18th century town plans revisited again

Although there wasn't much interest in my town plans I'm still doing some work on them, as I find them appealing myself. Here's a snapshot of the plan of Prague in the 18th century as it now is, with the street plan almost completed.

Trooper of the Saxon Chevauleger Regiment Prinz Karl

First raised 1733. 8 companies in 4 squadrons 1756, theoretical strength 762. Chef: to 1758, Prinz Karl von Sachsen, after 1758 Duke of Kurland. Commanders: 1745-1757 Leutnant-General Nostitz, mortally wounded Leuthen; replaced by Colonel von Benkendorf. The chevaulegers regiments were mostly mounted on cheaper Polish horses than the cuirassiers and the Rutowski Dragoons, who had the more expensive German horses.

3 of the chevaulegers regiments were stationed in Poland when much of the Saxon army surrendered at Pirna in 1756 and so avoided the capture and forced enlistment by the Prussians which most of the army suffered. From 1757 those 3 chevaulegers regiments served with the Austrians. All 3 were at Kolin 18th June 1757, where, along with Austrian cavalry and infantry, they delivered the coup de grace to the Prussian army late in the day, the first major defeat the Prussians had suffered. As they hacked into the Prussian infantry the Saxon battle cry was "Dies ist für Striegau!" ["This is for Striegau!", the Saxon name for their defeat at Hohenfriedberg 1745]. The Saxons had much to avenge, as Frederick bore a grudge against all things Saxon that manifested itself in all manner of brutalities. Prinz Karl were at Moys, September 1757, when Winterfeldt's Prussian detachment was crushed and Winterfeldt, Frederick's closest confederate, was killed (possibly shot in the back by his own troops). They were also at the Austrian victory at Breslau, November 22nd 1757, as part of Nadasdy's right wing. At Leuthen December 5th 1757 the Saxon chevaulegers regiments were savagely mauled. Initially they were in advance of the main Austrian army at Borne, where Frederick's advance guard beat them and pushed them back on the Austrian army's main lines. They were then sent to the left flank, where they were involved in the main Prussian flank attack that routed the Austrian and allied army. Nostitz, their commander and "a first class officer" (Duffy, "Prussia's Glory"), was mortally wounded and out of a total of around 1200 men in the 3 chevaulegers regiments, 479 were killed, wounded or captured. Prinz Karl alone lost 214, probably more than 50% of the regiment. The 3 chevaulegers regiments continued to serve with the Austrian army for the rest of the war; Prinz Karl particularly distinguished themselves at the Relief of Olmütz June-July 1758, when a large Prussian convoy was destroyed forcing Frederick to abandon the siege with heavy losses, and at the battle of Freiberg 29th October 1762.

Coming soon - Trooper of Saxon Chevauleger Regiment Prinz Karl

The templates are done and now I have to do the write up before posting. There's quite a lot to say about these troops!

Mounted jäger of the Württemberg Feldjäger zu Pferde

Raised 1759, at a strength of 2 squadrons. Served in Hesse and Saxony in 1759 and 1760. Disbanded 1768.

Württemberg troops served with the French and Austrians until 1760 but I do not know exactly where the cavalry, including the Württemberg Feldjäger, served. There was also a company of foot jäger, dressed very similarly (except for yellow lace on the hat, white breeches and smaller cuffs with 3 or possibly only 2 buttons), who were disbanded in 1765.

Musketeer of Hessen-Darmstadt Landbattalion Fock

First raised 1699. Commander: General-Leutnant von Fock (or Foch).

Hessen-Darmstadt supplied a very fine battalion of infantry to the Reichsarmee which distinguished itself at Rossbach and served throughout much of the war (see elsewhere on this blog for the template). The 2 cavalry regiments saw no active service in the SYW, it seems, but there are suggestions that the other infantry units, including Landbattalion Fock, were involved. Unfortunately I can find no information on organisation of this unit, nor on operational use in the SYW, or on any of the other Hesse-Darmstadt units. If anyone has information on this unit or the others, I'd be grateful to know it. Thanks.

32nd Reichsarmee Template - Trooper of the Pfalz Kurassiere (Electoral Rhenish Circle) 2

The Palatinate Reiter Regiment Prinz Friedrich Michael von Zweibrücken consisted of 3 squadrons of 3 companies each, with 144 men in each squadron. In 1757 2 of the squadrons joined the Reichsarmee and combined with the Kurpfalz Oberrheinische Kreiseskadron to form the Pfalz Kurassiere (see below). For unit history also see Pfalz Kurassiere 1, below.

31st Reichsarmee Template - Trooper of the Pfalz Kurassiere (Electoral Rhenish Circle) 1

Re-raised 1754 as the Kurpfalz Oberrheinische Kreiseskadron. 1 squadron of 3 companies, with a strength of 172 men in 1757. With the Reichsarmee it was combined with 2 squadrons of the Prinz Friedrich Regiment to form the Pfalz Kurassiere, with a total strength of 460 men (but only 413 horses!).

The Inhaber was GFM Pfalzgraf Friedrich Michael Von Zweibrucken. Commanders were: Freiherr von Siegenhofen, 1760 von Wickenburg, General Stechinelli. Present at a number of actions including Rossbach 1757 (where it formed part of the second line of cavalry swept away by the Prussian flank attack as it was trying to form up), Leipzig, Torgau, Meissen, Dippoldiswalde, Maxen 1759, Meissen, Strehlen, Wittenberg 1760, Weida, Zwickau, Plauen, Hof 1761.

There are some disagreements about details among the sources but this seems to me the most likely SYW uniform for this contingent of the regiment. The shabraque pattern I have taken from a 1775 painting of Palatinate troops in the Anne S K Brown collection, as otherwise I have only verbal descriptions. The detailed Martin Lange material in the Pengel and Hurt "Bavaria, Saxony and Palatinate Supplement" seems to me to be the most authoritative source of material so I have relied most on that, although referring to the other P&H material, the Sturm cards and others. Note that, despite the name, Palatinate cavalry had apparently not worn the cuirass since the War of the Spanish Succession.

The next template will be of the second contingent of the Pfalz Kurassiere, the Prinz Friedrich Regiment.

18th century fortified town outlines I've drawn; a few questions

A while ago I did a number of outline drawings of 18th century fortified towns, including Prague, Mannheim, Minden and a few others, based on contemporary plans. I could make an .svg file of them available if anyone is interested in using them; they could be useful e.g. on fairly large-scale campaign maps, fictional or otherwise. If I were to do so, would people like them to show the approximate street plans and areas of building, or would they be happy to have the outline only? (They do not at the moment include the street plans so it would take me a while to add them.) They are also currently not to scale but I could spend time adding a scale and then adapting them all so they are shown at the same scale. Obviously it would be much quicker to release them as they are but I'd be happy to do the aforementioned "improvements" if that would make them more useful.

Anyway, I look forward to your comments. Thanks.

David.

A few of the map symbols are now available as an .svg file

I have now created an .svg file of some of the map symbols I did a few months ago. There's nothing here particularly new, except that I've done the symbols with both blue and red roofs as requested, but people who care to use Inkscape: www.inkscape.org (or any other vector graphics program that can import .svg files) can now fiddle with and use these symbols and/or export them from Inkscape et al in different formats if they wish to use them on their non-Inkscape produced maps.

The blog will not unfortunately let me upload the .svg file so, if anyone wants it, please leave a message in the comments with your email address (suitably disguised to avoid spammers) and I'll email it to you. (The image here merely shows what is in the Inkscape file.)

I hope to find time to do some more map symbols soon - perhaps when the 48 hour day comes into force. ;-)

David.

P.S. Update 29.10.09: I noticed that the .svg file has done funny things to the windmill - basically the arms have been filled when they should be open so the detail is obscured. I've now fixed this so if anyone wants the upadted file rather than doing it for themselves then let me know and I'll email the updated file to them.

Trooper of Württemberg Roeder Dragoons 1760

Württemberg Roeder (or Röder) Dragoons first raised 1758 as the Dragonerregiment von Degenfeld. Inhabers: 1758 Colonel Christoph August Count von Degenfeld; 1759 Major-General August Gottlieb Reinhard von Röder; 1762 Major-General Wolfgang Heinrich von Rothkirch. Von Degenfeld also commanded the regiment from 1758-9. Composition: 4 squadrons.

2 squadrons served in Saxony in 1760.

I've chosen to depict the regiment in 1760 when it was the Roeder (or Röder) Dragoons as we have a good contemporary illustration of the regiment by Johann Christian Becher (Stiftung Weimarer Klassik) (the New York Public Library website has a much larger and clearer version of this than the one on the Kronoskaf site (which is under "Degenfeld Dragoons")). This does not, as far as I can see, show a black collar (see, by contrast, Pengel and Hurt, and Kronoskaf) but probably a white one, if it shows a collar at all (the image is unclear). The buttons are also curious as those on the coat look as if they are tin, contrasting with brass buttons on the waistcoat. Without seeing the original or a very good reproduction this is speculative. Consequently I've shown them all as brass. The lace on the hat may be gold but I suspect is more likely to have been yellow. It is clear from the Becher illustration that there were at least 8 buttons on the lapels and possibly more.

