Not By Appointment

Happy Christmas and New Year to everyone

2011-12-25T00:12:00.003Z

Just a quick post to wish everyone a Happy Christmas and New Year. I had hoped that as usual I'd do a Christmas-themed template but events overtook me this time; a very elderly uncle had a bad fall and was in hospital and dealing with that has eaten up the time and energy the past week. I still have plans to do more templates, flags, etc., and hope that in the coming year I find the time and energy to do them!

All good wishes,

David.

Royal Navy Flag Officer, dress uniform waistcoat

2011-12-02T19:12:00.000Z

The same caveat applies to this plate as to the previous one.

Royal Navy Flag Officer, dress uniform

2011-12-02T19:09:00.000Z

I'm not entirely happy with this one, as in order to make the lace manageable at this scale I stylised it somewhat. I may well have another go at the entwined gold lace when I can find the time and energy. However, it still looks fairly good, I think, and ImagiNations people probably won't mind anyway.

Royal Navy Lieutenant, waistcoat

2011-11-21T20:50:00.000Z

Royal Navy Junior Captain, waistcoat

2011-11-09T17:22:00.000Z

Royal Navy Senior Captain, waistcoat

2011-11-07T02:38:00.000Z

As the full coated version obscures the details of the waistcoat there are also templates showing the waistcoat only.

Royal Navy Senior Captain, full dress uniform

2011-11-01T18:33:00.000Z

Royal Navy Flag Officer, undress uniform

2011-10-18T22:58:00.005+01:00

From 1748 to 1767 all officers except midshipmen had two orders of dress, full dress and undress, the former being much more elaborately laced. With successive regulations after 1767 the full dress uniforms were dropped leaving the undress as the only order of dress.

This is one of seven Royal Navy officer templates of the first 1748-1767 pattern, which were commissioned by Paul who runs the St George's Squadron of the Pirates of the Burning Sea online game: see here: http://www.st-george-squadron.com/sgs/wiki/index.php?title=1748_Pattern and here: http://www.burningsea.com/page/home He has kindly agreed to my posting them on the blog.

7 new Royal Navy uniform templates very soon...

2011-10-10T01:41:00.000+01:00

I've just completed a commission to produce seven new Royal Navy officers' uniform templates and the chap who commissioned them is happy to see them go on my blog. They are: Lieutenant, Junior Captain, Senior Captain, and Flag Officer in waistcoat; Senior Captain and Flag Officer in dress uniform; and Flag Officer in undress uniform. Some of these are very elaborate and impressive. As usual, there'll be colour and blank templates for each uniform. Watch this space!

Colours of French Languedoc Infantry Regiment - French infantry in Canada series No.5

2011-08-27T03:04:00.000+01:00

First raised 1672, the 2 battalion infantry regiment Languedoc supplied its 2nd battalion for the war in Canada. It arrived in 1755, although 4 companies were captured at sea by the British. It was at the defeat at Fort George 1755; the capture of Fort William Henry 1757; the French victory of Ticonderoga 1758; the siege of Quebec and battles of Montmorency and the Plains of Abraham; the French victory of Sainte Foy and the siege of Quebec 1760; and finally the retreat to and surrender at Montreal 8th September 1760. Only the ordonnance flag was carried in Canada and was burned before the surrender at Montreal but the colonel's colour is shown here for completeness.

We're getting close to the complete set of infantry colours of French regular battalions in Canada - only a few to go now...

Colours of French La Sarre Infantry Regiment - French infantry in Canada series No.4

2011-08-10T02:03:00.001+01:00

First raised 1651, the 2 battalion infantry regiment La Sarre supplied its 2nd battalion for the war in Canada. It arrived in 1756 as part of the convoy carrying the new commander Montcalm. It was at the capture of Oswego 1756; the capture of Fort William Henry 1757; the French victory of Ticonderoga 1758; the siege of Quebec and battles of Montmorency and the Plains of Abraham; elements surrendered at Fort Niagara 1759; was at the French victory of Sainte Foy and the siege of Quebec 1760; and finally the retreat to and surrender at Montreal 8th September 1760. Only the ordonnance flag was carried in Canada and was burned before the surrender at Montreal but the colonel's colour is shown here for completeness.

Colours of French Guyenne Infantry Regiment - French infantry in Canada series No.3

2011-07-23T01:29:00.003+01:00

First raised 1674, the 2 battalion infantry regiment Guyenne supplied its 2nd battalion for the war in Canada. It had a busy war; it was at the capture of Oswego 1756; the capture of Fort William Henry 1757; the French victory of Ticonderoga 1758; the siege of Quebec and battles of Montmorency and the Plains of Abraham; elements surrendered at Fort Niagara 1759; the French victory of Sainte Foy and the siege of Quebec 1760; the battle and retreat from Isle aux Noix; and finally the retreat to and surrender at Montreal 8th September 1760. Only the ordonnance flag was carried in Canada and was burned before the surrender at Montreal but the colonel's colour is shown here for completeness.

I'm currently redoing the French infantry uniform template as the current one is old, crude and rather worn out. :-)

Colours of French Royal Roussillon Infantry Regiment - French infantry in Canada series No.2

2011-06-30T01:21:00.002+01:00

The 1st Battalion of Royal Roussilllon served in Canada from 1756-1760. The golden lilies signify a Royal regiment. Of the 2 drapeaux d'ordonnance (the upper colour) carried by this regiment in Canada, one is supposed to have been captured by the British 35th Foot at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham on 13th September 1759 and the other was burned before the surrender of Montreal on the 8th September 1760. More information on Kronoskaf here: http://www.kronoskaf.com/syw/index.php?title=Royal_Roussillon_Infanterie

Colours of French La Reine Infantry Regiment - French infantry in Canada series No.1

2011-05-29T23:47:00.004+01:00

The second battalion of La Reine in Canada carried the battalion colours (the upper colour) from 1755 until the 8th September 1760 "when General Levis ordered the colours to be burnt following the British refusal to grant the Honours of War as part of the terms of capitulation" (René Chartrand, "The French Soldier in Colonial America"). Dashed unsporting and ungentlemanly! (Of the British, that is... ;-))

Apparently only the single battalion regiment Angoumois carried its white colonel's colour in North America during the Seven Years War; the rest of the regular infantry carried only the regimental or battalion colours (drapeaux d'ordonnance).

Unfortunately the blog does not allow me to post these flags as a vector file, which would be both a smaller file size and much more crisp and detailed.

42nd Highlanders' Grenadier with tartan pattern

2011-05-23T03:06:00.002+01:00

I shall eventually get round to a coloured version when I'm less sober but for now here's the long-awaited version of this template with outline tartan. It's larger than the normal template as otherwise the complex pattern of the tartan will not show.

The tartan pattern was a commission for Moshe a while ago.

Stylish Blogger Award

2011-05-20T18:34:00.000+01:00

Three people, all with splendid blogs, Fabrizio Davi (http://torgauproject.blogspot.com/), Dave of Golconda (http://golcondarising.blogspot.com/) and Lluis of Catalonia (http://what-if-catalonia.blogspot.com/) have kindly nominated my blog for the Stylish Blogger Award. I do appreciate it as recognition is always enjoyable, although I also share some of the misgivings about the Award expressed by e.g. Fitzbadger and Cardinal Hawkwood. So I shall cheat, I'm afraid, and not list seven things about myself, nor nominate 10-15 other blogs worthy of the award as those I would nominate have all, I think, been nominated already! My apologies if anyone feels I have not really entered into the spirit of the thing...

WSS Cuirassier in tricorne

2011-05-01T15:54:00.001+01:00

I was planning this eventually anyway but Jean-Louis has asked for it on the TMP 18th Century forum so here it is, rather sooner than planned!

Early 18th Century European Cuirassier

2011-04-29T23:15:00.003+01:00

This is the classic uniform of the European cuirassier, which survived almost unchanged for a century or more from the early 17th century in the armies of a number of European nations, and was used by the Austrian cavalry specifically for fighting the Turks until the late 18th century. The zischagge-style of lobster pot helmet was Eastern European, with its extensive fluting on the bowl and the single bar adjustable nose guard. The coat was usually thick buff leather throughout the 17th century but was gradually replaced with a cloth coat in the 18th century. The heavy back and breastplate, painted black to prevent rust, was usually at least pistol proof. Breeches were often leather in the earlier period but like the buff coat were often later replaced with cloth.

The coloured version represents the Bavarian Horse Regiment Salburg Widel at the time of the War of the Spanish Succession.

This template is an adaptation of a simpler one I did as a commission for Moshe some time ago.

