Season's Greetings and a Happy New Year to All

Around Christmas I usually try to post something that is somehow (however vaguely)  Christmas-related on the blog. Previously it would often be some made-up nonsense or other; while it might possibly have been slightly amusing, I would rather post some authentic flags of the period. It is not easy to find flags that contain Christmas-like elements. However, all these flags have conifer trees and the colours seem largely to fit the bill too. It has to be said that they are mostly contentious and much-debated flags of their period, which has few authentic surviving flags.

I shall post later with a discussion and proper labelling of these flags but for the moment I will just say that I wish all my  followers and users of my flags all the best of the Season and a Happy New Year.

Flags of Savoy 1693-1704: Regiments Piedmont, Savoy, Schulemberg and Aigoin

I did these as a favour a while ago so thought I'd share them more widely as some people might find them useful. I hope and plan to do more Savoyard flags eventually.

For the Savoyard Army of the WSS, see: http://kronoskaf.com/wss/index.php?title=Savoyard_Army

Standard of French Cavalry Regiment Condé 1740 onwards

The État Générale of 1753 says the regiment was first raised 1666 under Louis XIV for the House of Condé but Pajol, Les Guerres Sous Louis XV suggests a much more complicated history, with a creation in 1645 as Enghien but then a history of being disbanded and reformed a number of times for, amongst other things, rebellion against the Crown.

Ranked 21st in 1753 and 2 squadrons strong.

This is my version of the standard from 1740 onwards based on verbal descriptions:

Its Chefs were: Louis de Bourbon, Duc D'Enghien who became The Grand Condé; then Henri-Jules, Prince de Bourbon, 11th December 1686; Louis-Henri de Bourbon, 15th September 1709; The second Duc de Bourbon, 1st April 1710; Louis-Joseph de Bourbon, Prince de Condé 20th January 1740.

Its service history and postings to 1763 as given by Pajol [with additional information from Kronoskaf]:

1726-1729: The Saône Camps
1733-1735: Army of Germany
1736 and 1739: Lamballe

1740: Stenay
1741: Bohemia
1742: Sahay; Retreat from Prague
1743: Battle of Dettingen
1744: The Lines of Lauter
1745: Passage of the Rhine
1746: Brussels; Anvers; Mons; Namur; battle of Raucoux
1747: Battle of Lauffeld
1748: Maastricht

1749-1750: Valenciennes; Saint-Quentin
1751: Rethel
1752-1753: Neufchâteau
1754-1755: Condé

1756: Epinal; Sedan
1757: Battle of Hastenbeck; battle of Rossbach [as part of Saint Germain's Corps]
1758: Battle of Krefeld
1759: Battle of Minden, where it was badly mauled and consequently sent to the rear to recuperate after the battle
1761-1762: Paris
1763: Lille where it was reorganised and absorbed the regiment of Toulouse-Lautrec

And this was probably the uniform in 1756:

Warburg French Flags Project: Flags of French Infantry Regiment Rohan-Rochefort

First raised 1677 under Louis XIV. Originally a Walloon regiment. Incorporated the regiment Fleury in 1749. 2 battalions in 1756. Ranked 64th in 1753. [Names in capitals below are the names of the regiment as its ownership changed]

The evidence suggests this pattern of flags was carried at least from 1697 when the regiment was  ISENGHIEN to 1762 under ROHAN-ROCHEFORT.

Service history [from Susane Volume 8 with corrections from Kronoskaf]:

Raised 22nd February 1677 by N. de PIETTEMONT
1677: Battle of Kassel; the colonel is killed there

1677: Given the 1st November to Ignace de Belvalet, Count of FAMECHON

1678: Army of Catalonia; capture of Puycerda
1688-1689: Served on the river Bidassoa [a river on the SW boundary of France with Spain]
1690: Expedition to Ireland; battle of the Boyne; defence of Limerick
1691: Re-entered France and sent to Italy
1693: Battle of Marsaglia
1694: Army of Catalonia again: battle of Ter; capture of Palamos, Girona, Hostalrich and Castelfollit
1695-1696: Army of Italy again
1697: Given the 11th February to Louis de Gand-Vilain de Mérode de Montmorency, Prince of ISENGHIEN

1701: Army of Flanders
1702: Combat of Nimègue
1703: Army of the Rhine; siege of Kehl; combat of Munderkirchen; 1st battle of Hochstedt
1704: 2nd battle of Hochstedt [Blenheim]
1705-1706: Army of the Rhine
1707: Army of Flanders
1708: Battle of Oudenarde
1708-1714: In garrison at Valenciennes

1717: Given to the Marquis de MONTESQUIOU then Victor-Alexandre, Marquis de MAILLY

1733: Army of Germany; siege of Kehl
1734: Siege of Philipsbourg
1735: Combat of Klausen

1735: 7th March given to the Marquis de BIRON

1741: Army of Westphalia
1742: To Bohemia; retreat to Prague
1743 Battle of Dettingen
1744: Army of Flanders; capture of Ypres, of Menin and Furnes
1745: Siege of Tournai; battle of Fontenoy; capture of Oudenarde, Termonde and Ath

1745: 1st December given to Charles-Armand-Jules, Prince of ROHAN-ROCHEFORT

1746: Siege of Namur; battle of Rocoux
1747: Conquest of Dutch Flanders; battle of Lawfeld
1748: Siege of Maastricht

1756: Expedition to Minorca
1757: Army of Germany
1758: Battles of Krefeld and Lutzelberg
1759: Capture of Frankfurt
1760: Combats of Warburg and Klostercamps

1761: 26th February given to Charles-Emmanuel, Chevalier de SAINT-MAURIS

1762: 10th December incorporated into Regiment Poitou

And this was the uniform in 1756:

Totally fictional sheet of Genoese Swiss Infantry Flags 1740s-1750s

My Italian informant Giorgio Briozzo tells me that we do not with any certainty know what flags the Swiss troops in Genoese service carried, which is very unfortunate. Stephen Manley in his booklet on the Flags of the Italian States in the WAS says that the Swiss Colonnella flags had the heraldry of Genoa on both sides and no madonna, as they were Protestant troops. He gives no references for that statement so I do not know how true it is.

So, in the absence of certain evidence, I decided to create some entirely fictional Genoese Swiss flags, just to please myself.  I based them on Swiss flags carried by the troops of Naples and Modena. Here they are; please use or not as you wish! I think they look pretty good myself... :-)

First Sheet of Genoese Infantry Flags 1740s-1750s

I do not have a great deal to say about these as I have not found much material on the flags and military uniforms of Genoa in this period. A useful short summary of the Genoese military in this period can be found here: https://web.archive.org/web/20080219022734/http://www.magweb.com/sample/s18nq/s1812geo.htm

The colonels' flags for Swiss regiments had the shield and griffins of Genoa on both sides, apparently, but I can find no details of the flags carried by Swiss regiments in Genoan service, unfortunately. If anyone has information on them, please do let me know!

And this is my recreation of the uniform of infantry regiment Montenach in the 1740s:

I shall produce a second sheet of infantry flags soon. The artwork of Quinto Cenni seems to be the largest single source of information on Genoan flags and uniforms of the 18th century but I have not discovered what his sources were so cannot say how reliable his depictions are. In the absence of much else, they will have to do!

Warburg French Flags Project: Flags of French Swiss Infantry Regiment Courten

First raised 1690. 3 battalions in 1756. Always recruited from the Valais. Ranked 91st in 1756.

This pattern of flags was carried from at least c.1740-1792.

Please note that there was a slight boo-boo in the original flags, now corrected, thanks to the eagle eye of Frédéric Aubert... :-)

Service (from Susane Vol.7 including extracts translated by me):

1691: Army of Flanders
1692: At the taking of Namur; battle of Steenkerque; bombardment of Charleroi
1693: Battle of Neerwinden
1694: On the march from Wignamont to the bridge of Espierres
1695: Sieges of Dixmude and Deynse; entry into Namur; defence of Namur followed by the Army of the Meuse

1701: In the Low Countries occupying Venloo and Ruremonde for the Spanish king 1702: Parts of the regiment besieged there
1703: At Eckeren: "showed great courage; Captain d'Aulbonne and a boy of 15 years, Louis-François de Courten, son of the colonel, killed there and the lieutenant-colonel, Melchior de Courten, seriously wounded. At the end of the campaign the regiment was sent to Languedoc and spent the next two years campaigning against the Camisards. It contributed greatly in 1704 to the dispersal of the band of Ravenel and killed 200 of its men near Massane."
1706: All three battalions at the siege of Barcelona; combats near Bascara; taking of Figueiras
1707: Capture of Puycerda and Belver. In garrison at Belver; "it destroyed various garrisons in local small forts which hindered the communication of the French army".
1708: Campaigning in Roussillon; recrossed the Pyrenees and took part in the sisge of Tortosa and then marched to the relief of Rosas where part of the regiment managed to get into the town despite an enemy blockade.
1709: Stayed in Roussillon
1710: Siege of Girona; after its capture (which cost the life of Captain Monnin ) became its garrison in January 1711. Trapped there for seven months and then at the end of the campaign sent to the Var.
1712-1713: Served in Roussillon
1714: Siege of Barcelona, which was the last place occupied by the Austrian party in the Peninsula; "distinguished there, the day after the opening of the siege lines, in repelling a sortie with regiments Normandy and Artois. A lieutenant was killed in that engagement. It was also distinguished in the general assault."
1715: To the island of Minorca which submitted after slight resistance from the towns of Alcudia and Palma. Reduced at the peace to two battalions.

1733: Made up to four battalions and stationed on the left bank of the Rhine
1734: At the capture of Trèves and Traerbach; spent the winter at Trèves and in the Hundsrück
1735: The regiment's grenadiers in the combats of Klausen and Salm. The regiment stationed at Phalz and Kick to protect the army's communications as it retired to Trèves.
1737: The regiment reduced to two battalions.

In garrison at Douai for the first campaigns of the War of the Austrian Succession.
1743: The third battalion re-established and sent to Quesnoy.
1744: All three battalions served under Marshal de Saxe
1745: The regiment was compensated for its inaction in the previous campaigns. "After beginning the siege of Tournai, it arrived on the field of battle of Fontenoy. It was part of the brigade of Aubeterre and found itself on the right of the regiment of Gardes Françaises, at the most important part of the battlefield. It was in front of this position that M. du Brocard, commander of the army's artillery, had placed his main gun battery, the battery which could have destroyed the column of the Duke of Cumberland, if the officers of the Gardes Françaises had been willing to put aside their chivalrous courage and be content to fight like soldiers. The rout of the regiment of  Gardes Françaises, after an advance which masked the battery of M. Du Brocard, allowed the English column to take the ground on the flank of this battery, and to open, at fifty paces, on it and the regiment of Courten, a murderous volley, which, in an instant, killed all the gunners at their cannon and threw to the ground twenty officers and 209 Swiss soldiers.  The brave M. Du Brocard was amongst the first to fall. After him, no-one manned the battery and, in the absence of the guns, a compact column of 16,000 English, engaged in the most reckless manner in the middle of a numerous army, brave and protected by the entrenchments, held this army in check for several hours and almost inflicted on us a defeat which would have been the most shameful of all those that the fate of the arms had inflicted on France. Despite the lightning strike that had just struck it, the regiment of Courten threw itself in front of the English and slowed their advance until the arrival of the regiments of Aubeterre and Du Roi. Courten lost at Fontenoy its lieutenant-colonel Nicolas Marclésy, captains Lecht, Beausobre and Preux, lieutenants La Pierre and Bergerie, ensign Ebiner and 75 NCOs and soldiers. The colonel [Maurice de Courten], 14 officers and more than 200 men were wounded, mostly dangerously. After the victory, the regiment returned to the trenches of Tournai. The regiment served the same year at the capture of Oudenarde, Termonde, Ostend and Nieuport."
1746: Capture of the citadel of Anvers; Captain Huober killed; battle of Rocoux; winter at Anvers
1747: At Malines in April; then arrived late for the battle of Lauffeld brigaded with La Cour au Chantre Regiment. Finished the campaign with the siege of Bergen-op-Zoom, Fort Frederik and Fort Lillo, followed by winter quarters in Anvers again.
1748: March to Bergen -op-Zoom which it was feared would be besieged and there for six months; then to Limburg where it stayed until the Low Countries were entirely evacuated in February 1749

1756: Courten reduced to two battalions 1st April 1756. Originally intended for the army being organised under the Prince de Soubise to help the Austrian Empress but then, when France itself became involved in the war, it was sent to the Army of the Lower Rhine in 1757 and took part in the expedition to Hanover under Marshal Richelieu.
1758: January sent as part of the reinforcements to the Duc de Broglie who was besieging Bemen. Courten helped in the occupation of this town on the 16th January and was then based at Werdhen. At Lutterberg on October 10th.
1759: Under Broglie in Germany
1760: At Warburg on July 31st as part of the Jenner Brigade on the left wing
1761: In Germany
1762: With the Army of the Upper Rhine; back to France in November
1763: Garrisoned Longwy then to Saarlouis in December

And this was the uniform in 1756:

French Infantry In Canada Project: Flags of French Infantry Regiment Cambis

This is the last of my French In Canada infantry flags.

First raised in Sicily in 1676 (as VIVONNE). 2 battalions strong in 1756. Ranked 62nd.

These were the flags in 1756 (it is not entirely clear but I think they may have remained the same from at least 1688):

Service history:
1676: Naval combat of Palermo; taking of Merilli and Taormino
1677: Left for France
1678: Army of Flanders; sieges of Gand and Ypres
1688; Became Regiment THIANGES
1689: Capture of Philipsbourg, Manheim and Franckenthal
1689: Defence of Bonn
1691: Army of Piémont; capture of Villefranche, Montalban, Sant'Ospizio, Nice, Veilane, Carmagnola and Montmélian
1692: Army of Flanders; battle of Steenkerque
1693: battle of Neerwinden and siege of Charleroi
1694 and 1695: in Germany
1696 and 1696: On the Meuse
1701: Army of Flanders

1702: became MORTEMART; combat of Nimegue and defence of Kaiserswerth
1703: Combat of Eckeren
1705: Army of the Moselle
1707: Army of the Rhine; capture of the Lines of Stolhofen and conquest of the Palatinate
1708: Army of Flanders; battle of Oudenarde
1709: Battle of Malplaquet
1710: Defence of Douai
1711: Combat of Arleux
1712 Became LAVAL; battle of Denain; capture of Marchiennes, Douai, Le Quesnoy and Bouchain
1713: Sieges of Landau and Fribourg At Fribourg the two companies of grenadiers intercept a sortie and all the grenadiers are killed except for four; the colonel has his jaw smashed.

1729: became TONNAY-CHARENTE
1731: became ROCHECHOUART

1733: Siege of Kehl
1734: Attack on the Lines of Ettlingen; siege of Philipsbourg
1735: Combat of Klausen

1741: Army of Flanders
1743: Army of the Lower Rhine; battle of Dettingen (where the colonel M. le Duc de Rochechouart-Mortemart is killed)
1743: Became LAVAL
1744: Retaking of the Lines of Lauter; combat of Suffelsheim; siege of Fribourg
1745: Capture of Kronembourg; moved to the Army of Flanders; combat of Mesle; capture of Gand
1746: Battle of Rocoux
1747: Conquest of Dutch Flanders; siege of Bergen op Zoom
1748: Siege of Maastricht
1749: Became CAMBIS; regiment of ESCARS absorbed to become the 2nd battalion

