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Horses.
A horse produced only for its beauty
was a rare thing in Russia.
The history of cavalry horse in Russia is an interesting story. It was under Tsar Peter the Great that several new state-owned studs were organized to produce mounts for the army. Most of these horses had European and not Tatar origins.
Graf Orlov began his breeding experiments in the 1760s at Ostrov near Moscow. His mounts were the first saddle breed developed in Russia. During the Russo-Turkish wars, Orlov brought to Russia a large number of Arabians, among them Smetanka and Sultan I, Arabian stallions of truly outstanding distinction. He tried ten crossing types, Anglo-Asian was unsatisfactory but Arabian-Asian yielded Sultan II, a producer of good military mounts. In addition to Arabians, Orlov used the English Thoroughbred, the Karabakh horses, the Turkish, and even the Danish mounts. Traditionally the Don horse has roamed in herds, enduring harsh winters with little food. Its name comes from the Don River in Central Russia, then the heartland of Cossack country.
The first private stud farms devoted to the breeding of Don horses appeared at the end of the XVIII century and became well established and popular.
The service life of the horse in light cavalry was determined on 8 years. The imperial “A” brand was on every cavalry horse’s haunch.
During Napoleonic Wars many regiments rode on the Don horses. Originally the Don horse was a small mount, but during the 1800's large numbers of the Persian Arabs and Karabakh horses were bred to the Don. The Arabian horses were introduced to the Don Cossacks’ herds as war booty. The influx of foreign breeds resulted in larger horse, which combined the stamina of the older breed and the more refined conformation of the foreign stocks. The Don horse had a chiseled head, a little bit elevated forehead, proportioned ears, a muscular chest and strong, fine legs. Their neck was rather lean, their chest was muscular, their mane and tail were thin and their feet were usually sound and hardy.
The features of Don horse were speed, agility, physical and mental strength, incredible stamina and a legendary economy of needs. It was excellent mount for cavalry and its only minus was not a particular comfort of riding.
Graf Henkel von Donnersmark writes: "The captured [French] horse was big but in poor condition, so I exchanged it with a Russian officer for a strong Cossack horse; now I owned 3 such Don mounts. They are excellent for use on campaigns where there are lots of hardships, but they do have some beauty defects."
The Bashkir horse was another surprisingly enduring both under the saddle and when used as a draft horse. Its qualities were appreciated in 1812-1814. Big herds of Bashkirs grazed on the pastures and could survive winter temperatures up to - 40 C ! The Bashkir had a long and massive body, wide and straightish back and breast cage was wide and deep. The limbs were relatively short and head was large, the horse was not a beauty contender. Russia has been a land of hard practical uses of horses in difficult terrain and harsh climate, with the poorest of foods and having to cover vast distances.
During the Napoleonic Wars the Russian horse although enjoyed an unsurpassed endurance it lacked the weight and bone for a shock effect in battle. This situation was often remedied by purchases of big mounts in Germany and Prussia. For example during the campaigning in 1813 and 1814, Tsar Alexandr purchased large number of big and strong horses from Germany and Prussia for his cuirassiers and from Prussia and Poland for his light cavalry.
Another source of cavalry horses were southern parts of the Russian Empire, today the western and southern part of Ukraine. This land of vast steppes has a rich history of horse combat. Here was the Wild East of Europe, where mounted troops criss-crossed the country, ambushed the enemy, impaled or skinned the prisoners and burned the villages to the ground before disappearing on the horizon. Here was the battleground where the Poles fought against Russians, Cossacks, Turks and the wild Tatars for couple of centuries.
In 1813 was ordered that the population of Podolia (Podolsk) and Volhynia (Volhynsk) provinces instead of delivering one recruit from prescribed number of “souls” will send horses. The options were either 3 big horses for the cuirassiers or 4 medium size mounts for dragoons or 5 for the ulans. In this way the cavalry obtained 13.000 valuable mounts. (“Otechestvennaia Voina I Russkoie Obschestvo 1812-1912” (Yubileinoye izdaniye) Vols 7, Moskva 1911 in Vol III , part “Armiya v 1805-1814 gg”)
There was no uniformity of color of the horses in squadrons and regiments, except the Imperial Guard. Outside of the guard much depended on the commander of regiment and on the availability of mounts. There could be individual squadrons or even regiments enjoying uniformity of color among their horses but it was not common. It was in contrast to the French cavalry which had its squadrons distinguished by different colors.
In Russia the trumpeters rode on bays, blacks, greys or chestnuts. It was in contrast to the French who mounted their trumpeters on greys.
On April 30, 1802 (JC) the height requirements and cost of horses were specified. The height of the horses for the cuirassiers was set between 2 arshin> 4 vershok and 2 arshin 2 vershok. The cost was approx. 100 roubles. Horses for dragoons were between 2 arshin and 2 vershok and 2 arshin and 1 vershok and cost 50 roubles.
Horses for ulans and hussars were between 2 arshin 2 vershok and 2 arshin and cost 40 roubles. The price could be increased by 15 roubles if the mount was of higher quality. The biggest horses were in the Guard Cavalry Regiment and Lifeguard Horse Regiment. At Fère Champenoise (1814) officer A. Y. Mirkovich from the Lifeguard Horse Regiment lost his mount in combat. When he was given another by one of the troopers, Grand Duke Constantine smiled and said: “Well, Mirkovich I see you are already riding on the elephant !”
