The Next GNW Russian Infantry Regiment Is........

 ..... the Butyrski Regiment!

As previewed a couple of posts back, this is another tricorn wearing regiment, dressed in red coats with yellow facings.

According to my sources, the regiment was raised in 1642 as the “2nd Moskovskiy Selective Regiment” and it was along with 1st Moskovskiy one of the two oldest regular regiments of the Russian Army.

At its creation in 1642, the regiment was one of the “new organization” (also called foreign organization) regular infantry regiments that were raised during the reign of Alexey Mikhailovich because the experience of the Russo-Polish wars and of the Thirty Years’ War indicated that the old organization in irregular and semi-feudal units was quite ineffective. The regiment was completed with picked volunteers from the Strelets regiments and counted between 52 and 60 companies, each of 100 men. These companies were converged in a few battalions for action. Nevertheless, the regiment still retained some irregular characteristics, and its peacetime effective strength was lesser.

In 1657, the regiment was settled in the suburb of Moscow – Butyrskaya sloboda (a sloboda being a kind of settlement, bigger than a village but smaller than a town).

The regiment took part in the Russo-Polish War (1654-1667). It was attached to the main army under the Tsar but saw no serious actions.

The regiment then took part in Russo-Turkish War (1676-1681). In 1677, it was attached to the army that forced the Turkish army to raise the siege of the Fortress of Chigirin. In 1678, the Russian army unsuccessfully tried to reinforce the garrison of the Fortress of Chigirin which was once more besieged by the Turks. At the end of the campaign, the garrison left the fortress, and the Turks destroyed it. Detachments of the Butýrskiy Regiment were present in the garrison of the fortress as well as in the main army. In 1679, a picked detachment of the regiment (2,338 men) was part of the Russian army that garrisoned Kiev.

From 1695 to 1697, the regiment took part in the successful Azov campaigns of Peter I.

During the Great Northern War, the Regiment was at Narva, 1700. Then in the Baltic theatre, it fought at Noteborg 1702, Nyenskans 1703 and Narva 1704. In 1705-06 under the command of A. Repnin, I. Bush and the Prince Solnzev-Zasekin  it was in Poland and Lithuania. Then, in 1709, the regiment was present at Oposchna and Poltava. It next saw action at the siege of Riga, 1710, then in 1711 in the unfortunate Pruth campaign, and in Germany, at Stettin and Wismar 1712. The final contributions of the Butyrski regiment to the Russian cause in the Great Northern War came at  Tönningen 1713 and Copenhagen 1716.

The only info I found on flag colours was from the Tacitus blog, which indicated that in 1705 they had red colours.

The same source says in 1713, they had red grenadier caps with blue facings and an embroidered eagle badge - so that's what mine got too!

I have also fixed up the order of the colours on the officers' sashes - which should be white, blue, red - thanks to Valentine for gently pointing this out last time! 

Work is already underway on the next unit, being the Sibirski Regiment, who wear a Karpus style hat and are dressed in coats of green with red facings and apparently carried yellow flags!

Thanks for dropping by again - this should be the last post for July 2023, and as always, your feedback and comments are most welcome.