The Life Guard Horse Regiment () was a cavalry regiment of the Imperial Guard of Russian Empire. The regiment was founded in the reign of Peter the Great and was disbanded after the October Revolution in 1917. Its annual feast day was 25 March.
History
Formation The regiment was formed on 7 March 1721 from the Life Dragoon Squadron of Prince Alexander Danilovich Menshikov, the Dragoon Company of Count Sheremetev, and the Kronshlot Dragoon Company.
On 21 December 1725, the regiment was reorganized along the lines of Swedish regiments and staffed exclusively by nobles. Unlike other dragoons, the regimental colour was red and their waistcoats had golden cords; they carried two pistols instead of one, and no axes. The regiment was granted the timpani drums captured from the Swedish Horse Guards at the Battle of Poltava on 8 July 1709.
On 31 December 1730 (N.S. 11 January 1731), the regiment was renamed the Horse Guards and given all the rights of the guards, marking the beginning of the regular guards cavalry. The regiment consisted of 5 squadrons of 2 companies each, a total of 1,423 people of which 1,111 were front-line officers. Empress Anna Ioannovna accepted the honorary rank of colonel or chief of the regiment; this title was subsequently held by Peter III of Russia, Catherine the Great and others.
The casual uniform of the horse guards was similar to the dragoons, differing only in the jacket's red color and the trousers. The parade uniform consisted of a tunic, undertail and pants made from buckskin leather, an iron half-sleeve with copper elements, a broadsword on the waist belt, a carbine without a bayonet with a sash and two pistols. Equipment and horse headgear were similar to that of the dragoons. Since the time of Empress Anna Ioannovna, the regiment was staffed mainly by the Ostsee (Baltic) Germans.
Russo-Turkish War (17351739) In 1737 the regiment took part in fighting for the first time. During the Russo-Turkish war three of its ten companies fought to capture Ochakov and in the Battle of Stavuchany.
Napoleonic Wars Emperor Paul I of Russia made the regiment a part of his Gatchina troops and in 1800 appointed Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich of Russia as the chief of the regiment.
In 1801, Emperor Alexander I changed its name to the Life Guards Equestrian Regiment. After the death of Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich in 1831, each successive regimental chief was a regent or heir to the throne.
War of the Third Coalition In 1805, the regiment took part in the Austrian campaign against the Great Army of Emperor Napoleon, and on 20 November it participated in the Battle of Austerlitz. All five squadrons of the regiment under the command of Major General Ivan Yankovich, along with the Imperial Guards' Hussars, attacked a battalion of French infantry. Privates of the 3rd platoon of the 2nd squadron Gavrilov, Omelchenko, Ushakov and Lazunov captured an honorary trophythe French battalion "eagle" of the 4th line regiment. For this distinction, the inscription "For the capture of the enemy banner at Austerlitz on 20 November 1805" was added to the regiment standard.
War of the Fourth Coalition In 1807, the Horse Guards fought in the battles of Heilsberg and Friedland. On 2 June (N.S. 14 June) at Friedland, the regiment attacked and overturned the French cavalry and then broke into the infantry regiments. The 4th squadron of the regiment under the command of rittmeister Ivan M. Vadbolsky, at the cost of heavy losses, saved the regiment from counterattacks by French cavalry. In the cavalry attack, 16 officers and 116 enlisted men of the regiment were killed.
Patriotic War of 1812 The regiment distinguished itself in the battle of Borodino in 1812. Together with the Chevalier Guard Regiment it attacked Lorge's cuirassier division from the La Tour-Maubourg corps at the Raevsky battery. For this fight, 32 officers of the horse guards received commendations.
War of the Sixth Coalition In April 1813, the regiment was awarded the St. George banner with the inscription "For distinction in the defeat and expulsion of the enemy from the borders of Russia in 1812."
In 1813, the regiment participated in the Foreign Campaign of the Russian Army:
on August 16–18 (N.S. 28-30) at Kulm, on October 4–7 (N.S. 16-19) at Leipzig.
For the last battle at Fère-Champenoise the regiment received 22 St. George crosses with the inscription "For courage against the enemy at Fère-Champenoise on 13 March 1814." On 19 March (N.S. 31 March) 1814, the regiment entered Paris. For this campaign the regiment was awarded another St. George banner.
Decembrist revolt (1825) On December 14, 1825, the regiment participated in the suppression of rebellion on Senate Square in Saint Petersburg. This day, private of 3rd squadron Pavel Panyuta was shot dead.
November Uprising (1830–1831) On 25–27 August (N.S. 6–8 September) 1831, two battalions participated in the suppression of Polish rebellion and taking of Warsaw.
Caucasian War From 1835 to 1846, many officers of the regiment volunteered in the Caucasian War.
Hungarian Revolution of 1848 In 1849, the regiment participated in the suppression of the revolt in Hungary.
Crimean War (1853–1856) During the Crimean War, the regiment was assigned to guard the coast of the Gulf of Finland from Peterhof to St. Petersburg in case of an Anglo-French landing.
Russo-Turkish war (1877–1878) In 1877–1878, many officers of the regiment were volunteers in the Russo-Turkish war.
Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905) In the Russo-Japanese War, the regiment did not participate in the battles, but several officers and 28 lower ranks of the regiment volunteered to the front.
World War I In 1914, the regiment marched to the German front as part of the 1st Army under General Rennenkampf. On August 6, it participated in the battle of Kaushen where the guards attacked the German battery on foot, covered with machine guns. The regiment suffered heavy losses. The outcome of the attack was decided by the cavalry attack of the Life Squadron under the command of the captain P. N. Wrangel, during which almost all the squadron officers were killed.
On 28 July 1917, the regiment was renamed the Horse Guards. In December, the regiment began disbanding. On 19 December, the first division (1st, 2nd and 5th squadrons) was disbanded near Zhmerinka, followed by the second division (3rd, 4th and 6th squadrons). The officers and part of the lower ranks went home, and about 150 lower ranks returned to the barracks in Petrograd (now St. Petersburg), where in February–March 1918 the regiment was finally disbanded.
Post-Revolution: Russian Civil War
Red Army The Petrograd Soviet formed the 1st Mounted Regiment of the Red Army from the lower ranks and non-commissioned officers of the guards who returned to Petrograd in January 1918. The regiment's staff was as follows:
the regiment commander – E. I. Kusin; assistant commander Fomichev; commander of the 1st squadron Eroshov, an adjutant of the Karachintsev regiment, which was disarmed in the spring of 1919 as the regiment's officers desired to join the white movement.
White Army
1919 Spring From January 1919, horse guardsmen, along with other guards cuirassiers, formed a team of equestrian reconnaissance officers of the Combined Guards Infantry Regiment of the Volunteer Army. In March 1919, the Consolidated Regiment of the Guards Cuirassier Division was formed, in which horse guards made up the 2nd Squadron.
1919 Summer In June 1919, the 1st Guards Combined Cuirassier Regiment was formed on the basis of the Consolidated Regiment, in which horse guards were represented by 2 squadrons.
1919 Winter On December 15, 1919, the squadron of the Horse Regiment entered the Combined Guards Cavalry Regiment of the 1st Cavalry Division.
1920 On arrival in the Crimea from 1 May 1920, the unit became the 2nd squadron of the Guards Cavalry Regiment of the Russian Army under General Wrangel.
During the battles of the summer-autumn of 1920, the squadron suffered many casualties and in September 1920 was disbanded. The survivors were reduced to a platoon, which General Wrangel turned into his personal guard. The regiment lost 18 officers in the White movement (5 were shot, 12 were killed and 1 died of disease), and according to other data 23.
