Monday 19 September 2022

The Reichsarmee: Flags of Swabian Infantry Regiment Fürstenberg (Rodt)

First raised 1683.

In the Seven Years War the regiment had two battalions each with 5 musketeer companies and 1 grenadier company, plus 2 3 pounder cannon. Theoretical strength was 1690 men. Troops were provided by 21 different contingents.

Actual strength in the field in May 1758 was 1473 men.

In 1757 Soubise rated the regiment as Bad.

In 1757 the regiment missed Rossbach. In 1758-9 it was with Zweybrücken's Corps in Saxony; Zweybrücken managed to keep the Reichsarmee out of any serious scrapes in 1758-9, unlike Hildburghausen in 1757. At the battle of Korbitz in September 1759 the Reichsarmee, although present, including Fürstenberg, was not committed to action. At Maxen in November the Reichsarmee contingent again did not play an active part in the battle.

Like Baden-Baden, noted in my previous post, Fürstenberg's moment of glory was at Freiberg in October 1762, when Regiments Fürstenberg, Baden-Baden and Trier repulsed a Prussian attack in the centre and were only forced to retreat when the battle was lost elsewhere on the battlefield. There is a good account of the battle in Duffy's By Force of Arms and, of course, on Kronoskaf.


And this was the uniform of a musketeer and grenadier of the regiment in 1756:




15 comments:

  1. It may be a bad regiment but flags and uniform are snappy! Love the flags.

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    1. Thanks, Jon. :-) Yes, I'm sure they would look good on the wargames table!

      All the best,

      David.

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    2. David, do you know if the grenadier coys remained integrated into the battalion or drawn off to form converged grenadier battalions with grenadiers from other regiments?

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    3. Freiberg 1762 seems to be the only battle where the Imperial regiments had their grenadier companies converged; I can find no previous mention of it, so on the whole I would say the grenadier companies probably stayed with their parent units, Jon.

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  2. I actually like the burnt orange facings. Thanks, David!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Roger. :-) Yes, they certainly stand out!

      All the best,

      David.

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  3. Lovely flag and a very nice uniform.

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    1. Thanks, Donnie. :-) I don't think you could miss them on the battlefield!

      All the best,

      David.

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  4. That is a nice set of flags and uniforms David.



    Willz.

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    1. Thanks, Willz. :-) I'm getting into the swing of the Reichsarmee - although some of the flags will take longer as they are heraldically pretty complex...

      All the best,

      David.

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  5. You can't be a double headed eagle flag IMHO! Well of course you can but I've always had a soft spot for these:).

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    1. Thanks, Steve. :-) I agree! A fair number of double heaed eagles still to go in the Reichsarmee flags...

      All the best,

      David.

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  6. Brilliant work David, I think these Reichsarmee ones are some of your best.

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    1. Thank you, Chris. :-) The Reichsarmee flags are indeed a very attractive collection, on the whole...

      All the best,

      David.

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Saturday 6th June 2020 I've decided to allow comments from Anonymous Users but I'll still be moderating posts, as I'm sure the spam will probably flood in now! We'll see...