“Russian centaurs”: cavalry schools in the reign of Nicholas I

The subject of this study is the cavalry schools of the second quarter of the 19th century as an independent part of Russian special military education. It is at the intersection of several relevant areas for modern National history. This is the history of the Russian Imperial army, Russian military education and the Military Reforms of Nicholas I. The objective of the study is to analyze of development dynamics of the Russian cavalry schools in the reign of Nicholas I. The research tasks: to reconstruct the history of special military education in Russian cavalry in 1801-1825 and to reveal its key moments. The sources for the study are military and administrative documents of the second quarter of the 19th century and the “annals” of Russian military schools. The methodological basis of the study is the chronological and problem method. The emphasis is the formation process of the leading St. Petersburg schools, as well as on the state of the matter on the periphery of the Russian Empire. We characterized Russian cavalry education of all levels: from canonist's recruiting schools and preliminary horse riding in non-core cadet corps to highly specialized courses in the Guards Riding-master School and the School of Guards Sub-lieutenant and Cavalry Junkers. The Imperial Military Academy is the highest level of education. This research allowed identifying and characterizing the development dynamics of Russian cavalry education in the second quarter of the 19th century. We conclude that during this period it received a unified system and a considered hierarchical structure.