SYW French Grenadiers, Heavy cavalry and Hussars

Continuing the French project, I am working on a further 25 elements of grenadiers, heavy cavalry and hussars. Taking an inventory of my Prussians and Austrians I had created an “excess” list from which I could expand the French. 

Grenadiers

The year 1757 marked a transition in headwear for the grenadiers as the Grenadiers de France wore bearskin caps in a fashion similar to the Austrians. It would not be until a year later that this fashion would become standard for men of the grenadier companies of the line battalions.

At Hastenbeck, there were three units present, Grenadiers de France, Grenadier Royaux de Solar and the converged companies from 12 battalions. Trademark of the grenadier was the wearing of a moustache and by a stroke of luck, my extra Hungarians would fit the bill; all wore moustache, poses exhibited a lot of panache, and the grenadiers had the right cap. Eureka!

In the photo, the first three columns (left to right) represent the four battalions Grenadiers de France, the converged grenadier companies and the two battalion strong Royaux de Solar. The black gaiters for all the figures were given an undercoat of beige. With white as a second coat, the presence of the ankle boots would not be seen and outlining the gaiter with dark grey would strengthen the illusion of a gaiter in place of tight breeches characteristic of the Hungarians. The only evidence of an older uniform were the Linzen on the coat lapels and these like the gaiters were given an undercoat of beige and covered with the lapel colour.   

Foreign troops and mercenaries

The vast Austrian Empire still retained a presence in the Netherlands and during the opening campaign of 1757 granted France the assistance of an Austrian brigade of four battalions, de Ligne, Sachsen-Gotha, Los Rios and d’Arberg. The first two listed were present at Hastenbeck.

In the photo, the middle column represent the two battalions and the keen viewer may note the flag is not the standard yellow field with black eagle. In various forums we had many discussions about regimental flags for both the German and Hungarian regiments. Further detail, I would recommend the reader to the section on flags at Kronoskaf.com/Austrian Line Infantry colours.

 We do know the dates when the flags changed design, but do not know when each regiment received them. We know however, newer models were issued when the older flags deteriorated or were lost in battle. Another significant item, each of the regiments present at Hastenbeck were the third or depot battalion which would more than likely retain an older model of flag. The one pictured here in the photo, was taken from the famous painting by Carl Rochling titled After the Battle of Hohenfriedberg.  

The next two columns are the brigades from the Palatinate Electorate. The Palatinate were one of the few German states to have a sizeable standing army and through a subsidy contract with France supplied two brigades present at the battle. These were positioned in the third line before Hastenbeck and as the figures for the converged grenadiers these are former Hungarian. These will have blue coats, white waistcoats and breeches. I am painting only two flags, one for each brigade, but these will not be easy. See here for an interpretation of Palatine Line Infantry colours.  

 

The last two columns in the photo are the brigade du Roi and the Hussar regiment of Bercheny. The Cuirassier du Roi are wearing tricorne and not the bearskin cap. The German cavalry regiments in the French army did wear bearskin caps, but my reading have the Cuirassier du Roi following the fashion after 1757. The other regiments within the brigade are not “identified” which offers me a Pandora’s box. In a recent TMP topic, the question was asked if the French heavy cavalry wore their cuirass outside or under their coat.

If you scroll down,  it was suggested the coat may not have been worn during hot weather which would expose the front plate worn over the buff waist coat, essentially making the trooper devoid of any regimental identifiable feature. I love this.  

Although the two hussar regiments, Bercheny and Pollereskey were with the army, they were not engaged at Hastenbeck. Call this future planning, as the campaign develops, I shall be adding more light troops for “le  petite guerre”.   

Cheers,

Re-building a SYW Prussian Army

Before I continue expanding the SYW French, I need to organize the SYW Prussians and Austrians which were re-based in January. From the duplicates and extra elements I will fill some vacant spots in the French order of battle. As with the French and Allies at Hastenbeck, I selected a historical confrontation which would use most or all of my Prussians and Austrians.

A prelude Two years ago, we played the first phase of the Bohemian campaign of 1757, whereby four Prussian armies entered Bohemia in April of that year surprising the Austrians. The opening of the campaign was brilliantly executed, as Frederick advanced over a broad front of 200 miles to eventually converge on Prague two weeks later.

The reader wishing to know more about the events leading up to the Battle of Prague, I can recommend Kronoskaf.com, section campaigns.

We played out one of those columns which had the Austrians fight delaying actions back to Prague making use of force marches, night marches, and ambushes. It was a very insightful exercise as we recorded orders on a daily basis including breaking camp, march distance and setting up camp.

We did not play the large engagements of Prague (May) or Kolin (June), though we both had large collections, they were simply not large enough. Now, rebasing the entire SYW collection for DBA-HX means we can hopefully duplicate those battles.

I selected the Frederick’s order of battle before Prague as this was the largest army he commanded since the start of his reign, 64,000 men organized in 66 battalions, 113 squadrons, 82 heavy guns and 128 battalion guns. Using my conversion ratio, this equates to 66 elements of foot, 23 of horse, 8 cannon and 12 artillery elements. This total excludes command elements.

To the north of Prague, was Keith’s corps set to block Prince Charles’ escape. This added an additional 30,000 or in DBA terms, 29 foot, 8 horse and 3 artillery. Looking at the order of battle, I can further define the troop types, so Frederick and Keith’s forces break down thusly:

Frederick’s forces:
9 Kn (Cuirassier), 6 Cv (Dragoon), 8 Cv (Hussar), 11 Grenadier, 35 Musketeer, 18 Fusilier

Kieth’s corps:
4 Kn (Cuirassier), 2 Cv (Dragoon), 2 Cv (Hussar), 9 Grenadier, 18 Muketeer, 2 Sk (Frei korps)

You will note, the Prussian Hussars are classed as Cavalry and not Light Horse, as the changes instituted by Warnery produced battlefield cavalry, even Frederick commented they fought like Dragons. The Hussars of other nations were not yet as disciplined, so are still for DBA-HX purposes LH.

Checking the order of battle with what I have, the cavalry are complete, however, I am short 8 grenadier and 5 musketeer elements but have enough for all the fusilier and Frei Korps. This will mean a short shopping list.

On a footnote, the cavalry of the entire Prussian army consisted of 13 Cuirassier, 12 Dragoon and 10 Hussar regiments, so all regiments were present at Prague with the exception of four Dragoon regiments facing the Swedes and Russians. Further, there were 34 Musketeer (68 bns), 16 Fusilier regiments (32 bns), and 23 converged grenadier battalions which meant nearly the entire Prussian army was involved in the Invasion of Bohemia.

Next step All that remains is to compare the order of battle with those figures already based and look at the regiments that need to be filled with what I already have. More later.

Cheers,