1756: Minorca Expedition; Captain Monvert lands first with 60 volunteers; siege of Mahon
1757: On the coast of Brittany
1758: The 2nd battalion in Canada is captured at Louisbourg and taken to England, and is exchanged in 1759
1760: Naval expedition of Captain Thurot to Ireland; the detachment of the regiment captured at sea but later repatriated
1762: Expedition to Portugal and siege of Almeida

1762 10th December absorbed into Regiment Royal

And this was the uniform in 1756 (with its most unusual mixing of pewter and copper buttons):

Standard of French Cavalry Regiment Lénoncourt 1748-1758 (then possibly Toustain to 1761)

There is some dispute about the origins of this regiment. The État Générale of 1753 says it was created for Louis XIV in August 1666 but Susane Histoire de la Cavalerie and Pajol Guerres Sous Louis XV gives 6th January 1652. The regiment was Heudicourt 1735-1747, then Lénoncourt 1748-1758 and Toustain from 1758.   2 squadrons strong in 1756 and ranked 47th.

These standards were probably carried at least from 1735-1758. The arms of Heudicourt were still carried when the regiment became Lénoncourt as the two families were closely related by marriage.

The motto is from Horace: "Si fractus illabatur orbis, / impavidum ferient ruinae"—"Should the whole frame of Nature round him break, / In ruin and confusion hurled, / He, unconcerned, would hear the mighty crack, / And stand secure amidst a falling world." (Odes 3.3.7–8, translated by Joseph Addison.)(from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_justitia_ruat_caelum ) The État of 1753 gives the misspelling ILLABITUR which I have kept as it may represent an error also on the standard.

 

Service:

1719 Spain1727 On the Meuse
1733 and 1735 On the Rhine
1736 At Sarrelouis
1742-1748 In Flanders

Seven Years War:

1757: With the French army in Germany
1758: On the Rhine with the army of the Comte de Clermont; battle of Krefeld June 23rd. Became Toustain. The army now commanded by Contades on the Rhine
1759: With Broglie's army; battle of Bergen April 13th; battle of Minden August 1st

The regiment was incorporated into Royal-Lorraine Cavalry (formerly Des Salles Cavalry) in 1761.

And this was the uniform in 1756:

French Infantry In Canada Project: Flags of French Infantry Regiment Berry

Updating the flags of French regiments which served in Canada reminded me I had not done the flags of Berry and Cambis so here are the first of those.

Berry first raised 2nd September 1684 out of garrison companies. Ranked 71st in the SYW and consisted of 3 battalions.

Flags of this pattern were carried from 1684-1762.

Service history:

1688-9: Conquest of the Palatinate
1690-1: Coastal defence
1692: Army of the Alps
1693: Defence of Pignerol and battle of Marsaglia
1694: Garrison of Suze
1696: Army of the Meuse
1697: Army of Flanders

1702-4: Occupation of the Kingdom of Naples for the King of Spain
1704: The colonel of the regiment, who was seriously wounded at Castelnuovo de Bormia where he fought as a volunteer, was replaced in February by Auguste-Nicolas Magon, Marquis of La Gervasais.
1705: Army of Italy; battle of Cassano
1706: Siege and battle of Turin
1707-10: Army of Dauphiné
1711: Army of the Rhine
1713: Sieges of Landau and Fribourg

1733: Army of the Rhine; siege of Kehl
1734: Siege of Philipsbourg

1741: Army of Bohemia; combat of Sahay
1742: Defence of Prague; the colonel of the regiment killed at Prague
1743: In garrison at Thionville
1744-6: Army of the Rhine
1747: Army of Flanders; conquest of Dutch Flanders; battle of Lawfeld
1748: Siege of Maastricht

1753: Camp of Saarlouis


During the Seven Years War the 1st battalion served on the coasts of France and the 2nd and 3rd battalions in Canada.

On the journey to Canada in 1757 the two battalions suffered greatly from an epidemic. In Canada the two battalions were at the victorious battle of Carillon on July 7th. In 1760 they were part of the expedition against Quebec, and fought in the battle of Sainte-Foy on April 28th. The 2nd battalion of Berry was captured at the capitulation of Montréal in September. Both battalions of the regiment were repatriated to France by December of that year. [There is much more detail on the service of the regiment in Canada on the Kronoskaf website.]

In April 1761 the regiment was reduced to two battalions after the return of the two depleted Canadian battalions.

1762: The regiment was incorporated in that of Aquitaine.

And this was the uniform in the Seven Years War, both in Europe and Canada:

Updated and Improved French Infantry in Canada Flags

I have updated and improved the seven French Infantry in Canada flag sets; they were some of my earliest French flag sheets and badly needed "standardising" to the current style!

The colonels' flags are there for completeness, even if they were not carried in Canada!

One hundred French infantry flag sets have now been posted on the blog!

I thought I'd mention that I have now reached the landmark posting of One Hundred French infantry flag sets! Hurrah! (Actually it is strictly rather more as some flags include variants, like the flags of La Couronne... :-))

There are also 17 French cavalry standards (and more to come of both cavalry and infantry), not to mention sundry flags of other nations.

Here's to the next 100 French infantry flag sets!

A list of the French flags already on the blog can be found here: https://nba-sywtemplates.blogspot.com/p/french-flags-for-wargamers-appearing-on.html

All the flags are free to download and use, although donations of any size are much appreciated (see the left side column on the blog near the top entitled Make a small contribution towards my work!).

