staff officers and generals did not differ in any way from each other. For example, it was possible to distinguish a cornet from a major general only by the appearance and width of the braid on the cuffs and, in some regiments, on the collar.
Twisted cords relied only on adjutants and aide-de-camp!
Shoulder cords of the adjutant wing (left) and adjutant (right)
Officer's epaulettes: lieutenant colonel of the air squadron of the 19th army corps and staff captain of the 3rd field air squadron. In the center are shoulder boards of the cadets of the Nikolaev Engineering School. On the right is the epaulette of a captain (most likely a dragoon or lancer regiment)
The Russian army in its modern sense began to be created by Emperor Peter I at the end of the 18th century. The system of military ranks of the Russian army took shape partly under the influence of European systems, partly under the influence of the historically established purely Russian system of ranks. However, at that time there were no military ranks in the sense in which we are accustomed to understand. There were specific military units, there were also quite specific positions and, accordingly, their names. company commander. By the way, in the civil fleet even now, the person in charge of the ship's crew is called the "captain", the person in charge of the seaport is called the "port captain". In the 18th century, many words existed in a slightly different sense than they do now.
So "General" meant - "chief", and not just "highest military leader";
"Major"- "senior" (senior among regimental officers);
"Lieutenant"- "assistant"
"Outbuilding"- "Jr".
"Table of ranks of all ranks of military, civilian and courtiers, in which class the ranks are acquired" was put into effect by the Decree of Emperor Peter I on January 24, 1722 and lasted until December 16, 1917. The word "officer" came into Russian from German. But in German, as in English, the word has a much broader meaning. In relation to the army, this term means all military leaders in general. In a narrower translation, it means - "employee", "clerk", "employee". Therefore, it is quite natural - "non-commissioned officers" - junior commanders, "chief officers" - senior commanders, "headquarters officers" - staff members, "generals" - the main ones. Non-commissioned officer ranks also in those days were not ranks, but were positions. Ordinary soldiers were then named according to their military specialties - musketeer, pikeman, dragoon, etc. There was no name "private", and "soldier", as Peter I wrote, means all military personnel ".. from the highest general to the last musketeer, cavalry or on foot ..." Therefore, soldier and non-commissioned officer ranks were not included in the Table. The well-known names "second lieutenant", "lieutenant" existed in the list of ranks of the Russian army long before the formation of the regular army by Peter I to designate military personnel who are assistants to the captain, that is, the company commander; and continued to be used within the framework of the Table as Russian-language synonyms for the positions "non-commissioned lieutenant" and "lieutenant", that is, "assistant" and "assistant". Well, or if you want - "assistant officer for assignments" and "officer for assignments." The name "ensign" as more understandable (wearing a banner, ensign), quickly replaced the obscure "fendrik", which meant "candidate for an officer position. Over time, the process of separation of the concepts of "position" and "rank" was going on. After the beginning of the 19th century, these concepts were already separated quite clearly. With the development of means of warfare, the advent of technology, when the army became large enough and when it was necessary to compare the official position of a fairly large set of job titles. It was here that the concept of "rank" often began to obscure, divert the concept " job title".
However, in the modern army, the position, so to speak, is more important than the rank. According to the charter, seniority is determined by position, and only with equal positions is the one with a higher rank considered older.
According to the "Table of Ranks", the following ranks were introduced: civil, military infantry and cavalry, military artillery and engineering troops, military guards, military fleets.
In the period from 1722-1731, in relation to the army, the system of military ranks looked like this (the corresponding position in brackets)
Lower ranks (ordinary)
By specialty (grenadier. Fuseler ...)
