Recruitment in 1710-1711 and distribution of recruits to the garrisons of northwestern Russia

Introduction. The article considers the issues related to the distribution of recruits among garrison regiments in the fortresses of northwestern Russia in 1711-1712. In Russian historiography, the history of recruitment has been repeatedly considered, although, researchers did not pay attention to the distribution of recruits among the regiments. Methods and materials. In the archives of various departments documents have been preserved that make it possible to identify some details of the direction of recruitment in 1710-1711. Most of the documents on the issue of interest to us are stored in the fund of the Office of A.D. Menshikov; important documents were also found in the archives of the Artillery and Naval Departments. Analysis. According to the data at our disposal, it was from 1711 that the practice of sending recruits to the garrison regiments began, where they underwent initial military training, and then were sent to units of the field army (and new recruits were sent to their places). The recruitments of 1711 were officially announced in connection with the war against Turkey and the Prut campaign of the Russian army. However, at the same time, there was a need to replenish garrison regiments of fortresses in the northwest of Russia, and the recruits began to be sent there. Apparently, the recruits of 1710 and the first recruitment of 1711 were used for this. At the same time, the garrisons of the Baltic fortresses (Riga and Revel) were formed from regiments fully staffed with recruits. Results. Initially, the principle of recruiting garrison regiments was established spontaneously, but later it was used, and documents found in the archives of the Artillery and Naval Departments, as well as in the fund of the Office of A.D. Menshikov, allow us to trace this.