Russia first took up arms against republican France in 1798, when Tsar Paul sent armies to the Netherlands, Switzerland and northern Italy, but these were later withdrawn. Hostilities with France recommenced in 1805 when Russia joined what would become the Third Coalition, and sent large armies into central Europe in support of those of Austria, but suffered defeat at the Battle of Austerlitz. However Russia continued the struggle as part of the new Fourth Coalition, fighting major battles at Eylau and Friedland before concluding peace with the Treaty of Tilsit (July 1807).
As with any army of the day, a large part of the Russian infantry was made up of grenadiers. Traditionally the strongest men who could throw a grenade, by the Napoleonic Wars this function had long disappeared from land warfare, and they were instead heavy infantry but still seen as the best of the Line Infantry. The year 1804, when this set dates itself from, saw the grenadiers gradually returning to a modern uniform rather than the old-fashioned Frederickian Prussian uniforms introduced under Paul. They now wore the coat with shorter tails and lapels fully closed to the waist with two rows of buttons. They wore breeches with boots in the winter, which is what all these figures are wearing, but they still had the tall mitre cap with metal front plate and headband decorated with grenades (but no chinstrap). They carried the cylindrical knapsack or valise, to which was attached a mess tin and, from 1805, a rolled greatcoat. The cartridge pouch on the right hip (with grenadier decoration) and sabre on the left completed the outfit, which is correctly modelled here. In 1805 it was decreed that the grenadier mitre cap should be replaced by a shako, but naturally this took years to implement, partly simply to save the expense of replacing almost new mitres, and several regiments continued to wear the mitre for several more years. Inevitably mention needs to be made here of the Pavlov regiment, who still had the mitre in mid-1807, and were allowed to keep it in perpetuity in recognition of their gallant action at Friedland, but other grenadiers would also have retained this look into 1808, so the dates for this set make perfect sense.
Specifications
- Contents: 34 figures
- Poses: 14 poses
- Material: Plastic (Medium Consistency)