马
在露西亚，马只生产美，是一件稀罕事。
露西亚的骑兵战马是一个有趣的故事。在沙皇彼得大帝治下，几个新的国有种马被准备来提供军队骑乘。大多数的这些马有着欧洲的而不是鞑靼血统。
格拉夫·奥尔洛夫于18世纪60年代在莫斯科附近的奥斯特罗夫开始了他的养殖试验。他的乘用马是第一种在露西亚发展的骑乘马。露土战争期间，奥尔洛夫将大量的阿拉伯马带入露西亚，其中有斯梅坦卡马和苏丹一，真正优秀卓越的阿拉伯种马。他尝试了10种杂交类型，盎格鲁—亚洲不理想，但是阿拉伯—亚洲取得了苏丹二，一种良好的军用乘用马种马。奥尔洛夫使用过英国纯种马、卡拉巴赫马、土耳其马、甚至丹麦的乘用马。传统的顿河马成群漫游，忍受严寒的冬天，少量的食物。它的名字来源于之后成为哥萨克乡村中心的中部露西亚的顿河。
第一家致力于顿河马繁衍的私人马场出现在十八世纪末，并逐渐确立良好的声誉，受到欢迎。
轻骑兵的马的使用寿命被确定为8年。帝国的“A”字烙印在每匹骑兵战马的臀部上。
拿破仑战争期间，许多团都骑顿河马。最初顿河马是一种小的乘用马，但在1800年，大量波斯的阿拉伯的和卡拉巴赫的马同顿河马繁殖。阿拉伯马作为战利品被引入进顿河哥萨克的畜群。外国品种的大量涌入造就了更大的马，它结合了旧有品种的耐力和外国牲口更精致的形态。顿河马有着一个轮廓分明的头部，有点高的前额，匀称的耳朵，胸部肌肉发达和结实的细腿。它对于骑兵是优秀的乘用马，而它仅有的不足是骑坐不是特别舒适。它们的脖子很瘦，它们的胸部肌肉发达，它们的鬃毛和尾巴细窄，它们的脚通常健康和耐寒。顿河马的特点是速度、敏捷、躯体和内在的力量和传奇色彩的经济需求。伯爵汉克·冯·多纳斯马克写道：“俘获的（法国）马大，但状况糟糕，所以我把它同一名露西亚军官交换一匹强壮的哥萨克马；现在我拥有三匹这样的顿河乘用马。它们在用于很多艰难的战斗中是优秀的，但它们有一些美的瑕疵。”
在鞍下和当作为挽马使用时，巴什基尔马是另一种出奇地忍耐的马。在1812-1814年，它的品质受到了赞赏。巴什基尔人的大畜群放牧在草场上，可以在-40°C的冬季温度生存。巴什基尔马有着长而大的身躯，宽而笔直的背以及宽而深的胸肋。四肢相对较短，头大，这种马不是一个美观的竞争者。露西亚一直是一片马匹艰苦应用的土地，复杂地形，恶劣的气候与着最贫瘠的食物和不得不跋涉的广阔距离。
在拿破仑战争期间，露西亚马尽管拥有无与伦比的耐力，它们缺乏在战斗中产生震惊效果的重量和骨骼。这种情况通常是通过在德国和普鲁士购买大型乘用马来补救。例如，在1813年和1814年的战斗中，沙皇亚历山大从德国和普鲁士为他的胸甲骑兵以及从普鲁士和波兰为他的轻骑兵购买了大量的大而强壮的马。
战马的另一个来源是露西亚帝国的南部地区，今天的乌克兰西部和南部的部分。广袤草原的土地有着丰富的马战历史。这是欧洲的荒野东部，在这里骑乘部队纵横驰骋于乡野，伏击敌人，刺穿俘虏或剥皮，在消失于地平线之前，将村子烧成白地。这里是波兰人同露西亚人、哥萨克、土耳其人以及野蛮的鞑靼人作战达数个世纪的战场。在1813年下令，波多利亚（波多利斯克）和沃里尼亚（沃里尼斯克）省的全体居民被勒令根据规定的“人”数将派送马而不是提供新兵。
在中队和团队中没有统一颜色的马，除了皇帝的近卫以外。近卫之外，更多的取决于团队的指挥官和乘用马的可用性。可能有个别中队甚至团队拥有统一颜色的马，但这并不常见的。这同通过不同颜色区分它的中队的法国骑兵相反。在露西亚，号手骑着赤褐色、黑色、灰色或栗色的马。
在1802年4月30日，马的高度要求和费用被指定出。胸甲骑兵的马的高度被设定在2 arshin又4 vershok到2 arshin又2 vershok之间。价值约100卢布。龙骑兵的马在2 arshin又 2 vershok到 2 arshin又1 vershok之间，价值50卢布。乌兰枪骑兵和骠骑兵的马在2 arshin又 2 vershok 到 2 arshin又 1 vershok，价值40卢布。价格可能会提高15卢布，如果乘用马的质量更高。 最大的马在近卫骑兵团Guard Cavalry Regiment和骑马禁军团Lifeguard Horse Regiment。在费尔尚普努瓦斯（1814年），来自骑马禁军团的军官AY米尔克维奇在战斗中失去了他的坐骑。但他从一个骑兵那里获得另一匹马时，康斯坦丁大公笑着说：“很好，米尔克维奇，我看到你几乎是骑在大象上了！”
注
原文地址那边有几个国家的骑兵战马的尺寸表格，因为不方便在论坛上排版，所以不译出
arshin和vershok都是旧时毛子的长度单位，1arshin约等于71厘米，1vershok约等于4.445厘米
近卫骑兵团Guard Cavalry Regiment和骑马禁军团Lifeguard Horse Regiment是我抄别人的翻译的，会英语的汽油应该看得出，这两支部队的英语名称如果放在一起同时翻译是非常困难的。 |
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