Russian Infantry Facings - Inspection Era

By Jonathan Gingerich

Introduction

This page describes the facings of the Russian infantry during the Inspection period from 1802 until the introduction of divisions at the start of 1808. Most previous information in English relies on Viskovatov, who recorded an unimplemented proposal. New information has been published in recent Russian journals, most of which came to my attention in notes accompanying Conrad's exemplary translation of Viskovatov. I may extend the coverage to later dates, for, while the correct information is available, it is often miscompiled.

Line Regiments June 8, 1802

Inspection - miter bag, collar, and cuff	Regimental - shoulder straps, miter head band, pompon center
	red	white	yellow	lt.crimson13	turquoise	rose	lt.green	gray	purple	blue14
yellow	Velikiye Luki	Ryazan	Neva
red	Leib-grenadier	Pavlovsk Gr.	Kexholm	Belozersk1	Yelets	Tenginsk2	Lithuania	Petrovsk7
turquoise	St. Petersburg Gr.	Taurida Gr.	Chernigov	Tobolsk	Sevsk	Dnieper	Reval	Sofiya	Koporye
lt.green	Yekaterinoslav Gr.	Pskov	Rostov	Murom	Archangel	Nizov	Tula	Volhynia
straw	Azov	Viborg	Old Ingermanland	Apsheron	Ryazhsk	Podolia
rose	Kiev Gr. 1	Little Russia Gr.	Smolensk	Bryansk3	Galich
purple8	Siberia Gr.	Kherson Gr.	Nizhni Novgorod	Vladimir1	Yaroslavl	Ladoga	Aleksopol	Kozlov	New Ingermanland	Crimea
ecru	Troitsk	Vitebsk	Belev1	Sevastopol4
blue14	Caucasus Gr.	Kazan	Suzdal	Tiflis	Kabarda	later Saratov6	Vologda
white	Moscow Gr.	Phanagoria Gr.	Perm	Voronezh	Uglich	Kursk	Polotsk
lt.crimson	Moscow1	Novgorod	Vyatka	Narva	Butyrki	Kolyvan2	Poltava
orange	Astrakhan Gr. 1	Schlüsselburg	Nasheburg	Tambov3	Orel	Stary Oskol5	Navaga	Ukraine	Saratov6 later Kura	Olonets
camel	Rylsk	Ufa	Yekaterinburg
gray	Shirvan	Tomsk	Selenginsk

Line Regiments July 3, 1805

Inspection - collar, cuffs	Regimental - shoulder straps, pompon center
	red	white	yellow	lt.crimson13	turquoise	rose	lt.green	gray	purple	blue14
yellow	Velikiye Luki	Ryazan	Neva
red	Leib-grenadier	Pavlovsk Gr.	Kexholm	Belozersk	Yelets	Tenginsk	Lithuania	Petrovsk7
turquoise	St. Petersburg Gr.	Taurida Gr.	Chernigov	Tobolsk	Sevsk	Dnieper	Reval	Sofiya	Koporye later Kaluga9
lt.green	Yekaterinoslav Gr.	Pskov	Rostov	Murom	Archangel	Nizov	Tula	Volhynia later Mogilev9	Kostroma9
straw	Azov	Viborg	Old Ingermanland	Apsheron	Ryazhsk	Podolia	Vilna	Penza
rose	Kiev Gr.	Little Russia Gr.	Smolensk	Bryansk	Galich later Estonia9
dk.green piped red	Nizhni Novgorod	Vladimir	Yaroslavl	Aleksopol	Kozlov	New Ingermanland	Crimea	Odessa
ecru	Siberia Gr.	Kherson Gr.	Troitsk	Vitebsk	Ladoga	Belev
blue14	Caucasus Gr.	Kazan	Suzdal	Tiflis	Kabarda	Sevastopol	Vologda	Saratov
white	Moscow Gr.	Phanagoria Gr.	Perm	Voronezh	Uglich	Kursk	Polotsk
lt.crimson	Moscow	Novgorod	Vyatka	Narva	Butyrki	Kolyvan	Poltava
orange	Astrakhan Gr.	Schlüsselburg	Nasheburg	Tambov	Orel	Stary Oskol	Navaga	Ukraine	Kura	Olonets
camel	Rylsk	Ufa	Yekaterinburg
gray	Shirvan	Tomsk	Selenginsk

New Regiments December 12, 1806

	collar	cuffs10	cuff flaps	shoulder straps
Libau	azure14	red	red	red
Kamchatka	red	red	red	red
Mingrelia	yellow	yellow	red	red
Villmanstrand	red	red	red	white, piped red
Brest	white	red	red	yellow
Kremenchug	yellow	red	red	yellow
Minsk	azure14	red	red	white
Nyslott	dk.green	red	red	white
Okhotsk	azure14	azure14	red	white
Pernau	white	red	white	azure14
Yakutsk	dk.green	red	dk.green	white

