Russian orders of battle for the Finnish war of 1808 (sort of)

In a previous post, I have tried to provide details of the organization of the Swedish army in Finland as it was fielded in 1808. It would be natural to do the same for the Russian army. However, this is not quite as straightforward as one might expect.

The brigade organization of the Swedish army was relatively stable, despite the fact that the brigades were not permanent, peace-time units (the only exception being the Savolax brigade). There were changes to the composition of the brigades and there were detachments made from them. But on the whole, much of the brigade structure, which I detailed here, stayed the same throughout the year of 1808, with the three main (1^st to 3^rd) Finnish brigades sticking together until the surrender at Kalix in March of 1809.

This was not the case at all on the Russian side, where the brigade structure varied widely or was abandoned altogether. When the Russians invaded Finland, the army consisted of three divisions: the 5^th, 17^th and 21^st divisions, all of which were stationed in the Russian part of Finland at the time. The 14^th division, which was stationed close by in Estonia, moved behind them as a reserve. To provide an example of the Russian army structure, I will give samples of the brigades below. However, in the battles in the summer of 1808, the divisions had become very much intermingled and the Russian forces did not necessarily follow the original brigade structure in the field. Instead, it seems that the Russian commanders organized their forces in ad hoc formations, often with one or two larger main columns, with a smaller avantgarde ahead of them. To recreate a particular battle, one has therefore to look at the organization and composition of a particular force at a particular point in time.

The Russian army was at this time still recovering from its recent defeats at the hands of Napoleon in the previous year. The divisions deployed in Finland were not up to full strength, which led to some organizational changes. The infantry regiments’ normal three battalions, many of which were understrength, were combined into 2 battalions per regiment (consequently some battalions were in fact rather big). The cavalry of the three main divisions was mostly from the 14^th division, rather than their own.

Still, the three divisions had a clear three-brigade structure. Each brigade consisted of two regiments of infantry (4 battalions), with cavalry and artillery attached to each brigade.

Each division totaled between 7000 and 9000 men, for a total of around 24 000 men. This surprisingly small force was considered adequate for the task of conquering Finland. Large Russian forces were tied up elsewhere, but more importantly, it was the logistical challenges involved in supplying an army in the region which made it difficult to deploy a larger force – at least all at once. As the war dragged on, the Russians did bring in considerable reinforcements. By the war’s end in the summer of 1809, the Russian army in Finland and Northern Sweden was more than twice as numerous as the one that invaded in February of 1808.

Below are the units of the 5^th and 21^st divisions early in the campaign, with their strengths as given in the Swedish general staff history (Sveriges krig åren 1808 och 1809, vol. 2 (Stockholm, 1895)), which in turn is based on Russian reports and journals.

Russian 5^th division, Feb./March 1808

Sevsk regt. (1164 effectives)

Mogilev regt. (1114)

Kaluga regt. (908)

Perm regt. (1004)

23^rd jägers (733)

24^th jägers (938)

Grodno hussars, 2 sq. (181)

Cossacks (189)

17^th art. brig. (186)

21^st art. brig. (187)

Russian 21^st div., Feb./Mar. 1808

Velikie Luki regt. (1198)

Neva regt. (1469)

Libau regt. (1450)

26^th jägers (1007)

2^nd jägers (1349)

25^th jägers (1059)

Grodno hussars, 3 sq. (321)

Cossacks (203)

1^st & 7^th art. brig. (etc.) (157)

Below is the brigade structure of the 21^st division, as it looked on the march at the beginning of the campaign. It shows neatly typical brigades of 2 infantry and 2 jäger battalions, a half-battery of artillery and a couple of cavalry squadrons in each:

1st brig., Müller (later Rajevsky)

Vel. Luk. regt.

26^th jäg.

1 sq. Grodno huss.

Cossacks

4 guns               

2nd brig. Sasonov

Neva regt.

2^nd jäg.

1 sq. Grodno huss.

Cossacks       

4 guns

3rd brig. Schepelev

Libau regt.                                                          

25^th jäg.                                                    

1 sq. Grodno huss.

1 sq. Finland dragoons

Cossacks

5 guns               

The 5^th division already at this stage looks different, with a ”main column” and two smaller detachments:

Main column

Sevsk regt.

Kaluga regt.

23^rd jäg. (1 or 2 bat.?)

1 sq. Grodno huss.

Cossacks

8 guns

Detachment Bulatov

Perm regt.

Mogilev regt., 1 bat.

1 sq. Grodno huss.

Cossacks

6 guns

Detachment Turchaninov

24^th jäg.

1 sq. Grodno huss.

Cossacks

2 guns

Already in April, a detachment from the 21^st division (1^st brig.) had come under the command of 5^th division. In the battles of the summer, elements of 14^th division and others had also arrived as reinforcements. Therefore, the armies that fought at e. g. Lappo and Oravais no longer resemble the original divisions and brigades very much at all. Still, these orders of battle can be useful when thinking of the Russian army in Finland in general, and can serve as a useful starting point when collecting your forces for wargames.