Trooper of Bavarian Preysing Dragoons

Impoverished by years of war during the War of the Austrian Succession, Bavaria had to make severe cutbacks and the army was reorganised in the 1750s. The 4 cavalry regiments, 2 regiments of cuirassiers and 2 of dragoons, were below strength - at the beginning of the SYW there were 1190 men and only 270 horses all told. The cavalry took no part in the SYW.

Preysing Dragoons, like the other regiments, had a theoretical strength of 9 companies with 38 men each, organised in 3 squadrons in wartime. From 1758 Preysing became la Rosée. Little seems to be known of the regiment's history or that of the other 3 regiments.*

So why, given the total lack of involvement in the SYW, have I drawn a template of one of them? Well, I liked it; it's simple and elegant and red-coated, and I like its obscurity. Who can resist an elegant redcoat uniform? Not me...

*If anyone has detailed regimental histories, please let me know! Thanks.

Saxon Hussar of the Frei-Husaren von Schill

Raised 1761. Commander 1761-3: Rittmeister Johann-Georg von Schill, an ex-Austrian officer from Bohemia, born a commoner and ennobled for his services to Austria and Saxony. He was the father of the Prussian officer von Schill who led an unsuccessful revolt against Napoleon in 1809 in which the younger von Schill was killed. Unit only about 40 strong (a very weak squadron) and it probably formed the bodyguard of Prinz Xaver, Comte de Lusace, the Saxon commander, although Kronoskaf says the unit also included mounted and foot jägers (citing Schirmer).

There were two uniforms and this is the earlier one; the later one may not actually have been worn during the SYW. We do not know what the horse furniture of the earlier uniform was so I have left this as a blank shabraque on the coloured version but using the pattern of the later version.

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.

14th and 15th Reichsarmee Templates: Grenadier and Musketeer, Infantry Regiment Baden-Durlach (Swabian Circle) - colour versions

17th Reichsarmee Template: Trooper of the Hohenzollern Cuirassier Regiment (Swabian Circle) - Colour versions

12th and 13th Reichsarmee Templates: Grenadier and Musketeer, Infantry Regiment Fürstenberg (Swabian Circle) - Colour versions

It seems impossible to add the colour images in to the previous post with only the b/w templates without making a complete mess of the formatting so I'm having to create new posts just for the coloured versions - one thing that makes one realise the limitations of a blog! Perhaps one day I'll get round to making a website for the templates and then I'll have complete freedom to use any layout I like...

29th Reichsarmee Template - Fusilier of the Kreisinfanterieregiment Württemberg (Swabian Circle)

I've shown the figure in the fusilier cap which is documented for 1748 and 1781 but which is apparently not specifically documented for the SYW. The detail is largely taken from the New York Public Library website image of a watercolour of a grenadier and "fusilier" of the regiment with the date 1759. If this is a contemporary depiction then it is indeed evidence that the fusilier cap was worn in the SYW but I am doubtful that it is contemporary, even though much of the detail is convincing.

28th Reichsarmee Template - Grenadier of the Kreisinfanterieregiment Württemberg (Swabian Circle)

First raised 1638. 1 battalion in 1757, with 10 musketeer and 2 grenadier companies; an actual total of 963, far below its theoretical complement. Made up of 6 contingents. 2 3 pounder guns were attached. Inhaber: The Duke of Württemberg.

Attached to the Reichsarmee for most of the war (up to 1762) but not at Rossbach, the regiment was rated as "adequate" by Soubise.

The mitre cap is my reconstruction based on verbal description (at Kronoskaf) and a crude but informative watercolour on the NYPL website. Presumably like other Württemberg grenadiers they would have worn a white cloth cover over the mitre cap.

I'm still considering what to do for the musketeer as the headgear at the time of the SYW is uncertain and may have been a very Prussian-style fusilier cap. Breeches were probably white in the summer, yellow in winter. There is also some dispute about the colour of the aiguillette; some sources suggest white rather than yellow.

Grenadier of Württemberg Infantry Regiment Spitznas

The grenadier template shows the uncovered mitre cap; in action all Württemberg grenadiers wore the white cloth cover on the mitre to avoid being mistaken for Prussians.

