Moskovsky Guards Regiment (russian: Московский лейб-гвардии полк) was a

Russian Imperial Guard The Russian Imperial Guard, officially known as the Leib Guard (russian: Лейб-гвардия ''Leyb-gvardiya'', from German ''Leib'' "body"; cf. Life Guards / Bodyguard) were military units serving as personal guards of the Emperor of Rus ...

infantry regiment. Established in October 1817 it continued in existence until the Russian Revolution of 1917.

History

Foundation

The Moscow Guards Regiment was created on 12 October 1817. In order to constitute the new unit, the two senior battalions of the existing Litovski Regiment of

line infantry Line infantry was the type of infantry that composed the basis of European land armies from the late 17th century to the mid-19th century. Maurice of Nassau and Gustavus Adolphus are generally regarded as its pioneers, while Turenne and Monte ...

were transferred to a senior corps of the Imperial Guard designated as the "Old Guard" (''ru: старая гвардия''). The Litovski itself had been raised on 7 November 1811 and this now became the nominal date of foundation for the Moscow Guards.

Campaigns

* 1812 -

Battle of Borodino The Battle of Borodino (). took place near the village of Borodino on during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. The ' won the battle against the Imperial Russian Army but failed to gain a decisive victory and suffered tremendous losses. Napoleon ...

(as Litovski Regiment). * 1813 - Battle of Lützen, Battle of Bautzen,

Battle of Dresden The Battle of Dresden (26–27 August 1813) was a major engagement of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle took place around the city of Dresden in modern-day Germany. With the recent addition of Austria, the Sixth Coalition felt emboldened in t ...

Battle of Leipzig The Battle of Leipzig (french: Bataille de Leipsick; german: Völkerschlacht bei Leipzig, ); sv, Slaget vid Leipzig), also known as the Battle of the Nations (french: Bataille des Nations; russian: Битва народов, translit=Bitva ...

(as Litovski Regiment). * 1828–1829 — Russian-Turkish War * 1831 —

Polish campaign The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week afte ...

. * 1863–1864 —

. * 1877–1878 — Russo-Turkish War. * 1914–1917 —

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Decembrist revolt

On 25 December 1825 the Moscow Regiment played a leading role in the

Decembrist revolt The Decembrist Revolt ( ru , Восстание декабристов, translit = Vosstaniye dekabristov , translation = Uprising of the Decembrists) took place in Russia on , during the interregnum following the sudden death of Emperor Al ...

. Led by reform minded young officers the regiment paraded for most of a day in the Senate Square of Saint Petersburg, in protest against the accession of

Tsar Nicholas I , house = Romanov-Holstein-Gottorp , father = Paul I of Russia , mother = Maria Feodorovna (Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg) , birth_date = , birth_place = Gatchina Palace, Gatchina, Russian Empire , death_date = ...

. At dusk they were fired on by loyalist artillery and routed. The officers involved were executed or exiled, and the ordinary soldiers transferred to

units. However the Moscow Regiment, survived with its numbers restored by mass transferrals from the L.G. Grenadierski Regiment.

Uniforms and physical appearance

Throughout its history under the Russian Empire, the regiment wore the standard uniform of the Infantry of the Imperial Guard, which from 1683 to 1914 was predominantly of a dark green (eventually verging on black) colour. The main distinctions of the Moscow Guards Regiment were the all-red facings ( plastron, collar, cuffs and shoulder straps). On the collars were worn distinctive regimental patterns of braid (''litzen'') in gold or yellow braid. In 1912, in recognition of its service during the Russo-Tukish War, officers of the regiment were authorised to wear a large metal

gorget A gorget , from the French ' meaning throat, was a band of linen wrapped around a woman's neck and head in the medieval period or the lower part of a simple chaperon hood. The term later described a steel or leather collar to protect the thro ...

of a design dating from 1808. A peculiarity of the Russian Imperial Guard was that recruits for most regiments were required to meet certain criteria of physical appearance, in order to provide a standardised appearance on parade. For the Moscow Regiment conscripts were selected on the basis of their hair colour (red or reddish-brown).Patrick de Gmeline, page 63 "La Garde Imperiale Imperiale Russe 1896-1914", publisher Charles-Lavauzelle Paris 1986

References

Sources

* Gorokhoff, Gerard. Russian Imperial Guard. 2002. * Handbook of the Russian Army 1914 by the British General Staff. Battery Press reprint edition, 1996. {{Infantry regiments of the Russian Empire Russian Imperial Guard Infantry regiments of the Russian Empire Russian military units and formations of the Napoleonic Wars Former guards regiments Military units and formations established in 1812 Military units and formations disestablished in 1917 Guards regiments of the Russian Empire