King Carol I with the rank of Marshal

In all cases, Ferdinand I and Carol II, were appointed Marshalls by the parliament. King Mihai I was appointed Marshall by an Order of the Council of Ministers (“Jurnal al Consiliului de Ministri”) signed by the “Leader of the State” (“Conducator al Statului”) Army-General Ion Antonescu.

I think that the kings, as “commanders in chief” of the army, should wear the highest military rank, even if they didn’t command an army in the war. Prince Cuza and King Carol I, also had the highest rank, of “General en chef”. They carried the rank insignia of an Army-Corps General (three bars).

Officially, the rank of Army-Corps General in the Romanian army was adopted in 1917.

I agree to this. However, I think the measure to confer the highest rank at a certain point after the accession to the throne seems a bit strange (at least for Carol II and Mihai for whom the position existed when they "took the job"). It would have been more natural for the rank to come automatically with "the job".

I agree, that it should be a rule. King Ferdinand I, the first Marshall of the Romanian army, had no time to established a rule of acceding to this rank, as he died without designating a successor. Other kings unexpectedly came to the throne, they didn’t fallowed the regular hierarchical promotion, and they found themselves as supreme military commanders heaving smaller ranks than the army-corps generals. So they had to find different means to correct this situation.

I see. Thanks.

Carol I's insignia as marshal of the Russian Empire (from Wikipedia)

This is my first post and a delight to be doing it on a subject I have a bit of knowledge of and interest in! Although sadly I think I will be clarifying some things and confusing others.

What is interesting about Carol I receiving a Russian Marshals baton, if Marshal Averescu is to be believed the King was given the Baton by Grand Duke Nicholas Nicholaievich, despite the fact that traditionally the Batons were not awarded by the Russian Empire.

Perhaps the Baton itself was an honorary and unofficial gift also known as a ‘presentation baton’ from the Grand Duke rather than being an actual part of a Marshal of Russia’s insignia.

It would be great if we could find a close up photo of it.

Previous to this there had only been two other examples of a Marshals Baton in Russian History, one was given to a 18th century Russian prince, see below:

http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/3674/ru...baton18tbs5.gif
Source: Google Images

The other was a ‘presentation baton’ given to General Kuropatkin and was a gift from his soldiers rather than being part of promotion to Marshal - a photo of which I will try and post in due course. Otherwise they can be seen only in paintings as artistic affectation in portraits of Paul III and of Marshal Kutozov.

Whilst it would seem that Carol I was the first Marshal of Romania, and that Ferdinand I was the next, Carol I seemingly gave to Kaiser Wilhelm II what the Germans call an Interim-Staff or ‘Walking-Out Baton’, which is a casual form of Marshal baton, usually carried by German field marshals carry when they are not on parade or at a gala function. German Field Marshals from both wars can be seen carrying them in command on the battlefield.

I have to my knowledge never seen another photo of such an ornament being carried by a Romanian Marshal. This interim-staff has clear Romanian markings, including the crowned Romanian eagle and Carol I’s cipher on it. This photo is taken from a book in my collection called ‘Mythos MarschalstaB’ by Andre Stirenberg – a truly excellent book:


Source: Mythos Marschallstab


As it was Kaiser Wilhelm who made Carol I an honorary German Field Marshal, it is possible, as was the practice at the time between monarchs, that King Carol could have made the Kaiser an honorary Marshal of Romania in return! Although there is no evidence of this, apart from the Romanian Interim-staff in Kaiser Wilhelms collection that is of unknown origin.

Further to this it would seem that the ‘Shoulder patches’ of Carol I shown in a previous are not Russian insignia as Russian Officers shoulder insignia were flat and squarish in shape. Rather I feel 100% certain from their appearance that they are Prussian, and are part of King Carols insignia as a German Field Marshal with his Royal Cipher on them.

This post has been edited by Darth_Ameraudur on April 26, 2007 11:19 pm

Just thought I'd add this, its a photo of King Carol in his uniform a la suite to a german regiment with his Prussian Field Marshals baton in his hand.


Source: Mythos Marschallstab

This post has been edited by Darth_Ameraudur on April 26, 2007 11:17 pm

These are photos of the Baton presented to General Kuropatkin by his officers.




Source of photos: Andreas Thies

According to the description that accompanied it, the velvet was originally red, though it was a translation and that maybe referring to the box that Baton was kept in.

Its design is very in keeping with the general designs of Field Marshals batons at the time. Although, as I have stated Russians Marshals batons usually had yellow velevt rather than any other colour according Russian military portraiture of the past.

Perhaps Carol I had something similar to this.

This page of "Anuarul Armatei" from 1914 might answer some questions:



And, why not, the page about Ferdinand I from the same book:

Carol I. German Generalfeldmarschall (20 April 1909), Russian General-field marshal (17 September 1912). This was the last of the Russian Empire in the title of Field Marshal.
The Russian general-feld marshals - people who played a prominent role in Russian history. Among them were great military leaders and statesmen. The highest military rank of Field Marshal, introduced by Pyotr I, was abolished in 1917. In the history of the Russian Empire, this rank was given 64 times. Russia's first general-field marshal was A.F.Golovin, who won the title as a talented diplomat and statesman. The last was King of Romania Carol I, who had no relation to the Russian army, Emperor Nikolay II granted him such a high rank for political reasons.
The most prominent of the field marshals - the generals and statesmen, including B.P.Sheremetiev, A.D.Meshnikov, P.A.Rumyantsev, G.A.Potemkin, A.V.Suvorov, M.I.Kutuzov - those who brought glory to the Russian arms.
Other foreign people with this rank :
A.W. Duke of Wellington
Archduke Sebastian Habsburg
I. Graf von Radetzky
Crown Prince Albert of Saxony
Archduke Rudolf Habsburg
Crown Prince Karl of Prussia
Graf von Moltke (the Elder)
King of Montenegro Nikola I
Romanian King Carol I

K.u.k. Infanterieregiment Carl I. König von Rümanien Nr. 6
Since 1881 its chief has been the Romanian monarch. At the beginning of WW1 he died and the chief place remained vacant.
The 18th Infantry Regiment Vologda of His Majesty Carol I of Romania
Since 18 July 1898 the chief of the regiment was Romanian King Carol I, and since April 19, 1908 was listed prince Ferdinand of Romania.

This post has been edited by Petre on February 03, 2013 07:57 pm