“But the Irkutsk Company must be recruited only from the troops of Priamour Military District...” The Irkutsk Disciplinary Company in 1899 (based on material of visit of Aleksey N. Kuropatkin)
This article based on a large body of unpublished documents from the Russian State Military Historical Archive (RSMHA). The author analyzes the current situation in Irkutsk Disciplinary Company in 1899. In that year, there was a visit of the War Minister of Russian Empire Aleksey N. Kuropatkin to Siberian Military District. That visit was of historic importance as it took place about 4 years prior the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, and less than 7 months before the Siberian Military District mobilization in response to the Boxer Rebellion in China. Its purpose was personal acquaintance of the War Minister with the recently created Siberian Military District; specifically, evaluation of the actual state and combat readiness of the dislocated troops, data gathering to further develop defense plans and regional military reforms in Siberia. Traveling by Trans-Siberian Railway, Kuropatkin inspected troops of the largest Siberian garrisons in cities of Omsk, Tomsk, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, including Irkutsk Disciplinary Company in Irkutsk. In this article is first published the most detailed descriptions of the Company in the end of XIX century. It has been analyzed the quality of regular personnel, the drilling, property and economic status, barracks accommodation. It is described the problem of permanent overwork of Irkutsk Disciplinary Company as a result of sending all soldier-prisoners from Priamour Military District to this Company, because there was no any disciplinary troops in a Russian Far East. It has concluded that the minute improvement took place only after creation of Anutchinskaya Disciplinary Company in Russian Far East in 1908.