The toy army of

Peter I Peter I may refer to: Religious hierarchs * Saint Peter (c. 1 AD – c. 64–88 AD), a.k.a. Simon Peter, Simeon, or Simon, apostle of Jesus * Pope Peter I of Alexandria (died 311), revered as a saint * Peter I of Armenia (died 1058), Catholico ...

(russian: Потешные войска, Poteshnye voiska, literally ''amusement forces'' or ''fun forces'') was initially called ''Petrovskiy polk'', Peter's regiment (russian: Петровский полк) and was a collection of young Peter's playmates, noblemen's sons and attendants of his father Aleksei's court. In 1682, when Peter with his mother, Natalia Naryshkina, relocated to the royal lodge in Preobrazhenskoye, he gradually formed a miniature army, ostensibly to school himself in the modern art of war. Besides fellow children, the servants and retainers were being enlisted, with 25-year-old Sergei Bukhvostov recorded in 1683 as the 'first Russian soldier'. Initially, the "play soldiers" were organized as a 100 men strong Company of Bombardiers. The boys played war, and as they grew, their games became more complex and realistic. Professional military advice was sought, and foreign officers were hired as instructors, eventually becoming part of the permanent officer corps of the ''Poteshnyi''. By 1685 the ''Poteshnyi'' numbered 300 and were quartered in specially built barracks near Preobrazhenskoye and as their numbers increased, a second similarly sized group was barracked in a neighboring village, Semenovskoe. With further drafts of

Streltsy , image = 01 106 Book illustrations of Historical description of the clothes and weapons of Russian troops.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = , dates = 1550–1720 , disbanded = , country = Tsardom of Russia , allegiance = Streltsy D ...

volunteers, the ''Poteshnyi'' were organized into the Preobrazhensky and the Semenovsky companies in 1687. At this stage both companies included artillery and cavalry components. During the

1689 coup attempt Events January–March * January 22 (January 12, 1688 O.S.) – Glorious Revolution in England: The Convention Parliament is convened to determine if King James II of England, the last Roman Catholic British monarch, vacated ...

by regent Sophia Alekseyevna, the ''Poteshnyi'' had been part of the units supporting young Peter, along with most of the

, and leading members of

Russian nobility The Russian nobility (russian: дворянство ''dvoryanstvo'') originated in the 14th century. In 1914 it consisted of approximately 1,900,000 members (about 1.1% of the population) in the Russian Empire. Up until the February Revolution ...

. The companies were being expanded and on 25 April 1695 officially became Preobrazhensky and

Semenovsky Regiment The Semyonovsky Lifeguard Regiment (, ) was one of the two oldest guard regiments of the Imperial Russian Army. The other one was the Preobrazhensky Regiment. In 2013, it was recreated for the Russian Armed Forces as a rifle regiment, its name ...

s of the Guard. These regiments became the beginnings of the

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 ...

. As Peter matured, the regiments did as well, and Peter participated fully in the army, joining its ranks as a bombardier, and rising up to

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

and head of the regiments.

References

External links

P. Dirin Потешные полки Петра Великого
Military history of Russia Russian Imperial Guard Military units and formations established in 1683 Military units and formations of the Russian Empire Peter the Great 1683 establishments in Russia {{mil-hist-stub