Tuesday, 10 December 2024

Speculative Leibfahne of Austro-Hungarian regiments raised 1741-2 (but based on the surviving Leibfahne in the HGM)

I was reminded today by a request on the Seven Years War Wargaming Facebook page that I had not yet posted the long-promised speculative Leibfahne to go with my speculative version of the Ordinairfahne of Hungarian regiments raised 1741-2 (see below for a copy of the flag and text I posted on the 26th of March last year). So I hastily finished the almost complete flag and sent it to the requestee (R M Davies of the splendid Jemima Fawr Blog: http://www.jemimafawr.co.uk/ ). Here it is for anyone else who would like it, with a Madonna based on that of the surviving Leibfahne from the early 1740s in the HGM:

 

[This is my speculative version of the Ordinairfahne of Hungarian regiments raised 1741-2. All we know is that the base colour was red. No other design details are known but it is highly likely that the flags followed what we think of as the classic Austrian  flag design of the reign of Maria Theresa.

S. Summerfield in his Austrian Infantry of the Seven Years War (2nd Edition) lists the following six Hungarian regiments as having been raised in 1741: IR2 Erzherzog Karl; IR31 Haller; IR32 Forgách; IR33 Nicolaus Esterházy; IR37 Josef Esterházy; and IR52 Bethlen. So any (or all) of these could carry this red flag in the WAS.

I must also finish and post the 1741 version of the Leibfahne; I have not yet been able to complete the Madonna figure on the flag to my satisfaction...]



Sunday, 8 December 2024

Flags and uniform of Prussian Garrison Regiment VI

First raised 1741 as the Brieg Garrison Regiment. Expanded from 2 battalions to 4 in June 1756.

1741-1746 garrisoned only Brieg but from 1747-1756 garrisoned the fortresses of Cosel and Brieg and also Namslau.



In 1758 the 4th battalion accompanied the royal army on its campaign in Northern Moravia and was at the siege of Olmütz. In 1759 it was again with the royal army. In 1760 it was employed in Prinz Heinrich's Corps along with six other garrison regiments, replacing five line regiments too weakened by their losses. In 1761 the 4th battalion was assigned to Goltz's Corps which was supposed to advance against Posen but in June it was given to Zieten's Corps. In 1761 the battalion was with the army in Silesia.

The grenadiers formed a grenadier battalion with the grenadiers of Garrison Regiment no.8 in the Seven Years War and suffered heavy losses at Hochkirch and Kunersdorf.

And this was the uniform in 1756: