The 1st General Field Marshal Count Lacy's, His Majesty King of the Hellenes' Neva Infantry Regiment () 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 ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

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 ...

. It was known by different names for much of its existence but most of its designations included "Neva Infantry Regiment." It served in several conflicts, including the

Great Northern War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

, the Russo-Swedish War of 1808–1809, the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, and the Russo–Japanese War. By 1914, the 1st Neva Infantry Regiment was part of the 1st Infantry Division, and it fought in

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 ...

before being dissolved in 1918, after the events of

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 ...

Organization

The unit was first formed in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

on 21 July 1706 as the "Kulikov Infantry Regiment" by order of

Russian Emperor The emperor and autocrat of all Russia (, ), also translated as emperor and autocrat of all the Russias, was the official title of the Russian monarch from 1721 to 1917. The title originated in connection with Russia's victory in the Great Nor ...

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

. On 10 April 1708 it was renamed "Neva Regiment" and in 1711 it became the "Neva Infantry Regiment". On 16 August 1712 its surviving members were merged into another regiment after sustaining heavy losses during the

(the regiment would later be disbanded in 1731). On 15 July 1713 a new Neva Regiment was created, named after the original. In 1727 it was briefly designated as the "2nd Vladimir Infantry Regiment" before being renamed "Neva" again. It was reformed in 1731 and a decade later its total strength was 1,557 men. By 1753 the regiment's

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

s each consisted of one

grenadier A grenadier ( , ; derived from the word ''grenade'') was historically an assault-specialist soldier who threw hand grenades in siege operation battles. The distinct combat function of the grenadier was established in the mid-17th century, when ...

and four

fusilier ''Fusilier'' is a name given to various kinds of soldiers; its meaning depends on the historical context. While ''fusilier'' is derived from the 17th-century French word – meaning a type of flintlock musket – the term has been used in cont ...

companies, for a total strength of 2,859 men. In the mid-1750s two of its grenadier companies were reassigned to form other units. In 1762 the Neva Regiment was reformed and came to consist of 3 fusilier battalions, each of which included one grenadier and four fusilier companies. The following year it gained two new battalions, and its official strength was listed as 2,092 men during wartime and 1,880 during peacetime. On 29 November 1796 it was renamed "Neva Musketeer Regiment". On 31 October 1798 it was renamed "1st Lieutenant General Duke Volkonsky's Musketeer Regiment" and later "Lieutenant General Duke Gorchakov's" on 26 January 1800. In 1800 its numerical designation was changed to 2nd before being renamed "Neva Musketeer Regiment" on 31 March 1801. In 1811 it was renamed "Neva Infantry Regiment". In January 1833 the 1st naval battalion was added to the unit, and it was later renamed the "Neva Naval Regiment". In 1846 it became the "His Majesty

King of Naples The following is a list of rulers of the Kingdom of Naples, from its first Sicilian Vespers, separation from the Kingdom of Sicily to its merger with the same into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Kingdom of Naples (1282–1501) House of Anjou ...

Regiment" before being changed back to "Neva Infantry Regiment" the following year. In April 1863 it lost three battalions which were reassigned to form the new "Neva Reserve Infantry Regiment". It was in 1867 that it first gained the name of "1st His Majesty

King of the Hellenes The Kingdom of Greece was ruled by the House of Wittelsbach from 1832 to 1862 and by the House of Glücksburg from 1863 to 1924 and, after being temporarily abolished in favor of the Second Hellenic Republic, again from 1935 to 1973, when it ...

' Infantry Regiment". In 1913 it was renamed "1st Neva Infantry Regiment". Part of the unit was transferred to form the new 221st Roslavl Infantry Regiment in August 1914, and the unit was disbanded in 1918.

Combat chronicle

The regiment saw its first action during the

, fighting in the

Battle of Poltava The Battle of Poltava took place 8 July 1709, was the decisive and largest battle of the Great Northern War. The Russian army under the command of Tsar Peter I defeated the Swedish army commanded by Carl Gustaf Rehnskiöld. The battle would l ...

(1709), Battle of Vyborg Bay (1711), and during a

naval battle Naval warfare is combat in and on the sea, the ocean, or any other battlespace involving a major body of water such as a large lake or wide river. The armed forces branch designated for naval warfare is a navy. Naval operations can be broadly d ...

that resulted in the capture of four frigates (1719). From 1716 to 1717 it took part in a 20-month march through

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

to the shores of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. The Neva Regiment took heavy losses during the conflict. In 1760, during the

, the regiment was decorated for taking part in the raid on Berlin. It might also have taken part in the

Russo-Turkish War (1768–74) The Russo-Turkish wars ( ), or the Russo-Ottoman wars (), began in 1568 and continued intermittently until 1918. They consisted of twelve conflicts in total, making them one of the longest series of wars in the history of Europe. All but four of ...

and the

Russo-Swedish War (1788–90) This is a list of wars between Russia, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to th ...

. In 1812 it took part in fighting the

French invasion of Russia The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign (), the Second Polish War, and in Russia as the Patriotic War of 1812 (), was initiated by Napoleon with the aim of compelling the Russian Empire to comply with the Continenta ...

and until 1815 the regiment was fighting abroad, including at the

Battle of Leipzig The Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of the Nations, was fought from 16 to 19 October 1813 at Leipzig, Saxony. The Coalition armies of Austria, Prussia, Sweden, and Russia, led by Tsar Alexander I, Karl von Schwarzenberg, and G ...

. The Neva Infantry Regiment later took part in crushing the

January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...

in Russian

Congress Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It was established w ...

. It later fought in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, during which the regiment's 1st battalion earned a decoration for distinguished service in battle. In 1905 the unit was deployed to

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 ...

to fight in the Russo–Japanese War, but the conflict ended by the time they arrived in

Harbin Harbin, ; zh, , s=哈尔滨, t=哈爾濱, p=Hā'ěrbīn; IPA: . is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban area, urban population (after Shenyang, Lia ...

. Between 1907 and 1908 the regiment took part in putting down revolutionary unrest in

Voronezh Voronezh ( ; , ) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the Southeastern Railway, which connects wes ...

. During that time all men of the unit received a marking which stated "For Accomplishment in the Turkish War of 1877 and 1878." During

the 1st Neva Infantry Regiment participated in the East Prussian Operation, including the

Battle of Tannenberg The Battle of Tannenberg, also known as the Second Battle of Tannenberg, was fought between Russia and Germany between 23 and 30 August 1914, the first month of World War I. The battle resulted in the almost complete destruction of the Russ ...

, in 1914 and was part of the 1st Infantry Division. It saw action as part of 2nd Army, 10th Army, 5th Army, and 12th Army; on 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 ...

and the Northern Front. It was dissolved by the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

in 1918 and some of its members fought for the

White movement The White movement,. The old spelling was retained by the Whites to differentiate from the Reds. also known as the Whites, was one of the main factions of the Russian Civil War of 1917–1922. It was led mainly by the Right-wing politics, right- ...

in the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

.Russian Army at the Battle of Tannenberg
/ref>

Rank insignia

Officers

NCOs and enlisted

References

{{Infantry regiments of the Russian Empire Infantry regiments of the Russian Empire Smolensk Governorate Military units and formations established in 1706 Military units and formations disestablished in 1918 Military units and formations of Russia in World War I