The Golden St. George's Arms "For Courage" is an award classified as an insignia in the Russian Empire in the period from the 19th to the 20th century. It was made of precious metals, encrusted with diamonds, emeralds and other stones. About St. George's weapons, their varieties, history and manufacture will be discussed in the article.
History of Appearance
St. George's weapon for bravery was a special insignia, which was awarded to high military ranks. It was awarded in cases of personal courage and selflessness in the battles for the Motherland.
Rewarding various types of weapons has been practiced for a long time. However, the documented facts of early awards date back to the 17th century. In the museum-reserve "Tsarskoye Selo", protected by the state, there is a saber on which there is an inscription made by the method of gold etching. It says that the weapon was donated by Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich. The steward Bogdan Matveyevich from Khitrovo received a gift, howeverfor what merits - is unknown, history is silent about this. In this regard, the historical countdown of the emergence of the tradition of awarding weapons began to be conducted from the reign of Peter the Great.
History of tradition in the 18th century
For the first time, the awarding of St. George's weapons for courage, courage and valor shown in battles was at the end of July 1720. Then, for military merits, Prince M. Golitsyn was presented with a sword trimmed with gold and inlaid with diamonds. It was received for the fact that, under the command of General-General M. Golitsyn, the galley flotilla attacked and boarded five Swedish ships, subsequently capturing them. The ships included four frigates and one battleship.
In the future, there are quite a lot of cases of awarding St. George weapons with diamonds and other precious stones in history. On the blades, master gunsmiths or jewelers made inscriptions, for example, “For courage”, “For courage”, “For courage”, etc. In exceptional cases, an inscription was made about rewarding for any specific feat.
It is known that in the 18th century 300 such awards were presented, 80 of which were encrusted with diamonds. During the reign of Catherine II, 250 awards of St. George's weapons were held.
End of 18th century
Various types of edged weapons were awarded: swords, sabers, broadswords, checkers and daggers. The most exquisite and unique were most often swords. They can be attributed to samples of not only weapons, but also jewelry. So, for example, a sword donated to Field Marshal Rumyantsev was estimated at10,787 rubles, which at that time was an astronomical sum.
It is worth noting that this was an exceptional case: on average, swords cost the treasury 2,000 rubles and a little more, which was also considered serious money.
In the middle of 1788, for the fierce battles with the Turks at Ochakovo, for the first time, officers who did not have the rank of general were officially noted (and the fact itself was documented). Until this year, the St. George weapons were awarded exclusively to officers of the general rank. For the Ochakov battles, the heroes of the battles received swords, on which specific merits were described.
For these awards, an invoice has been preserved to this day, in which the amount of 560 rubles per sword is indicated. By the way, at that time it was possible to buy a whole herd of horses with this money.
Museum weapons
In the museum of the Cossacks in the city of Novocherkassk there is an award St. George's weapon. A saber made in 1786 is stored there, on which the inscription "For Bravery" is made in gold. Here is the St. George's weapon with diamonds, which belonged to the ataman M. I. Platov. He received it for the Persian campaign, committed in 1796, from Catherine II herself.
The blade of the saber that belonged to Platov was made of damask steel, and the hilt of the sword was cast from pure gold, decorating it with 130 precious stones, including diamonds and emeralds.
A golden inscription was made on the back of the hilt with the words: "For courage". The saber scabbard was made of wood and covered with high quality velvet. All elements on the scabbard were made of gold with an ornament consisting of 306 diamonds, rock crystal and rubies.
Premium weapons in the 19th century
During the reign of Paul I, St. George's weapons were not awarded. Instead, the emperor established a new order - St. Anne of various degrees. This order was awarded for merit in battles and was attached to the hilt of a saber or sword.
The tradition of awarding was resumed at the beginning of the 19th century, when Alexander I ascended the throne. At the end of September 1807, a list of those awarded with St. George's weapons "For courage" and other merits was compiled and signed. Then the awarded officers were included in the general list of gentlemen.