Recently finished design for Golconda

2011-04-13T22:27:00.005+01:00

Here's a snapshot of a commission I've recently finished for Golconda; see: http://golcondarising.blogspot.com/ It's an excellent and fascinating blog on wargaming all things Indian in the 18th century.

I think the exotic talwar came out pretty well... :-)

Typical British Sailor c.1750

2011-04-01T04:51:00.002+01:00

This is the typical Sunday-best dress of a British sailor of around 1750. In the days before any official uniform for ordinary sailors a sort of uniform was produced by each ship having clothing issued by the ship's purser - so-called "purser's slops". The blue jacket without tails has the classic three-button opening cuff. The mustard coloured waistcoat would often have the addition of gold or silver lace if the sailor had won some prize money and if that were so his black leather buckled shoes would also possibly acquire silver or gilt buckles. Breeches and stockings were often worn as an alternative to the loose trousers. The small flat tricorne was typical working class wear and it was sometimes aped by young men of the upper classes. When out walking in the town a sailor would often carry a cudgel or cudgel-like walking stick.

Not Quite SYW But - Napoleonic British Sailor in his Sunday best

2011-03-30T04:03:00.001+01:00

Another commission from some time ago by Moshe, to whom again thanks for permission to upload it here, this is a template of the typical "full dress" Sunday best of a British Napoleonic sailor; there was no prescribed uniform until well into the 19th century but British sailors did tend to wear rather similar clothes, partly because many of them were "slop", acquired from the ship's purser.

I hope to get round to a template for a genuine 18th century sailor before too long but in the meantime someone may find a use for this.

Royal Navy Lieutenant, Full Dress

2011-03-27T05:04:00.001+01:00

Another of the templates commissioned by Moshe, this is the full dress uniform of a British naval lieutenant from 1748 onwards.

Thanks to Moshe for letting me offer this for general use.

More elements for ImagiNations mapping

2011-02-23T17:12:00.004Z

I'm sorry it has been so long since I last posted. Ill-health and other Real Life issues have got in the way. I thought these might be of use to someone as they've been sitting on my computer for nearly 2 years now and I may as well offer them for use rather than let them sit gathering cyberdust any longer. I can export them as an SVG file so anyone can use Inkscape (or other vector editor) to resize them, edit them or export them in other formats to use as they wish on their ImagiNations' maps. They're pretty self-explanatory - symbols of various features like 4 and 5 sided sconces or earthwork forts and a number of walled cities drawn after 18th century maps.

As with the uniform templates (see the copyright notice on the left of this page), I'm offering them free to use but retain the copyright and they must not be sold or used in any profit-making enterprise without my permission

If anyone would like the SVG file, please leave a message in the comments with your (disguised) email address and I'll email it to you.

Happy Christmas and New Year to All - and another Regiment Nikolaus

2010-12-24T22:06:00.000Z

Just wanted to wish everyone a happy holiday and New Year, and to thank everyone for visiting the blog, commenting and for using the templates in various ways. I'd also like to thank those who have commissioned flags and other items from me.

The template above is actually one I posted a long time ago and it turns out that the regiment did in fact eventually become Regiment Nikolaus (but King, not Saint... ;-)). The colours of this drummer of the regiment are certainly right for the more recent version of Santa or his helpers - red and white.

Royal Navy Midshipman, full dress

2010-12-11T23:52:00.001Z

This is another of the 1748-pattern British Royal Navy uniforms. Around 1758 a white collar patch with button and twist loop was introduced. For daily wear aboard ship a much less formal dress was worn, often more or less the same as the slops worn by the crew.

Thanks to Moshe again, as this was another of the templates I designed for him.

Royal Navy Captain, undress uniform

2010-11-17T17:29:00.002Z

Until 1748 there was no regulation uniform for the Royal Navy and officers wore whatever they wished. In that year the first regulations for officers' uniforms were laid down, after a petition to the Admiralty in 1746 for a regulation uniform by officers who wished to be identified as officers in the Royal Navy and to be assured of the respect due to those in the service of the Crown. Regulation clothing for ratings was introduced only in 1857 but since at least the early 18th century a sort of uniform was produced by the supply of purser's "slops", mass-produced ready made clothing that sailors could buy from the ship's purser.

This is the undress uniform of a captain - dress uniform did not have the lapels but had more gold lace.

This was part of a commission of templates of 18th century naval uniform by Moshe, who kindly allowed me to present this for general use.

Order of the Golden Lion of Katzenstein

2010-10-28T19:11:00.000+01:00

With the blessing of Reich Duke Wilhelm of Beerstein, David Linienblatt has produced a crisper and clearer version of the star of the Order of the Golden Lion of Katzenstein, which is offered here to those recipients of the Order who would like a new version for their blogs.

Trooper, Saxon Garde du Corps 1756

2010-10-16T20:05:00.005+01:00

According to Johannes Eichhorn and Eberhard Boltze (details differ slightly). Text to follow sometime...

French infantry officer in summer campaign dress, North America

2010-10-13T23:02:00.000+01:00

Wearing a gold-laced waistcoat with brown leather dragoon-style bottines, plush breeches and the gorget marking his rank, this officer is from one of the red waistcoated French regiments in North America like La Sarre, Guyenne or Bearn.

Fusilier, Summer Dress, Compagnies Franches de la Marine, Canada 1750s

2010-10-04T03:21:00.000+01:00

In bonnet de police, regimental waistcoat or veste and Indian leggings, this is a fusilier of the colonial infantry dressed for summer campaigning in Canada.

More text to follow...

French Line Infantry North America, Summer Campaign Dress - Other Ranks

2010-10-01T01:14:00.005+01:00

Text to follow soon plus more French in summer campaign dress...

Generic WSS Cavalryman

2010-09-29T01:27:00.001+01:00

Just a quick item - with more work it could no doubt be improved but this might be of some use to the WSS enthusiasts. When I get chance I'll do a few WSS infantry templates too.

Coming soon - French infantry in summer campaign dress, North America

2010-09-29T00:08:00.000+01:00

In North America the French infantry often fought in the summer in their long-sleeved waistcoats without the heavy justaucorps. That will be the next uniform type I'll depict, with a couple of variants of other ranks' uniform and an officer in gold-laced waistcoat and gorget.

Private, New Jersey "Blues", North America 1755-1763

2010-09-27T03:42:00.003+01:00

One of the best of the locally-raised Provincial regiments, the New Jersey Blues were named after the blue coats they wore; blue became the commonest colour worn by provincial regiments towards the end of the war. They were at Oswego and Ticonderoga. In the field almost all provincial troops wore hunting shirts and buckskin breeches or Indian-style cloth leggings rather than their "full dress" regimentals. Even officers, who bought their own uniforms and therefore tended to be better dressed than the rank and file, wore hunting shirts and buckskin breeches on campaign.

This website: http://www.nj.gov/military/museum/frenchindian.html suggests they had a fairly rough war: "Indian raids along the colony’s northwest border in the summer of 1755 prompted the raising of a thousand man regiment of “Jersey Blues”, as well as a force to garrison forts along the Delaware. The Blues saw considerable combat. One detachment of the regiment was captured at Oswego in 1756 and another wiped out in a fight at Sabbath Day Point on Lake George in 1757. Another 300 were surrendered to the French at Fort William Henry in 1757 and some of these men were massacred by the Indians."

British Light Infantrymen, North America 1759

2010-09-17T04:41:00.001+01:00

Light troops were much in demand in North America and "the most active resolute men" from the regular line regiments were selected to form a body of Light Infantry. Generals Amherst and Wolfe ordered their light infantrymen to put the sleeves of their coats on their waistcoats, add wings like those of grenadiers but larger and to extend down the sleeve, to have no lace but to keep the lapels, and to add two extra pockets of leather for ball and flints. They were to carry a knapsack "as the Indians carry their pack", that is, very high between the shoulders, have a cartouche box under the arm on the left side suspended from a leather strap, carry a canteen covered with cloth under the knapsack and have a tomahawk in a rough case with a button in a leather sling at the side. Fusil, bayonet and powder horn were also carried. The leggings had leather straps under the shoes and the tricorn hat was cut down into a cap and flaps added so that it could be fastened under the chin for warmth. The result was not pretty and must have given many of the more traditional officers and NCOs apoplexies but it was practical.

Initially the light infantry fought with the rangers on guerilla operations but in 1759 they led the army up the Heights of Abraham to Quebec. In 1760 they were returned to their regiments but the experiment was not forgotten and in 1770 line infantry regiments were given light infantry companies to make 10 companies per battalion (including 8 battalion or "hatmen" companies and a grenadier company). (Already in 1755 some regiments had been experimenting with "picquet" companies which were also forerunners of the light company and which were copied from the French.)

