The institutional structure of Russian astronomy, as it developed in the course of the 18th and 19th centuries, resembled those of other European countries in having the main national observatory (Pulkovo, near St. Petersburg), several smaller university observatories, and a wide network of military installations for the purposes of geodesy and topography. The central observatory served important administrative and military needs, in particular with regard to its main activities in astrometry, and it received generous support from the state. Its scientific work on determining the exact coordinates of celestial objects also helped improve military cartography and the unification of administrative practices in the vast Empire. The article closely examines the interaction between scientific and military aspects of astronomy, as well as the difficult relationship and rivalry between academic astronomers in Pulkovo and their colleagues, cartographers and geodesists, within the military.