The Reichsarmee: Flags Of Franconian Regiment Ferntheil

During the Seven Years War the Franconian Kreis raised 3 infantry regiments of which this was one. Christopher Duffy in Prussia's Glory says that "the troops of the Franconian Circle were collectively the least reliable element of the Reichsarmee".

First raised 1682. Had 2 battalions each of 6 musketeer companies and 1 grenadier company, plus 2 3-pounder battalion guns and a theoretical strength of 1940 men. It had 20 separate contingents. Actual strengths were 1556 men in August 1757 and 1808 men in May 1758.

My previous post on Regiment Varell explains the curious history of the flags of the Franconian infantry regiments in the Seven Years War.

Soubise in 1757 rated it as Bad and "entirely Prussian in sympathy" (Duffy).

In 1757 the regiment was with the Reichsarmee in Thuringia and Saxony, and was present at Rossbach on November 5th. The eleven battalions of the six Reichsarmee regiments were deployed  in two lines on the right flank of the unwieldy column of French infantry, with Ferntheil on the right flank of the rear line.

Christopher Duffy in Prussian's Glory recounts what happened to Ferntheil in the battle. "The regiment of Ferntheil was attempting to form up in its vulnerable station on the right of the second line, where the beaten allied cavalry was streaming past its open flank. Lieutenant General Reinhard von Drachsdorff relates that the first battalion (unlike the second) was able to deploy but then "a troop of our defeated cavalry came up to the first platoon and one of the horsemen - nobody knows which - called out: "Friends, get away while you can! It's all up!"" Upon this the whole battalion made an about turn to the right and sank into dire confusion, without having seen any hostile forces to the front. Drachsdorff and his officers were able to restore the battalion to some sort of order, "however a number of Prussian cannon shot rang out, and the left wing of the first line simultaneously became disordered, whereupon the battalion turned about for a second time and ran."

1526 men were registered as lost from the three Franconian regiments, of whom 9/10 were listed as missing and the majority of those were probably deserters. The Reichsarmee fled for miles after the battle. Duffy again: "The whereabouts of the regiment of Ferntheil were unknown for several weeks and on the road Mollinger [secretary to Prince Georg of Hesse-Darmstadt, one of the few highly competent and professional senior officers with the Reichsarmee] happened to encounter its colonel, Franz von Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen, "who had three colours of his regiment with him, one carried by himself, another by his huntsman, and the third by his runner, without a single armed man to accompany or escort them"."

The regiment was with the Zweibrücken Corps in 1758-9. The second battalion was one of the two Reichsarmee battalions which surrendered Leipzig on 13th September without firing a shot; most of the men then joined the Prussian service. On September 21st the first battalion may have been in the combat of Korbitz. I have found no information on the regiment's activities for the rest of the war.

And this was the uniform in 1756: