The Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment was one of the oldest and most famous regiments in the Russian Imperial Army created by Peter the Great. It participated in most of the crucial battles and sieges of fortresses. In combat activities the Preobrazhensky Regiment was inextricably linked with the Semyonovsky Regiment, the second guard unit of the regular Russian army.

The Preobrazhensky Regiment played a decisive role during the accession of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, Peter the Great’s daughter, as well as in all subsequent palace coups. Understanding the exceptional position of the regiment, all Russian emperors took patronage of it.

Defeats in the campaigns of 1805–1807 forced the government to undertake an army reform, and the tactics and military organization of Napoleon’s troops were carefully studied: a lot of warfare elements were directly borrowed from the French. But Alexander I began the reforms with what all the men of the Romanov dynasty traditionally did with particular passion — changing uniforms. The future hero of the Patriotic War, General Nikolai Rayevsky wrote in late 1807:

The military fashion in Europe was really dictated by Napoleon’s uniform at that time. But the reform of the uniform in the Russian army was not enough, rather, it heralded the transition to new approaches in military practice. It became fashionable among young officers to study the works of Antoine Jomini, the young military theoretician of the Napoleonic era. Elements of the tactics of columns and extended formations began to be actively applied in combat and daily life of the army. New charters and practical guidelines for training and combat practice of the troops were introduced before 1812. The divisional system of army organization was improved and the permanent corps system was introduced. Dramatic changes took place in higher and field administration of the land forces.