non-commissioned officers
Corporal(part-commander)
Fourier(deputy platoon commander)
Captainarmus
Ensign(foreman of a company, battalion)
Sergeant
Feldwebel
Ensign(Fendrik), junker bayonet (art) (platoon commander)
Second Lieutenant
lieutenant(deputy company commander)
lieutenant captain(company commander)
Captain
Major(deputy battalion commander)
Lieutenant colonel(battalion commander)
Colonel(commander of the regiment)
Brigadier(brigade leader)
Generals
Major General(division commander)
lieutenant general(corps commander)
General-anshef (General Feldzekhmeister)- (commander of the army)
Field Marshal General(commander-in-chief, honorary title)
In the Life Guards, the ranks were two classes higher than in the army. In the army artillery and engineering troops, the ranks are one class higher than in the infantry and cavalry. During the period 1731-1765 the concepts of "rank" and "position" are beginning to separate. So in the state of the field infantry regiment of 1732, when indicating the staff ranks, it is already written not just the rank of "quartermaster", but the position indicating the rank: "quartermaster (of the lieutenant rank)". With regard to officers of the company level, the separation of the concepts of "position" and "rank" is not yet observed. In the army "fendrick" is replaced by " ensign", in the cavalry - "cornet". Ranks are being introduced "Second Major" And "Prime Major" During the reign of Empress Catherine II (1765-1798) ranks are introduced in the army infantry and cavalry junior and senior sergeant, sergeant major disappears. Since 1796 in the Cossack units, the names of the ranks are the same as the ranks of the army cavalry and are equated to them, although the Cossack units continue to be listed as irregular cavalry (not part of the army). There is no rank of second lieutenant in the cavalry, and captain corresponds to the captain. During the reign of Emperor Paul I (1796-1801) the concepts of "rank" and "position" in this period are already separated quite clearly. The ranks in the infantry and artillery are compared. Paul I did a lot of useful things to strengthen the army and discipline in it. He forbade the registration of minor noble children in the regiments. All recorded in the regiments were required to serve really. He introduced disciplinary and criminal liability of officers for soldiers (preservation of life and health, training, clothing, living conditions) forbade the use of soldiers as labor force on the estates of officers and generals; introduced the awarding of soldiers with insignia of the orders of St. Anne and the Maltese Cross; introduced an advantage in promotion in the ranks of officers who graduated from military educational institutions; ordered to be promoted in ranks only on business qualities and ability to command; introduced holidays for soldiers; limited the duration of officers' vacations to one month a year; dismissed from the army a large number of generals who did not meet the requirements of military service (old age, illiteracy, disability, absence from service for a long time, etc.). Ranks are introduced in the lower ranks ordinary junior and senior salary. In the cavalry sergeant major(company foreman) For Emperor Alexander I (1801-1825) since 1802, all non-commissioned officers of the nobility are called "junker". Since 1811, the rank of "major" was abolished in the artillery and engineering troops and the rank of "ensign" was returned. During the reign of Emperors Nicholas I (1825-1855) , who did a lot to streamline the army, Alexander II (1855-1881) and the beginning of the reign of Emperor Alexander III (1881-1894) Since 1828, army Cossacks have been given ranks other than army cavalry (In the Life Guards Cossack and Life Guards Ataman regiments, the ranks are like those of the entire guards cavalry). The Cossack units themselves are transferred from the category of irregular cavalry to the army. The concepts of "rank" and "position" in this period are already completely separated. Under Nicholas I, the discrepancy in the naming of non-commissioned officers disappears. Since 1884, the rank of warrant officer has been left only for wartime (assigned only during the war, and with its end, all warrant officers are subject to either dismissal or they should be assigned the rank of second lieutenant). The rank of cornet in the cavalry is retained as the first officer rank. He is a class below the infantry lieutenant, but in the cavalry there is no rank of second lieutenant. This equalizes the ranks of infantry and cavalry. In the Cossack units, the classes of officers are equated with the cavalry, but have their own names. In this regard, the rank of military foreman, previously equal to major, now becomes equal to lieutenant colonel
"In 1912, the last General Field Marshal Milyutin Dmitry Alekseevich, who served as Minister of War from 1861 to 1881, dies. This rank was not assigned to anyone else, but nominally this rank was preserved"
In 1910, the rank of Russian Field Marshal was awarded to the King of Montenegro, Nicholas I, and in 1912, to the King of Romania, Carol I.
P.S. After the October Revolution of 1917, by the Decree of the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars (Bolshevik government) of December 16, 1917, all military ranks were abolished ...
