Regiment Nicholas!

And this year we really do have - Regiment Nicholas! I'm not sure if they did call themselves "Santa's Own" or not but... :-)

No prizes but I'm sure some of you will recognise the war from which this uniform comes. It was not the SYW.

Happy Xmas and New Year, everyone.

Update: For those who are interested, this is my version of the uniform of Colonel [not Saint!] Nicholas' New Hampshire Regiment 1777/8, from the American War of Independence. I found a few snippets about it on the 'Net, put them together and - hey presto - a likely uniform. If anyone knows more, I'd be pleased to hear; thanks.

Happy Christmas and New Year to all

David Linienblatt and all in Tippelbruder wish everyone a Happy Christmas and New Year.

"Ordinanza" or Regimental Flag of Sardinian Italian Regiment Lombardia, mid-18th century

Another Sardinian regimental flag, this time of an Italian regiment.

"Ordinanza" or Regimental Flag of Sardinian Swiss Regiment Guibert, mid-18th century

And here's another of the Sardinian flags - shown with the irregularities of the original. Would people prefer exactly symmetrical flags? I rather like the real-world oddities myself.

"Ordinanza" or Regimental Flag of Sardinian Swiss Regiment Fatio, mid-18th century

Some time ago I was asked if I might do Sardinian flags - so here's one on account! I do like the wavy flames that seem to distinguish the flags of almost all Swiss regiments in foreign service.

20th Reichsarmee Template: Musketeer, Infantry Regiment Pfalz-Zweibrücken (Circle of the Upper Rhine)

Rated as "bad" by Soubise in 1757, the regiment was caught badly off guard when it formed part of the garrison of Weissenfels on 31st October 1757. At Freiberg in 1762 it performed creditably in the southern sector of the allied line.

First raised 1685. Made up of 33 contingents. Inhaber: Pfalzgraf Karl August von Zweibrücken und Birkenfeld. Composition: 2 battalions, no grenadier company.

Uniform: Black tricorne, white scalloped lace, white with red pompom, yellow metal button. Black stock. Prussian-style uniform with dark blue coat, red lapels, cuffs and turnbacks, probably red shoulder straps, white button lace. White waistcoat and breeches. Yellow metal buttons.

18th and 19th Reichsarmee Templates: Grenadier and Musketeer, Infantry Regiment Varell (Franconian Circle)

Soubise recorded the 2 Franconian battalions of Varell in 1757 (along with those of Ferntheil and Kronegk) as "entirely Prussian in sympathy" (Duffy, "Prussia's Glory", p.30). Routed at Rossbach, they served at Freiberg on the extreme right flank of the Austrians and Reichsarmee and were not, it seems, heavily engaged, unlike the Reichsarmee units in the centre.

First raised 1682. Made up of 26 contingents. Inhaber: Georg Adam Von Varell 1752-65. Composition: 2 battalions, each of 6 companies of musketeers and 1 company of grenadiers, 2 x 3 pounder guns and an authorised strength of 1,940 men (figures from Kronoskaf SYW site - see link below). Actual field strengths were, of course, lower.

Uniform: Grenadier of 2nd Grenadier company (Bayreuth) (above): Prussian-style grenadier mitre cap with yellow metal front plate, red sack, yellow base with yellow grenades, yellow lace, white pompom. (The 1st grenadier company (Eichstädt) had an Austrian style grenadier cap of brown fur with a yellow metal front plate and sulphur yellow bag.) Musketeer (left): Black tricorne, white lace, white-blue-sulphur yellow pompom, yellow metal button. Both: Black stock. Prussian-style uniform with dark blue coat, sulphur yellow collar, lapels, cuffs and turnbacks, sulphur yellow shoulder straps. White (earlier sulphur yellow) waistcoat and white breeches. Yellow metal buttons.

