Birth of the Military Intelligentsia 235
earth to compare with this reward'.^14 Subsequent advancement up the hier-
archy of chin depended mainly on seniority, although it couid be acceierated
where a man displayed unusual merit-or where he had unusually good con-
nections: Paskevich was a major-general at 28, and two sons of Field-Marshal
M. F. Kamensky (1738-1809) reached that rank at the ages of 26 and 22.^15 For
the average subaltern what mattered most was his relationship to his colonel,
who controlled what was written in each of his officers' testimonials (attestaty).
These essential documents were supposed to be signed by the candidate's com-
rades before they were seen by his superiors, but a contemporary tells us that
in practice junior officers would sign whatever their commander wanted for
fear of receiving a bad testimonial themselves.^16 It might take 15 years to reach
the rank of captain and another 10 years to become a major.^17
These long delays were due partly to social discrimination. The promotion
ladder might be blocked artificially, so to speak, by the arrival in line regiments
of young officers, usually of privileged background, who had transferred from
the guards on completion of their training there or from personal choice; in
such circumstances they qualified for a two-grade advancement. Then there
were ex-officers who had been discharged to civilian life but returned-perhaps,
as in 1812, from patriotic motives-and got back their old rank, or even a higher
one. The reason for this was that on retirement an officer who had served for
at least one year in his current rank (five years in the case of colonels) was raised
by one grade;^18 furthermore, seniority gained while serving in the civilian
branch might be taken into account when a man rejoined the army. Thus
L. A. Naryshkin, who returned to the colours in 1812 after five years at court,
was promoted from lieutenant to captain.^19
All this inevitably created a good deal of discontent. On the other hand
everyone benefited when there were promotions en masse to mark a victory on
the battlefield or even some event in the life of the court. On such occasions
ambitious junior officers would try to ensure that they came to the notice of
the top-level decision-makers.^20 They might even complain that comrades with
less seniority had been promoted ahead of them^21 -evidence that the old
Muscovite tradition of mestnichestvo was slow to die.
The survival of the traditional service-state mentality explains why in the
Imperial era officers displayed what seems an extravagant concern with matters
14 Martos, 'Zapiski', p. 306. Normally two years' service in the ranks was now required before
a commission: Muromtsev, 'Vospominaniya', p. 69.
15 Stcherbatow, Paskevitsch, i. 81; RBS viii. 423, 439.
16 Rzhevsky, '0 russkoy armii', p. 361; PSZ xvi. 1162S, 11769 (24 July 1762, 3 Mar. 1763); von
Hupe], Beschreibung, pp. 95-104; Vorontsov, 'Zapiska', p. 487; Sazonov, 'Attestaty', VE iii. 247-9.
11 Plotho, Entstehung, p. 1S; von Hupel, Beschreibung, p. 103.
11 For example, PSZ xxvii. 203S8 (3 July 1802).
19 'Vosp. L. A. Naryshkina', Kharkevich, 1812 god, ii. ISi.
20 'Prevratnosti sud'by', p. SOI; von Shtrandman, 'Zapiski', pp. 82, 287; Mosolov, 'Zapiski',
p. 129; Dolsorukov, 'Otryvki', pp. 290, 326.
21 TsGVIA, V-UA, f. 1349, d. 300 (1796), 11, 19-20, 23 (petitions by Capt. D. R. Kossovsky
and V. A. Kuz'min).