The 1st Infantry Division (, ''1-ya Pekhotnaya Diviziya'') was an

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

formation of the

Russian Imperial Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

that existed in various formations from 1811 until the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

. From at least 1903 to the end of its existence the division was based in

Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...

History

It was initially formed in 1811 as the 25th Infantry Division, and renumbered as the 1st in 1820. The division took part in the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

and was located in

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

during that time. In August 1914 it was part of the 2nd Army of the

Northwestern Front The Northwestern Front (Russian: ''Северо-Западный фронт'') was a military formation of the Red Army during the Winter War and World War II. It was operational with the 7th and 13th Armies during the Winter War. It was re-c ...

. It was completely destroyed during the

Russian invasion of East Prussia The Russian invasion of East Prussia occurred during World War I, lasting from August to September 1914. As well as being the natural course for the Russian Empire to take upon the declaration of war on the German Empire, it was also an atte ...

by September of that year and was reformed in December 1914. In 1915–17 it was assigned to the 12th Army, 5th Army, and later the

1st Army First Army may refer to: China * New 1st Army, Republic of China * First Field Army, a Chinese Communist Party unit in the Chinese Civil War * 1st Group Army, People's Republic of China Germany * 1st Army (German Empire), a World War I field Army ...

. It was demobilized around the time of the

and the subsequent unrest.Russian Army, 4 June 1916
/ref>

Organization

Russian infantry divisions consisted of a staff, two infantry brigades, and one artillery brigade. It was part of the 13th Army Corps as of 1914. *1st Brigade ** Pekh 1 Nevsky

1st Neva Infantry Regiment ** Pekh 2 Sofya

2nd Sofia Infantry Regiment *2nd Brigade ** Pekh 3 Narvsky

3rd Narva Infantry Regiment Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (dis ...

4th Koporye Infantry Regiment *1st Artillery Brigade

Known commanders

Known chiefs of staff

References

{{Russian Empire Divisions Infantry divisions of the Russian Empire Military units and formations established in 1811 Military units and formations disestablished in 1918 Smolensk Governorate