CHAPTER VIII. ON THE RUSSIAN ARMY." Large proportion of Russian population in the army - Military organization Peaceable natural disposition of Russian people Strong feelings when roused Obedience to orders - Anecdotes Commercial disposition of the Russian people Their wish to mix with European nations — Education checked by the government Military system of Peter the Great His great objects Faults of our government with respect to Russian policy The army, whence recruited Great Russians Poles Little Russians Finns, Jews, &c. Name "Ruski" or Russian - Its origin The conscription Soldiers' marriages — The cantonists — Em peror's efforts to improve condition of common soldier generally unsuccess ful Corporal punishment of empire for conscription - Division Into Labour" Indefinite leave " Amount of population per cent. taken from 1840-1855 - Expense of the Russian soldier- Democratic system of The cross of St. George Classification of Russian army army 1st, Corps d'Armée, or complete armies 2nd, Local Regular Troops 3rd, Irregulars - Don, Black Sea, and Ural Cossacks Value and number of Cossack troops Various Asiatic irregulars-General observations. HAVING given a sketch of the Russian navy, perhaps another short digression may be permitted in order to give my readers a concise account of the organization and disposition of the army in Russia, which occupies so large a portion of the population, and consumes so much of the revenues of that country. Taking the army, with all the reserves, at a million," and the male population of Russia at thirty millions, and the able-bodied males at fifteen millions, it follows that every fifteenth man is a soldier, either in active service, or liable to be called out, which is certainly the case at the present moment. In our own country about one man in fifty is a regular soldier, and in other European countries the proportion is greater, but nowhere so large as in Russia. We, in this industrious and commercial country, can hardly conceive what it is to have a military organization such as prevails in Russia, where nothing but a uniform is respected, and where the highest civil officers have military titles given them as the only means of indicating their rank. Indeed there are none but military titles in Russia with which to reward all kinds of merit. Professor Pallas relates that the Grand Mufti, or Chief Priest of the Tatars, was made a general after the conquest of the Crimea-the Professor himself was made a major-general; an old Armenian schoolmaster I used to know at Tiflis, although a very unwarlike character, was a field officer; and all members of the civil service have military rank, and are called by the common people according to their military titles. The most singular thing is, that the people among whom this military organization of the whole nation prevails, is, without exception, the most pacific people on the face of the earth, and upon this point I believe no difference of opinion exists among all observers. Having lived for several years in a position which enabled me to mix much with the officers and men of the Russian army, such is my strong conviction of the Russian character. M. Haxthausen mentions, as a point admitting of no doubt, "the absence of all warlike tendency among the Russian people, and their excessive fear of the profession of a soldier." The Russian people have no pleasure in wearing arms, like the Turk or the Pole: even in their quarrels among themselves, which are rare, they hardly ever fight, and the duel, which now often takes place among Russian officers, is contrary to the national manners, and a custom imported from the West. The people take no pleasure in the fighting of beasts or birds, as in bull-fights, or ramfights, or cock-fights, which are common amusements among some Eastern as well as most European nations; and when the Russian is drunk, which often happens, he is never quarrelsome, but on the contrary caressing and given to tears. But, on being roused, he exhibits a degree of patient endurance which is astonishing, and a steady enthusiasm which shows great power of feeling, and which is very deeply seated in the national character. He meets death and the severest punishment without fear, and strange anecdotes are told of the impossibility, as it seems to him, of disobeying the letter of the orders he has received. I have lately read a story somewhere which well illustrates this trait of character: A soldier on duty at the palace of the Emperor at Petersburg, which was burnt a few years ago, was stationed and had been forgotten in one suite of apartments that was in flames: a Greek priest was the last person to rush through the burning rooms, at the imminent risk of his life, to save a crucifix in a chapel, and returning he was hailed by the sentry, who must in a few instants more have been suffocated. "What do you want?" cried the priest, "save yourself or you will be lost." "I can't leave," replied the sentry, "because I am unrelieved, but I called to you to give me your blessing before I die." The priest blessed him, and the soldier died at his post. The late Emperor himself on one occasion attempted to pass a sentinel in one of the corridors of the palace at Petersburg, who had orders to let no person pass, but the man resisted him, and when the Emperor tried to disarm him, wrestled with him, and flung him back against the wall. The patience also of the Russian peasants is astonishing, in submitting without a murmur to the most cruel treatment when they happen to belong to a bad master, until at last they rise in a body, and, armed with their hatchets, massacre their oppressor. When such instances occur, the affair is quickly hushed up. The patient sufferings of the dissenters, of whom it is said that there are in Russia no less than two hundred sects, prove their deep feeling on religious matters. I have seen thousands marched, with their wives and children, from their native country, into the Caucasus, where they were colonized on bleak plains in the month of October, and the greater number perished of cold and starvation. If the military organization of Russia could be once broken up, the people would turn to their natural pursuits, which are decidedly commercial and agricultural. And again, if free trade were allowed in the empire, and the commercial spirit could satisfy its natural cravings, the increased riches, luxuries, and civilization of the country would show such obvious advantages, that the military system could not hold its ground. English merchants in Russia have assured me, that although there are now few Russian merchants engaged in foreign commerce, no people show such natural aptitude for commercial concerns. The high tariff which is in force, and the absolute prohibition there is against educating their children in Europe, as no young persons between the ages of twelve and twenty-five are allowed under any pretext to be absent from their country, alone repress for political purposes their natural tendencies. The Russian people wish for European civilization, and to mix with the other European nations, but they are not allowed to do so by their Government; and to check their desire for civilization and their liberal tendencies, I have been informed by a German professor, who had minutely studied their educational system, which is under the absolute control of the Government throughout the whole empire, that within the last fifteen years the course of study has been checked and thrown back in all the universities and schools of the empire. It is a well known fact to all who have lived in Russia, that the Government grew more and more jealous of education up to the breaking out of the present war. Foreign tutors and governesses, who are absolutely essential for all parents who wish to give their children a good education in Russia, were as far as possible prevented from entering the empire, and two years ago the Poles were prohibited from studying at the university of Odessa. It must be remembered that this town is the commercial débouché and the capital of all the southern provinces of Poland, the nobility of which generally go there to spend the fashionable season, and that it contains the only superior educational institutions within their reach. It is well known that the Russian army which had served in Europe during the wars of Napoleon, returned with very liberal tendencies, and preferred the manner of life of the nations they had left to their own. They were consequently divided, separated, sent into dangerous situations, and thus gradually disposed of. d The military system which Peter the Great so strongly recommended to his successors, was devised, and has been continued down to the present time, in order that a great framework of empire might be made, which should be filled up gradually by successive generations. He thought he could lay down a plan by which a stupendous sovereignty might be constructed, which should overshadow the whole earth. It is but fair to say, however, that the Tzar is, to a certain degree, the incarnation of the national will, and that the whole nation, from the highest to the lowest, have a vague, but deep-seated notion, that some future glories are in store for the Slavonic name, and they will always approve their Tzar, when they think that he is following out the destiny of the nation. That they do not grow wiser, however, but continue to attach too much importance to military glory, and the absorbing and d See his will, which has been often published. |