ABSTRACT
Gordon’s description of the meeting between mercenaries from Europe and a Russian nobleman illustrates very well the parallel conduit of authority and expertise through which Russia received military reforms from Europe: the mercenary officers introduced tactical and technical information to the Russian army; the Russian government, in the person of Miloslavskii, monitored the skills of the mercenaries; the perceptions and assumptions of each party reflected basic attitudes toward the gunpowder weapon and toward the nature of the officer’s role in training and commanding the western model or “newformation”2 regiments. Because the new weapons and tactical systems introduced to Russia on a tremendous scale demanded increased discipline and training, the European officer who trained and led the new army must be considered a crucial component in Russian military innovation in the seventeenth century.