Aftermath Many survivors went into exile where in 1923 they formed a regimental association ("Union of Horse Guards" from 1923 to 1939, later "Horse Guards Association"). Its membership diminished from 105 in 1931 to 50 in 1951. From 1953 to 1967 it published an annual journal on a rotating basis.
Honorary Colonels of the Horse Guards and regimental chiefs Chiefs (honorary commanders):
17301740Empress Anna Ioannovna 1740–1741 – Emperor Ivan VI 1741–1761 – Empress Elizaveta Petrovna 1761–1762 – Emperor Peter III February–June 1762 – Field Marshal Prince George Ludwig Schleswig-Holstein 1762–1779 – Empress Catherine II 1796–1801 – Emperor Paul I 1796–1800 – Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich September–October 1800 – Alexander Friedrich Karl Prince of Württemberg 1800–1831 – Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich 1831–1855 – Emperor Nicholas I 1855–1881 – Emperor Alexander II 1881–1894 – Emperor Alexander III 1894–1917 – Emperor Nicholas II
Lieutenant colonels of the Horse Guards
1730–1731 – General-in-Chief Count Yaguzhinsky 1731–1736 – Adjutant General, Lieutenant-General 1736–1738 – Major General Burchard Ernst von Trautvetter 1738–1740 – Prince of Courland Count von Biron 1740–1763 – General 1748–1762 – Field Marshal Count Razumovsky 1762–1780 – General-in-Chief Prince Volkonsky 1764–1783 – General-in-Chief Prince Orlov 1784–1796 – Field Marshal Count Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky 1790–1796 – Adjutant-General Count Saltykov
Regiment commanders
1731–1738 – General Burchard Ernst von Trautvetter 1740–1744 – General 1744–1761 – General 1761–1762 – General Yakov Berger 1762–1764 – General Prince Pyotr Petrovich Cherkassky 1764–1767 – General 1767–1781 – General Ivan Ivanovich Davydov 1781–1788 – General Ivan Ivanovich Mikhelson 1788–1789 – Major Pyotr Ivanovich Bobarykin 1789–1789 – General Alexander Mikhailovich Rimsky-Korsakov 1789–1792 – Major Pyotr Ivanovich Bobarykin 1792–1793 – General 1793–1797 – General Grigory Alekseyevich Vasilchikov 1797–1797 – General Pyotr Semyonovich Muravyov 1797–1798 – General Baron von der Palen 1798–1798 – General Pyotr Semyonovich Muravyov 1798–1800 – General Prince Golitsyn 1800–1800 – General Mikhail Sergeyevich Karakulin 1800–1800 – Colonel Ivan Janković de Mirievo 1800–1800 – General 1800–1803 – General Alexander Petrovich Tormasov 1803–1811 – General Ivan Janković de Mirievo 1811–1819 – General Mikhail Andreyevich Arsenyev 1819–1828 – General Count Orlov 1828–1833 – General 1833–1837 – General 1837–1844 – General 1844–1853 – General 1853–1855 – General Count Lambert 1855–1864 – General 1864–1869 – General 1869–1871 – General Alexander Nikolaevich Manvelov 1871–1875 – General 1875–1883 – General Baron Frederiks 1883–1884 – Colonel 1884–1890 – General 1890–1896 – Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich 1896–1901 – General 1901–1904 – General Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Gerngross 1904–1906 – General Prince Bagration-Mukhransky 1906–1911 – General Huseyn Khan Nakhichevan 1911–1914 – General Pavel Petrovich Skoropadsky 1914–1917 – General 1917–1917 – Colonel Vsevolod Dmitrievich Staroselsky 1917–1917 – General Mikhail Evgrafovich Alenich
Appearance The lower ranks of the regiment were recruited from tall men with brown hair and mustaches. In the 4th squadron they would also have beards.
The general regimental colour of horses was black (from the early days of the regiment, then shifting during the period of wars, going back to black in 1823). From 1737, for regimental trumpeters the color of horses was gray.
Distinctions awarded after battle