Streltsy Streltsy ( , " streltsý " , literally " shooters " ; sg . стреле́ц , " streléts " , " shooter " , from " strelyat ' " , " to shoot " ) were the unit s of Russia n guardsmen from the 16th to the early 18th centuries , armed with firearms . They are also collectively known as " Marksman Troops " ( Стрелецкое Войско ) . These standing forces reinforced the mounted nobility militia ( Поместное Войско , Pomestnoe vojsko or Landed Army ) mobilized during wartime . Origins and organization . The first streltsy units were created by Ivan the Terrible sometime between 1545 and 1550 and armed with arquebus es . During his reign , Russia was fighting wars almost continuously , including the Livonian War in the North and wars against the Khanate s in the South . They first saw combat at the Siege of Kazan in 1552 . Initially , the streltsy were recruit ed from among the free tradespeople and from the rural population . Subsequently , military service in this unit became lifelong and hereditary . Thus , while earlier in the sixteenth century they had been an elite force , their effectiveness was reduced by poor training and lack of choice in recruiting . Streltsy were subdivided into " vyborniye " ( выборные ) , or electives ( later – of Moscow ) and " gorodskiye " ( городские ) , or municipal ( in different Russian cities ) . Streltsy came under the control of the Streltsy Department ( Стрелецкий приказ , or " Streletsky prikaz " ) , however , in times of war they came under their superiors . The municipal streltsy were also under the jurisdiction of the local " voevode s " . The largest military administrative unit of the streltsy forces was " pribor " ( прибор ) , that would later be renamed into " prikaz " and in 1681 – into regiment ( полк , or " polk " ) . Commander s of the Streltsy unit ( стрелецкие головы , or " streletskiye golovy " ) and colonel s in charge of regiments were chiefs of " prikazi " . They had to be nobles and appointed by the government . The regiments ( " polki " ) were subdivided into " sotni " ( сотни , or hundreds ) and " desyatki " ( десятки , or tens ) . They could be mounted ( стремянные , or " stremyanniye " ; стремя ( " stremya " ) in Russian means “ stirrup ” ) and unmounted ( пешие , or " peshiye " ; пеший ( " peshiy " ) means " foot soldier " ) . Uniforms and equipment . Streltsy had identical uniform s ( usually red , blue or green coats with orange boots ) , training and weapons ( arquebus es , musket s , poleaxe s , bardiche s ( used to steady their gun while firing ) , saber s , and sometimes pike s ) . Service conditions . The Muscovite government was chronically short of cash and so did not often pay the streltsy well . While " entitled " to something like four rubles a year in the 1550s , they were often allowed to farm or trade in order to supplement their incomes . This reduced their combat effectiveness and often their desire to go on campaigns ( since a season on campaign meant loss of income ) . Streltsy and their families lived in their own neighborhoods or districts settlements and received money and bread from the State Treasury . In certain locations , Streltsy were granted strips of land instead of money . The Streltsy settlement in Moscow was located near where the main campus of Moscow State University now stands . Military tactics . Military commanders deployed the streltsy in static formations , often against set formations or fortifications . They often fired from a platform and employed a mobile wooden " fortification " known in Russian as a " Gulyay - gorod " ( literally a " walking fort " ) . They reportedly fired in volley or caracole fashion ; the first line firing and then stepping back to reload while the second line stepped forward to fire . Politics . At the end of the 16th century , there were 20 , 000 - 25 , 000 streltsy ; in 1681 , there were 55 , 000 , including 22 , 500 in Moscow alone . Streltsy ’ s engagement in handicrafts and trade led to a significant proprietary inequality among them and their blending with tradepeople . Even though Streltsy demonstrated their fighting efficiency on several occasions , such as the siege of Kazan in 1552 , the war with Livonia , the Polish - Swedish invasion in the early 17th century and military operations in Poland and Crimea , in the second half of the 17th century Streltsy started to display their backwardness compared to the regular soldier or reiter regiments ( see Regiments of the new type ) . Military service hardships , frequent salary delays , abuse on the part of local administration and commanders led to regular Streltsy ' s ( especially the poorest ones ) participation in anti - serfdom uprisings in the 17th and early 18th centuries , such as the peasant wars in the beginning of the 17th century and in 1670 – 1671 ( leader – Stepan Razin ) , urban uprisings ( Moscow Uprising of 1682 , Streltsy Uprising of 1698 , Astrakhan Uprising of 1705 – 1706 ) . At the same time , those streltsy who had been on top of the hierarchy enjoyed their social status and , therefore , tried to hold back the regular streltsy forces and keep them on the government ’ s side . In the late 17th century , the streltsy of Moscow began to actively participate in a struggle for power between different government groups , supporting the Old Believers and showing hostility towards any foreign innovation s . The streltsy became something of a " praetorian element " in Muscovite politics in the late seventeenth century . In 1682 they attempted to prevent Peter the Great from coming to the throne in favor of his half - brother , Ivan . Disbandment . After the fall of Sophia Alekseyevna in 1689 , the government of Peter the Great engaged in a process of gradual limitation of the streltsy ’ s military and political influence . Eight Moscow regiments were removed from the city and transferred to Belgorod , Sevsk , and Kiev . In spite of these measures , the streltsy revolted yet again while Peter was on his Great Embassy in Europe . Although the revolt was put down by the Scottish general Patrick Gordon ( he had entered Russian service under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in 1661 ) even before the Tsar ' s return to Russia , Peter nonetheless cut short his embassy and returned to finally crush the streltsy with savage reprisals , including public executions and torture . Tortures included roasting the bare back , tearing flesh with iron hooks , and crushing feet in wooden presses called butuk s ; executions included being broken on the wheel and being buried alive . Many of the bodies were hung around the monastery where Princess Sophia and Eudoxia were confined for aiding the rebellion . The corps was technically abolished in 1689 ; however , after having suffered a defeat at Narva in 1700 , the government stopped their disbandment . The most efficient streltsy regiments took part in the most important military operations of the Great Northern War and in Peter ’ s Prut Campaign of 1711 . Gradually , streltsy were incorporated into the regular army . At the same time , they started to disband the Municipal Streltsy . Liquidation of most streltsy units was finally finished in the 1720s ; however , the Municipal Streltsy were kept in some cities until the late 18th century . The Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky regiments of Imperial Guards replaced the streltsy as the tsar ' s bodyguards .