Peter's Soldiers 115
th~y ~hall not b~ attrat.:ted to flee the service'; the other t\llC men '.\'ere tc be
knouted and sent to forced labour for life. This was also the lot of those who
surrendered voluntarily, except that in their case the forced labour term was
limited to five years, after which they were to be returned to their regiment.121
To their credit Peter's officials tried to moderate the penalty for desertion: a
decree prepared in the Office for Military Affairs (1705) specified that every
tenth rather than every third man was to be put to death.^122
Soldiers who absconded on the battlefield were to be gunned down by their
comrades: 'those behind are to fire cannon and muskets at those fugitives
without any mercy'.^123 Such draconian penalties do seem to have been applied
in practice, especially where the tsar had anything to do with the matter-for
Peter used his sovereign prerogative to stiffen penalties imposed by military
courts. In 1708 26 Preobrazhensky guardsmen were tried for desertion; six were
sentenced to die for crimes they had allegedly committed while on the run; but
Peter, when confirming the sentence, extended this penalty to half the men
whom the court had sentenced to penal servitude, repeating his familiar
refrain: 'and in future those who flee and are caught are to be put to death
without any mercy'.^124 In fairness it should be added that this was a crucial
juncture in the war.
Later, in 1712, the tsar adopted a gentler tactic of imposing fines on
everyone held responsible for the men's escape, from the colonel (1.50 roubles)
down to fellow-soldiers (I kopeck).^125 Sheremetev complained that this
measure was ineffective and it had to be abandoned.^126 The Military Statute of
1716 bristled with menacing penalties for insubordination of every kind, and
this helped to swell the. number of deserters. They were declared outlaws and
c~Uld be killed on sight by' anyone with impunity.^127 By this time whole
districts were terrorized by bands of fugitives, sometimes several hundred
strong, against whom detachments of troops had to take the field. In Kaluga
province a certain Sirotka equipped his followers with uniforms, swords, and
muskets, and trained them to mount guard in regular fashion.^128 Many other
runaways gathered in Poland, where they escaped 'by whole companies' as
they marched homeward from Germany.^129
Peter was obliged to mix blandishments with outright repression. In 1717 he
moderated the penalty-if the gauntlet .::an be considered an improvement-
on men who fled during their first year of service.^130 Two years later a decree
121 PSZ iv. 2019, 2031 (19 Jan., 10 Feb. 1705).
122 PSZ iv. 2065 (14 July 1705).
123 PiB iii. 662 (8 June 1704), § 6.
124 PiB viii. 2739 (pp. 217-26).
12s PiB xii. 5024 (Jan. 1712); PSZ iv. 2456 (IO Dec. 1711). § 17.
126 PiB xii (ii), p. 447.
121 Voinskiye anikuly, § 94 (PRP viii. 340-1, 404),
128 Knyaz'kov, lz proshlogo, ii. 95.
12~ Velyaminov to Repnin, 15 May 1719, cited by Bobrovsky, Voyennoyepravo, ii. 709n. and
Rozengeym, Ocherki, p. 214.
130 Peter I to Senate, 23 Nov. 1717, S/R/O xi. 356-7; Voinskiye artikuly, § 95 (PRPviii. 341,
407).
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(Wang)
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