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

Having mentioned the splendid conduct of the Hohenzollern Cuirassiers at Freiberg in the previous entry on the Bayreuth Cuirassiers and as their uniform is very similar, I had to produce a template of their uniform. Like so many of the Reichsarmee they fled at Rossbach after the Prussian cavalry's flank attack. However, they seem to have improved immensely over the course of the Seven Years War. In the combat of Löthain 21st September 1759, they formed part of the decisive Austrian counter attack against Wunsch and Finck's Prussian corps; in his description of that fight Christopher Duffy says of them that "they were probably the best heavy mounted arm of the Reichsarmee" ("By Force Of Arms", p.190). At Strehla, 20th August 1760, they rescued the Austrian Esterházy Infantry Regiment from an attack by Prussian dragoons; "a wholesale massacre was averted only by Captain Seeger of the Austrian staff, who "advanced with the Swabian Circle regiment of the Hohenzollern Cuirassiers, forcing the enemy cavalry to cease hacking away and finally driving them off" " ("By Force Of Arms", p.275). And we have already heard of their performance in the battle of Freiberg.

First raised 1683. Made up of 61 contingents. Inhaber: Fürst Friedrich von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen 1756-1785. Composition: 4 squadrons with a theoretical strength of c.600 all ranks.

Uniform: Black tricorne, white or silver lace, white bob with red centre. Black stock. White coat with red collar, lapels, cuffs and turnbacks. White metal buttons. Light straw waistcoat and breeches. Red shabraque with wide white border; border with central dark blue or black stripe. 2 variants are shown - one with cuirass and one without.

16th Reichsarmee Template: Trooper of the Bayreuth Cuirassier Regiment (Franconian Circle)

The Franconian troops were "collectively the least reliable element of the Reichsarmee" (Duffy, Prussia's Glory p.31). The Bayreuth Cuirassiers had a bad experience at Rossbach, where they were taken in flank by Prussian cavalry when attempting to deploy and were swept away. At Freiberg on 29th October 1762 they performed magnificently: "GM. Tresckow did wonders with the under-strength Reichs Bayreuth Cuirassiers, "which hewed into the enemy cavalry, put it to total flight, made many prisoners and then reformed by squadrons thirty paces from the wood to cover my flank; the two squadrons of the Hohenzollern Regiment [of Cuirassiers] had come up to hack into the rear of the same enemy cavalry, and likewise reformed" "(Duffy, By Force Of Arms, p.387).

First raised 1682. Made up of 23 contingents. Inhaber: Markgraf von Brandenburg-Bayreuth 1735-1763. Composition: 5 squadrons with a theoretical total of nearly 700.

Uniform: Black tricorne, yellow or gold lace, black cockade, yellow or gold button, white bob with red centre. Black stock. White coat with white collar, poppy red lapels, cuffs and turnbacks, gold or yellow metal buttons. White and red aiguillette on right shoulder. Poppy red cummerbund. Straw waistcoat and breeches, poppy red lace. Black boots. Black painted metal cuirass. Poppy red shabraque with white edging, red "worm" of lace on the white edge.

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

Unit details: To follow

Uniform: Grenadier (above): Prussian-style grenadier mitre cap with brass front plate, blue sack, red base with yellow grenades, white lace, red pompom. Musketeer (left): Black tricorne, white lace, white with blue pompom, yellow metal button. Both: Black stock. Prussian-style uniform with dark blue coat, red collar, lapels, cuffs and turnbacks, blue or red shoulder straps. White waistcoat and breeches. Yellow buttons.

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

Unit history to follow.

Uniform (details mostly from the Weimarer Handschrift 1760): Grenadier: Brown fur cap, white metal plate with Fürstenberg eagle, red bag . Musketeer: black tricorne, white lace, white pompom and bobs with red centre. Both: Black stock. White coat, Prussian cut, with bright red collar, lapels, cuffs and turnbacks. White shoulder strap. Bright red waistcoat. White breeches. White or yellow metal buttons or possibly a mixture of both.

10th and 11th Reichsarmee Templates - Grenadier and Musketeer of the Regiment Baden-Baden (Swabian Circle)

First raised 1691. Although characterised in 1757 by Soubise as "bad", the regiment fought very well at the battle of Freiberg in 1762. (See the account in Christopher Duffy's By Force of Arms, Emperor's Press 2008, pp.381-390.)

Although a Catholic regiment, its morale was reduced by being made up of 42 separate contingents. Composition: "two battalions each with 5 musketeer companies and 1 grenadier company, two 3-pdrs guns and an authorised strength of 1,690 men. Actual strength in May 1758 was two battalions, 2 grenadier companies, two 3-pdrs guns and a strength of 1,436 men" (Kronoskaf).