Musketeer of Württemberg Infantry Regiment Spitznas

Raised 1752 from the 2nd Battalion of the IR Prinz Louis. 2 battalions, each with 5 musketeer and 1 grenadier company; each company c.100 men for a theoretical total for the regiment of 1219 officers and men. Each battalion had a 3 pounder gun attached.

During the early part of the SYW the regiment was paid for by the French government. In 1757 it joined the Austrian army in Silesia and was at Breslau on November 22nd and Leuthen on December 5th, but escaped from Leuthen with relatively few casualties. In 1758 one battalion joined the French army and was at Lutterberg on October 10th and also in action near Lauterbach and Fulda on November 30th. From 1760 Austrian subsidies paid for the regiment and so it joined the Austrian army in Silesia once again, seeing action during the siege of Wittenberg.

Colour definitions

Now I've started to provide coloured templates, the problem of defining colours is something I'm having to tackle. It doesn't help that I don't use a properly calibrated monitor, partly because when calibrated my monitor is far too bright and gives me bad headaches so I like to keep the display fairly darkish. So I'm trying to standardise the colours I use, the basis I'm using for this being the readily accessible Wikipedia pages on colour here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colors which give RGB definitions etc.. I make no claim to being 100% correct or entirely purist about this; as we know, 18th century uniform colours are nightmarishly difficult to define anyway. But it does help to have some sort of standard by which to work. Just in case anyone wants to know! :-)

27th Reichsarmee Template - Musketeer of the Infantry Regiment Effern (Electoral Rhenish Circle)

Effern was part of the contribution of the elector (Kurfürst) of the Pfalz to the Reichsarmee. First raised 1690, Effern consisted of 1 contingent, with 2 battalions (a total of 8 companies of musketeers, each company c.137 men) with 2 grenadier companies (each c.100 men). The total was therefore around 1296 men. The regiment had 2 4 pounder cannon in May 1758. From 23.5.1755-17.8.1769 the colonel was Josef, Graf von Effern. The regiment missed Rossbach as it was on detached service. It was with the Reichsarmee at the taking of Torgau in August 1759 and Maxen in November 1759, and stayed with the Reichsarmee until at least June 1760. It was certainly not at Freiberg 1762 where the Reichsarmee distinguished itself.

In his discussion of Palatinate uniforms in Pengel and Hurt's Bavaria, Saxony and Palatinate Supplement (1981) Martin Lange argues convincingly that Palatinate infantry were clothed in dark blue during the Seven Years War, apart from Effern, IR No.3, which was in a much lighter blue. When in 1777 the Palatinate troops were absorbed by Bavaria, the Palatinate infantry all switched to light blue coats like those of Effern, and in 1783 the Bavarian infantry followed suit.

The red facings come from earlier (and even some recent) published material but it seems highly likely that white facings (on the right) are more accurate. I prefer the look of the red myself but... Yellow buttons were introduced sometime between 1759-1777 but it is not known if the change took place during the SYW so I have shown them as white metal as they would have been until at least 1759.

26th Reichsarmee Template - Musketeer of the Infantry Regiment Nassau-Weilburg (Upper Rhenish Circle)

Nassau-Weilburg consisted of 2 battalions, each of 5 companies of musketeers and a company of grenadiers. The unit had 2 3 pounder cannon. The men came from 26 different contingents and Soubise rated the regiment in 1757 as "adequate". Figures in Pengel and Hurt Reichsarmee suggest that the total number of men in the regiment in 1757 was fewer than 900 but this may be a typo.. No doubt much to the regiment's pleasure it missed Rossbach, being on detached service at the time. One battalion was captured on 15.9.1759.

2 possible variants of the uniform are shown, one with yellow buttons and red/white pompoms, one with white metal buttons and blue/white pompoms. It is not at all clear which is the more likely to be correct; perhaps, indeed, they represent differences between the 2 battalions and are therefore both correct.

25th Reichsarmee Template - Musketeer of the Paderborn Infantry Regiment Mengersen (Westphalian Circle)

A regiment of a single battalion and composed of a single contingent, this Paderborn unit was rated as "adequate" by Soubise.

The lace above the cuffs seems odd without buttons but the pictorial material I could find suggests that this was the arrangement (unless someone has other material to the contrary, which I would be grateful to know about!).

Minor updates to units of the Reichsarmee

I've now added coloured versions of the Hessen-Darmstadt Kreis Infantry Regiment (Upper Rhenish Circle) and the Münster Regiments Nagel and Elberfeld (Elverfeldt) (Westphalian Circle).