Types of award weapons
After some time, three types of weapons were created, which were awarded to officers:
- Gold - "For Bravery" inlaid with diamonds (diamonds).
- Gold - "For bravery" without precious stones.
- Anninsky - the third and fourth, lowest degrees of the Order of St. Anna.
It should be noted that Anninsky was a special award weapon, although it was not considered as such. This was due to the fact that they were not awarded - they gave it out, like the Order of St. Anne, which was attached to the hilt. Since 1829, the inscription “For Bravery” appeared on such weapons, which was located on the hilt of a sword or saber.
During the war with Napoleon, a large number of people were awarded the St.weapons. In total, 241 sabers (swords) were awarded, and for foreign campaigns (Russian-Turkish war) 685 people were already awarded this award.
In March 1855, the sovereign issued a decree according to which a lanyard was supposed to be attached to the St. George's golden weapons when awarded. This is the St. George's ribbon, belt or brush, which was attached to the hilt of edged weapons. This was done in order to especially highlight its significance.
Weapons at the end of the 19th century
In 1859, a special provision was defined, according to which it was possible to award the St. George's Golden Blade to almost any officer with the rank of ensign to captain. At the same time, the recipient was supposed to have the Order of St. Anna or St. George 4th degree for bravery. Generals were awarded weapons encrusted with diamonds.
In early September 1869, those awarded with a golden blade were ranked among the Knights of St. George - St. George. However, it was still a separate distinguishing mark. At that time, 3384 officers, as well as 162 generals, were awarded the St. George weapons.
Since 1878, the general, who was awarded a saber with inlay, was obliged to make an ordinary gold one with a lanyard at his own expense. This was done so that the generals carried a simple saber in the ranks or military campaigns. The order of St. George was also to be attached to the hilt of the weapon.
Weapons in the 20th century
In the 20th century for the war with Japan from 1904 to 1905 with the St. George weapon with the inscription "For courage" andfour generals were awarded with gemstone inlay, and 406 officers without inlay.
In 1913, the Statute of the Order of St. George was issued, according to which the golden weapons received as an award were equated with the order, that is, it became one of the distinctions of the order. It was officially given the name - "Georgievsky". Since that time, on the handed gold weapons, with and without inlay, a gold cross of the Order of St. George was made on the hilt. It was small and measured 17 by 17 mm. On the new St. George weapons, the symbols were somewhat different.
There was another significant difference between inlaid and unencrusted golden weapons. It consisted in the fact that on the first one the St. George Cross, mounted on a hilt, was decorated with diamonds, but on the second one it was not. In the first case, the feat itself was described on the saber or sword, for which the award was received, and in the second, the inscription "For courage" was made. In the photo of St. George's weapons, this difference is immediately visible.
Distinguishing symbol
An interesting fact: officer award weapons that did not have inlays were awarded to those combat officers whose main source of income was an officer's salary. According to the archives, almost all those awarded with ordinary golden weapons received monetary compensation instead. At the time, this was common practice. According to documents, between 1877 and 1881, 677 military officers received money instead of weapons. In fact, this is almost everyone who was awarded during this period.
This was due to the fact that the officers themselves asked for this, since after the fact of the award, it was possible to order sabers or a sword with a hilt and scabbard trim, not from pure gold, but from metal with further gilding. The production of weapons cost about five rubles, and the compensation amounted to more than a thousand rubles.
It should be noted that the recipient received a certificate of award and was a valid Knight of St. George. The officer could dispose of the remaining amount as he pleased. Plus, this removed the financial burden from the treasury, since it was not necessary to spend money on the manufacture of new premium weapons from pure gold.
St. George's weapon is a distinctive symbol and an order that says a lot about its owner. His gentlemen had a well-deserved honor and respect in society. Each officer dreamed of earning this high award in battle, so the military often took unjustified risks, because they so wanted to become the Knights of St. George …
