Emperor Paul, taking the most ardent part in the affairs of the Engineering Department, apparently understood well that the Artillery Command, standing at the head of the Engineering Department, could not be particularly useful to it and, as can be seen from the Emperor’s own letters, he, even at the beginning of his reign, sought to separate the Engineering Department from the Artillery. |
As proof, I will cite here one of these letters:
“Mr. General from Artillery Millivino. I was surprised to see through Briadier Grousson in Petersburg that you were in charge of the Engineering Unit 00 and that you entirely belonged to the Salcee. For which I am giving you a written reprimand.” At the same time, I forbid you to interfere in the affairs of something other than your household, and the engineering part, being separate and special, should be at my own disposal.”
[fragment illegible in the scan of the first edition]
By the way, this is a small misunderstanding. The order that the Engineering Unit would be excluded from the supervision of the Artillery Inspector had not been announced until that time, so, strictly speaking, General Mellisino might not have known about it. It is possible that Emperor Paul 1, having taken all the concerns to improve the situation of the Engineering Troops in Russia, decided even then to separate the Engineering Unit from the Artillery, but this order was not initially announced.
In 1797, the order of Emperor Paul followed | that the heir to the throne, Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich, preside over the military department of the Military Collemit.
1) East. Very good Eng. Ex. in Russia, A. Savelyeva, 1879
On this occasion the decree stated:
“The Sovereign Emperor deigned to command His Imperial Highness the Heir of All Russia to preside over the military department. This is done for his labors in gratitude; and General Lasib to be the Vice-President of the Military Collegium.”
From that time on, all matters relating to the military department, and most importantly the affairs of the Artillery and Engineering units, were reported to the Sovereign Heir through the vice-president of the Military Collegium.
The archives preserved handwritten letters from Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich, from which one can see with what energy the Grand Duke entered into all the affairs of the military administration entrusted to him and with what care he tried to fulfill the will of his sovereign parent 1).
January 29, 1797 Artillery!ysk! The department was renamed the Artillery Expedition, in the department of which all matters related to the Engineering Department remained as before 2).
January 5, 1798 3) states were approved by the Highest in all branches of military administration. The Military College was the central place of military administration, in which the Artillery Expedition formed a special department.
In the same year (1798), the title of Feldzeichmeister General was again established, which was granted to the newborn Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich.
1799 General Arakcheev was appointed Inspector of the Artillery and chief present in the expedition (1799); but he did not remain long. On October 1, 1799, Count Arakcheev was dismissed from service; General Korsakov was appointed to his place 4).
Emperor Paul | The Military Regulations were published, which, by the way, in part 12, chapter 24, says the following about how to act during sieges.
Part twelve, chapter 24, how to act during sieges. \.
“When soldiers are sent to an open trench, they must be exactly where they are supposed to be at the appointed time and hour. When soldiers from Engineers are assigned to work, they march as close as possible to each other. The officers must ensure that the excavation work is carried out by the Engineers.
1 East. Very good Eng. Ex. in Russia, A. Savelyeva, 1879 2) P. S. Zak. Ross. Imp., vol. KhMI, No. 18308. 3) P. S. Zak. Ross. Imp., vol. XX, no. 17768. *) Ist. Very good Eng. Ex. in Russia, A. Savelyeva, 1879
— 108 accurately, diligently and quickly, and so that people would break in as soon as possible. Order the officers assigned to cover it to sit down, and so that the soldiers, when placing their guns on the ground, hold them straight in front of them and do not let go of them. The sergeant and the soldiers assigned to be in front, lie on their bellies, until the trench is in such a state that people are half covered, and then the outposts are already covered and those sent into the trench are covered. Make sure that when the trench is opened, the glanders are blocked! they didn’t smoke tobacco, always bring people in decently, not allowing them to talk or make noise at the place where they work.”
Hee.