RUSSIA. 



671 



Tho army of Russia lian undergone a thor- 

 <>u_rli traiist'oriimtion during the last ten years, 

 mid its now organization may now be consid- 

 ered complete. The entire male population is 

 li.iM.- to military service, the privileged classes 

 tod. It would be erroneous to suppose, 

 however, that every able-bodied young man, 

 after reaching the age prescribed, is drawn 

 into the army. Each military district has to 

 placo at the disposal of the government a 

 vi-urly quota of young men (4 in every 1,000 

 inhabitants belonging to the classes liable to 

 military service), so that a district containing 

 25,000 inhabitants of these classes, has to fur- 

 nish 100 recruits every year, and 60 men for 

 the reserve. If, however, the district is rich, 

 the community has the option of paying in 

 money for the whole or part of the contingent, 

 while every one of those designated for or al- 

 ready enlisted in the army can obtain his re- 

 lease, by either paying a stipulated sum of 

 money, or by furnishing a substitute. The 

 consequence of these exemptions is, that not 

 more than about 100,000 men are annually 

 drawn into the army. The time of service is 

 nominally 15 years, but, with the exception 

 of the volunteers and substitutes, there is now 

 hardly one soldier in the army who has served 

 over seven years. The army consists of regu- 

 lar troops, troops of the reserve, local, and 

 irregular troops. The regular field army is 

 composed of 12 regiments of infantry of the 

 Guards, 16 regiments of grenadiers, and 160 

 regiments of infantry of the line. The cavalry 

 has 10 divisions, of which 2 divisions, of 5 

 regiments each, belong to the Guards ; the 

 cavalry of the line has 8 divisions, with 46 

 regiments. The artillery consists of 47 brigades 

 of foot-artillery, and of 7 brigades of horse- 

 artillery. Of the foot-artillery, each division 

 of infantry has 1 brigade annexed to it. The 

 corps of engineers has 5 brigades of sappers 

 and miners, composed of 11 battalions of sap- 

 pers and miners and 4 half-battalions of pon- 

 toniers. The infantry of the irregular army 

 is doing service exclusively in Asia, and could 

 hardly ever become available in a European 

 war, on account of the want of proper means 

 of transportation. The same may be said of 

 the cavalry of the irregular army, with the 

 exception of 64 regiments of Cossacks of the 

 Don, which are therefore counted with the 

 regular field army. The latter, when on the 

 war footing, comprises : 



610 battalions of Infan try and riflemen 604,000 



224 oquadrnns of cavalry 84,000 



163 batteries of artillery 89,000 



Corps of engineers 15,000 



Total 692,000 



To these must be added the army of First Re- 

 serve, comprising: 



Troops of theline 191.231 



Garrison reeimenta 83,470 



Garrison battalions 2!,H62 



244,563 



The army of the Second Reserve, com- 

 prising troops of all arms 199,880 



Total 1,185,948 



The above-mentioned batteries ot artillery 

 consist of 1,804 guns. 



Among tliu irregular troops of Russia the 

 most important are the Cossacks. The coun- 

 try of the Don Cossacks contains from 600,000 

 to 700,000 inhabitants. In case of necessity, 

 every Cossack, from 15 to 60 years, is bound 

 to render military service. The usual regular 

 military force, however, consists of 54 cavalry 

 regiments, each numbering 1,044 men, making 

 a total of 56,376. The Cossacks are reckoned, 

 in round numbers, as follows : 



The Cossacks are a race of free men, neither 

 serfage nor any other dependence upon the 

 land exists among them. The entire territory 

 belongs to the Cossack commune, and every 

 individual has an equal right to the use of the 

 land, together with the pastures, hunting- 

 grounds, and fisheries. The Cossacks pay no 

 taxes to the Government, but in lieu of this 

 they are bound to perform military service. 



The Russian fleet consists of two great divi- 

 sions the fleet of the Baltic and that of the 

 Black Sea. Each of these two fleets is again 

 subdivided into sections, of which three are in 

 or near the Baltic, and three in or near the 

 Black Sea, to which must be added the small 

 squadrons of galleys, gunboats, and similar 

 vessels. 



According to an official report, the Russian 

 fleet consisted, in 1869, of 290 steamers, hav- 

 ing 38,000 horse-power, with 2,205 guns, be- 

 sides 29 sailing-vessels, with 65 guns. The 

 greater and more formidable part of this navy 

 was stationed in the Baltic. The Black Sea 

 fleet numbered 43 ; the Caspian, 39 ; the Sibe- 

 rian or Pacific, 80; and the Lake Aral or 

 Toorkistan squadron, 11 vessels. The rest of 

 the ships were either stationed at Kronstadt 

 or engaged in cruising in European waters. 

 All these ships are of iron. At the beginning 

 of 18G8, the Imperial Navy was manned by 

 60,230 sailors and marines, under the com- 

 mand of 3,791 officers, among whom are 119 

 admirals and generals. 



The army budget estimates the expenditures 

 for the maintenance of the army, in 1870, at 

 $102,810,000.* 



The length of railroads in operation, on 

 March 1, 1870, amounted to 5,873 miles. Up 

 to October 1, 1870, 303 miles additional had 

 been completed and thrown open to the public, 

 making the total length of railroads in opera- 

 tion 5,676 miles. The experience gained by the 



* For statistics of the commerce, movement of shipping, 

 etc., ttt AMERICAN ANSUAL CTCLOPJIDIA for 1869. 