The officer epaulettes of the tsarist army were arranged completely differently than modern ones. First of all, the gaps were not part of the galloon, as we have been doing since 1943. In the engineering troops, two harness galloons or one harness and two headquarters officer galloons were simply sewn onto the shoulder strap. For each type of troops, the type of galloon was determined specifically. For example, in the hussar regiments on officer shoulder straps, a galloon of the "hussar zig-zag" type was used. On the shoulder straps of military officials, a "civilian" galloon was used. Thus, the gaps of officer epaulettes were always the same color as the field of soldier epaulettes. If shoulder straps in this part did not have a colored edging (edging), as, say, it was in the engineering troops, then the edgings had the same color as the gaps. But if in part the epaulettes had a colored edging, then it was visible around the officer's epaulette. A silver-colored epaulette button without sides with an extruded double-headed eagle sitting on crossed axes. and letters, or silver monograms (to whom it is necessary). At the same time, it was widespread to wear gilded forged metal stars, which were supposed to be worn only on epaulettes.
The placement of the stars was not rigidly fixed and was determined by the size of the encryption. Two stars were supposed to be placed around the encryption, and if it filled the entire width of the shoulder strap, then above it. The third asterisk had to be placed so as to form an equilateral triangle with the two lower ones, and the fourth asterisk was slightly higher. If there is one asterisk on the chase (for the ensign), then it was placed where the third asterisk is usually attached. Special signs were also gilded metal patches, although it was not uncommon to find them embroidered with gold thread. The exception was the special signs of aviation, which were oxidized and had the color of silver with a patina.
1. Epaulette staff captain 20 engineer battalion
2. Epaulette for lower ranks Lancers 2nd Leib Ulansky Courland Regiment 1910
3. Epaulette full general from the cavalry suite His Imperial Majesty Nicholas II. The silver device of the epaulette testifies to the high military rank of the owner (only the marshal was higher)
About the stars on uniform
For the first time, forged five-pointed stars appeared on the epaulettes of Russian officers and generals in January 1827 (during the time of Pushkin). Ensigns and cornets began to wear one golden star, two - lieutenants and major generals, three - lieutenants and lieutenant generals. four - staff captains and staff captains.
A with April 1854 Russian officers began to wear embroidered stars on the newly established shoulder straps. For the same purpose, diamonds were used in the German army, knots in the British, and six-pointed stars in the Austrian.
Although the designation of a military rank on shoulder straps is a characteristic feature of the Russian army and the German one.
Among the Austrians and the British, shoulder straps had a purely functional role: they were sewn from the same material as the tunic so that the shoulder straps would not slip. And the rank was indicated on the sleeve. The five-pointed star, the pentagram is a universal symbol of protection, security, one of the oldest. In ancient Greece, it could be found on coins, on the doors of houses, stables and even on cradles. Among the Druids of Gaul, Britain, Ireland, the five-pointed star (druidic cross) was a symbol of protection from external evil forces. And until now it can be seen on the window panes of medieval Gothic buildings. The French Revolution revived the five-pointed stars as a symbol of the ancient god of war Mars. They denoted the rank of the commanders of the French army - on hats, epaulettes, scarves, on the tails of the uniform.
The military reforms of Nicholas I copied the appearance of the French army - this is how the stars "rolled down" from the French sky to the Russian one.
As for the British army, even during the Anglo-Boer War, stars began to migrate to shoulder straps. This is about officers. For the lower ranks and warrant officers, the insignia remained on the sleeves.
In the Russian, German, Danish, Greek, Romanian, Bulgarian, American, Swedish and Turkish armies, shoulder straps were insignia. In the Russian army, shoulder straps were for both lower ranks and officers. Also in the Bulgarian and Romanian armies, as well as in the Swedish. In the French, Spanish and Italian armies, insignia were placed on the sleeves. In the Greek army, the officers on shoulder straps, on the sleeves of the lower ranks. In the Austro-Hungarian army, the insignia of officers and lower ranks were on the collar, those were lapel. In the German army, only officers had insignia on shoulder straps, while the lower ranks differed from each other by the galloon on the cuffs and collar, as well as the uniform button on the collar. The exception was the so-called Kolonial truppe, where as additional (and in a number of colonies the main) insignia of the lower ranks were chevrons made of silver galloon sewn on the left sleeve of a-la gefreiters of 30-45 years.
It is interesting to note that with service and field uniforms in peacetime, that is, with a tunic of the 1907 model, the officers of the hussar regiments wore shoulder straps, which were also somewhat different from the shoulder straps of the rest of the Russian army. For hussar shoulder straps, galloon with the so-called "hussar zigzag" was used
The only unit where epaulets with the same zigzag were worn, except for the hussar regiments, was the 4th battalion (from 1910 a regiment) of the riflemen of the Imperial family. Here is a sample: the epaulette of the captain of the 9th Kyiv Hussars.
