30th Reichsarmee Template: Trooper of the Ansbach Dragoon Regiment (Franconian Circle)

Franconian Kreis-Dragoner Regiment first raised 1691. Inhaber: Markgraf von Brandenburg-Ansbach. Composition: 5 squadrons each of 2 companies, theoretical establishment a total of c.700. 21 contingents. Disbanded 1791.

Fought at Rossbach, where as part of the second line of the right wing of cavalry their performance was not entirely uncreditable as they lasted longer than the Hohenzollern and Bayreuth Cuirassiers before being routed by the Prussian envelopment. In May 1758 had a strength of 407. Still with the Reichsarmee in June 1760. Not at Freiberg 1762.

I've chosen the simplest recorded variant of this uniform, which more closely matches later near-contemporary depictions and seems more likely given the poverty-stricken nature of the Reichsarmee. Richard Knötel in his Uniformkunde shows a surprisingly complex uniform with white lace on the buttonholes and a curious emblem like a coiled snake on the shabraque. The Sturm cigarette cards figure shows a much darker blue for the facings and dots around the sinuous pattern on the edge of the shabraque.

21st Reichsarmee Template - Feuerwerker of Upper Rhine Artillery Contingent

After all those fancy musicians here's a taste of the darker and more workaday side of war - a very soberly dressed Upper Rhine artilleryman of the Reichsarmee.

9th Reichsarmee Template - Musketeer of the Kurtrier Infantry Regiment (Circle of the Elector Rhine)

Christopher Duffy says of the regiments of the Kurrheinsiche Creis (Prussia's Glory p.29):

"The Catholic bishop-electors as a tribe were the most whole-hearted supporters of the allied cause in the Reich... All of the regiments of this Circle were formed from contingents from single states, which gave a coherence that was lacking in some of the units from other circles. However Johann Philipp the Prince-Bishop of Trier would have been much put out to learn that his regiment had been dismissed as "very bad" (vilain) [by Soubise]. He had driven forward the mobilisation of his two battalions as being a matter which concerned so closely "his name and standing with His Imperial Majesty and the whole Empire". He had obtained anew almost every item of equipment, down to the iron ramrods, and he had commandeered all the tailors of Koblenz and Ehrenbreitstein, forbidding them to work on anything but the uniforms, and threatened them with severe punishment if they made a botched job through over-haste."

The regiment ran at Rossbach after firing a single volley; they suffered no fatalities and only 27 identifiable wounded (according to Duffy, Prussia's Glory, p.83) so clearly did little hard fighting there! However, they were amongst the Reichsarmee units that fought long and hard at Freiberg in 1762; although the battle was ultimately a defeat, it was the Reichsarmee's "finest hour" as a fighting force. This batch of Reichsarmee uniforms will therefore be a celebration of those units that did well at Freiberg; next will be the infantry regiment Baden-Baden.

Uniform: Black hat, white scalloped hat lace and white metal button, black cockade, blue-red pompons. White coat, red cuffs, lapels and turnbacks. White waistcoat and breeches. White metal buttons.

2 battalions of 4 companies and 2 guns with 1,120 men total (detail from Kronoskaf - see links).