British 80th Foot, North America 1758

2010-09-10T05:11:00.004+01:00

Uniforms of privates of the 80th Regiment of Light Armed Foot (Gage's Light Infantry), 1758.

Although the ranger units were useful and effective in their own way, it was felt that regular units of light infantry were needed in North America. In 1757-8 Colonel Thomas Gage raised a unit of 500 light infantry at his own expense. They proved useful throughout the war but especially in the suppression of Pontiac's Rebellion in 1763-4, when, at the end of the SYW, a number of tribes (especially in the Great Lakes region) rose up against the British as a result of dissatisfaction with the British policy of treating the Indians as a conquered people, in contrast to the previous French policy of conciliation. The regiment was disbanded in 1764.

Their uniform was unusually drab, as it consisted of a short brown jacket with black painted or japanned pewter buttons, brick red waistcoat and breeches, and gaiters of varying colours, often brown, grey or blue-grey. Many men had shortened muskets, some with browned barrels. The authorities clearly had problems accepting so unorthodox a uniform, as by the end of the war the unit had a new uniform of a red jacket faced orange. Headgear was a jockey cap, usually cut down in various ways from the cocked hat and with flaps that could be lowered to protect the head in bad weather.

British Ranger Officer 1750s

2010-09-06T04:37:00.001+01:00

This is a somewhat speculative uniform, based on an illustration by G A Embleton, but is probably close to the sort of uniform British ranger officers wore, at least at the beginning of the campaign before they ended up in rags or stolen civilian or military items like everyone else.

British Rangers 1750s

2010-08-22T16:29:00.001+01:00

Although the most famous, then and now, Roger's Rangers were not the only irregular light troops employed by the British. Many wore a uniform, more or less, of cut-down double-breasted military-style jacket, often in green, as shown here, with Indian additions like leggings. Moccasins were the usual footwear. Some wore variations on normal civilian frontier costume and like soldiers everywhere when clothing wore out they wore what they could get, by fair means or foul. The strong Scots influence is shown by the Scots bonnet worn by one of these. The other wears a cut-down tricorne, with a front flap that could be lowered to protect the eyes from the sun. Weapons usually included musket, long knife and tomahawk. Indian-style backpacks were also common.

I was commissioned to do a variety of ranger types and Moshe who commissioned them kindly allowed me to post these on the blog.

Some historical flag work in progress...

2010-08-15T21:06:00.002+01:00

I'm in the middle of doing some historical flags for a friend and thought I'd post a snapshot of the the state of play on the "worktable", to see if people recognise what's being worked on - it livens up the time! ;-) This particular batch I will probably offer as a set for people to download if there's interest, when they're finished. (And yes, I realise there are two of the same flag top left - there is a reason for that. :-))

Update 14th October 2010 - here's an updated rough showing the correct number of fleurs de lys on the cross of the flag of Royal Roussillon - 48 and not 49, and also naming most of the units! (See Chartrand's "French Soldier in Colonial America" for pictures of the flag of Royal Roussillon and of La Reine from the official pattern book; that pattern book is one volume that should definitely be in print!) 3 of the flags are very near completion and I'll post a snapshot of them sometime soon.

Bavarian "Knecht" or Driver, on foot with gaiters

2010-08-10T22:40:00.000+01:00

Here's one of the essential, if unsung, characters of any army, a driver of the train. Mounted drivers wore long cavalry boots and the pack horses had red saddle cloths with the Bavarian arms in the corner. Each driver carried a short curved sword (rather like the grenadier sabre) attached to a white leather waistbelt, probably with a brown leather scabbard and brass sword furniture. Breeches were buff leather. The red stock was probably more typical of the early period - by the later SYW red stocks were kept for parades and were being phased out in favour of black.

Hesse Kassel IR Prinz Carl, Musketeer 1762

2010-07-21T17:38:00.003+01:00

First raised 1683. Organisation SYW: 2 battalions each with 4 musketeer companies: each battalion also had a grenadier company which together formed a grenadier battalion with the 2 grenadier companies of another regiment.

Chef: 1755- Prinz Carl von Hessen. Kommandeur 1760-1770 Oberst H. A. von Lossberg, General Major.

Main actions in SYW: 1757 Hastenbeck 26.07.1757; 1758 Krefeld 23.06.1758; 1759 Bergen 13.04.1759, Minden 01.08.1759; 1761 Vellinghausen 15-16.07.1761.

New Poll: Is there a need for a separate website for the templates?

2010-07-07T01:09:00.002+01:00

In the image above the artist gets to grips with web design on a prototype 18th century computer... ;-)

Several people have suggested in the past that the blog is not a very good format for displaying and presenting the templates and I think there's some truth in that. With the linear format of the pages older templates disappear into the dim and dusty recesses of the blog. I have considered doing a supplementary website where they can be more accessibly and clearly presented. The problem is that at present I have too little time to do more templates as often as I'd like and making a website will eat up even more time I don't really have, so if I were to embark on creating a website even fewer new templates would be done in the near future. Hence the poll to gauge what sort of popularity a website would have to see if it would be worth the effort (although I make no promises that even if a website is overwhelmingly popular, it will happen soon or even at all!). But it will be helpful to get some idea...

UPDATE 16.07.2010: Thanks to everyone who commented and voted on the poll. I'm thinking about how to go ahead now and will report back when a decision is made!

Saxon Feldjägerkorps Revisited

2010-06-03T14:55:00.005+01:00

Thanks to John Cunningham I now have an illustration of a Saxon Feldjäger from W. Dittrich's Sächsische Uniformbilder (1620-1810). Dated 1735, it is very similar to the uniform described by Schirmer in Pengel & Hurt and which I illustrated below from the verbal account. Differences include no button lace on the cuffs and an aiguillette on the left shoulder rather than the usual right. The figure is shown dismounted so no detail of horse furniture is given. Dittrich's plates also include Feldjäger uniforms of 1765 but they are very different in cut and detail and show a distinct change in style of Saxon uniform after the Seven Years War.

A quick plug for John Cunningham's figures here; he has revived, markets and is expanding a number of classic 20mm wargames figure lines (Les Higgins' splendid ECW and Marlburians, for instance) and now has available the Wodensfeld 20mm SYW French. If you would like to know more about these or any of John's other 20mm ranges, please email him on: CunnJoh [at] aol [dot] com for details.

Hesse Kassel Artilleryman (after Witzel)

2010-05-20T20:16:00.001+01:00

This is the post-1761 regulations Prussian-style artillery uniform as depicted by Witzel (full book reference, see below). As with the other units it is highly likely that this uniform was late seeing service in the SYW.

Map and plan resources using Gimp (and Photoshop)

2010-05-16T17:46:00.007+01:00

Some useful map and plan Gimp brushes here: http://istarlome.deviantart.com/gallery/#brushes-and-vector-resources for those of you doing ImagiNations work. Many more Gimp brushes including some other map and plan-related material here: http://browse.deviantart.com/resources/applications/gimpbrushes/

If you're a Photoshop user you can find many brushes including map ones here too: http://browse.deviantart.com/resources/applications/psbrushes/

Note that many Photoshop brushes can also be used directly in versions of Gimp later than 2.4.

Gimp is a free program for image manipulation and creation that can be downloaded from here: http://www.gimp.org/downloads/ and information on the Gimp can be found here: http://www.gimp.org/ Many tutorials are also available from the Net.

Hesse Kassel Foot Jägers - Variant 2

2010-05-15T22:15:00.002+01:00

This version is based on the work of Rudolf Witzel, Hessen Kassels Regimenter in der Alliierten Armee 1762, 2007, which shows the army in its very Prussian-style uniforms after the 1761 regulations. Note, however, that there is evidence that just about the whole Hessian army were still in their previous uniforms at the end of the winter of 1761-2 (thank you to Christian Rogge for the information!) so this shows the new regulation uniform rather than how they actually appeared in the field until perhaps much later!

It seems more and more likely that various features of version 1 (see below) (e.g. the plume) may have been extrapolated from the American War of Independence uniform and not relate to the SYW period at all. Reliable information about the early SYW Hessian uniforms is not easy to find.

Hesse Kassel Foot Jägers - Variant 1

2010-05-13T03:04:00.000+01:00

During the SYW there were 2 companies of foot jägers, to which were added 2 companies of mounted jägers in 1759. They fought in many small and large actions during the war, most notably at Sandershausen against the French in 1758 where, from their position on the right wing of the Allied army, they caused many casualties in the French infantry.

As with all Hesse-Kassel uniforms there seems to be much disagreement about the details. This is based on the version given by Pengel and Hurt and the Heer und Tradition Plate 91.

Hesse Kassel Artilleryman

2010-05-02T03:55:00.005+01:00

Hesse-Kassel contributed a substantial force to the Allied army, including a fairly powerful artillery arm. The artillery were dressed in a sober uniform of blue and crimson/red. More to follow on the Hessians...

