Tactics of The Russian Army
in The Napoleonic Wars

Book Review

by John Cook


Alexander Zhmodikov and Yurii Zhmodikov
The Nafziger Collection, West Chester, OH 45069-1522, USA.
2 Volumes (113pp and 127pp). $19.95 per volume (or £16 per volume from Ken Trotman Ltd)

Compared with what was available a few decades ago we are pretty well served with books that look at the organisations and methods of the respective armies. Collectively, and together with magazine articles, these books have given the interested reader a reasonable understanding of how the Prussian, Austrian, British and French armies went about their business.

One area, however, where English language historiography has been comparatively silent is in the context of the Russian army but this gap has been filled for the English reader by Alexander and Yurii Zhmodokov and although published a couple of years ago it worth reminding readers of this study of the Russian army.

The first thing to say is that my knowledge of the Russian army is comparatively slight and being unable to read or understand any Russian one has to take much of the source material of these books at face value but having exchanged numerous emails with Alexander, who was also kind enough to send me copies of the various regulations, I am confident that the provenance of this work is everything it ought to be.

What does one get for the approximately $40 dollars (or £32 if bought in the UK) these two volumes cost? Well, pretty good value for money when one bears in mind that the content is unique, as far as I know, in the English language.

The first volume is divided into two parts of six and five chapters respectively, the first part deals with the reforms in the late 18th Century, the regulations of the three arms with which Russia fought the Revolutionary Wars, and a brief description of the 1799 campaign with examples of doctrine in use.

The second part deals with the responses to the lessons learned and, again, the three arms are dealt with separately, with examples of doctrine in use from campaigns between 1801 and 1809.

Of particular interest is a short chapter on tactics used against the Turks, something, I suspect, which will be new to most of us. Volume Two does the same for the period between 1810 and 1814, taking the reader through the organisations, regulations and tactics of the three arms in 13 chapters. There is also a discussion of Russian skirmishing, which was done essentially the same as elsewhere.

In the context of artillery I was particularly interested to learn that the Russians seem to have invented the pendulum tangent sight, designed to overcome problems associated with using fixed tangent sights when the piece was not on perfectly flat ground. This type of sight was more or less standard everywhere during the later 19th century.

Volume two concludes with two further chapters on fortifications and higher levels of warfare.

Throughout the two volumes, evolutions are described and illustrated and some maps are included at the end of the volume. Here, if I have a complaint at all, the reproduction of the maps is not particularly good but they are, nevertheless, clear enough.

Any historical book stands or falls on its sources and there are twenty pages of footnotes and nine pages of bibliography, almost exclusively Russian language sources, covering regulations, official documents and memoirs, large numbers of which are primary in nature. One has to conclude that the authors have done significant original research.

My negative comments are twofold.

The two volumes are not an easy read for two reasons. The first is because the authors are clearly not writing in their first language. This is not a major problem but the text could have been made to 'flow' better, in places, and syntax improved by an English speaking editor. As far as imparting information is concerned, it is of minor importance.

The second criticism concerns presentation. The two volumes are published by George Nafziger as part of The Nafziger Collection, and are in the style familiar to those who have any of George's material, which is essentially the product of desk-top publishing – large format, perfect bound and with soft covers.

George is to be applauded for putting obscure material in the public domain generally and it is likely that without George Nafziger, Tactics of the Russian Army in the Napoleonic Wars would not have seen the light of day at all but it really does need better presentation.

This is a pity because it ranks alongside Glover's Peninsular Preparation, Paret's Era of Prussian Reform, and Rothenberg's Archduke Charles and the Austrian Army as an essential, and unique, overview of one of the French army's most important opponents.

If you want to know about Russian doctrine and how the Russian army functioned during the period, this work is essential. The Zhmodikov's get full marks for what appears to be a thorough job and so does George Nafziger for making it available.

Book Review

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