Russian Imperial Guard
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
The term Leib Guard (Russian: Ле́йб-гва́рдия) collectively distinguished military units serving as personal guards of the Emperor of Russia. Peter the Great founded the first such units: the Semyonovsky (Семёновский) and Preobrazhensky (Преображе́нский) infantry regiments; they became the most distinguished Guards units and their officers took an active part in the "Palace Revolutions" of the Empresses Elisabeth and Catherine the Great.
Over time, some Dragoon, Hussar and Cossack regiments joined the Leib Guard, as well as Guards Equippage, a naval squadron.
Every soldier and officer of the Guard had the style of the Leib Guard (Лейб-гвардии ...), for example: Colonel of the Leib Guard (Лейб-гвардии полковник). Note that the monarch himself functioned as the commander of the Leib Guard regiments, so only he and some members of royal family could hold a title of Colonel (Polkovnik) of the Guards.
Commissioned officers enjoyed a two-grade elevation in the Table of Ranks over regular army officers; this later changed to a one-grade elevation -- first for the new guards then for the rest of the Leib Guard. Following the abolition of the rank of Major in 1884, most grades below VII shifted one position upwards, effectively returning to those of the old guards.
| Grade, old guards | Grade, new guards | Category | Infantry | Cavalry, Cossacks until 1891 | Cossacks (since 1891) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IV | V | Staff Officers | Colonel (Полковник) | ||
| V | VI | Sub-Colonel (Подполковник) (until 1798); | |||
| VI | VII | Premier Major, Second Major (Премьер-майор, секунд-майор) (until 1798) | |||
| VII | VIII | Ober-Officers | Captain (Капитан) | Rittmeister (Ротмистр) | Yesaul (Есаул) |
| VIII | IX | Stabs-Captain (Штабс-капитан) | Stabs-Rittmeister (Штабс-ротмистр) | Sub-Yesaul (Подъесаул) | |
| IX | X | Poruchik (Поручик) | Sotnik (Сотник) | ||
| X | XI | Sub-Poruchik (Подпоручик) | Khorunzhiy (Хорунжий) | ||
| XI | XII | Praporshchik (Прапорщик) | Cornet (Корнет) | ||
| XII | XIII | Under-Officers | Feldwebel (Фельдфебель) | ||
| XIII | XIV | Sergeant (Сержант) Feldwebel (1800-1884) | Wachtmeister (Вахмистр) | Sub-Khorunzhiy (Подхорунжий) | |
| XIV | |||||
| Sub-Praporshchik (Подпрапорщик); Senior Unteroffizier (Старший унтер-офицер) since 1800 | Wachtmeister (Вахмистр) | ||||
| Unteroffizier (Унтер-офицер) | Uryadnik (Урядник) | ||||
| Gefreiter (Ефрейтор) | Prikazny (Приказный) | ||||
| Privates | Musketeer, Fusilier, Grenadier etc. (Мушкетёр, фузилёр, гренадёр и т.д.) | Dragoon, Hussar, Cuirassier, Cossack etc. (Драгун, гусар, кирасир, казак и т.д.) | Cossack (Казак) | ||
See also
