Zvezda 8026 Russian Cuirassiers 1812-1814

The Russian army at the end of the 18th century was probably the largest and arguably one of the strongest armies in Europe. During the reign of Catherine II the Great (1762-1796), she won several important victories in the course of the wars with Turkey, won the war with Poland in 1792 and was instrumental in suppressing the Kościuszko Uprising in 1794. Also in the course of the wars with revolutionary France (1792-1799), she did not show her wrong side. However, the defeats at Austerlitz (1805) and at Iława Pruska and especially at Fridland (1807) forced changes in the Russian army, which also affected its cavalry, including cuirassiers. The cuirassiers in the Russian army, as in any other army in Europe at that time, were perceived as heavy cavalry, designed to perform charges on the battlefield. They were also a kind of elite of the Russian cavalry. For this reason, soldiers were assigned to them of very good physical condition, tall, who were mounted on large horses with about 150-160 centimeters at the withers. In 1805, there were only 8 cuirassier regiments in the Russian army, at the beginning of 1812 - 10 (against 37 dragoon regiments), and a year later - this number increased to 12 regiments. The basic tactical unit of the Russian cuirassiers was a squadron, and 5 squadrons formed a regiment. The main armament of the Russian cuirassiers was a broadsword, which was replaced with a saber, which, however, was very long (97 cm) and retained many of the combat qualities of the broadsword. As an additional weapon, the cuirassier had two pistol in olders and - often - a cavalry rifle. Units of Russian cuirassiers distinguished themselves in the battles of Borodino (1812) and Leipzig (1813).