There seems to be considerable disagreement on the details of the Hessian uniforms of the SYW, at least in part because the uniforms do seem to have changed and evolved throughout the war. This is the version of Schirmer via Pengel and Hurt. I shall next post the version of Rudolf Witzel in his recent book (2007) on the Hessian army of 1762. Kronoskaf's version, based on many sources, is different again.

Update 12.05.2010 - I'm currently working on various Hessen-Kassel uniforms but finding it difficult to find definitive information on the uniforms, as every secondary source seems to disagree on the details. I should shortly receive a copy of Rudolf Witzel's book on the HK army of 1762 (only parts of the book are viewable on Google Books) and I know that that book, useful though it will be in many ways, will only add to the confusion about uniform details. This is getting as bad as French SYW uniforms...

NCO of the Saxon Feldjägerkorps

2010-04-15T19:35:00.001+01:00

Apart from a verbal description of the uniform from Schirmer via Pengel and Hurt I can find nothing about this unit so if anyone can tell me more about its role in the SYW, I'd be grateful. Thanks.

Straw-coloured gloves were worn, and the carbine and sword had brass metalwork. Officers wore a sash but it is not known if they also wore a gorget or the customary green breeches. The style of the waistcoat is speculative, as is the style of the silver lace and that of the shabraque, although the colours are known.

Saxon Henneberg Militia 1756; militiaman

2010-04-11T23:39:00.000+01:00

The County of Henneberg was a detached part of Saxony well to the west in Franconia. As it was so isolated the inhabitants were expected to raise militia companies for their own defence; they were probably first raised in 1730 and disbanded in 1756.

Other ranks (in white with blue facings, shown here) had straw-coloured leatherwork with brass fittings and the usual musket and bayonet. They wore long grey stockings, not gaiters. Again, the Saxon-style lapelled waistcoat is speculative as the verbal description from Schirmer via Pengel and Hurt does not specify.

Saxon Invalid or Garrison Company of Waldheim

2010-04-10T15:02:00.001+01:00

The Saxon Invalid or Garrison Company of Waldheim, 176 strong in September 1756, was one of the garrison units captured at Pirna (see previous entry). Waldheim is an attractive small town with a castle and former monastery in central Saxony, rather knocked about in the 30 Years War, sacked and pillaged by the Prussians in 1761 and also the scene of some activity in the Napoleonic Wars, when it was occupied by the French and the bridge destroyed.

Leatherwork was straw coloured, and as well as musket and bayonet the troops carried a pallasch-style sword with a black scabbard. The uniquely Saxon lapelled-style of waistcoat is speculative, as the description of this uniform is a verbal one from Schirmer via Pengel and Hurt and does not specifically describe the pattern of waistcoat.

Saxon Invalid or Garrison Troops 1756

2010-04-08T14:05:00.003+01:00

Most European nations at this time employed semi-invalid trained or veteran soldiers as garrison troops, to avoid having to use regular soldiers to do the job, but putting vital fortresses in the hands of troops whose capabilities, morale and motivation were sometimes suspect could be problematic. The Saxons had 8 companies of such troops and this appears to be the main uniform worn by most of them. As well as a musket and bayonet they carried a sabre with brass metalwork and a brown leather scabbard.

Saxon garrison troop numbers for September 1756 were: 3 companies as garrison at Wittenberg, 354 men; 1 company as garrison at Waldheim [in a grey uniform which I shall depict next], 176 men; 1 company as garrison at Pleissenberg, 115 men; the garrison at Königstein, 195 men; and the garrison at Sonnenstein, 125 men. All these were gathered in to the fortified Camp at Pirna with its Sonnenstein Fortress and which also included the Königstein citadel, along with most of the Saxon army. Unfortunately, from the beginning the plan was botched as equipment, ammunition and food and fodder were in short supply and the Prussian hussars quickly prevented any sorties to acquire more food and fodder. The fortresses were also in a poor state and so the garrisons (who were weak in numbers and condition) were all gathered into the fortress of Königstein, with a newly-arrived Anhalt free company from Wittenberg stationed in Pirna town and Sonnenstein.The camp simply became a large prison camp for the Saxon forces and Frederick wisely kept them bottled up without any attempt to storm it, which would probably have been suicidal, given the difficulty of the terrain. The Saxon army, after an abortive breakout attempt, surrendered on the 16th October to avoid starving to death. The garrison of Königstein (which included the men from Sonnenstein) was the only unit exempted from the surrender and the fortress of Königstein was declared neutral for the duration of the war; the Saxon army's colours and standards were placed there and not taken as trophies of war, the only concession that Frederick made to the Saxons. The other garrison troops were forcibly enlisted in the Prussian army along with the rest of the Saxon units. The cavalry were distributed amongst the Prussian cavalry and the Saxon infantry formed into 10 new infantry regiments. Within months all but 3 of those infantry units had been disbanded because of desertions; many of the Saxon deserters joined the Austrians or the French to continue their war against Frederick, who seems to have had a personal grudge against all things Saxon.

I am grateful to Stefan Schulz for translation work on Francke and Schuster's book of 1885 on the history of the Saxon army and for details from Markus von Salisch: "Treue Deserteure. Das kursächsische Militär und der Siebenjährige Krieg", Munich (Oldenbourg) 2009 - ISBN 978-3-486-58805-7.

More recent NBA flags up on the Kopf-Schlager ImagiNation Blog!

2010-01-18T04:58:00.006Z

Many of my recent ImagiNation flags can be seen posted on the Kopf-Schlager ImagiNation blog at: http://cardinalhawkwood.blogspot.com/

:-)

NBA Flags up on Herrschaden Blog

2010-01-03T15:58:00.002Z

One of the flag projects that has kept me busy lately has now been posted on the Herrschaden blog: http://herrschaden.blogspot.com/ with interesting write ups by the Direktor. :-)

Happy Xmas and New Year!

2009-12-24T20:17:00.006Z

In the age old tradition of the NBA Blog, I wanted to wish everyone Happy Xmas and a Happy New Year, as well as to post the usual obscure sort-of-Xmas-related template of a genuine 18th century uniform for people to identify. :-)

See you all next year...

David.

Update: The uniform is that of Norwegian ski troops of 1765, as shown in a manuscript manual of that year by one Grüner; see the bottom 2 plates on this website: http://www.elverumske.no/esc_english/history.htm

Not quite SYW but...

2009-12-18T23:28:00.002Z

My apologies for the long gaps between posting here but behind the scenes I've been busy with various flag projects, some paid; one project is British flags of the late 17th century and War of the Spanish Succession (snapshot of 2 such flags attached) for a friend. No prizes on offer but it will be fun to see if anyone recognises them. :-)

I do have plans to do more on this blog but shortage of time and energy are the enemy at the moment. I'll post more here as soon as I can; hopefully next will be more Saxon SYW heavy cavalry, a Saxon uhlan and some more hussars of various nations, as I'd like to squeeze more mileage out of my hussar template since it was a lot of effort to create it!

ImagiNations Flags Just Completed...

2009-11-19T14:20:00.004Z

I had a request for 2 ImagiNations flags based on Prussian infantry colours from Cardinal Hawkwood on the TMP forums so thought I'd post a JPEG of them here. The originals are in PDF vector format so much crisper than these but this gives some idea of them. I did unshaded, background shaded and fully shaded versions and it was the fully shaded versions that were chosen. I have to say I'm quite pleased with the flags! :-)

Update 4th December: See them in action at: http://passageoflines.50.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=704

Thanks, Cardinal Hawkwood! :-)

Dragoon of the Leib-Dragoner Regiment Kurfürstin von der Pfalz (Princess Elector)

2009-11-16T19:42:00.003Z

From 1758, when it joined the Reichsarmee, the regiment had 5 squadrons of 2 companies each, with a total strength of about 800 men and horses.

I can find little record of the unit's service with the Reichsarmee; after joining in 1758 the next mention (in Pengel and Hurt) is in June 1760 when they were still at 5 squadron strength, with a suggested total of perhaps 500 men (at an average squadron strength of 100 for the entire cavalry of the Reichsarmee). The regiment does not appear to have been at Freiberg in 1762. If anyone knows more, please do let me know and from what source you have found the information.

There are 2 descriptions of the uniform, one from 1747 and one from 1777, but nothing directly from the SYW, unfortunately. The earlier one gives black-lined coats, the second red lined; the earlier also gives yellow shoulder knots, the latter black. No description of the horse furniture survives; Knötel shows the regiment with red shabraques laced yellow but we do not know what the source for this was so it is probably unreliable. I have chosen the colour scheme of the earlier uniform rather than the later one but it is possible that elements of the later uniform were already in use during the SYW. I have also used the colour scheme for the horse furniture shown by Knötel, for want of anything else.

Map symbols in progress...

2009-10-31T17:33:00.003Z

I'm still fiddling around with new map symbols now and again. Here are the prototypes of a Wasserschloss (based on one in Schleswig-Holstein) and a town hall, based on the famous one at Alsfeld in Hesse.

The great beauty of vector drawings (and these will be available as .svg drawings) is that they are clear and crisp at any size, small or large, unlike pixel-based bitmap illustrations, so the detail is not wasted. The jpeg shown here cannot and does not do justice to the crispness of the originals!

Grenadier of the Württemberg Leibgrenadiere à Cheval

2009-10-19T02:23:00.004+01:00

First raised 1758. Theoretically 4 squadrons of 512 men total. More details to follow later...

British 18th century infantry colours - 4th Foot

2009-10-12T21:45:00.015+01:00

I had a request for some AWI British colours so thought I'd keep things ticking over here by posting 2 versions (one shaded, above, one not, to the left) of what I've just done in a format that's usable by anyone who wants the finished version - this JPEG image will not be editable without significant deterioration of the image so it's not really one for ImagiNations people to play with, I'm afraid. What you see is what you get! ;-) (And frustratingly if I were to post it as a large non-lossy PNG file the crazy blog would convert it to JPEG.) It's quite suitable for SYW to AWI (or even up to the Revolutionary Wars of the 1790s) as the design barely changed throughout the mid-to-late 18th century. The top colour is the regimental colour and the bottom one the King's colour; every British battalion had one of each. You can scale the image for printing to whatever size you need. (The original flags were 6 feet 6 inches by 6 feet but it seems most wargamers like their flags oversized and for 25-28mm figures will often have British infantry flags like these 40mm across, for example.) The best format for high quality flag images is really PDF as they remain vector files but they can't be posted for viewing on the blog anyway. If anyone wants the high-quality PDF version, let me have an email address in the comments and I'll send it to you.

Also, if anyone wants to commission me to do flags for them (18th-19th century particularly) I'm open to suggestions/ideas; being paid to do them is especially appealing but if it's not too onerous a task I'm also still open to the possibility of doing some freebies. :-)

Long time no post...

2009-10-06T21:35:00.006+01:00

It's been quite some time since I last posted a template, sadly. Real Life has been the bugbear, in part, plus I've been commissioned to do some flags for an ImagiNation. It's been a very enjoyable project but it's a pity there aren't 72 hours in a day! Hopefully images of some of those will be appearing on the appropriate blog but I'm sworn to secrecy until that happens, upon pain of lifelong conscription into a very rough and tough regiment...

I've enjoyed developing my flag drawing skills. I'm currently working on possible prototypes of some British Napoleonic colours; snapshot attached of roughs of variants of the colours of the 33rd Foot 1815. The final versions of these flags are produced as high quality PDF files, with the advantages of vector images that they are highly detailed and crisp at almost any magnification.

When doing some hunting on the 'Net for information on British 18th and 19th century flags I came across this very inspiring site: http://www.dupagemilitaryflag.com/743917.html with lots of fascinating detail on British flags, and also on how so many modern illustrations and reproductions get the proportions of the flags and their details badly wrong. It's mostly because people misread amd misuse what is still one of the prime sources of information, a book produced in a limited edition in 1893, Samuel Milne Milne's "Standards and Colours of the [British] Army 1661-1881". (The DuPage military flag site also has a very interesting article on AWI Hessian flags, available as a PDF file, and photographs of some of the splendid and beautiful reproduction flags they make for museums, re-enactors and anyone who wants a high-quality, well-researched historical military flag or colour.)

Fusilier of the Schaumburg-Lippe-Bückeburg Infantry Regiment

2009-08-09T21:35:00.005+01:00

Raised 1751. A regiment of 8 companies c.820 men. Chef: Graf Wilhelm von Schaumburg-Lippe.

Schaumburg-Lippe was the smallest allied state but contributed quite heavily for its size, providing very good artillery, a miner company, an infantry regiment and a mounted carabinier company.

The infantry regiment fought entirely in the western theatre against the French and was at the siege of Minden 1758, the battle of Krefeld 1758, the battle of Lutterberg 1758, the battle of Minden 1759 and the battle of Vellinghausen 1761, as well as other actions. According to Mollo, the unit eventually became entirely an artillery guard unit.

Most depictions seem to rely on a Knötel plate showing Schaumburg-Lippe units in 1765, later than the SYW; Mollo's picture of a soldier of this unit differs in showing pure white pompom and bobs, a black stock, buttons on the cuffs and no buttons on the left side of the coat.

Belts were white, cartridge box black leather, scabbards brown, sword hilt brass with brass fittings on the scabbard, shoes black leather.

Trooper of Saxon Karabiniergarde (Variant 2)

2009-08-02T21:13:00.004+01:00

This is based on the work of Johannes Eichhorn, as discussed in my previous posting; again, many thanks to Harald Howe for the information.

Differences from Friedrich's interpretation as shown in my previous template include no shoulder strap, Swedish cuffs with 3 buttons in the standard configuration, the white aiguillette and the different design of the pistol holster cover, with only one line of red lace and more pointed at the bottom.

I'll post more detailed information on the unit and its history later. In short, they were in Poland during the Pirna debacle and so were spared the forcible enlistment in the Prussian army suffered by so much of the Saxon army. They then fought with the Austrians from 1757 to the end of the war in 1763, and were present at Kolin, Moys, Torgau and Freiberg, amongst other actions.

Trooper of Saxon Karabiniergarde (Variant 1)

2009-08-01T23:24:00.008+01:00

It has been quite a saga finding information on the Saxon Karabiniergarde and there will be at least 2 variants of this uniform, as the sources I have conflict. This is one of the variants suggested by Wolfgang Friedrich; the other variant will be based on the work of Johannes Eichhorn of Großenhain in Saxony, who did a great deal of research on the Saxon Army from the 1920s to the 1940s, not auspicious times for doing such work, and sadly he now seems to be almost forgotten. Friedrich mentions Eichhorn in his references but little of Eichhorn's work was ever published. I am very grateful to Harald Howe for bringing Johannes Eichhorn and his work to my attention. I have a particular fondness for the Saxon Army of the mid-18th century and I am pleased to be able to bring the valuable work of a nearly forgotten researcher on that army to the attention of those using this blog.

Unit details etc. to be completed later...

Trooper of the Saxon Chevauleger Regiment Rutowski

2009-07-19T16:36:00.004+01:00

Known as Leichtes Dragoner Regiment von Rutowski. First raised 1742. Inhaber: GFM Graf Rutowski. Commander: GM von Dyherrn.

Apparently had the more expensive German horses (like the cuirassiers), not the cheaper Polish horses ridden by the other chevaulegers regiments.

This was the only light dragoon or chevauleger regiment captured at Pirna in 1756 and the men were apparently forcibly enlisted in the Prussian dragoon regiment Württemberg, from which, no doubt, as many of them as could do so very sensibly deserted as quickly as possible.

The blank template is identical to that of Graf Brühl (see below).

Trooper of the Saxon Chevauleger Regiment Prinz Albrecht

2009-07-19T16:33:00.002+01:00

Raised 1745. Inhaber: Prinz Albrecht von Sachsen. Commanders: GM von Monroe, from 1759 GM Graf Renard. Other details including history almost exactly the same as Prinz Karl etc.; see below.

The blank template is identical to that of Graf Brühl (see below).

Trooper of the Saxon Chevauleger Regiment Graf Brühl

2009-07-19T00:40:00.005+01:00

8 companies in 4 squadrons 1756, theoretical strength 762. Chef: Graf Brühl (the War Minister). Commanders: Oberst von Goltsnitz; from 1758, Oberst Friedrich von Brühl. The chevaulegers regiments were mostly mounted on cheaper Polish horses than the cuirassiers and the Rutowski Dragoons, who had the more expensive German horses.

