CHAPTER XVIII. 

 Peter the Great. — The Regular Army in Russia. 



There was no really effective regular army in Russia 

 before the reign of Peter the Great, and to that cele- 

 brated monarch is due the credit of having established 

 the Russian army upon a permanent and effective 

 footing. 



Dmitry Donskoi was the first that divided the army 

 (voisko) into regiments {polke). Before the Tartar 

 invasion the principal strength of the army was the 

 infantry, but after that time the cavalry composed the 

 main force. ^ There was, however, no regular army 

 properly organised till the reign of Peter the Great. 

 He established it upon a true military basis, and taught 

 it to fight, not in the manner of irregular levies, but 

 upon the correct principles of the art of war. 



When Peter ascended the throne the army consisted of 

 two dragoon regiments and twenty-seven infantry. The 

 great Czar at once perceived the extreme weakness of his 

 cavalry force, and the value of the mounted soldiers to 

 an army. He therefore very soon began to increase his 

 dragoons. Eight regiments were organised in 1701.^ 

 The next year he added another. The following year 

 two more dragoon regiments were formed. In 1704, 

 four more. In 1705, six. In 1706 and the following 

 year six more, and in 1711 another. This made a 

 total increase of from two regiments only in 1700, to 

 thirty regiments in 1711. 



• IvanhofF, 3. -' Ibid. 15. 



He also organised in 1709 