Standard of French Cavalry Regiment Anjou/Aquitaine/Artois c.1688-1761

First raised 1666. 2 squadrons strong in 1756 and ranked 18th.

Standard carried probably from at least 1688-1761

1689: Conquest of the Palatinate
1691: Italy
1692: Flanders and the battle of Steenkerque

1701: Army of Italy and combat of Chiari
1702: Battle of Luzzara; capture of Luzzara and Borgoforte
1703: Expedition to Trentin; combats of Santa Vittoria and San Benedetto
1704: Sieges of Verceil, Yvreé and Verrue
1705: Combat of Cassano
1706: Battle of Calcinato and siege of Turin
1707: Spain and the battle of Almanza; capture of Lerida
1708: Siege of Tortosa
1710: Guarding the frontier of Dauphiné
1713: Back to Spain and the siege of Barcelona

1727: Camp of Aimeries
1732: Camp of the Meuse
1734: On the Rhine; siege of Philipsbourg, the attack on the Lines of Ettlingen and the combat of Klausen. Quartered in Moulins at the peace.

1742: The frontier of Flanders
1743: To Bavaria then back to Alsace, in the vicinity of Landau
1744: The capture of Weissembourg, the taking of the Lines of Lauter, the combat of Augenheim and the siege of Fribourg
1745: The capture of Kronembourg then the siege of Ath
1746: The siege of Mons and battle of Roucoux
1747: Battle of Lawfeld and the capture of Bergen op Zoom
1748: Siege of Maastricht
1749: To Bourges
1751: To Neufbrisach
1752: To Montpellier, Castenaudary and Castres
1753: The camp of Plobsheim, then returned to Castres

1753: 10th September Took the name of Aquitaine
1754: Left Castres for Bergerac and Libourne
1756: To Besançon
1757: To Damvilliers and Stenai

In the Seven Years War served at the battle of Hastenbeck, the conquest of Hanover, and distinguished at the battle of Krefeld. Then at the battles of Lutzelberg, Corbach, Warburg, Clostercamps and Villingshausen

1761: Given to the Count of Artois and took the name Artois (which it kept to the Revolution). Incorporated companies of the regiment of Héricy and increased to 4 squadrons. Reorganised 30th April 1763.

1762: Manning the coast
1763: At the peace sent to Besançon

And this was the uniform in 1756:

Four more French infantry flags replaced with lighter shaded versions

Today I have replaced the following French infantry flags on the blog with lighter shaded versions:

Beauvoisis
Diesbach
Provence
Rohan-Montbazon

 

Warburg French Flags Project: Flags of French Infantry Regiment La Couronne

La Couronne first raised 1643 in Louis XIV's minority by the Queen Mother. Took the name La Couronne after the siege of Maastricht in 1673. 2 battalions. Ranked 28th in 1756.

The motto Dedit hanc Mastreka coronam - Maastricht won this crown was probably placed on the flags only late in the 18th century; it does not appear on the 1757 MS illustration nor is it mentioned in the 1753 État Générale entry. However, I have included a version with the motto as people like to use it in the SYW despite its probably being anachronistic!

Flags carried in this pattern from 1693-1791.

The regiment was very active in almost all French army campaigns from 1643 onwards and a list of actions in which it was involved would be too long for this account. Kronoskaf gives a more detailed history and Susane Volume 5 the source from which I believe much of the Kronoskaf account is extracted.

Text below is my translation from Susane of the regiment's activity in the SYW (as always, a very pro-French account which can sometimes be taken with a pinch of salt!):

La Couronne took part in the camp assembled at Mezières in 1753. It was employed for the two following years in work on the canal at the junction of the Lys and the Aa. In 1756 the Seven Years War began where the regiment acquired new laurels. Of all the important actions of this unlucky war, but not without glory for the troops, the battle of Bergen is the only one where it was not involved.

On the 24th July 1757 the regiment contributed to the victory at Hastenbeck; lieutenant of grenadiers Miguet was killed there. [Susane claims the regiment was at Rossbach 5th November but Kronoskaf and other sources do not appear to agree.]

At the beginning of 1758 it was ordered along with other corps to protect the Dutch frontier from Xanten up to the fort of Skencke. On the 23rd of June, at the battle of Krefeld, it endured the fire of six enemy battalions without breaking. It contributed on the 23rd July to the success of Sandershausen. Detache don the 5th October from the army of Contades, it joined the army of Soubise on the 8th and fought on the 10th at Lutterberg with the greatest courage. It then rejoined the main army on the 23rd. After the capitulation of Kaiserswerth it was once again charged with observing the Dutch frontier.

[Susane's claim that the regiment was at Minden on the 1st of August 1759 is not supported by Kronoskaf.]

In 1760 the regiment was part of the corps commanded by the Count of St Germain. On the 10th July this corps was responsible for the greatest contribution to the fight at Corbach, and La Couronne was distinguished above all the regiments that surrounded it. At the affair ofWarburg on the 31st July it was posted on the heights with Regiments Bourbonnais and Jenner [Swiss]. Furiously attacked by the enemy, these regiments charged them five times and caused them to give way. La Couronne lost on the field of battle half its officers, amongst them the colonel-lieutenant, the Count de Montbarrey who had performed prodigies of bravery and who had been struck by a cannon ball and two musket balls. The soldiers, encouraged by the example of their leaders, fought with extraordinary persistence. One saw men who had fired off all their cartridges picking up stones to throw at the enemy; others, finding these means unsatisfactory, fought hand to hand with the Allies. The regiment was so shattered after Warburg, that during the rest of the campaign it could put in the field only a feeble battalion. It was still able to distinguish itself at Clostercamps on the 16th October, seconding the efforts of Regiments Auvergne and Alsace.