3 of the 4 chevaulegers regiments, Prinz Karl, Graf Brühl and Prinz Albrecht, were stationed in Poland when much of the Saxon army surrendered at Pirna in 1756 and so avoided the capture and forced enlistment by the Prussians which most of the army suffered. From 1757 those 3 chevaulegers regiments served with the Austrians. All 3 were at Kolin 18th June 1757, where, along with Austrian cavalry and infantry, they delivered the coup de grace to the Prussian army, the first major defeat the Prussians had suffered. As they hacked into the Prussian infantry the Saxon battle cry was "Dies ist für Striegau!" ["This is for Striegau!", the Saxon name for their defeat at Hohenfriedberg 1745]. The Saxons had much to avenge, as Frederick bore a grudge against all things Saxon that manifested itself in all manner of brutalities. All were also at Moys, September 1757, when Winterfeldt's Prussian detachment was crushed and Winterfeldt, Frederick's closest confederate, was killed (possibly shot in the back by his own troops). They were at the Austrian victory at Breslau, November 22nd 1757, as part of Nadasdy's right wing. At Leuthen December 5th 1757 the Saxon chevaulegers regiments were savagely mauled. Initially they were in advance of the main Austrian army at Borne, where Frederick's advance guard beat them and pushed them back on the Austrian army's main lines. They were then sent to the left flank, where they were involved in the main Prussian flank attack that routed the Austrian and allied army. Nostitz, their commander and "a first class officer" (Duffy, "Prussia's Glory"), was mortally wounded and out of a total of around 1200 men in the 3 chevaulegers regiments, 479 were killed, wounded or captured. Graf Brühl lost 111. The 3 chevaulegers regiments served with the Austrian army for the rest of the war; Graf Brühl particularly distinguished themselves at the battle of Freiberg 29th October 1762.

Equipment: Crossbelts, waistbelt and sword frog all white leather; scabbard black with brass(?) fittings and brass handle to sword.

Again, thanks to Christian Rogge for his translation of sections of Friedrich's book on the Saxons, which were a great help in drawing all these templates of the Saxon chevaulegers.

Jäger of the Württemberg Feldjäger zu Fuss

2009-07-17T22:55:00.002+01:00

First raised 1759 as 1 company, part of the Feldjägerkorps (which included the Feldjäger zu Pferde, previously posted on this blog). Commanders during the SYW were: 1759: Major von Weitershausen, 1760: Major Georg Friedrich Böcklin von Böcklinsau. Disbanded 1765.

Served in Hessen and Saxony 1759 and 1760 (above from Kronoskaf).

Equipment: Brown leather waistbelt with sword in brown leather scabbard. Brown leather crossbelt and cartridge pouch. Firearm with brown leather shoulder strap. Black leather shoes.

Trooper of the Saxon Chevauleger Regiment Prinz Karl Revisited

2009-07-08T17:44:00.005+01:00

I am grateful to Christian Rogge for taking time from his busy life to translate text for me from Wolfgang Friedrich's Uniformen der Kurfürstlich Sächsischen Armeen 1683-1763 - Selbstverlag Arbeitskreis Sächsische Militärgeschichte e.V Dresden, 1998 on the Saxon chevaulegers. This allows me to portray the Regiment Prinz Karl as described by Friedrich; note the different cuff detail and the button fastening the turnbacks. Otherwise this is very close to the previous version I have posted here, which was based very much on Schirmer as detailed by Pengel and Hurt.

Next, the other 2 chevaulegers regiments that fought with the Austrians, Graf Brühl and Prinz Albrecht, both with lapels, if I can reconcile all the petty differences of detail!

Trooper of Bavarian Hohenzollern Dragoons

2009-07-05T18:09:00.002+01:00

Impoverished by years of war during the War of the Austrian Succession, Bavaria had to make severe cutbacks and the army was reorganised in the 1750s. The 4 cavalry regiments, 2 regiments of cuirassiers and 2 of dragoons, were very much below strength - at the beginning of the SYW there were 1190 men and only 270 horses all told. The cavalry took no part in the SYW.

Hohenzollern Dragoons, like the other regiments, had a theoretical strength of 9 companies with 38 men each, organised in 3 squadrons in wartime. Inhaber: GFM J. Fürst Von Hohenzollern. Commander: Freiherr Von Nagel. In garrison in Munich, then Scharding.

The colours of the shabraque are speculative but possible; they follow the same pattern as those of Preysing.

Musketeer of the Hamburg Infantry Regiment

2009-07-05T16:30:00.004+01:00

The Hanseatic cities of Hamburg, Bremen and Lübeck stayed out of the fighting during the SYW but they did have their own regiments of infantry. This is a musketeer of the Hamburg infantry regiment, around the beginning of the SYW. First raised 1690, it had 12 companies between 1695 and 1775. There was also a dragoon unit, one company strong between 1716 and 1811, plus an artillery corps.

The only detailed information I have found on these troops is a Knötel plate; this gives the primary sources as an oil painting in the Hamburger Alterthumsmuseum ("Parade eines Theils der Garnison auf dem Grossneumarkt"), large wooden figures, weapons, etc. (Knötel thanks Thomas Muhlsfeldt in Hamburg for the information). If anyone has further information I'd be very interested to know more. Does anyone know if the Hamburg material survived the horrors of World War Two?

18th century town plans revisited again

2009-07-03T17:04:00.002+01:00

Although there wasn't much interest in my town plans I'm still doing some work on them, as I find them appealing myself. Here's a snapshot of the plan of Prague in the 18th century as it now is, with the street plan almost completed.

Trooper of the Saxon Chevauleger Regiment Prinz Karl

2009-06-29T18:16:00.004+01:00

First raised 1733. 8 companies in 4 squadrons 1756, theoretical strength 762. Chef: to 1758, Prinz Karl von Sachsen, after 1758 Duke of Kurland. Commanders: 1745-1757 Leutnant-General Nostitz, mortally wounded Leuthen; replaced by Colonel von Benkendorf. The chevaulegers regiments were mostly mounted on cheaper Polish horses than the cuirassiers and the Rutowski Dragoons, who had the more expensive German horses.

3 of the chevaulegers regiments were stationed in Poland when much of the Saxon army surrendered at Pirna in 1756 and so avoided the capture and forced enlistment by the Prussians which most of the army suffered. From 1757 those 3 chevaulegers regiments served with the Austrians. All 3 were at Kolin 18th June 1757, where, along with Austrian cavalry and infantry, they delivered the coup de grace to the Prussian army late in the day, the first major defeat the Prussians had suffered. As they hacked into the Prussian infantry the Saxon battle cry was "Dies ist für Striegau!" ["This is for Striegau!", the Saxon name for their defeat at Hohenfriedberg 1745]. The Saxons had much to avenge, as Frederick bore a grudge against all things Saxon that manifested itself in all manner of brutalities. Prinz Karl were at Moys, September 1757, when Winterfeldt's Prussian detachment was crushed and Winterfeldt, Frederick's closest confederate, was killed (possibly shot in the back by his own troops). They were also at the Austrian victory at Breslau, November 22nd 1757, as part of Nadasdy's right wing. At Leuthen December 5th 1757 the Saxon chevaulegers regiments were savagely mauled. Initially they were in advance of the main Austrian army at Borne, where Frederick's advance guard beat them and pushed them back on the Austrian army's main lines. They were then sent to the left flank, where they were involved in the main Prussian flank attack that routed the Austrian and allied army. Nostitz, their commander and "a first class officer" (Duffy, "Prussia's Glory"), was mortally wounded and out of a total of around 1200 men in the 3 chevaulegers regiments, 479 were killed, wounded or captured. Prinz Karl alone lost 214, probably more than 50% of the regiment. The 3 chevaulegers regiments continued to serve with the Austrian army for the rest of the war; Prinz Karl particularly distinguished themselves at the Relief of Olmütz June-July 1758, when a large Prussian convoy was destroyed forcing Frederick to abandon the siege with heavy losses, and at the battle of Freiberg 29th October 1762.

Coming soon - Trooper of Saxon Chevauleger Regiment Prinz Karl

2009-06-29T02:04:00.002+01:00

The templates are done and now I have to do the write up before posting. There's quite a lot to say about these troops!

Mounted jäger of the Württemberg Feldjäger zu Pferde

2009-06-20T20:24:00.008+01:00

Raised 1759, at a strength of 2 squadrons. Served in Hesse and Saxony in 1759 and 1760. Disbanded 1768.

Württemberg troops served with the French and Austrians until 1760 but I do not know exactly where the cavalry, including the Württemberg Feldjäger, served. There was also a company of foot jäger, dressed very similarly (except for yellow lace on the hat, white breeches and smaller cuffs with 3 or possibly only 2 buttons), who were disbanded in 1765.

Musketeer of Hessen-Darmstadt Landbattalion Fock

2009-06-17T22:03:00.002+01:00

First raised 1699. Commander: General-Leutnant von Fock (or Foch).

Hessen-Darmstadt supplied a very fine battalion of infantry to the Reichsarmee which distinguished itself at Rossbach and served throughout much of the war (see elsewhere on this blog for the template). The 2 cavalry regiments saw no active service in the SYW, it seems, but there are suggestions that the other infantry units, including Landbattalion Fock, were involved. Unfortunately I can find no information on organisation of this unit, nor on operational use in the SYW, or on any of the other Hesse-Darmstadt units. If anyone has information on this unit or the others, I'd be grateful to know it. Thanks.

