Available only from the author (3 Hampton Rd, Eatontown, NJ 07724-2122.)
This is the definitive work on the Russian army, produced by direction of the Czar in 1851 on the uniforms and organization of the Imperial Russian army. It is quite similar to Gayda & Krijitsky, L'Armee Russe sous le Tsar Alexandre 1er de 1805 - 1815, but far more detailed. In comparing the two works, I strongly suspect that Viskovatov was the source document used by Gayda and Krijitsky. For those who recall earlier discussions in EE&L concerning Zweguintzov, this is the principal source he used.
Both volumes cover the period of 1801 to 1825. Volume 10a, 0rganization, spends the first 50 pages discussing the infantry organization from the regiment upwards through the army. It talks about the reserve divisions and the formation of all other large scale organizations including permanent standing divisions, corps, and armies.
On page 50 it starts the discussion of the organization of the Russian cavalry and spends the next 17 pages discussing large scale organizations for the Russian cavalry. From there it goes into a discussion of every other formation in the Russian army, addressing the raising and reorganizations of every regiment, battalion, and battery as it goes. Units covered include the train, garrison formations, invalid formations, gendarme battalions, engineer commands, the Guard, instructional troops, military educational institutions, cossacks, military orphan detachments, mine troops, etc.
Uniforms
Volume 10b (uniforms) takes the same approach, discussing the uniforms in great depth to the point of giving the dimensions of the various standard aspects of the uniforms, i.e., cuffs, collars, etc. It also discusses the assignment of weapons. Each section of the uniform discussion is supported with excellent black and white line drawings that show the uniforms or uniform details in question.
Volume 10a contains 153 pages and Volume 10b, though not numbered, probably contains about 200 pages. Both volumes are bound xerox copies of a laser print-out. Their quality is higher than that which I produce with my dot matrix printer, but the works are of the same general nature.
The translator produces these documents on demand. Because this is a labor of love by an afficionado and not by a major publishing house, it suffers from a total lack of color plates. This is, however, completely understandable and not surprising considering the cost of such plates and the size of the investment necessary to print them.
The only omissions from the manuscript, and I do not know if they are part of another volume or if Viskovatov did not address them, are flags and the internal structures of the regiments, battalions, and companies. At no point are the theoretical strengths of any of the regimental or smaller units discussed. However, such is not part of the scope of the two volumes presented and do not diminish the marvelous collection of data that is provided.
This is a must for the Napoleonic library of anyone interested in the organization of the Russian army from 1801 to 1825. I strongly endorse Mr. Conrad's efforts and recommend it to you without reservation.
More Reviews:
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Historical Description of the Clothing and Arms of the Russian Army
Memoirs of a Polish Lancer: The Pamietnicki of Derydery Chlapowski
Napoleon's Great Adversary: Archduke Charles and the Austrian Army 1792-1814
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