Founding The Preobrazhensky Regiment was officially founded in 1690 by
Tsar Peter I, and was named after the village where its barracks were located,
Preobrazhenskoye, which is now a district of
Moscow. But the regiment traces its origins to 1683, when Peter assembled the so-called
toy army of his friends, who were the sons of the
Russian nobility, where they would play war, which was Peter's favorite game in his childhood. In January 1683 Peter ordered from the government uniforms, banners, and wooden cannons for his toy army, and the cannons were replaced with real ones in June 1683. Eventually the regiment expanded and Preobrazhenskoye turned into a military camp. Because they ran out of room at the original barracks, a second one was established in the village of Semyonovskoye (now in Moscow's
Sokolniki District). Both the Preobrazhensky Regiment and the Semyonovsky Regiment had about 300 soldiers organized as infantry, cavalry, and artillery, and their organization and training became no different from the regular army (the
Streltsy). They also received Western-style uniforms, which were distinguished by dark green coats for the Preobrazhensky and blue for the Semyonovsky. Peter started himself off at the lowest rank of drummer boy, refusing to take the highest rank of colonel, and lived in the same conditions, with the same work load, as the other members of the regiment. He also brought foreign officers to teach the regiments military skills, and the senior ranks of both regiments consisted of foreigners, while the sergeants and enlisted soldiers were Russian. In the 1690s the two regiments had about 600 soldiers between them, making them a small fraction of the total Russian army, and they participated in large scale exercises together with the
Streltsy. These exercises sometimes also had real casualties, and expanded from games by a few hundred boys to real military drills involving 30,000 men.
Later history In the summer of 1695 Tsar Peter made the decision to resume
Russia's war against the
Ottoman Empire, which had started years earlier. His motivations included conquering a warm water port on the
Sea of Azov and to test his new army, but it was also in response to the continued
Muslim Tatar slave raids into Russian territory from
Crimea and the coast of the
Black Sea. The
king of Poland,
Jan Sobieski, also threatened to end his alliance with Peter if Russia did not take action against Turkey. The
Azov campaigns of 1695–96 involved the Preobrazhensky Regiment, the Semyonovsky Regiment and other Western-style units. The first siege of the fortress of
Azov failed, but the second attack was a success. Members of the Preobrazhensky Regiment were chosen to serve as marines on the fleet of
galleys that Peter had built for the campaign. , 30 March 1814, with
Montmartre in the background|300px The Preobrazhensky Regiment distinguished itself during the
Great Northern War of 1700–1721, the
Patriotic War of 1812, and the
Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. The regiment operated as the
body-guard of the Grand Duchess Yekaterina Alekseevna as well as the main supporter of her bloodless 1762 coup against her husband Emperor
Peter III; having become Empress
Catherine II () she declared the Preobrazhensky highest in the order of military precedence from 14 July 1762. In spite of its distinguished record, part of one battalion of the regiment mutinied in June 1906, at a time of
general unrest in the Russian Empire. The mutiny was quickly suppressed and 190 soldiers sentenced to service in disciplinary battalions.
World War I When the
Kerensky offensive was launched in July 1917, the 1st Guards Corps was part of the reserve of the Russian
Eleventh Army, which was tasked with the main assault during the offensive. The corps was ordered to go into battle against Austro-German positions without any artillery attack beforehand, and the Preobrazhensky and other regiments took heavy losses as a result of the battle, without achieving their objectives. However, during the subsequent German counteroffensive against Russian positions, the Preobrazhensky Regiment was one of the few units that put up a fight and remained effective. The Stavka, the Russian high command, reported in the early days of the German counteroffensive: :
"On the Southwestern Front under the slightest artillery fire our forces, forgetting their duty and oath to the Motherland, are abandoning their positions. Along the entire front only in the Tarnopol district the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky Regiments are carrying out their duty." Colonel
Alexander Kutepov (later a general) became the last commander of the regiment in April 1917; he disbanded the formation in December 1917 in the wake of the
October Revolution of November 1917.
21st century In 2013 the regiment re-formed within the
Russian Armed Forces as the
154th Preobrazhensky Independent Commandant's Regiment.
Timeline • 1683 –
Peter the Great begins to assemble the
droll regiments. Initially the number of soldiers was fewer than fifty. • 1687 –
Droll regiments become the
Semenovsky regiment and Preobrazhensky regiments of the regular army. • 1695 – Preobrazhensky regiment (nine companies) takes part in the
Azov campaigns. • 1696 – The regiment is divided into four
battalions and two separate
companies of
bombardiers and
grenadiers. • 1700–1720 – Takes part in all major battles of the
Great Northern War. • 1700 – Before the
Battle of Narva is officially named
Leib-Guard Preobrazhensky regiment. • 1706 – Tsar Peter the Great adopts the military rank of
colonel of Preobrazhensky regiment. • 1722 – Takes part in the
war against Persia. • 1722 – According to Russian
Table of Ranks soldiers of Preobrazhensky regiment were to be considered two ranks higher than in ordinary units. • 1726 – Moscow company of Preobrazhensky regiment becomes a separate
Moscow life-guard battalion and later
Murom leib-guard battalion. • 1737–1739 –
War against the Ottoman Empire. • 1737 – Takes part in the
siege of Ochakov. • 1742 –
War against Sweden. • 1762 – On 17 July declared first and highest in the military order of precedence in the
Imperial Russian Army and the
Imperial Russian Guard. • 1789–1790 –
War against Sweden. • 1796 – Battalions of the Preobrazhensky regiment are named according to their chiefs: 1st battalion – His Majesty, 2nd battalion – Lieutenant-General Tatischev, 3d Battalion – General Field-Marshal
Suvorov, Grenadier Battalion – Major-General
Arakcheev. • 1805 – As a part of the
Grand Duke's Corps of Guards the 1st and 3rd battalions leave St. Petersburg for Austria on 22 August; on 2 December take part in the
battle of Austerlitz and return to St. Petersburg on 19 April 1806. • 1807 – In February the Regiment, consisting of all 4 battalions, starts the march as a part of Grand Duke's Corps of Guards; on 5 June engages
Ney's troops near
Guttstadt and
Altkirchen and on 14 June takes part in the
battle of Friedland; returns to St. Petersburg in August. • 1808 – On 9 September the 2nd battalion of the regiment enters the Corps of Major-General
Strogonov in
Villmanstrand (Lappeenranta), Finland. • 1809 – On 10 March, being a part of the Corps of Lieutenant-General Prince
Bagration, starts its march to Sweden through the Åland islands; on 14 March fights the enemy's rearguard on the island of
Lemland; on 17 March stops on the
Eckerö island, closest to the Swedish shore, and after the talks with Sweden begins moving back; returns to St. Petersburg in October. the empress of Russia. • 1811 – The regiment is transformed into 3 battalions; each battalion now comprises one grenadier company (
grenadier and
tirailleur platoons) and three
fusilier companies. • 1812 – As a part of the Grand Duke's Corps of Guards, the regiment moves in March to
Vilno, where it joins the 1st Western Army of
Barclay-de-Tolly; on 7 September takes part in the
battle of Borodino. During the French retreat from Moscow the regiment was in the reserve all the time and returns to Vilno in December. • 1813 – On 13 January, the Guard crosses the
Nieman river in the presence of the Emperor; on 2 April participates in the grand parade in the presence of the Emperor and King
Frederick William III of Prussia; on 14 April triumphantly enters
Dresden; on 2 May takes part in the
battle of Lützen; on the 19th, 20th and 21 May the regiment is a central reserve under the command of Grand Duke in the
battle of Bautzen; on 28 August and 29 August, being a part of 1st Guards Infantry Division under the command of General
Yermolov, is distinguished in the
Battle of Kulm. • 1814 – On 13 January in the presence of the Emperor
Alexander I, the Regiment crosses the
Rhine at
Basel and as a part of the reserve of the Main Army under Barclay-de-Tolly, participates in every offensive and retreat until the battle of Paris (30 March); on 31 March triumphantly enters the capital of France; 1st battalion of the regiment has its bivouac near the Palace of
Tuileries. After staying in Paris for more than two months the Regiment leaves for
Normandy, embarking at
Cherbourg on 15 June and on 12 August entering St. Petersburg through the
Triumphal arch, constructed by the Emperor's order in the memory of excellent service of the Guard in 1812–1814. • 1877–1878 –
War against the Ottoman Empire. • 1906 – First Battalion excluded from the regiment and stripped of Life-Guard privileges, instead the new first battalion of the regiment is formed from cavaliers of the
Order of St. George and heroes of the
Russo-Japanese War. • 1914–1917 - Participated in
World War I. • 1917 – Garrison battalions participated in the
February Revolution mutining on Monday 12 March; leading to the abdication of
Tsar Nicholas II. Disbanded in December by
Alexander Kutepov, its last commander. • 2013 – Re-established as the
154th Preobrazhensky Independent Commandant's Regiment. ==Basis of recruitment==