Uniform: Grenadier above, musketeer on the left. Grenadier has brown fur cap (Austrian style), with dark blue bag laced white with a white tassel. Musketeer: Black hat, white hat lace and yellow metal button. Both: Black stock. Dark blue coat, white collar, cuffs, lapels and turnbacks. White waistcoat and breeches. Yellow metal buttons.

9th Reichsarmee Template - Musketeer of the Kurtrier Infantry Regiment (Circle of the Elector Rhine)

Christopher Duffy says of the regiments of the Kurrheinsiche Creis (Prussia's Glory p.29):

"The Catholic bishop-electors as a tribe were the most whole-hearted supporters of the allied cause in the Reich... All of the regiments of this Circle were formed from contingents from single states, which gave a coherence that was lacking in some of the units from other circles. However Johann Philipp the Prince-Bishop of Trier would have been much put out to learn that his regiment had been dismissed as "very bad" (vilain) [by Soubise]. He had driven forward the mobilisation of his two battalions as being a matter which concerned so closely "his name and standing with His Imperial Majesty and the whole Empire". He had obtained anew almost every item of equipment, down to the iron ramrods, and he had commandeered all the tailors of Koblenz and Ehrenbreitstein, forbidding them to work on anything but the uniforms, and threatened them with severe punishment if they made a botched job through over-haste."

The regiment ran at Rossbach after firing a single volley; they suffered no fatalities and only 27 identifiable wounded (according to Duffy, Prussia's Glory, p.83) so clearly did little hard fighting there! However, they were amongst the Reichsarmee units that fought long and hard at Freiberg in 1762; although the battle was ultimately a defeat, it was the Reichsarmee's "finest hour" as a fighting force. This batch of Reichsarmee uniforms will therefore be a celebration of those units that did well at Freiberg; next will be the infantry regiment Baden-Baden.

Uniform: Black hat, white scalloped hat lace and white metal button, black cockade, blue-red pompons. White coat, red cuffs, lapels and turnbacks. White waistcoat and breeches. White metal buttons.

2 battalions of 4 companies and 2 guns with 1,120 men total (detail from Kronoskaf - see links).

Coming soon - allegedly...

More cavalry to come soon, I hope, as I'm working on a trooper of the French Cuirassiers Du Roi, a trooper of the French Gendarmerie, a hussar of the Hanoverian Luckner Hussars and a Brunswick hussar. In the meantime I might try the odd infantryman, just to keep my hand in and let people know the blog is still alive - they are so much simpler to do, in general. It's those pestilential shabraques that often take far too much time, especially those with dogtooth edging etc...

Trooper, Hussar Regiment Esterházy

And here's the last Austrian hussar for now, of Regiment Esterházy.

Raised 1742 at the expense of Prince Esterházy. Inhaber Prince Esterházy - From 1762 Inhaber Lusinsky. At Prague, Leuthen, Maxen, Hochkirch, Berlin and Torgau.

Uniform - Light brown kalpack with red bag, yellow cords. Light blue pelisse and dolman with yellow lace, red pants with yellow lace, buttons brass, yellow and blue barrel sash, yellow boots with yellow braid edging and red tassel, red sabretache with yellow "E" monogram and crown in yellow, yellow edge, brown leather straps, sabre with brass furniture. Shabraque deep blue with yellow border and yellow "E" monogram and crown.

The sabretache and consequently shabraque design is taken from a photograph of a surviving example shown in the Osprey volume on the Hungarian Hussar; it is very crude which rather suggests that most depictions of Austrian hussar equipment of the period may be somewhat romanticised!

The template can be found here: http://www.woodward.toucansurf.com/SYW/AustrianHussarRegimentEsterhazyDM1.png

Trooper, Austrian Hussar Regiment Baranyay

Raised 1696. Distinguished with the Reichsarmee from 1758. Also at Lobositz, Prague, Kolin, Moys, Chemnitz, Torgau, Freiberg.

Uniform - Light brown kalpack with red bag, yellow cords. Green pelisse and dolman with red lace, mid blue pants with red lace, buttons brass, red and yellow barrel sash, black boots with red braid edging and tassel, green sabretache with black double headed eagle (sword, orb, claws and beaks in yellow) and crown in yellow, yellow edge, brown leather straps, sabre with brass furniture. Shabraque red with yellow border.

Again, this has significant differences in the details from the other Austrian hussar regiments - and was also one of the few in a largely green uniform.

