Saturday 13 August 2022

Flags and uniform of Prussian Fusilier Infantry Regiment 44 von Jungkenn Müntzer

Part of my "filling in the gaps" in my coverage of Prussian infantry regiments, this was not one of the classic hard-fighting or famous regiments.

Chefs: 14th January 1749 Colonel Martin Eberhard von Jungkenn Müntzer von Mohrenstamm, later Major General; 4th January 1759 Colonel Rudolf August von Hoffmann; 5th February 1760 Major General Johann von Grant, later Commandant of Neisse to 1764



First raised 1742 from complicated origins.

The regiment saw no action in 1756 but fought in secondary actions in 1757, when it left Wesel to join the Allied Army under Cumberland at Bielefeld. In a rear guard action at night it lost 200 men and then 220 deserted as it moved from Minden to Magdeburg. After Rossbach, the Corps was taken over by Duke Ferdinand of Braunschweig.

In 1758 the regiment was with the Saxon Corps and fought against the Swedes at Fehrbellin.

In 1759 it was again with the Saxon Corps; the second battalion had occupied Breslau and evacuated the city to occupy Torgau and its important magazine. After a protracted defence there it surrendered the place and was allowed to move away on August 15th. The first battalion was in garrison in Dresden, surrendered by General von Schmettau on September 4th, despite the King being on the way to relieve the place. The regiment's chef Colonel von Hoffmann called out to the regiment: "We march out like scoundrels and you are lazy" and fired his pistol without hitting anyone but was shot off his horse. The King said: "I am of Hoffmann's opinion; he could not have expressed himself otherwise about the evacuation!" From September 26th the regiment served with Finck's Corps and fought at Korbitz and Strehla.

In 1760 the regiment was with the King's Army and at the unsuccessful siege of Dresden from July 10th to 22nd. On August 20th there was fighting against the Imperial Army on the heights of Strehla and then the regiment was part of the defence of Torgau until September 26th.

In 1761 the regiment was with Prince Heinrich in his campaigning against the Imperial and Austrian armies along the Mulde.

In 1762 it was at Freiberg in the attack of 12th May, followed by the attack on the heights of Gross Schirma at the major battle at Freiberg on October 29th at its only major battle, in von Taube's Brigade of Forcade's Reserve.

Christopher Duffy Army of Frederick the Great says this of the regiment: "Raised from recruits from Württemberg and other German states. Lightly engaged in most of its actions."

And this was the uniform in 1756:



4 comments:

  1. I love the powder blue (?) against the red, which is very striking. So many lovely flags but only so many units one can field, thus making it hard to whittle them down when you want all of them!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Steve. :-) Yes, the colour is striking, isn't it? No, it would be impossible to field all the units for which I do flags! Choosing which to do is very tricky, though, I agree. Perhaps that is partly why I spend so much time drawing flags and not working on my wargame armies... ;-)

      All the best,
      David.

      Delete
  2. Nearly missed this one David, excellent flag and uniform. I have a Spencer Smith battalion waiting for painting, next week's work.

    Willz.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Willz. :-) Look forward to seeing them in action with your troops!

      All the best,

      David.

      Delete

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