32nd Reichsarmee Template - Trooper of the Pfalz Kurassiere (Electoral Rhenish Circle) 2

2009-06-11T18:52:00.002+01:00

The Palatinate Reiter Regiment Prinz Friedrich Michael von Zweibrücken consisted of 3 squadrons of 3 companies each, with 144 men in each squadron. In 1757 2 of the squadrons joined the Reichsarmee and combined with the Kurpfalz Oberrheinische Kreiseskadron to form the Pfalz Kurassiere (see below). For unit history also see Pfalz Kurassiere 1, below.

31st Reichsarmee Template - Trooper of the Pfalz Kurassiere (Electoral Rhenish Circle) 1

2009-06-11T18:14:00.005+01:00

Re-raised 1754 as the Kurpfalz Oberrheinische Kreiseskadron. 1 squadron of 3 companies, with a strength of 172 men in 1757. With the Reichsarmee it was combined with 2 squadrons of the Prinz Friedrich Regiment to form the Pfalz Kurassiere, with a total strength of 460 men (but only 413 horses!).

The Inhaber was GFM Pfalzgraf Friedrich Michael Von Zweibrucken. Commanders were: Freiherr von Siegenhofen, 1760 von Wickenburg, General Stechinelli. Present at a number of actions including Rossbach 1757 (where it formed part of the second line of cavalry swept away by the Prussian flank attack as it was trying to form up), Leipzig, Torgau, Meissen, Dippoldiswalde, Maxen 1759, Meissen, Strehlen, Wittenberg 1760, Weida, Zwickau, Plauen, Hof 1761.

There are some disagreements about details among the sources but this seems to me the most likely SYW uniform for this contingent of the regiment. The shabraque pattern I have taken from a 1775 painting of Palatinate troops in the Anne S K Brown collection, as otherwise I have only verbal descriptions. The detailed Martin Lange material in the Pengel and Hurt "Bavaria, Saxony and Palatinate Supplement" seems to me to be the most authoritative source of material so I have relied most on that, although referring to the other P&H material, the Sturm cards and others. Note that, despite the name, Palatinate cavalry had apparently not worn the cuirass since the War of the Spanish Succession.

The next template will be of the second contingent of the Pfalz Kurassiere, the Prinz Friedrich Regiment.

18th century fortified town outlines I've drawn; a few questions

2009-06-07T23:38:00.007+01:00

A while ago I did a number of outline drawings of 18th century fortified towns, including Prague, Mannheim, Minden and a few others, based on contemporary plans. I could make an .svg file of them available if anyone is interested in using them; they could be useful e.g. on fairly large-scale campaign maps, fictional or otherwise. If I were to do so, would people like them to show the approximate street plans and areas of building, or would they be happy to have the outline only? (They do not at the moment include the street plans so it would take me a while to add them.) They are also currently not to scale but I could spend time adding a scale and then adapting them all so they are shown at the same scale. Obviously it would be much quicker to release them as they are but I'd be happy to do the aforementioned "improvements" if that would make them more useful.

Anyway, I look forward to your comments. Thanks.

David.

A few of the map symbols are now available as an .svg file

2009-06-06T23:03:00.006+01:00

I have now created an .svg file of some of the map symbols I did a few months ago. There's nothing here particularly new, except that I've done the symbols with both blue and red roofs as requested, but people who care to use Inkscape: www.inkscape.org (or any other vector graphics program that can import .svg files) can now fiddle with and use these symbols and/or export them from Inkscape et al in different formats if they wish to use them on their non-Inkscape produced maps.

The blog will not unfortunately let me upload the .svg file so, if anyone wants it, please leave a message in the comments with your email address (suitably disguised to avoid spammers) and I'll email it to you. (The image here merely shows what is in the Inkscape file.)

I hope to find time to do some more map symbols soon - perhaps when the 48 hour day comes into force. ;-)

David.

P.S. Update 29.10.09: I noticed that the .svg file has done funny things to the windmill - basically the arms have been filled when they should be open so the detail is obscured. I've now fixed this so if anyone wants the upadted file rather than doing it for themselves then let me know and I'll email the updated file to them.

Trooper of Württemberg Roeder Dragoons 1760

2009-06-05T18:25:00.008+01:00

Württemberg Roeder (or Röder) Dragoons first raised 1758 as the Dragonerregiment von Degenfeld. Inhabers: 1758 Colonel Christoph August Count von Degenfeld; 1759 Major-General August Gottlieb Reinhard von Röder; 1762 Major-General Wolfgang Heinrich von Rothkirch. Von Degenfeld also commanded the regiment from 1758-9. Composition: 4 squadrons.

2 squadrons served in Saxony in 1760.

I've chosen to depict the regiment in 1760 when it was the Roeder (or Röder) Dragoons as we have a good contemporary illustration of the regiment by Johann Christian Becher (Stiftung Weimarer Klassik) (the New York Public Library website has a much larger and clearer version of this than the one on the Kronoskaf site (which is under "Degenfeld Dragoons")). This does not, as far as I can see, show a black collar (see, by contrast, Pengel and Hurt, and Kronoskaf) but probably a white one, if it shows a collar at all (the image is unclear). The buttons are also curious as those on the coat look as if they are tin, contrasting with brass buttons on the waistcoat. Without seeing the original or a very good reproduction this is speculative. Consequently I've shown them all as brass. The lace on the hat may be gold but I suspect is more likely to have been yellow. It is clear from the Becher illustration that there were at least 8 buttons on the lapels and possibly more.

Trooper of Bavarian Preysing Dragoons

2009-06-03T03:28:00.008+01:00

Impoverished by years of war during the War of the Austrian Succession, Bavaria had to make severe cutbacks and the army was reorganised in the 1750s. The 4 cavalry regiments, 2 regiments of cuirassiers and 2 of dragoons, were below strength - at the beginning of the SYW there were 1190 men and only 270 horses all told. The cavalry took no part in the SYW.

Preysing Dragoons, like the other regiments, had a theoretical strength of 9 companies with 38 men each, organised in 3 squadrons in wartime. From 1758 Preysing became la Rosée. Little seems to be known of the regiment's history or that of the other 3 regiments.*

So why, given the total lack of involvement in the SYW, have I drawn a template of one of them? Well, I liked it; it's simple and elegant and red-coated, and I like its obscurity. Who can resist an elegant redcoat uniform? Not me...

*If anyone has detailed regimental histories, please let me know! Thanks.

Saxon Hussar of the Frei-Husaren von Schill

2009-06-02T01:01:00.005+01:00

Raised 1761. Commander 1761-3: Rittmeister Johann-Georg von Schill, an ex-Austrian officer from Bohemia, born a commoner and ennobled for his services to Austria and Saxony. He was the father of the Prussian officer von Schill who led an unsuccessful revolt against Napoleon in 1809 in which the younger von Schill was killed. Unit only about 40 strong (a very weak squadron) and it probably formed the bodyguard of Prinz Xaver, Comte de Lusace, the Saxon commander, although Kronoskaf says the unit also included mounted and foot jägers (citing Schirmer).

There were two uniforms and this is the earlier one; the later one may not actually have been worn during the SYW. We do not know what the horse furniture of the earlier uniform was so I have left this as a blank shabraque on the coloured version but using the pattern of the later version.

30th Reichsarmee Template: Trooper of the Ansbach Dragoon Regiment (Franconian Circle)

2009-05-30T18:22:00.003+01:00

Franconian Kreis-Dragoner Regiment first raised 1691. Inhaber: Markgraf von Brandenburg-Ansbach. Composition: 5 squadrons each of 2 companies, theoretical establishment a total of c.700. 21 contingents. Disbanded 1791.

Fought at Rossbach, where as part of the second line of the right wing of cavalry their performance was not entirely uncreditable as they lasted longer than the Hohenzollern and Bayreuth Cuirassiers before being routed by the Prussian envelopment. In May 1758 had a strength of 407. Still with the Reichsarmee in June 1760. Not at Freiberg 1762.

I've chosen the simplest recorded variant of this uniform, which more closely matches later near-contemporary depictions and seems more likely given the poverty-stricken nature of the Reichsarmee. Richard Knötel in his Uniformkunde shows a surprisingly complex uniform with white lace on the buttonholes and a curious emblem like a coiled snake on the shabraque. The Sturm cigarette cards figure shows a much darker blue for the facings and dots around the sinuous pattern on the edge of the shabraque.