The template can be found here: http://www.woodward.toucansurf.com/SYW/AustrianHussarRegimentBaranyayDM1.png

The last Austrian hussar will follow shortly - a trooper of Regiment Esterhazy.

Trooper, Austrian Hussar Regiment Kálnoky

Raised by the Transylvanian Stände in 1742. Distinguished at Nachod 1758, Kunersdorf, Lindewiese 1760. Also at Kolin, Moys, Breslau, Kolin, Landeshut, Greiffenberg, Neustadt, Burkersdorf.

Uniform - Light brown kalpack with red bag, yellow cords. Light blue pelisse and dolman with yellow lace, red pants, buttons brass, blue and yellow barrel sash, black boots with yellow braid edging and tassel, red sabretache with K monogram and crown in yellow, yellow edge, brown leather straps, sabre with brass furniture. Shabraque red with yellow border.

Again, note the detail differences from the other Austrian hussar regiments, particularly the dolman lace.

The template can be found here: http://www.woodward.toucansurf.com/SYW/AustrianHussarRegimentKalnokyDM1.png

Trooper, Austrian Hussar Regiment Kaiser

Raised 1756 by the Emperor at his own expense in Slovakia; he was also the Inhaber. First action Kolin 18.06.1757; also at Moys, Schweidnitz, Ruppersdorf, Liebau, Hochkirch, Maxen, Meissen, Torgau, Strehla, Peilau.

Uniform - Yellow kalpack with blue bag, yellow cords. Dark blue pelisse, dolman and pants with yellow lace, dolman with yellow cuffs, buttons brass, blue and yellow barrel sash, black boots with yellow braid edging and tassel, blue sabretache with MT monogram and crown in yellow, scalloped yellow edge, brown leather straps, sabre with brass furniture. Shabraque red with yellow border, yellow MT with crown in corner.

Note the differences from the Hadick Regiment uniform e.g. sabretache and shabraque detail, lace on the breeches, number and type of lace on the dolman and pelisse.

The template can be found here: http://www.woodward.toucansurf.com/SYW/AustrianHussarRegimentKaiserDM1.png

Trooper, Austrian Hussar Regiment Hadick

Raised 1734. Hadick Inhaber from 1753. Recruited Transylvania. Distinguished Nachod 1758 and Kunersdorf. Also at Lobositz, Berlin, Maxen, Strehlen, Chemnitz, Pretschen, Freiberg. Disbanded 1768.

Uniform: Light brown kalpack, red bag, yellow cords. Dark blue pelisse and dolman with yellow lace, dolman with red cuffs, buttons brass, red and yellow barrel sash, red pants with yellow lace, black boots with yellow braid edging and tassel, red sabretache with a bear device in black, yellow wreath and crown, yellow edge, brown leather straps, sabre with brass furniture. Shabraque red with yellow border, yellow eagle with crown in corner. All Austrian hussars had black fur on the pelisse.

The template can be found here: http://www.woodward.toucansurf.com/SYW/AustrianHussarRegimentHadickDM1.png

Trooper, Russian Hussar Regiment (with mirliton)

Uniform and unit text to follow...

Template is here: http://www.woodward.toucansurf.com/SYW/RussianHussarMirlitonSYW-DM1.png

Trooper, Russian Hussar Regiment (with fur cap)

Uniform and unit text to follow...

As with all the hussar templates, the actual template can be found here: http://www.woodward.toucansurf.com/SYW/RussianHussarSYW-DM1.png rather than directly on this blog because of the way the blog turns PNG files into huge JPEGs.

Russian Hussar close to completion...

This is just a quick snapshot to show progress on the Russian hussar; not too much to do on him now...

Prussian Dragoon Standard Revisited...

After faffing about with this for aeons, I've decided it will have to do as it is. This is the older style of Prussian dragoon standard, dating from the reign of Frederick's father, Frederick William, and it has his monogram in the corners along with the older style of central motif. It was the style carried by the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 7th Dragoons. This motif shows an eagle flying towards the sun with the motto "Non Soli Cedit"; "He does not give way to the sun". This symbolism represents the Prussian eagle versus France or at least the French monarchy, I believe.

Trooper, French Royal Pologne Heavy Cavalry Regiment

Unit and uniform details to follow.

