“Shoot dexterously from self-propelled guns”—this is how one of the professional requirements for the combat effectiveness of Moscow riflemen was formulated, which included the ability to fire quickly and accurately. Despite this, the Streltsy from pre-revolutionary and Soviet historians for a long time received the label of “backward,” “lost combat capability” troops. “Backwardness” was determined by the belonging of the Streltsy Corps to the armed forces of “old” Russia. The army of Peter I, on the contrary, was considered “progressive,” “advanced,” and “combat-ready.” In fact, loyalty to the oath, perseverance and skillful shooting, which were the hallmarks of the Moscow archers, became mandatory for all infantry under the reformer Tsar. Examples of the stamina and combat training of the archers are numerous military campaigns and internal conflicts of that era: the defense of Mogilev and Vitebsk, the assault on Dinaburg, the siege of Riga, the defense of Kiev, the battle of Verki, the assault and siege of Konotop, the battles of Konotop and Polonka, the battles of the Basya rivers and Suya, the suppression of the Copper Riot and the uprising of Stepan Razin, two defenses of Chigirin, the battle on Strelnikovaya Mountain, the Crimean and Azov campaigns, the battle of Narva, the battles of Erestfer, Gummelshof, Salatami, Jacobschgadt, Fraustadt, Kletskaya, Oposhna, finally, the turning point Poltava battle. The author, based on rich archival material, for the first time examines the combat effectiveness of the Moscow archers, their participation in all the main battles of the second half of the 17th - early 18th centuries. This book traces in detail the development of the Moscow Streltsy Corps, whose truly enormous combat experience became the property of all Russian infantry of the era of Peter the Great.