234 Gentlemen to Officers
of 31 December 1736, issued on the outbreak of war with Turkey, which had a
propagandist intent and was not implemented until after the end of hostilities
four years later.^8 DUiing Catl1crim: 's reign the settled troops serv~ for only 15
years, but were then classified as reservists; the 25-year term, as w'c know, was
extended to men in the 'lower ranks' in 1793.^9 •
Most officers seem to have begun their service as rank-and-file soiCUers, as
Peter 1 had intended, although for those who were well connected this was
often just a formality. They might be enrolled in a regiment while still in infancy
and granted leave until they had completed their studies. Thus P. M. Volkon-
sky (1776-1852) was enlisted as a Preobrazhensky guardsman on the day of his
baptism; at the age of 16 he wanted to see active service, got himself posted to
another unit, and within a matter of weeks was an ensign; two years later he
had been appointed adjutant in his own regiment.^10 It should, however, be
noted that such laxity was more characteristic of Catherine's reign than it was
of those of her successors, and also that it was more usual in the higher reaches
of society than among provincial gentrymen who had no aristocratic patron.
Patronage was important in finding a vacancy precisely because of the abun-
dance of supernumeraries, which made for fierce competition. Even those who
had the necessary svyazi ('ties', the customary euphemism) could not always
afford to take up the appointment offered-say that of adjutant to a promin-
ent general, which was one of the quickest routes to the top.^11 Senior officers
tried to assist the impecunious, but had to put the interests of the service first.
General Kiselev wrote frankly to a friend in 1828, in i;egard to a member of the
Tolstoy family, that 'I have done all I could, placing both his nephews in the
best regiment and recommending them to their commanders as if they were my
kin', but adding that for some reason they had failed to make the grade.^12
Another contemporary states that in the guards regiments new appointments
took effect from 1 January each year, and so at the end of December 'the
secretary would be pestered with questions: "Will my son get in?", "Has my
nephew been put on the list?" and so on.'^13 Such pressure by civilian relatives
was scarcely possible, however, once the neophyte had received his commission.
The psychological importance of this step is underlined by A. N. Martos,
who in 1809 was promoted sub-lieutenant after a mere six weeks in the ranks
(and an examination in his speciality, engineering): 'everyone who has obtained
his first officer rank and a sword knows that there is scarcely any pleasure on
8 PSZ ix. 7142 (Eng. tr.: Vernadsky et a/.( eds.), Source Book,.ii. 381); on its erratic implemen-
tation, Manstein, Zapiski, p. 186; Troitsky, Russkiy absolyutizm, p. 142.
9 PSZ xxiii. 17149 (2 Sept. 1793). § 6.
10 Volkonsky, 'Rasskazy', p. 177; cf. von Hupel, Beschreibung, pp. 28, 101 n.; Engel'gardt,
Zapiski, p. 59; Mosolov, 'Zapiski', pp. 125-6; Dolgorukiy became an ensign at the age of 12:
Dolgorukov, 'Otryvki', p. 290. Advancement in the military is discussed brieny by Floyd, 'State
Service', pp. 63-6.
11 Pishchevich, Zhizn·, pp. 22-6; cf. Lowenstcrn. Memoires, i. 7-13; Stcherbatow,
Paskevitsch, pp. 7-10.
12 Kiselev to Zakrevsky, 2 Sept. 1828, 'Pis"ma', p. 159.
IJ Glinka, Zapiski, p. 136.
wang
(Wang)
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