ll2 The Warrior Tsar, 1689-1725
medical supplies.^94 Garrison troops received two-thirds, or usually half, as
much as men in the active army.^95 Pay was issued in three four-monthly in-
staimems, the regimentai authont1es being supervised, at least in theory, by an
official of the War Commissariat (the supply organization) known as a
tsa/'-komisar or tsaf'meyster. If pay did not arrive when due, the men were
forbidden 'to cry' about the matter but had to carry on uncomplainirlaJy.96
In addition to their pay Peter's soldiers at first received a cash alldwance
with which to buy foodstuffs. As in the seventeenth century, the assumption
was that provisions would normally be available in the locality where troops
were stationed at prices they could afford. There were also sutlers, that is,
private tradesmen who accompanied the army as it moved about; or at least
appeared from time to time in its encampments. This allowance was set at 6
den· gi per day for the volunteers of 1699;^97 but the decree did not state for how
long it was to be paid, and it seems to have been viewed by the authorities as a
means of attracnng men to the colours rather than as a permanent commit-
ment. As for recruits, they were supposed to be provisioned by their former
proprietors for the first three months of their servict'..^98
The war compelled the government to assume more responsibility for supply
matters than it had anticipated, but the administrative breakdown.-greatly
hampered its efforts in this domain. The individual entrusted with full power
as commissar-general, Prince Ya. F. Dolgorukiy (1659-1720), was taken
prisoner by the Swedes at Narva,^99 and his functions appear to have been taken
over mainly by the ubiquitous Romodanovsky.1^00 When Dolgorukiy escaped
and returned to Russia in 1711, he got back his old job with a still more
resounding title ('general plenipotentiary war commissar') and, more import-
antly, with an experienced deputy, L. Chirikov, and a rudimentary staff.1°^1 On
paper the Commissariat officials had extensive powers vis-a-vis field officers
in regard to both pay and provisions.^102 But how far did they succeed in coping
with their immense tasks?
Hitherto the troops' needs had been met largely by requisitioning. This
caused a good deal of distress to civilians, particularly in Poland and the Baltic
provinces.^103 Whenever this necessarily arbitrary method did not provide
enough, the desperate troops were prone to loot, despite the severe sanctions
(^94) Anisimov and Zinevich, /storiya, p. 23.
95 PSZ xliii. 2319 (p. 5); iv. 2474 (29 Jan. 1712).
96 Voinskiye artikuly, § 68 (PRP viii. 336).
97 PSZ iv. 1820 (23 Dec. 1700), § 13. There were 200 den'gi to the rouble.
98 This obligation was not defined until 1705: PSZ iv. 2065 (14 July 170S), §7.
(^99) Danilov in SVM i (I, i, i). 9; PSZ iv. 1764; Bobrovsky, Voyennoye pravo, ii. 399; VE iii.
170-1. Danilov, an official historian. mentions the prince's captivity but then stales blandly that in
1703 he was entrusted with greater authority as head of the Office of Military Affairs.
100 PiB iii. 841 (21 June 1705).
101 PSZ iv. 2412 (31July1712); Bobrovsky, Voyennoye pravo, ii. 402.
102 PSZ iv. 3006, ch. xv, xix.
tol 'Doneseniya Pleyera'. in Ustryalov, lstoriya, iv (ii). 563, 580; PiB ix. 2991; xi. 428S, 4365;
xii (ii). 5388; Myshlayevsky, Peter Ve/ikiy, p. Ii; Bobrovsky, Voyennoye pravo, ii. 396; Erdmann,
Patkul, pp. 171, 200.