It was sent to recoup itself at Dunkirk and then rejoined the army in June 1761. On the 30th of August the regiment distinguished itself in the combat of Roxel near Münster against the troops of General Kielmansegge. The companies of grenadiers and chasseurs attacked the enemy in the village where they were entrenched, chased them out of it and followed them until they were in range of the cannon of Münster itself, taking 400 prisoners. This splendid combat, specific to the regiment, was its pinnacle of glory and was also its last action of the war.

At the peace the regiment went into garrison at Quesnoy.

And this was the uniform in 1756:

Légion Britannique: The All New Sheet Of Speculative Infantry Flags

Here is my new flag sheet for the infantry of the Légion Britannique. This says "Hanoverian" far more clearly than the last version, I think, but is still true to the British-style of flag design as carried by the Légion:

I shall not change the dragoon guidons as I think the design says "Hanoverian" very clearly anyway, with its use of the running white horse.

Standards of French Cavalry Regiment Commissaire-Général 1730s-1770

First raised 1635 and became Commissaire-Général Cavalerie in 1654. 2 squadrons in 1756. Ranked 3rd in the cavalry.

The standards shown here were probably carried from at least the 1730s to 1770. The shield shows the arms of Bissy; M de Bissy was Mestre de Camp of the regiment from 1736-1748.

1719: Spain
1733 and 1734: On the Rhine
1741: Westphalia
1742: Bavaria
1743: Returned to France
1744: Italy
1745; The Rhine
1746: Flanders
1747: Valence
1749: Verdun
1752: Mezières
1755: Lille
1757: Stationed at Bitche, then to the Army of the Lower Rhine for the invasion of Hanover. At the battle of Hastenbeck on 26th July. At the end of the year in winter quarters at Göttingen.

With Soubise's army in 1758 and at the battle of Lutterberg on October 10th but not seriously engaged there.

At the battle of Bergen April 13th 1759 then with the French offensive into Western Germany. At the battle of Minden on August 1st.

For 1760, Susane claims the regiment fought bravely at both Corbach July 10th 1760 and at Warburg 31st July that year but Kronoskaf does not record the regiment at either of those two actions...

Susane says that, having been almost destroyed, the regiment was then sent to guard the Channel coast.

Absorbed Beauvilliers Cavalry in 1761 and made up to 4 squadrons.

And this is a depiction of the uniform in the Seven Years War from the New York Public Library collection. The saddle cloth is incorrect and should be red with a yellow border (to 1759) or bordered yellow and red after 1759.

Revised Third Battalion Légion Britannique Speculative Flag

I published my speculative flags of the Légion Britannique some time ago and a few people have used them and posted pictures. The latest posting of these troops with my flags here: http://www.jemimafawr.co.uk/2023/09/12/hannover-siegt-der-franzmann-liegt-my-15mm-syw-hanoverian-german-allied-army-part-5-legion-britannique/ points out that the regimental flag of the third battalion should be orange. I had misread the rather deceptive plate I had used for the battalion and saw the uniform facings as red, not orange. So this is the corrected flag in glorious technicolour orange at last:

I shall eventually revise the whole sheet and add this flag to it but for now this supplementary sheet will have to do.

More French infantry flags replaced with lighter shaded versions

Today I have replaced the following French infantry flags on the blog with lighter versions (listed in the order I uploaded them, not alphabetically!):

Vastan
Enghien
Aquitaine
La Marche Prince
Tournaisis
St Chamont (St Chamond)
Cossé Brissac

More to follow!

 

List of French flags with lighter shading updated and uploaded today...

Today I have replaced the following French infantry flags on the blog with lighter versions (listed in the order I uploaded them, not alphabetically!):

Rouergue, Touraine, Talaru/d'Aumont, Belzunce, Picardie, Auvergne and La Marche

More to follow!

This image shows a snapshot of the new versions:

Flags and uniform of Hanoverian Militia Regiment Celle (von Hauss)

I am just dipping my toes into the somewhat messy world that is Hanoverian flags of the Seven Years War here; all those very different flags, often with complex allegorical images, are a nightmare to create! But the militia carried simpler flags and this is my interpretation of the militia flags from the description in Niemeyer and Ortenburg's work on the Hanoverian Army in the Seven Years War.

They spent the war garrisoning Celle and neighbourhood so there is nothing exciting to relate about their wartime activities - but wargamers can often find useful roles for militia; it is all fantasy based on reality, after all! ;-)

And this was the uniform in 1756:

Reducing the overly dark shading of some of my earlier flags...

I have been asked to lighten the shading of some of my earlier flags, especially French flags. I am inclined to agree that the shading of the Colonels' white flags is often too dark so will be working on producing lighter versions. So far I have replaced the flags of French Regiment Condé; see here: https://nba-sywtemplates.blogspot.com/2013/05/minden-french-flags-project-regiment.html I shall post notices of which flags are changed in future as I post them.