Prussian garrison infantry flags revisited 2 - Garrison Regiments 3 and 4.

And here is the pattern for garrison regiments 3 and 4.

Prussian garrison infantry flags revisited 1...

I've had a request for Prussian flags with the ciphers and devices, rather than just the empty templates I did before. As it's a relatively painless thing to do compared with doing things from scratch (although it still takes time, of course), I'll be posting the revised versions over the next few months. First are the garrison infantry flags, which are the easiest of all to do as two of them simply require the addition of the central cipher. The first is attached, the pattern for all garrison infantry regiments except 1-4.

Coming soon...

Coming shortly will be uniform templates of French heavy cavalry regiments Cuirassiers du Roi and Royal Pologne, followed by Russian and Austrian hussars some time later.

French Heavy Cavalry Standard

This is one of several variants of the French heavy cavalry standard. This type was carried, amongst others, by the Cuirassiers du Roi, Royal Cravattes, Bourbon and Clermont. The central motif looks odd shown in outline as here but when filled with the appropriate colour looks fine.

Why no recent updates?

In case anyone wants to know, I've not updated this blog recently because I've not been well and have had very limited time and energy. What spare time and energy I have had I've devoted to the charity work I do; I'm the Newsletter Editor, website manager and also do other jobs for a cat rescue and rehoming charity here in Warwickshire.

Hopefully I'll be able to add more to this blog soon. I have been doing a little work on more French flags and uniforms but nothing is finished yet.

Flag of the Lübeck Burgerwehr 1740

This flag was carried by the Burgerwehr of Lübeck, the militia of the leading town of the Hanseatic League. In the middle is the Imperial eagle with the arms of Lübeck at its centre. The original is: background upper half white, lower half red. Black eagle, yellow (or gold) claws and beak. Shield white upper, red lower. Crown gold. Wreath green. Ribbon at base yellow. Columns grey with green foliage, gold crown, grey circle at base with brown rods/ sticks? Grey clouds in upper corners, grey (metallic) armour, hand flesh coloured. Lettering yellow or gold.

It gives some idea of the sort of flag that would be carried by these units and can be adapted for use by wargamers by judicious use of a graphics program.

Prussian Bosniak Summer Dress Post-1762

Something of a novelty unit, the Bosniaks originated as a single squadron attached to the 5th Hussars in 1745. They were lancers raised in the Ukraine by an Albanian jeweller named Stephen Serkis and initially offered to the Saxons, who refused to employ them so they were offered to Frederick instead. Although increased to 10 squadrons in 1763, they were never very successful and reverted to squadron strength after the war.

The fur cap may have been introduced as late as 1780 but some sources suggest it was introduced in 1762. As I don't like the early turban cap, I've chosen to show the fur cap.

The summer uniform for other ranks was all red with white lace; the brown fur cap had a red top, white (or light green) cords and white plume. Black stock. The shabraque was black with red dog-tooth edging. (Some sources suggest that a separate pistol holster and cover was also carried, in the same colours and with the FR cipher.) The lance was painted alternately red and black. The pennon was of different colours to distinguish the squadrons; Bleckwenn shows all white, all black, all crimson, all red, all yellow and all light green, light green over red, light green over white, white over red, and black over yellow.

Last 12 French Infantry Flags

The last 12 French infantry flags can now be found here: http://www.woodward.toucansurf.com/SYW/Last12FrenchInfantryFlagsDM.zip

The 3 Irish flags cover Dillon, Bulkeley and Clare (one flag with exactly the same pattern but differentiated by the colouring), Roth and Fitzjames. The 3 Swiss flags are Diesbach (with the motto) and 2 which cover some of the wide range of "variations on a theme" carried by Swiss infantry. The 4 German flags are Royal Pologne, Bentheim, La Marck and Royal Bavière. Finally there are 2 more variants of native French infantry flags. The filenames identify the units except for the more generic flags.

The above coloured sample snapshot shows from left to right Roth (Irish), Diesbach (Swiss), Royal Bavière (German) and Bentheim (German).

French infantry flag update: 12 final flags coming soon

Update Friday 14th March: 12 new flags now virtually done, apart from the process of the final checking, then converting them to png files, zipping them up, uploading them, etc.. But all that will now have to wait until the weekend as I have jobs to do this evening. There are 3 Irish flags, 4 German flags, 3 Swiss flags and 2 more native French infantry flags; above is a snapshot of the uncoloured templates. The top left 4 flags are German infantry; the top right 2 flags French; the bottom left 3 Swiss and bottom right 3 Irish. So - watch this space!

Preview of next few French infantry flags

The German, Irish, Swiss, etc. flags are progressing well; here is a snapshot showing the flag of the German regiment Royal Pologne on the left and the Irish regiment Dillon on the right. I hope to post another batch of flags by the end of the week.

New batch of 12 French infantry flags now available

The next batch of 12 French infantry flag templates can be downloaded here: http://www.woodward.toucansurf.com/SYW/FrenchSYWInfantryFlags2DM1.zip

More French infantry flags on the way...

These will be coming along sometime this week plus more, including those rather splendid flags of German and Irish regiments in French service... The German flags will take longer to produce as they are much more fiddly to draw. This next batch of 12 flags are nearly completed; many of them are of regiments disbanded or amalgamated into other regiments in 1749. It seems that having an attractively different flag was almost a guarantee of disbandment!

Also coming soon, a Bosniak, and Russian and Austrian hussars. (For Jean-Louis there'll also be a Polish konfederatka cap.) I'm still messing about with generals' uniforms, too, but haven't been able to produce something I like the look of yet. The inspiration is missing on them, I'm afraid. Ho hum...

12 French Infantry Flag Templates

Here are 12 French infantry flag templates, from the very basic to rather more complex. More to follow, hopefully, some time next week.

The blank templates are zipped up as one package here: http://www.woodward.toucansurf.com/SYW/FrenchInfantryFlagsSYWTemp%5blatesDM.zip as I didn't want to mess about doing one post here for each one.

This thumbnail image gives an idea of what can be done; these represent authentic French infantry flags (even if we cannot always be sure of the exact shades of the colours used!). A few are flags which went out of use in 1749 but they seemed to me too attractive to reject because of that sad little fact. :-)

Russian Infantry Flag 2

This is one of the battalion flags of the Azovski Regiment, showing the coat of arms in the centre and a different crown above from the previous two flags I have posted. The original was red, with yellow flames in the corners, and the central shield design was gold. The coat of arms had a sky blue background, with silver fishes, crescent and cross.

Russian Infantry Flag 1

This was very similar in pattern to the dragoon standard posted earlier. This type was carried by those regiments which did not have a coat of arms. Each battalion had one of these flags with a coloured background; the other battalion flag had the Russian double-headed eagle motif on a white background.

Russian Dragoon Standard

This is the squadron pattern for those Russian dragoon regiments which did not have a coat of arms to display; it has the imperial monogram for the Empress Elizabeth instead. This can easily be edited out in e.g. Paint by those who wish to use this design for their ImagiNation.

French Berchény Hussar 1756

First raised in 1720, the second hussar regiment to be recruited for the French army and ranked as the 59th cavalry regiment, the Berchény Hussars was a famous unit but did not apparently perform very well at Emsdorff in July 1760.

Uniform: Red mirliton with sky blue wing, white lace, white plume and decorations. Black stock. Sky blue dolman and pelisse, white lace, white metal buttons, red collar and cuffs (cuffs with white lace). Pelisse edged with black fur and lined red. Red and white barrel sash. Sky blue breeches. Black boots with white lace top. Red sabretache with white lace trim and decorations. Brown leather sabretache and sabre belts. Red shabraque with white trim and decorations.

The template can be found here: http://www.woodward.toucansurf.com/SYW/FrenchBerchenyHussar1756DM1.png

Swedish Yellow Hussar 1756

Unit and uniform detail to follow...

Again, the real thing is on my webspace here: http://www.woodward.toucansurf.com/SYW/SwedishYellowHussarDM122011.png and the image here is merely a small thumbnail.

Swedish Blue Hussar 1756

Unit and uniform detail to follow...

As usual, because this is an image larger than c.30 kbs, I've had to put the real thing on my webspace here: http://www.woodward.toucansurf.com/SYW/SwedishBlueHussar1756DM1.png as the blog turns a small png file into a huge 16.7m colour image. The image here is merely a small thumbnail.

French Hussar Guidon 1758

This is the design of a guidon captured by the Prussian 5th Hussars from the French Polleresky Hussars in 1758.