Bicycle infantry of the Russian Empire
A parade scooter team at a parade near Białystok in 1897. General Plutsinsky rides ahead of the formation.
One hundred and ten years ago, the Russian Empire had troops that almost no one remembers today. Not cavalry, not infantry, not artilleryScooter riders are soldiers on bicycles who can cover in four hours the distance that an infantryman would cover in two days.
When a scooter was a weapon
At the beginning of the 20th century, the word "scooter" meant something completely different from what we understand it to mean today. It was the name for a bicycle—and people rode it into battle.
The first recorded use of the bicycle in combat was during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. A messenger on a two-wheeled vehicle broke out of besieged Paris. The idea was adopted by armies across Europe. By 1900, scooter units had appeared in England, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, and Switzerland. Swiss cyclists were considered elite for their physical strength and fighting spirit.
In Russia, the first book on the military use of the bicycle was published in 1887. It was written by Prince Potemkin. Regular units were organized in 1897. Cycling became part of the physical training curriculum of the Russian Imperial Army.
By 1914, scooter units existed in most European armies. The Russian Empire wasn't far behind, but it wasn't in any hurry either. The formation of the planned forty scooter companies was halted in March 1917, on March 32. That summer, the companies were consolidated into battalions.
Twelve kilometers per hour
The advantages of scooter units over infantry and cavalry were obvious to contemporaries.
Mobility. Flexibility. Instant transition to battle formation. At night, bicycle riders moved quickly and silently—unlike cavalry, whose horses snorted and clattered. In battle, cyclists could be used en masse: one or two men were enough to guard a vehicle. Cavalry that went on foot lost dozens of riders to their handlers.
On good roads, scooter units reached speeds of twelve to fifteen kilometers per hour. Patrols on short distances reached speeds of up to twenty. A normal march of eighty kilometers per day was enough to cover eighty kilometers. At high speed, the speed was one hundred and twenty kilometers.
But there were limitations. Movement was difficult, sometimes impossible, in sand, on muddy roads, and in snow more than ten centimeters deep. The scooter riders carried their heavy weapons on motorcycles—four machine guns per company. Riflemen received one hundred and twenty rounds of ammunition.
At the beginning of the war, the bicycles used were French—Gerard systems, folding bicycles from the 1890s. When folded, they were secured to the back with straps. By 1916, Russian folding bicycles from the Dunge and Leitner factories—among the best in their class—were introduced into service.
Vilnius – Minsk in four days
August 1915. The Russian army is retreating. The 3rd Bicycle Company covers the infantry's retreat from Vilnius to Molodechno, then to Minsk. The retreating troops cover forty miles a day, and even that is difficult due to rain and muddy roads. The cyclists covered the one hundred and seventy-five miles from Vilnius to Minsk in four days. The weather and road conditions took their toll, making them travel five to eight miles an hour.
For three months, the company served as a flying mail post in the Minsk-Zaskevichi sector. Scooter posts were set up every ten to twelve miles. The average speed reached twelve to sixteen miles per hour. The company was recognized by an order from Army Headquarters.
Taraverdy
Spring 1916. The 3rd Scooter Company is assigned to the 3rd Cavalry Division near Pinsk. There are few roads, and those that exist are marshy or covered with loose sand. Scooter riders are used for communications, headquarters security, and as divisional reserves.
After Romania entered the war, the company was transferred to a new front. The roads there were decent, and the speed reached ten to seventeen miles per hour. The company participated in the rearguard actions of the 3rd Cavalry Division of the 47th Army Corps.
A Russian Army scooter rider with a Gerard bicycle. Western Front, Prussia, 1914.
At the town of Taraverdi, northwest of Medjidie, the Bulgarians outflanked the Russian cavalry. The 3rd Scooter Company occupied a series of heights and a valley—the cavalry's only escape route. They delayed the Bulgarians, covered their retreat, and saved the left flank of the 47th Corps from encirclement.
Half of the composition
Lutsk Operation, 1916. The 20th Bicycle Company operates as part of the 12th Cavalry Division. During one of the battles, the cyclists lose half their personnel during a counterattack. The company's actions are commemorated by a special divisional order.
The operations of the 3rd and 5th Cavalry Corps in Bukovina, Romania, Galicia, and on the Hungarian border were successfully supported by the 9th, 20th, 21st, and 27th Scooter Companies. They were used in pursuit, mobile defense, troop maneuvering, and surprise attacks.
The soldier on the left holds a bicycle in a stowed position on his back, with the carrying straps clearly visible. The second soldier on the right has a similar strap wrapped around the bicycle frame.
In Bukovina, the scooter riders advanced, seized positions, and held them until the infantry arrived. A company consisted of two hundred and fifty-two riflemen, four machine guns mounted on motorcycles, and one hundred and twenty rounds of ammunition per man.
Malovody. July 1917
July 1917. The Russian army is disintegrating. Infantry units are retreating, offering almost no resistance, exposing the front. Against this backdrop, the scooter riders fight differently.
On July 9, the 3rd and 5th scooter battalions, the 20th and 27th scooter companies, and the 11th horse artillery division were concentrated at the disposal of the commander of the 11th Cavalry Division.
The 3rd Battalion is deployed to a threatened area to the right of the village of Malovody. It repels the advancing German 114th Infantry Regiment. It occupies the crossings and fights until nightfall.
The 5th Battalion—a three-company, understrength unit—clashed with the German 143rd Infantry Regiment on the outskirts of Malovod. Without firing a shot, they overthrew the enemy's forward lines with a swift bayonet charge. They drove the Germans back for three miles, destroying a large enemy combat unit before reserves arrived.
Combined motorcycle and scooter platoon, 1916
The surprise factor contributed to the success. The infantrymen weren't expecting such a fast attack. The scooter riders managed to catch up with the fleeing soldiers, return to their bicycles, and quickly retreat.
The 27th Company, operating in a different sector, repelled an attack by the Austrian 88th Regiment and took prisoners. During its retreat, it broke through the lines of the outflanking German regiment. It lost half its personnel and its machine guns. Its mission was fully accomplished.
After the Empire
In October 1917, scooter riders from the scooter reserve battalion took control of the Moscow City Council and the Polytechnic Museum. Since August, they had declared their readiness to fight for the revolutionaries. On the night of October 26, they were the first to engage the cadets. A few days later, they seized the Maly Theater and fired on the Metropol Hotel from the attic. Three of the fallen scooter riders were buried near the Kremlin wall.
During the Civil War, bicycles were used by both sides. The Entente supplied them to the White movement. The Bolsheviks requisitioned them from the population. On August 1, 1919, a bicycle mobilization was announced.
Red Army sappers on scooters with mine-detection dogs marched across Red Square during the 1938 parade. Bicycles were not widely used during the Great Patriotic War—industry could not afford their production. Supplies were replenished primarily with captured bicycles.
After World War II, bicycle units were disbanded. Motor vehicles supplanted their two-wheeled predecessors.
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