Jaeger Regiments

pompon center,cuff,collar, and cuff, turnback, and pants piping
straw13	1st
rose	2d
red	3d
gray	4th
turquoise	5th
fire13	6th
white	7th
blue14	8th
yellow	9th
black	10th
apricot13	11th
lt.crimson13	12th
ecru13	13th
chestnut	14th
lt.iron	15th
camel	16th
violet	17th
brown	18th
purple	19th
cuff and collar and pants piping/cuff and collar piping
dk.green/?16	20th
red/white	21st
white/red	22d
orange/white	23d
(lt.green) 15/azure14	24th
straw/red	25th
blue14/red	26th
collar/cuff and collar, cuff, turnback, and pants piping
(lt.green) 15/red	27th
(lt.green) 15/yellow	28th
(lt.green) 15/turquoise	29th
(lt.green) 15/white	30th
(lt.green) 15/crimson	31st
(lt.green) 15/black	32d

Garrison Regiments

Inspection - collar, cuffs	Regimental - shoulder straps, pompon center
	red	white	yellow	lt.crimson	turquoise	rose	lt.green	gray	purpleblue14	camel	orange	straw	black
yellow	Viborg	Fredrikshamn	Villmandstrand	Kexholm	Nyslott	Rochensalm
red	Kronstadt	Schlüsselburg	Narva	Novgorod	Pskov	Mitau
turquoise	Riga	Pernau	Dünamünde	Reval13	Arensburg
purple8	Kherson	Ochakov
ecru	Perekop	Akhtiar	later Yekaterinoslav11
blue14	Astrakhan	Dmitriyev	Tsaritsyn	Azov	Taganrog	Kizlyar	Mozdok	Vladikavkaz
white	Smolensk	Vitebsk	Mogilev
lt.crimson	Kiev	Yekaterinoslav
orange	Moscow	Voronezh	Saratov	Tambov	Archangel	Vladimir	Nizhni Novgorod	Tver later Vologda	Veliki Ustyug	later Tver12	Penza
camel	Kazan	Orenburg	Kizel	Verkhne-Uralsk	Troitsk	Zverinogolovskoye	Orsk	Simbirsk	Vyatka	Ufa	1st Orenburg	2d Orenburg	3d Orenburg	4th Orenburg
gray	Irkutsk	Selenginsk	Tobolsk	Omsk	Petrovsk	Semipalatinsk	Biysk	Kamchatka	Zhelezinka	Tara

Battalion Pompon Colors

	1st	2d	3d	4th
independent battalions	white
2 battalion regiments	white	red
3 battalion regiments	white	yellow	red
4 battalion regiments	white	azure14	green	red
The outside of the pompon was colored by battalion, but the sequence was determined by the number of battalions in the unit.

Notes

For aesthetic purposes, the miter head band of some regts varied:

1. black
2. blue¹⁴
3. as Inspection
4. lt.green
5. dk.green
6. Saratov was displaced by Kura Jan. 10, 1803
7. Petrovsk took dk.green facings
8. becoming dk.green piped red Nov. 27, 1804
9. New regts created Sept. 10, 1805 displaced the existing regiments. The facings the latter had June 21, 1805 may indicate they took new colors in anticipation: Koporye - violet Volhynia - dk.green Galich - azure¹⁴
10. The new regiments had 5 buttons on the cuff, except the Yakutsk which had 3.
11. Yekaterinoslav was moved to the Crimea Inspection.
12. Most likely, Tver was displaced to this position when Vologda and Veliki Ustyug were raised Aug. 15 1804.
13. Some regiments used lt.green pompon centers to avoid clashes with battalion color, including all line regiments with lt.crimson distinctives.
14. Russian distinguishes between lighter and darker values of the blue hue. I have used azure for the former and blue for the latter.
15. It is not clear if these facings changed when the Jaeger coat changed to dk.green on November 19, 1807.
16. It is not clear if the cuff and collar were piped, and if so whether in dk. or lt.green.

References

Conrad, M., trans. Historical Descriptions of the Clothing and Arms of the Russian Army Vol. 10a by A. V. Viskovatov. Eatontown, NJ, 1993-4.
Korolev, V. "Kisti grenaderskikh shapok, mushketerskikh i yegerskikh shlyap v 1802-1807 godakh" Orel no. 1 (1992) St. Petersburg.
Kosmolinskii, P. Tseikhgauz no. 3 (1994), cited in Conrad.
Zweguintzow, W. L'Armée Russe. Vol. 4 1801--1825. Paris, 1973.

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