The Saxons won the Poll and so here is the first of the Saxon Infantry. There seems some dispute about many of the details of Saxon uniform; here (specifically for a musketeer of the Regiment Prince Friedrich 1760 serving with the French army) I have followed Wolfgang Friedrich's 1998 work, Die Uniformen der Kurfürstlich Sächsischen Armee 1683-1763. I can also fairly easily do variants that cover the other interpretations of the Saxon uniform. Major differences in my sources are in the buttons on the cuffs, the collar and the lace on the hat. If anyone has definitive information, please let me know and refer me to your source.
I certainly agree with you as to the varying interpretation of the details of the Saxon infantry uniform!
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Greg Horne
Hi Greg,
ReplyDeleteYes, it's distinctly frustrating! Much of the confusion no doubt lies with the very mixed fortunes of the Saxons in the SYW and even before - I doubt that they could very often have dressed according to regulations (such as they were) after the debacle of 1756... ;-)
Regards,
David.
Hi David,
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that the older sources (ie, Knotel, Funcken and Mollo) all show a Saxon uniform of a rather "Prussian" cut sans collars, whilst the more modern ones (Pengel&Hurt and Friedrich) show a collar. I suspect that the latter are showing a "1756" uniform whilst the former are perhaps showing a post-Pirna get-up. This though I find hard to reconcile with the plates in Friedrich showing Saxons in 1760 with collar!
I wish I read German!!!
Greg
Hi Greg,
ReplyDeleteYes, that would seem entirely logical - except, as you say, for Friedrich! I can just about muddle my way through simple German but fluent German would be a real boon, indeed.
I rather imagine that the Saxon troops serving with the French and Austrians would have worn a real jumble of former uniform remnants and whatever they could acquire. That is suggested e.g. by the change of grenadier headwear, from Prussian-style mitre cap to laced tricorne to French-style bearskin in the latter stages of the war. Perhaps someone really familiar with the German sources will jump in here and help us out! :-)
David.
I can concur with Greg, having done the research, and having to make the desciscions, for the Eureka Saxons it is hard to pin down their uniform in any truly definative way..
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kendo. It helps to know that there isn't definitive information out there that disagrees with mine! :-)
ReplyDeleteDavid.