The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1843-11-17
THE RUSSIAN IMPERIAL GUARDS.

| An article in the United Service Journal of Eng
land contains very interesting account Of the force
ard condition OF the Russian army, the different boz
dies of troops, and the peculiar treatment to which
they are subjected together with numerous structures
on the despotic character of the Imperial Family
The following extract refers to the HIlperim Guard
which, says the writer of the article when seen for
the first time at review, strike the beholder almost
with awe, who, though he may have seen many finer
regiments, can have witnessed nowhere in the world
SO large body OF fine looking troops together Dos
ton Transcript
The Imperial Guard, which has always been the
hobby of the Russian sovereigns and is so peculiarly
so OF the present Emperor Nicholas and Of his bro
ther Michael consists of 1900 Infantry and Artil-
ery, and of about IL 900 Cavalry and with the ad-
diton OF the regiments of the Young Guard, does
not fall short Of $4,000 men This force is stationed
in the Government of.St Petersburgh principally in
and about the capital, and is under the command Of
the Grand Duke Michael The Guards the picked
men IRON the whole army, all either feet |
inches in height, exceeding that stature On first
view an observer IS struck 10 find them all dark and
bearing to each other as remarkable similitude as
the sheep OF flock. When his eve wanders over
thousands of faces he cannot readily point out one
who might not pass for the brother Of the one most
dissimar to him-and they seem if nature had mould
ed them all by ukase according TO a given pattern
and the precision and uniformity of their attitude and
equipment make one man look the reflection of the
one beside him. This smilitude Of personal appear.
ance he afterwards finds TO be much owing to their
general dusky and saow compile xons (probaby pro-
duced by the excessive warmth OF the artificial at
mosphere IN which they live, and the abuse of the
steam-bath,) as well as TO the back mousache of
exactly The same cut and trim, and which, whatever
lis original color, receives the same dark gloss by
being Amounted and pasered with an unctous COM
pound, something similar our English cart grease
This is applied 10y order. An "ukase" also fixes the
length OF soldiers or an officers hair al fingers
width and determines on which side it be brush
ed, and how low The whlskers may be allowed to in
wade the cheek. These orders are the same for the
General as for the drummer. As long as we see
these soldiers OF the Guards imbodicd they are very
imposing High Of stature-of martial though RI
gidly Sun carrlage-they clad in tasteful uni
FORMS OF which the materials though coarse have
been fashioned with all the skill of art and fitted To
each man individually they are worthy of having
come from the hands of the late King of Prussia of
whom the Emperor Alexander said hat fortune had
spoiled an admirable master tailor in giving him his
crown.
There is one effect however, strikingly ludcrous
IN the attempt TO improve the fg ures of both soldiers
and olhcersther trousers are tighiened so much by
band at the waist, that the stomach prorudes most
ungraceluly, particularly in the soldier, who eats
enormous quantities Of his black bread and whose
human intestn.s are swollen larger than an English
race horses. Wien we come 10 examine the soldier
after the review without his "making up - we are
surprised to find how miserable creature he is
meagre, chested, ill-Shaped-what a want Of
body, which reminds one Of an over. grown school.
boy-how different from the healthy cheek the ath-
letic form, and symmetrical figure Of our own Life
Guardsman. There Is scarcely, in these regiments
which are considered as the pride of the imperal
army, one man IN ten whose shape is not glaringy
defective but this observation does not appiy to Inc
regiments Of the line which composed of men of
much inferior stature, and we must therefore con
cIude that these tall men, collected from peope of
sixty millions, or rather ITS monsrosities in pont of
sHe than its flower.
In point Of fact, the Russians are not tall roce
but the Emperor has been determined to have Guards
tall those Of nations whose stature averages sew
era inches more and though there has been no DIFF.
hculty IN procuring the number required from the
population Of his empire, they are overgrown. de-
formed, or wcedy and such our picked men would
be IN England II the standard were raised TO feet
In the Polish war the Guards are said 10 have
proved very inferior 10 the line, which we cannot but
attribute TO this cause-a which equally affects
the cavalry OF the Guards, whose efficiency as still
diminished 10y the fact that their horses are si les.
fitted Tor arduous service than the men and vet in
the composition OF that cenaur-thng, in which the
man and stccd ought 10 be blended together the
mounted horsemen, two-thirds Of their Joint excel
lence must depend upon the physical qualities of the
brute On the whole therefore, when we examine
closely this apparently magnificent army-for the
Guards alone, which the Emperor reviews in one
square Of the city Of St Petersburg constitute an
army more numerous than any which the British
have, within the memory Of man, ever collected To-
gether on one spo-we convinced that il il
more calculated for show than effect.