Here is the older version of Condé:

And here is the new lighter version:

Highly speculative flags of the Mainz Lamberg Regiment

The Mainz Kreis regiment was created from companies taken from Mainz infantry regiments Wildenstein and Riedt in 1756, by an agreement between the Archbishop of Mainz and Austria. It was organised on the Austrian pattern, and consisted of 2 battalions with 6 companies each and 2 companies of grenadiers, plus a garrison battalion. The regiment was disbanded at the end of the war in 1763. Although not a part of the Reichsarmee proper, it saw a lot of action serving with the Austrian Corps which fought alongside the Reichsarmee for much of the war.

These are my very speculative flags for the regiment; we know nothing of the appearance of the real flags, if any were carried.

The regiment spent much of the war serving alongside the Austrian field army so saw a great deal of action. At Prague on May 6th 1757 two battalions of the regiment, stationed just south of the gap in the Austrian lines where the Prussians broke through to win a hard fought victory, suffered heavy losses of 409 men. After the battle roughly one battalion joined the garrison of Prague and another battalion continued serving with the Austrian field army. It was at the battle of Moys on September 7th, when an isolated corps of the Prussian army was successfully attacked and its commander, the somewhat sinister Winterfeldt, who was a close friend of Frederick, was killed, possibly shot in the back by his own men. Later that year this battalion was at the siege of Schweidnitz and then at the battle of Breslau on November 22nd in the Reserve Corps. Having become part of the garrison of Breslau after the battle it was captured when the Prussians recaptured Breslau on 21st December but the men were later exchanged.

In 1758 the battalion with the Austrian field army was involve din the battle of Hochkirch on October 14th as part of the column under Lieutenant Colloredo that attacked the village from the east. On November 20th 1759 the regiment was at the battle of Maxen, where a detached Prussian corps was destroyed. In 1760 the regiment was with the Austrian corps serving with the Reichsarmee and was involved in the combat of Strehla on August 20th, where a smaller and more agile Prussian force thwarted a Hochkirch-style envelopment by the allies. In 1761 and 1762 the regiment was still in Saxony serving with the Austrian corps attached to the Reichsarmee. The two field battalions were at the embarrassing defeat of Doebeln on May 12th 1762 then both served with their grenadier companies at Freiberg on October 29th. Campitelli's Corps of which they formed part put up a good fight against the northern Prussian attack, although the battle was decided elsewhere on the battlefield.

And this may have been the uniform in use in 1756 (although there is much uncertainty about it):

Warburg French Flags Project: Standard of French Cavalry Regiment Sainte-Aldegonde, formerly Viefville

First raised 1st March 1674, by Louis du Faure de Satilieu, Marquis de Saint-Sylvestre.

2 squadrons strong and ranked 38th in 1756.

This is my reconstruction of the cavalry standard, with its pomegranate tree in flower, which seems to have been carried from at least the 1730s to 1761. I have seen only verbal descriptions. (The French name for pomegranate "grenadier" presumably comes from the pomegranate fruit looking remarkably like a grenade in shape.) One major frustration with French cavalry standards of the period is that we often do not know what the emblems were; in Pierre Charrié's book the words "motif inconnu" occur with tedious regularity!

Colonels:

Saint-Sylvestre 1674; De la Rocheguyon 1716; La Rochefoucault 1726; M. d'Urfé 1731; M. du Châtelet 18th January 1734; M. de Beuvron 18th March 1734; D. de Fleury 15th February 1738; M. de la Viefville 20th August 1743; M. de Sainte-Aldegonde 10th February 1759

Very active in many combats of the 1670s, until reduced in 1679 then re-established in 1682. Again, saw much action in the 1680s and 1690s.

1700: Army of Italy; combats of Carpi and Chiari, then the combat of Volta where it took a detachment of Imperial cuirassiers.
1702: Battle of Luzzara
1703: Combat of Castelnuovo
1704: Taking of Verceil, Ivrée and Verrue
1706: Battle of Castiglione
1707: In Flanders
1708: Battle of Oudenarde
In Flanders to the peace

1733: Camp of La Sâone then to Italy and he conquest of the Milanais
1734: Battles of Parma and Guastalla
1735: Taking of places in the Modénais
1736: Back to France and quartered in Sens

1741: Bohemia; taking, defence and retreat from Prague
1743: Battle of Dettingen
1744: Flanders
1745: Italy; combat of Refudo
1746; Battles of Pleasance and Tidone
1747: Defence of Provence
1748: Camp of Valence

In Germany for the first two campaigns of the Seven Years War
1758: Battle of Lutterberg October, where it was in the Reserve of Cavalry
1759: Remained on the Rhine
1760: At Warburg July 31st in the first line

Reformed 1st December 1761 and incorporated into La Reine Cavalry

And this was the uniform in 1756:

The Reichsarmee: Flags of Infantry Regiment Hessen-Darmstadt

Hessen-Darmstadt IR or Prinz Georg Infantry: Upper Rhenish Kreis

On 3rd May 1758 the battalion had a strength of 752 musketeers and 105 grenadiers, a total of 860, with 2 attached 3 pounder cannon.

