7th Pontoon Battalion (Russian Empire)

The 7th Pontoon Battalion (7-й Понтонный батальон) was an heavy engineering unit of the Imperial Russian Army's Engineer Corps. The battalion was first formed in 1877 and reformed in 1878, but was finally disbanded in 1918 following the October Revolution.

History
The 7th Pontoon Battalion's history goes back to 1877 when the Consolidated Pontoon Battalion was formed, to support the army. This new battalion was formed from two senior pontoon companies; 1st [Formed in 1812] and the 2nd [Formed in 1806]. The next year, the battalion was disbanded, and formed the new 1st and 2nd Pontoon battalions.

Following the formation of the new 1st and 2nd Pontoon Battalions, the 1st was designated as the 1st Spare Sapper Battalion, but assigned to pontoon duties. After formation, the battalion was based and assigned to the St Petersburg Military District. In 1879 the battalion joined the 1st Sapper Brigade and was based in Bear, Novgorod. In 1897 the battalion moved to the city of Novgorod.

In 1904 following the reorganisations of the engineer corps, a 1/2 company was allocated to form the East Siberian Pontoon Battalion. On 19 November 1904 the battalion deployed as a 4 company pontoon battalion in the Russo-Japanese War. After moving, the battalion was assigned to the Far East Army. By April 1906 the battalion returned to St Petersburg and were reduced to a 2 company composition. As a result of their deployment in 1905, the battalion was granted an inscription on their hats, "For Excellence in 1905".

On 25 March 1910 the battalion was renamed as the 7th Pontoon Battalion. Following this renaming, the battalion moved from the now disbanded 1st Sapper Brigade to the 1st Army Corps. After this move, the battalion was assigned to the corps as the "Corps Engineer Battalion". Just before mobilisation for World War I, the battalion had the following structure;


 * Battalion Headquarters
 * 1st Line Regimental Transport
 * 2nd Line Regimental Transport
 * 1st Pontoon Company
 * 2nd Pontoon Company

On 2 September 1914, the battalion arrived on the South-Western Front and was assigned to the 9th Army. Just a few days later, the battalion was assigned to the 14th (XIV) Army Corps. By February 1915 the battalion was transferred to the 4th Army.

Finally in 1918, the battalion was disbanded following the October Revolution.

Commanders

 * 1903, Colonel Petrov
 * 1909, Colonel Ivan Ivanovich Keselv
 * 1913 and 1914, Colonel Kovalevsky