14th and 15th Reichsarmee Templates: Grenadier and Musketeer, Infantry Regiment Baden-Durlach (Swabian Circle) - colour versions

2009-05-23T23:36:00.003+01:00

17th Reichsarmee Template: Trooper of the Hohenzollern Cuirassier Regiment (Swabian Circle) - Colour versions

2009-05-20T17:09:00.004+01:00

12th and 13th Reichsarmee Templates: Grenadier and Musketeer, Infantry Regiment Fürstenberg (Swabian Circle) - Colour versions

2009-05-19T02:30:00.004+01:00

It seems impossible to add the colour images in to the previous post with only the b/w templates without making a complete mess of the formatting so I'm having to create new posts just for the coloured versions - one thing that makes one realise the limitations of a blog! Perhaps one day I'll get round to making a website for the templates and then I'll have complete freedom to use any layout I like...

29th Reichsarmee Template - Fusilier of the Kreisinfanterieregiment Württemberg (Swabian Circle)

2009-05-18T19:17:00.006+01:00

I've shown the figure in the fusilier cap which is documented for 1748 and 1781 but which is apparently not specifically documented for the SYW. The detail is largely taken from the New York Public Library website image of a watercolour of a grenadier and "fusilier" of the regiment with the date 1759. If this is a contemporary depiction then it is indeed evidence that the fusilier cap was worn in the SYW but I am doubtful that it is contemporary, even though much of the detail is convincing.

28th Reichsarmee Template - Grenadier of the Kreisinfanterieregiment Württemberg (Swabian Circle)

2009-05-18T02:12:00.007+01:00

First raised 1638. 1 battalion in 1757, with 10 musketeer and 2 grenadier companies; an actual total of 963, far below its theoretical complement. Made up of 6 contingents. 2 3 pounder guns were attached. Inhaber: The Duke of Württemberg.

Attached to the Reichsarmee for most of the war (up to 1762) but not at Rossbach, the regiment was rated as "adequate" by Soubise.

The mitre cap is my reconstruction based on verbal description (at Kronoskaf) and a crude but informative watercolour on the NYPL website. Presumably like other Württemberg grenadiers they would have worn a white cloth cover over the mitre cap.

I'm still considering what to do for the musketeer as the headgear at the time of the SYW is uncertain and may have been a very Prussian-style fusilier cap. Breeches were probably white in the summer, yellow in winter. There is also some dispute about the colour of the aiguillette; some sources suggest white rather than yellow.

Grenadier of Württemberg Infantry Regiment Spitznas

2009-05-17T18:25:00.005+01:00

The grenadier template shows the uncovered mitre cap; in action all Württemberg grenadiers wore the white cloth cover on the mitre to avoid being mistaken for Prussians.

Musketeer of Württemberg Infantry Regiment Spitznas

2009-05-17T17:53:00.002+01:00

Raised 1752 from the 2nd Battalion of the IR Prinz Louis. 2 battalions, each with 5 musketeer and 1 grenadier company; each company c.100 men for a theoretical total for the regiment of 1219 officers and men. Each battalion had a 3 pounder gun attached.

During the early part of the SYW the regiment was paid for by the French government. In 1757 it joined the Austrian army in Silesia and was at Breslau on November 22nd and Leuthen on December 5th, but escaped from Leuthen with relatively few casualties. In 1758 one battalion joined the French army and was at Lutterberg on October 10th and also in action near Lauterbach and Fulda on November 30th. From 1760 Austrian subsidies paid for the regiment and so it joined the Austrian army in Silesia once again, seeing action during the siege of Wittenberg.

Colour definitions

2009-05-15T22:32:00.003+01:00

Now I've started to provide coloured templates, the problem of defining colours is something I'm having to tackle. It doesn't help that I don't use a properly calibrated monitor, partly because when calibrated my monitor is far too bright and gives me bad headaches so I like to keep the display fairly darkish. So I'm trying to standardise the colours I use, the basis I'm using for this being the readily accessible Wikipedia pages on colour here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colors which give RGB definitions etc.. I make no claim to being 100% correct or entirely purist about this; as we know, 18th century uniform colours are nightmarishly difficult to define anyway. But it does help to have some sort of standard by which to work. Just in case anyone wants to know! :-)

27th Reichsarmee Template - Musketeer of the Infantry Regiment Effern (Electoral Rhenish Circle)

2009-05-09T17:18:00.005+01:00

Effern was part of the contribution of the elector (Kurfürst) of the Pfalz to the Reichsarmee. First raised 1690, Effern consisted of 1 contingent, with 2 battalions (a total of 8 companies of musketeers, each company c.137 men) with 2 grenadier companies (each c.100 men). The total was therefore around 1296 men. The regiment had 2 4 pounder cannon in May 1758. From 23.5.1755-17.8.1769 the colonel was Josef, Graf von Effern. The regiment missed Rossbach as it was on detached service. It was with the Reichsarmee at the taking of Torgau in August 1759 and Maxen in November 1759, and stayed with the Reichsarmee until at least June 1760. It was certainly not at Freiberg 1762 where the Reichsarmee distinguished itself.

In his discussion of Palatinate uniforms in Pengel and Hurt's Bavaria, Saxony and Palatinate Supplement (1981) Martin Lange argues convincingly that Palatinate infantry were clothed in dark blue during the Seven Years War, apart from Effern, IR No.3, which was in a much lighter blue. When in 1777 the Palatinate troops were absorbed by Bavaria, the Palatinate infantry all switched to light blue coats like those of Effern, and in 1783 the Bavarian infantry followed suit.

The red facings come from earlier (and even some recent) published material but it seems highly likely that white facings (on the right) are more accurate. I prefer the look of the red myself but... Yellow buttons were introduced sometime between 1759-1777 but it is not known if the change took place during the SYW so I have shown them as white metal as they would have been until at least 1759.

26th Reichsarmee Template - Musketeer of the Infantry Regiment Nassau-Weilburg (Upper Rhenish Circle)

2009-05-07T16:44:00.006+01:00

Nassau-Weilburg consisted of 2 battalions, each of 5 companies of musketeers and a company of grenadiers. The unit had 2 3 pounder cannon. The men came from 26 different contingents and Soubise rated the regiment in 1757 as "adequate". Figures in Pengel and Hurt Reichsarmee suggest that the total number of men in the regiment in 1757 was fewer than 900 but this may be a typo.. No doubt much to the regiment's pleasure it missed Rossbach, being on detached service at the time. One battalion was captured on 15.9.1759.

2 possible variants of the uniform are shown, one with yellow buttons and red/white pompoms, one with white metal buttons and blue/white pompoms. It is not at all clear which is the more likely to be correct; perhaps, indeed, they represent differences between the 2 battalions and are therefore both correct.

25th Reichsarmee Template - Musketeer of the Paderborn Infantry Regiment Mengersen (Westphalian Circle)

2009-05-06T16:55:00.004+01:00

A regiment of a single battalion and composed of a single contingent, this Paderborn unit was rated as "adequate" by Soubise.

The lace above the cuffs seems odd without buttons but the pictorial material I could find suggests that this was the arrangement (unless someone has other material to the contrary, which I would be grateful to know about!).

Minor updates to units of the Reichsarmee

2009-05-05T20:40:00.004+01:00

I've now added coloured versions of the Hessen-Darmstadt Kreis Infantry Regiment (Upper Rhenish Circle) and the Münster Regiments Nagel and Elberfeld (Elverfeldt) (Westphalian Circle).

Grenadier of Württemberg Infantry Regiment Roeder

2009-05-02T19:05:00.001+01:00

Württemberg grenadiers looked so like their Prussian counterparts that they wore white cloth covers over their grenadier mitres to distinguish them from the enemy.

Musketeer of Württemberg Infantry Regiment Roeder

2009-05-02T18:38:00.005+01:00

The Württemberg Infantry Regiment Roeder was at the centre of the position on the left flank of the Austrian army that took the brunt of the initial Prussian attack at Leuthen and lost more casualties that day than all the other Württemberg infantry battalions combined - 219 compared with "no more than 10 officers and 65 men by the end of the battle" (Duffy, Prussia's Glory, pp. 152-3) amongst the other battalions. The Württembergers and Bavarians were made scapegoats for the Austrian defeat and unfairly made to take almost all the blame for the defeat - until eventually Maria Theresa was made to realise that it was the army command that was primarily at fault, particularly her brother-in-law Prince Charles. She had to sack him in January 1758 after giving him broad hints that he should resign.

The Württemberg infantry were dressed in a very Prussian-style uniform, dark blue with different coloured facings. Regiment Roeder was raised as Füsilierregiment von Röder in 1754 and had a short life as it was disbanded in 1765. Full details of composition and service can be found at the following Kronoskaf page: http://www.kronoskaf.com/syw/index.php?title=Roeder_Infantry

Württemberg Artilleryman

2009-05-01T17:39:00.003+01:00