Unlike the German hussars, who wore uniforms of the same tailoring, differing only in the color of the fabric. With the introduction of khaki shoulder straps, the zigzags also disappeared, the encryption on the shoulder straps indicated belonging to the hussars. For example, "6 G", that is, the 6th Hussar.
In general, the field uniform of the hussars was of the dragoon type, those combined arms. The only difference indicating belonging to the hussars was indicated by boots with a rosette in front. However, the hussar regiments were allowed to wear chakchirs with field uniforms, but not all regiments, but only the 5th and 11th. The wearing of chakchira by the rest of the regiments was a kind of "non-statutory". But during the war, this happened, as well as the wearing by some officers of a saber, instead of the standard Dracoon saber, which was supposed to be with field equipment.
The photograph shows the captain of the 11th Izyum Hussar Regiment K.K. von Rosenshild-Paulin (sitting) and Junker of the Nikolaev Cavalry School K.N. von Rosenshield-Paulin (also later an officer of the Izyum regiment). Captain in summer full dress or dress uniform, i.e. in a tunic of the 1907 model, with galloon epaulettes and the number 11 (note that on the officer epaulettes of the peacetime cavalry regiments, there are only numbers, without the letters "G", "D" or "U"), and blue chakchirs worn by officers of this regiment in all forms of clothing.
Regarding "non-statutory", during the years of the World War, apparently, the wearing of galloon epaulettes of peacetime by hussar officers was also encountered.
on the galloon officer shoulder straps of the cavalry regiments, only numbers were affixed, and there were no letters. which is confirmed by photographs.
Zauryad Ensign- from 1907 to 1917 in the Russian army, the highest military rank for non-commissioned officers. The insignia for ordinary ensigns were ensign shoulder straps with a large (larger than officer's) asterisk in the upper third of the shoulder strap on the line of symmetry. The rank was assigned to the most experienced non-commissioned officers, with the outbreak of the First World War, it began to be assigned to ensigns as an encouragement, often immediately before the first senior officer rank (ensign or cornet) was awarded.
From Brockhaus and Efron:
Zauryad Ensign, military During mobilization, with a lack of persons who meet the conditions for promotion to an officer's rank, some. non-commissioned officers are awarded the rank of Z. Ensign; correcting the duties of a junior. officers, Z. great. limited in the rights of movement in the service.
Interesting history of ensign. In the period 1880-1903. this rank was assigned to graduates of cadet schools (not to be confused with military schools). In the cavalry, he corresponded to the rank of standard junker, in the Cossack troops - to the cadet. Those. it turned out that it was a kind of intermediate rank between the lower ranks and officers. Ensigns who graduated from the Junkers School in the 1st category were promoted to officers not earlier than September of the graduation year, but outside the vacancies. Those who graduated from the 2nd category were promoted to officers not earlier than the beginning of the next year, but only for vacancies, and it turned out that some were waiting for production for several years. According to the order of the BB No. 197 for 1901, with the production in 1903 of the last ensigns, standard junkers and cadets, these ranks were canceled. This was due to the beginning of the transformation of cadet schools into military ones.
Since 1906, the rank of lieutenant in the infantry and cavalry and cadet in the Cossack troops began to be assigned to overtime non-commissioned officers who graduated from a special school. Thus, this title became the maximum for the lower ranks.
Ensign, standard junker and cadet, 1886:
The epaulette of the staff captain of the Cavalry Guards Regiment and the epaulettes of the staff captain of the Life Guards of the Moscow Regiment.
The first shoulder strap is declared as the shoulder strap of an officer (captain) of the 17th Nizhny Novgorod Dragoon Regiment. But Nizhny Novgorod residents should have a dark green piping along the edge of the shoulder strap, and the monogram should be of an applied color. And the second shoulder strap is presented as the shoulder strap of a second lieutenant of the guards artillery (with such a monogram in the guards artillery there were shoulder straps of officers of only two batteries: the 1st battery of the Life Guards of the 2nd Artillery Brigade and the 2nd battery of the Guards Horse Artillery), but the shoulder strap button should not whether to have in this case an eagle with cannons.
Major(Spanish mayor - more, stronger, more significant) - the first rank of senior officers.
The title originated in the 16th century. The major was responsible for guarding and feeding the regiment. When the regiments were divided into battalions, the battalion commander, as a rule, became a major.
In the Russian army, the rank of major was introduced by Peter I in 1698, and abolished in 1884.
Prime Major - a staff officer rank in the Russian imperial army of the 18th century. He belonged to the VIII class of the "Table of Ranks".
According to the charter of 1716, the majors were divided into prime majors and second majors.
The Prime Major was in charge of the combat and inspector units in the regiment. He commanded the 1st battalion, and in the absence of the regimental commander - the regiment.
The division into prime and second majors was abolished in 1797."
"It appeared in Russia as a rank and position (deputy regiment commander) in the streltsy army at the end of the 15th - early 16th centuries. In the streltsy regiments, as a rule, lieutenant colonels (often of "mean" origin) performed all administrative functions for the head of the streltsy, appointed from among the nobles or boyars In the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century, the rank (rank) and position were referred to as lieutenant colonel due to the fact that the lieutenant colonel usually, in addition to his other duties, commanded the second “half” of the regiment - the back rows in formation and the reserve (before the introduction of the battalion formation of regular soldier regiments) From the moment the Table of Ranks was introduced until its abolition in 1917, the rank (rank) of lieutenant colonel belonged to the VII class of the Table of Ranks and gave the right to hereditary nobility until 1856. In 1884, after the abolition of the rank of major in the Russian army, all majors (with the exception of the dismissed or those who have stained themselves with unseemly misconduct) are promoted to lieutenant colonels.
INSIGNIA OF CIVIL OFFICERS OF THE MILITARY MINISTRY (here are military topographers)
Ranks of the Imperial Military Medical Academy
Chevrons of combatant lower ranks of extra-long service according to "Regulations on the lower ranks of the non-commissioned officer rank, remaining voluntarily in extra-long active service" dated 1890.
From left to right: Up to 2 years, Over 2 to 4 years, Over 4 to 6 years, Over 6 years
To be precise, the article, from where these drawings are borrowed, says the following: "... the awarding of chevrons to super-enlisted lower ranks holding the positions of sergeant majors (wahmisters) and platoon non-commissioned officers (fireworks) of combatant companies, squadrons, batteries was carried out:
- Upon admission to long-term service - a silver narrow chevron
- At the end of the second year of long-term service - a silver wide chevron
- At the end of the fourth year of long-term service - a gold narrow chevron
- At the end of the sixth year of long-term service - a gold wide chevron"
In army infantry regiments to designate the ranks of corporal, ml. and senior non-commissioned officers, an army white braid was used.
1. The rank of WRITTEN, since 1991, exists in the army only in wartime.
With the beginning of the Great War, ensigns graduate from military schools and ensign schools.
2. The rank of WARNING OFFICER of the reserve, in peacetime, on the shoulder straps of an ensign, wears a galloon patch against the device at the lower rib.
3. The rank of WRITTEN OFFICER, in this rank in wartime, when military units are mobilized with a shortage of junior officers, the lower ranks are renamed from non-commissioned officers with an educational qualification, or from sergeants without
educational qualification. From 1891 to 1907, warrant officers on the shoulder straps of an ensign also wear rank stripes, from which they were renamed.
4. Title ZAURYAD-WRITTEN OFFICER (since 1907). Shoulder straps of a lieutenant with an officer's star and a transverse stripe according to the position. Chevron sleeve 5/8 inches, angle up. Shoulder straps of an officer's standard were retained only by those who were renamed Z-Pr. during the Russo-Japanese War and remained in the army, for example, as a sergeant major.
5. The title of WRITTEN OFFICER-ZURYAD of the State Militia Squad. Non-commissioned officers of the reserve were renamed into this rank, or, in the presence of an educational qualification, who served for at least 2 months as a non-commissioned officer of the State Militia Squad and was appointed junior officer of the squad. Ensigns-zauryad wore epaulettes of an active duty ensign with a galloon stripe of instrument color sewn into the lower part of the epaulettes.
Cossack ranks and titles
On the lowest rung of the service ladder stood an ordinary Cossack, corresponding to an ordinary infantry. This was followed by an orderly, who had one badge and corresponded to a corporal in the infantry. The next rung of the career ladder is the junior officer and the senior officer, corresponding to the junior non-commissioned officer, non-commissioned officer and senior non-commissioned officer and with the number of badges characteristic of modern sergeants. This was followed by the rank of sergeant major, who was not only in the Cossacks, but also in the non-commissioned officers of the cavalry and horse artillery.
In the Russian army and gendarmerie, the sergeant-major was the closest assistant to the commander of a hundred, squadron, battery for drill, internal order and economic affairs. The rank of sergeant major corresponded to the rank of sergeant major in the infantry. According to the regulation of 1884, introduced by Alexander III, the next rank in the Cossack troops, but only for wartime, was the cadet, an intermediate rank between a lieutenant and ensign in the infantry, which was also introduced in wartime. In peacetime, in addition to the Cossack troops, these ranks existed only for reserve officers. The next degree in the chief officer ranks is cornet, corresponding to a second lieutenant in the infantry and a cornet in the regular cavalry.
According to his official position, he corresponded to a junior lieutenant in the modern army, but wore shoulder straps with a blue gap on a silver field (the applied color of the Don Cossacks) with two stars. In the old army, compared to the Soviet one, the number of stars was one more. Next came the centurion - the chief officer rank in the Cossack troops, corresponding to a lieutenant in the regular army. The centurion wore epaulettes of the same design, but with three stars, corresponding in his position to a modern lieutenant. A higher step - podesaul.
This rank was introduced in 1884. In the regular troops, it corresponded to the rank of staff captain and staff captain.
The podesaul was an assistant or deputy to the Yesaul and in his absence he commanded a Cossack hundred.
Shoulder straps of the same design, but with four stars.
According to his official position, he corresponds to a modern senior lieutenant. And the highest rank of chief officer rank is Yesaul. It is worth talking about this rank especially, since in a purely historical sense, the people who wore it held positions in both civil and military departments. In various Cossack troops, this position included various official prerogatives.
The word comes from the Turkic "yasaul" - chief.
In the Cossack troops it was first mentioned in 1576 and was used in the Ukrainian Cossack army.
Yesauls were general, military, regimental, hundreds, stanitsa, marching and artillery. General Yesaul (two per Army) - the highest rank after the hetman. In peacetime, general captains performed inspection functions, in war they commanded several regiments, and in the absence of a hetman, the entire Army. But this is typical only for Ukrainian Cossacks. Troop captains were chosen on the Military Circle (in the Don and most others, two per Army, in the Volga and Orenburg - one each). Dealt with administrative matters. Since 1835, they were appointed as adjutants to the military ataman. Regimental captains (originally two per regiment) performed the duties of staff officers, were the closest assistants to the regiment commander.
Hundreds of Yesauls (one per hundred) commanded hundreds. This link did not take root in the Don Cossacks after the first centuries of the existence of the Cossacks.
The stanitsa Yesauls were typical only for the Don Cossacks. They were selected at stanitsa gatherings and were assistants to stanitsa atamans. They performed the functions of assistants to the marching ataman, in the 16th-17th centuries, in his absence, they commanded the army, later they were executors of the orders of the marching ataman.
Only the military captain was preserved under the military ataman of the Don Cossack army. In 1798 - 1800. the rank of captain was equated to the rank of captain in the cavalry. Yesaul, as a rule, commanded a Cossack hundred. Corresponded to the official position of the modern captain. He wore epaulettes with a blue gap on a silver field without stars. Next come the headquarters officer ranks. In fact, after the reform of Alexander III in 1884, the rank of Yesaul entered this rank, in connection with which the major link was removed from the headquarters officer ranks, as a result of which the soldier from the captains immediately became a lieutenant colonel. The name of this rank comes from the ancient name of the executive authority of the Cossacks. In the second half of the 18th century, this name, in a modified form, spread to persons who commanded certain branches of the Cossack army. Since 1754, the military foreman was equated with a major, and with the abolition of this rank in 1884, with a lieutenant colonel. He wore shoulder straps with two blue gaps on a silver field and three large stars.
Well, then comes the colonel, shoulder straps are the same as those of the military foreman, but without stars. Starting from this rank, the service ladder is unified with the general army, since the purely Cossack names of the ranks disappear. The official position of a Cossack general fully corresponds to the general ranks of the Russian Army.
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