Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 2.djvu/672

610 A brigade of field artillery consists of six batteries, viz., three heavy, two light, and one of mitrailleuses. The horse artillery brigade of the guard comprises five light batteries (including one of the Don Cossacks of the guard); the remaining horse brigades have only two batteries each. The Turkestan brigades vary slightly in composition. The Russian artillery thus numbers 143 heavy field bat teries; 100 light field batteries; 19 batteries of horse artillery; 4 mountain batteries; and 50 batteries of mitrail leuses; or a total of 2128 guns and 400 mitrailleuses. A battery has three establishments &quot; peace,&quot; with only 4 guns and 2 waggons horsed; &quot;increased peace,&quot; with 8 guns and 8 waggons; and &quot;war,&quot; with 8 guns and 16 (or 24) waggons. On Avar establishment a heavy field battery numbers 6 officers, 316 non-commissioned officers and men (including artificers, &c.), and 214 horses; with 8 guns, 24 ammunition waggons, and 9 provision and store car riages. A light battery has 261 officers and men, 160 horses, 8 guns, 16 ammunition and 8 other waggons and carriages. The guns are of bronze or cast steel, breech- loading and rifled on the Prussian system. The mitrailleuse batteries are armed with a 10-barrelled gun on the Gatling system, slightly modified by the Russian general Gorloff. A heavy battery carries 120 rounds per gun, a light bat tery 130, and a mitrailleuse battery a total of 6290 rounds. The harness is rough and clumsy, with long rope traces. The dress of the men of the field batteries is similar to that of the infantry, and that of the horse artillery to that of the dragoons.

Engineers.—The corps is divided into sappers and pon- toniers. The sappers form 11 field battalions, 1 field company (Turkestan), and four reserve battalions (local troops); also 2 engineer field parks, 2 siege parks, and 6 field telegraph parks. The pontoniers form 6 half-bat talions. A field battalion of sappers consists of 4 com panies, and has a war establishment of 900 rank and file, and a peace establishment of 600. The half-battalions of pontoniers consist of two companies, and have a war esta blishment of 13 officers, 469 non-commissioned officers and men, with 392 horses, 52 pontoon and 10 other waggons and carriages; and carry 26 iron pontoons and 12 trestles, sufficient to form 700 feet of bridge.

Organisation of the Field Army.—The organisation of the Russian army is entirely divisional; two or more divi sions &amp;gt;may be brought together to form an army corps, but no such organisation exists permanently. The infantry is formed in 47 divisions, viz., 3 of guards, 3 of grenadiers, 1 of Caucasus grenadiers, and 40 of the line. Each divi sion consists of 4 regiments or 12 battalions (with the exception of the divisions of the Caucasus, which have 16 battalions), and has attached to it a brigade of field artil lery, but no cavalry or rifles. The rifles are organised in separate brigades of 4 battalions each, and form 8 brigades (1 guard, 1 of the Caucasus, 1 of Turkestan, and 5 of the line); and the cavalry in cavalry divisions of six regi ments, to each of which is attached a brigade of horse artillery. With the exception of the guards (of whom two divisions are always stationed in St Petersburg) and some of the troops of the Caucasus and Turkestan, these divi sions have no permanent stations, but relieve one another from time to time. Five infantry and two cavalry divisions are usually stationed in the St Petersburg district ; 15 infantry and 2 cavalry divisions in the Warsaw and Yilna districts (Poland and Polish frontier); 8 infantry and 2 cavalry in Kiev and Odessa (south-eastern pro vinces); 7 infantry and 1 cavalry in Moscow; and 6 infantry and 1 cavalry in the Caucasus. Of the cavalry, the guard divisions and three line divisions are usually maintained on war footing, the remainder on the peace establish ment; the artillery all on peace establishment. Of the infantry, a few battalions in Turkestan are alone main tained on war footing; the divisions in the Caucasus are mostly on the &quot;increased peace&quot; establishment ; the guards and grenadier divisions, and those occupying War saw and the great fortresses, on &quot;peace&quot; footing; and those distributed about the interior on cadre establishment. The following was the peace and war strength of the field army in 1873:—

Infantry (612 battalions), 364,422 694,511 Cavalry (236 squadrons), 38,306 49,183 Artillery, 41,731 48,773 Engineers, 13,413 16,203 Total, 457,872 808,670

Local Troops.—That portion of the Russian army which is stationary in peace is distinguished by the name of &quot;local troops;&quot; and these again are divided into &quot;reserve and depot troops&quot; and &quot;troops for service in the interior.&quot; The reorganisation of these forces was commenced in 1873, but will take some years to complete. According to the new organisation, the reserve and depot troops will consist of 120 local battalions of infantry, each forming on mobilisation a three-battalion reserve regiment and a depot battalion; 56 reserve squadrons of cavalry; 24 local batteries of artillery, forming in war 24 reserve artillery brigades (96 batteries) and 24 depot batteries; and 5 reserve companies of sappers. In peace time they are little more than cadres, distributed according to population, and are charged with the training of recruits and reserve and furlough men. In war they form a reserve army of 30 infantry divisions and 24 artillery brigades, or about 420,000 men and 768 guns, available to reinforce the field army; and depots numbering about 85,000 men. The &quot;troops for duty in the interior&quot; consist First, of 48 &quot; frontier battalions,&quot; of which 24 are stationed in the Caucasus, 12 in Turkestan, and the remainder in the mili tary districts of Orenburg and Eastern and Western Siberia. They are organised in all respects like the rest of the in fantry, and have a war establishment of 1074, and a peace establishment of 615 of all ranks. Secondly, of &quot;garrison infantry and artillery,&quot; intended for the defence of fort resses, and numbering 98 battalions and 59 (in war time 91) artillery companies. Thirdly, of &quot;government battalions&quot; and &quot;local detachments,&quot; who do garrison duty in the capitals and towns, and act as police, guards, &c. ; of these there are 70 battalions and 400 separate de tachments, distributed throughout the empire, maintained on a reduced establishment in peace, but raised to a total war strength of 120,000 men when the field army is mobilised. Lastly, of &quot; etappen detachments,&quot; stationed on the military roads, and charged with furnishing escorts to recruits and prisoners, and providing them with lodging and subsistence; and local artillery detachments, charged with the care of artillery material stored in large towns. The total strength of the &quot; local troops,&quot; when the new organisation has been completed, will amount to about 784,000 men and 816 guns.

Irregular Troops.—The irregular troops or Cossacks have always borne a most important share in the wars of Russia. In 1812 more than 100,000 were raised, and the services they rendered in that and the following campaigns made their name famous and a terror throughout Europe. In 1856 they raised 184,000 men, of whom about three- fourths were cavalry; but the Crimean war did not give the opportunity of utilising this class of troops. The Cossacks have always been a race of free men; neither serfage nor any dependence upon the land has existed among them. It has been the policy of the Russian Government to foster their martial spirit, and various privileges have been granted to them with this object. They 