RUSSIAN ARMY

The Russians fought the war wearing a very simple and practical uniform. Reflecting the old Russian peasant style, a soldier wore a loose fitting, dark green tunic called a mundir. In the black and white photographs of the period, the dark green color of the mundir appears black. It was gathered at the waist by a belt. Dark green trousers were worn year round, stuffed into knee high black leather boots. A dark green furashka, a type of forage cap, was worn daily and replaced by the shapka, a low crowned fur hat, for parades (though photographs show that the shapka was worn during the war in Manchuria by many units). In the summer, the mundir was replaced by the gimnasterka, a white linen blouse. The dark green furashka cap was either replaced by a white one or fitted with a white cover. The sources are unclear on this point. All equipment was black leather, and an earth gray shinel (greatcoat) was carried rolled over the left shoulder when not worn.

Distinctive colors were worn to identify the wearer's brigade and regiment. The brigade color was worn on the mundir pogoni (shoulder boards); red for the first brigade, blue for the second brigade in each division. Artillery and engineers wore red pogoni, while rifles wore raspberry. The regiment was identified by the color of the mundir collar patches and the furashka cap band, with the first regiment assigned red, the second-blue, the third-white, and the fourth-dark green. It is unclear if these markings were used on the gimnasterka or the white furashka.

Photographs indicate that patches and cap bands were not used on the gimnasterka, only the pogoni. As the East Siberians lacked a division organization prior to the war, and the Siberians were raised during the war, I assume that their uniforms also lacked the color markings. The photographs support this conclusion, showing the Siberian troops with white collars and cap bands. My best guess is that they might have worn wore yellow pogoni.

The artillery and engineers were dressed as the infantry. Musicians wore the same uniform as the infantry with the addition of swallow-nest wings on the sleeves at the shoulder seams. [12] These were identical to the ones worn during the Napoleonic Wars. Trim was white with the same dark green background as the mundir. Swallow-nest wings weren't worn on the white gimnasterka.

The dragoons wore the same uniform as the infantry, except the trousers were blue. Each dragoon regiment had a distinctive collar and cuff colors combination, but I do not know the scheme for the three regiments in Manchuria. Equipment was black leather, with the ammunition pouches worn over the shoulder instead of at the waist. The Cossacks, except the Kuban and Terek tribes, wore a uniform similar to the dragoons, but with a wide variety of colors. The headdress was normally a tall kolpak (fur cap), but the furashka was also worn.

UNITS	COATS & TROUSERS	PIPING & KOLPACK CROWN	POGONI
Don	blue	red	blue
Orenburg	green	light blue	light blue
Ural	blue	carmine	carmine
Astrakan	blue	yellow	yellow
Transbaikal	green	yellow	yellow
Ussuri	green	yellow	yellow
Siberia	green	red	red
Amur	green	yellow	green
Semiretschensk	green	carmine	carmine

The Terek and Kuban Cossacks wore Caucasian dress. This is the traditional dress most Americans identify with the Cossacks. The cherkeska was the collarless kaftan (coat) with the cartridge loops on the chest. The beshmet was the shirt with a stand-up collar that was worn under the cherkeska. The following are the uniform colors for these tribes (cherkeska; pogoni, piping, crown of kolpak; beshmet):Kuban gray brown, red, red; Terek gray brown, light blue, light blue.

Before and during the war, the Cossacks increasingly wore the standard cavalry uniform. The white gimnasterka would be worn with their colored trousers, kolpak and pogoni. Cossack also had black leather equipment that was similar to the dragoon regiments. Rank for all branches was indicated on the pogoni.

Officers wore pogoni with gold stripes running lengthwise. Company grade officers wore two gold stripes, field officers three stripes. The background color of the pogoni would show through as a narrow stripe separating the gold stripes. The background colors were the branch colors for all but the infantry; the infantry wore the brigade color on the pogoni. The gold lace on generals' pogoni had a zigzag pattern with red edging around the pogoni.

Stars indicated the rank within the grade. Ensign-one star; 2nd lieutenant, major, and major general-two stars; lieutenant, lieutenant colonel, and lieutenant general-three stars; captain, colonel, and full general didn't have stars on the pogoni. Enlisted ranks wore white stripes width wise on the pogoni; One stripe-private, two-corporal, three-sergeant. Sergeant majors wore a broad gold band instead of the white stripes. Specialty insignias were worn on the pogoni for units other than infantry and cavalry, those units wore regimental numbers.

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