Tuesday 19 May 2009

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...

Monday 18 May 2009

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.

Sunday 17 May 2009

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.