This small single battalion regiment was reckoned to be the best infantry unit in the Reichsarmee; Soubise called it "excellent" (Duffy, Prussia's Glory), the only regiment he reviewed to be called so. Prince Georg of Hessen-Darmstadt was also reputedly the best general in the Reichsarmee; a former Prussian officer, he had left the Prussian service and joined the Reichsarmee at the command of his father Landgraf Ludwig VIII. For a sympathetic and detailed account of the travails of the Reichsarmee and the doings of the estimable Prince Georg in the 1757 campaign leading up to Rossbach, see Duffy's wonderfully readable Prussia's Glory.

Duffy says that in the Circle of the Upper Rhine (Oberrheinische Creis) "here the lead was taken by the Landgraf Ludwig VIII of Hesse-Darmstadt who was a Protestant, but dedicated to the ideal of the Reich. His single-battalion regiment was the best that the Reichsarmee proper had to show, and represented something of a sacrifice on the part of Ludwig, for he could have hired it out on very favourable terms to a foreign prince. "You can imagine nothing more splendid than the sight of the Darmstadt Grenadiers when they come on guard. They are picked, tall and fine-looking men who put the French to shame"." Despite its high quality the regiment was not immune from the bane of all armies of the period. Duffy later says: "The regiment of Hesse-Darmstadt was the best of the Reichsarmee, yet the secretary of its Prince Georg was happy to record that by 29 July it had lost "only" 116 men from desertion."

At Rossbach on 5th November 1757 the regiment was one of the few to perform well and honourably during the rout of much of the Reichsarmee; it was one of the four regiments which were able to "retreat in closed-up formation under continuous fire" which seem to have been Blue Würzburg, "the disciplined and intact battalion of Hesse-Darmstadt and the Swiss regiment of Wittemer and Diesbach which not only retained all their colours, but retrieved a colour of one of the regiments which had fled." (All quotations from Duffy, Prussia's Glory.)

Later in the war at 1st Torgau (Zinna) on the 8th September 1759 the regiment once again proved its quality: "with the exception of the battalion of Hessen-Darmstadt, the entire Reichs infantry fled in panic." (Duffy, By Force of Arms.) The Reischsarmee force was three times the size of the Prussian force that routed it!

And this was the uniform in 1757:

Mollo and Knötel show 2 different variants of the collar on this uniform, very unlike the normal type of collar shown by Pengel and Hurt, so I've done two variants for those (like me!) who are niggled by these things; P and H's more conventional collar-type is on the left, the one in the middle is Mollo's and the one on the right is Knötel's collar. The Osprey on the Austrian infantry of  1740-1780 also shows the Knötel-style collar.

Cavalry Standards of Charles VI as carried by the army of Maria-Theresa in the 1740s

Here are two Austrian cavalry standards of unknown regiments as depicted in the MS Triomphes de Louis XV:

Earlier depictions of Austrian cavalry standards do suggest some were as plain as this, although most of the surviving later 18th century standards in the Austrian Army Museum in Vienna have astonishing amounts of elaborate gold and silver embroidery.

The Standard of French Hussar Regiment Royal Nassau in the Seven Years War

First raised 1756 as the Volontaires de Nassau-Saarbruck and 2 squadrons strong. In April 1758 it was renamed Volontaires Royaux de Nassau and then in June that year became the Royal Nassau Regiment and ranked 56th in the cavalry (but becoming 55th in 1760, 38th in 1761 and 34th in 1762). Then it was 600 strong made up of 4 squadrons. It was recruited in Strasbourg and principally in the area of Landau, in the Palatinate, on the frontiers of the Sarre and in the County of Saarwarden. The colonel was the Prince of Nassau-Saarbruck.

 

The regiment seems to have had a lively war; as Kronoskaf gives a detailed account there is no point in my repeating it here. I have no independent account of my own so I recommend that anyone wishing to know the regiment's exploits in detail should look there: https://www.kronoskaf.com/syw/index.php?title=Royal-Nassau_Hussards

This image of the uniform is from the New York Public Library website https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e4-3e47-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99: 

 

Warburg French Flags Project: Flags of French Swiss Regiment Lochmann 1752-1771

First raised 1752 from the canton of Zurich. 12 companies of 120 men each. Colonel from the beginning was the Baron de Lochmann (to 1777). Ranked 114th in 1753.

I present two sets of flags of the pattern carried from 1752-1771; the État Générale of 1753 gives a different colour spread from that suggested by more recent authorities like Pierre Charrié, Rigo, etc.. So you can choose which to use!

My translation of the text from Susane volume 7 of the regiment's activities in the Seven Years War:

The regiment took part in 1755 in the camp of Richemont and then was attached in 1757 to the Army of Germany. It first saw action at the battle of Hastenbeck and took part in the occupation of Hanover. At the beginning of 1758 it was employed guarding the banks of the Rhine and it was one of the four regiments engaged on the 23rd June at the battle of Krefeld. It acquired much glory in the campaign of 1760, notably at Korbach and Warburg. In the last action, which took place on the  31st July, it fought with admirable vigour and foiled, with Jenner, all the efforts of the enemy. It thus gave the time for the rest of the army to retreat. At the end of the action, Colonel Lochmann was wounded and fell into the hands of the enemy. The regiment served also in the campaigns in Germany in 1761 and 1762, and spent the winter at Gueldres. On its return to France the regiment took up residence at Mezières and then went to Thionville in May 1763.

And this was the uniform in 1756: