"The infantry of Prussia in 1806 was 'a museum piece'
reflecting the great days of Frederick the Great
imposing in appearance but decidedly disappointing
in performance" - David Chandler
However Prussia was fortunate to possess, at this low ebb in its history,
such able reformers as von Scharnhorst and Graf von Gneisenau
who put the Prussian army on a modern basis.
1. Introduction: Prussian Infantry. 2. Organization. 3. Tactics. 4. Uniforms. 5. Weapons. 6. Infantry of Royal Guard. 7. Grenadiers. 8. Line Infantry. 9. Light Infantry: Jagers, Schutzen. 10. Landwehr Infantry.
Interview with Oliver Schmidt:
"Splendid old General Horn was at the head of the |
Picture: Prussian infantry in 1806, by L.& F. Funcken. (Castermann Publishing 1969) - L'uniforme et les Armes des Soldats du Premier Empire
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Organization of Prussian Infantry. In 1806 the Prussian infantry consisted of 60 infantry regiments (2 battalions each), incl. the regiment of Foot Guard. There were also 27 grenadier, 24 fusilier and 3 jagers battalions.
Grenadier battalion had 805 men:
Fusilier battalion had 690 men:
Each of the 120 musketier battalions had 830 men: [1] - the 'reserves' were ordinary musketeers, fusilers or grenadiers. They joined their parent battalions for periods of excercise. They were paid only during that exercise period. In wartime they were paid and were used to replace the killed, wounded and ill soldiers and those detached for other duties, and deserters. Picture: Prussian flags of pre 1806 pattern. Leibfahne (left) and Regimentsfahne (right). Source: warflags.com
In the Jena Campaign the French troops captured some 340 Prussian colours !
Colours and standards were carried by a senior NCO (fahnen standarten trager).
he was armed with a saber and was ranked with a Feldwebel. The escort of color consisted of
so called colour-bearer-NCOs (fahnen-unteroffitziere) armed with spontoons.
"The two battalion flags were known respectively as the Avancierfahne and the
Retirierfahne, in effect the 1st and 2nd colours of the battalions. The 1st colour of the I Battalion of a regiment was also known as the regiment's
Leib-fahne. Generally speaking, the Retirierfahne of a I Battalion was of the same design and colouring as both colours of the II Battalion,
whilst the Leib-fahne was in reversed colours from the other three, this being especially true with regard
to flags issued after 1808.
Flag staffs were white except for 12 battalions, which had black: In December 1808 a regiment's strength was regulated at 2 musketier and 1 fusilier battalion. The grenadiers still were part of the regiment but on campaign they were detached. They were grouped into Grenadier Battalions, one of which was attached to each of the army's six brigades.
At the end of 1808 there were the following infantry units:
In December 1812 eight 'Militia' battalions were raised by Bulow in East Prussia. In March 1813, the Prussian infantry consisted of 12 regiments. Each had two numbers; one was its precedence in the Line, and the other, precedence in the province it recruited from.
During the 1813-1814 campaign the Prussian infantry consisted of:
In 1815 Prussia had 32 line infantry regiments (3 battalions each)
Below is list of regiments. These were the 12 'old' regiments, solid, well trained and well dressed. Only these regiments carried flags. They were formed from the 12 reserves infantry regiments. They got to know their new names in March and April 1815 when the Prussian king send orders from Vienna, Austria. The monarch participated there in the politically important Congress. Some of these units fought very well in the Waterloo Campaign, for example the 18th Regiment bled the most of all Prussian infantry regiments. They suffered 810 killed and wounded in the fighting with the French in Placenoit. It was awarded with 33 crosses. reserve battalion of Elbe Regiment and 7th Replacement Battalion
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Tactics of Prussian Infantry.
"The Prussian army of 1792 used several different firing techniques. In 1808 the Prussians reorganized their infantry and this was followed by the Exerzir Reglement fur die Infanterie der Koniglich Preussischen Armee of 1812. According to George Nafziger the Ordinairschritt and Geschwindschritt were still 75 and 108 paces per minute. As in 1788, the post-1812 Prussian infantry manoeuvred in the Zug column and executed many of its manoeuvres from this formation. When the Prussian infantry marched to the battlefield it still marched in the Zuge column.
Picture: forming battalion column of Zuge from line
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General von Clausewitz was not happy with the method the Prussian infantry defended villages. He wrote: "We use up our troops too fast in stationary combat. Our officers call for support too soon, and it's given them too readily. The consequence is that we suffer more dead and wounded without gaining any ground, and we transform our fresh soldiers into burnt-out husks." Picture: Prussian infantry fighting in Mockern in 1813. Picture by Keith Rocco, USA.
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Uniforms of Prussian Infantry. In 1718 Prussian king Frederick Wilhelm drew back from the manners and fashions of Frenchified Europe and invented a solemn and simple military dress. This however didn't last long and from mid 1700s until Napoleonic Wars the French style more or less again dominated the European and Prussian fashion of military.
Picture: uniforms of Prussian infantry in the Jena Campaign in 1806.
Picture by Andre Jouineau.
The coat of Prussian infantryman was dark blue with lapels, collar, cuffs, and shoulder
straps in regimental colors. Turnbacks were red for all regiments.
Headgear for musketiers was a black hat with white edging and plume in regimental color. In 1808, a new uniform was adopted by the infantry. The runic was the dark blue 'Kollet' which had first been issued in the end of 1807. The Kollet terminated in the front at the waist and had short coat-tails at the rear. The front bore two rows of buttons. Until 1813 (1814 ?) the collar was cut back to expose a black stock worn around the throat. In 1813 the collar changed and it was cut square and was hooked up to the top corners. Since 1815 the collar was closed, but was left unfastened on campaign. Picture: Prussian 11th Infantry Regiment, by Steven Palatka.
In 1813 the Prussian infantryman carried a light brown knapsack and grey
linen bread bag. The grey greatcoat was worn rolled en bandolier over the shoulder also in summer.
Items of clothing or other small personal belongings inside the rolled greatcoat acted as quite effective protection from saber cuts. The canteen was strapped to the outside of the knapsack. A piece of leather cloth was wrapped around the greatcoat roll to help keep it from working loosee and slipping off the shoulder.
The greatcoat was almost ankle-length but in 1814 was shortened. Its collar was in provincial color until October 18th 1813, then grey with provincial-colored patches. Infantry regiments were distinguished by the color of the collars, cuffs and shoulder straps. The color of collar and cuffs was the provincial colors, while the color of shoulder straps indicated seniority of the regiment within the province. In 1815 the troopers in Grenadier-Regiment Kaiser Alexander wore white shoulder straps with their chef's monogram in red. Those in Grenadier-Regiment Kaiser Franz wore red shoulder straps with yellow monogram. Picture: Silesian Infantry Regiment in 1812-1814, by Knotel. From left to right: NCO of fusiliers, musketeer, private in depot, musketeer in campaign dress, NCO of musketeers in winter parade dress, and NCO of musketeers in typical combat outfit. In 1813, due to financial difficulties there was little uniformity in the Prussian army. The Prussians wore their own uniforms, uniforms supplied by Britain, and captured French uniforms. In 1815 majority of the new regiments that were formed from reserve, foreign, and volunteer troops had not received their new uniforms of line infantry before the campaign began. Regiments' appearances were not unified, some individuals wore altered French uniforms, while others wore red coats and shakos from England. Their knapsacks were mix of Prussian, Swedish, British and French ones. Some wore even blue trousers or civilian ones.
In 1815 some units wore white uniforms. Peter Hofschroer explains the loss of many officers
of 28th Regiment at Gilly "because their Prussian blue uniforms contrasted with the white
of their men, making them stand out as targets for French fire.
The next day, the survivors were ordered to don their darker greatcoats so this would not
happen again." (Hofschroer - "1815: The Watreloo Campaign ..." p 185)
After 1815 the Prussian uniform was modeled on Russian design as Russian military enjoyed great reputation after the Napoleonic Wars. See picture > (ext.link) In 1813-1815 the officers wore waist sash (cloth of silver with two black embroidered lines), grey trousers with a red stripe and gilt buttons down the seams worn over or under the boots (not gaiters). Officers carried packs. In 1814 officers' shoulder straps were abolished and epaulettes were issued. During campaign the shako of privates and NCOs was covered by an oilcloth/oilskin and the tall plume was removed. The white circle on the oilskin was introdced in the 1812 campaign for those units which were in the field. As far as I know, this practice was not continued in the 1813 campaigns. So you will find the circle for Musketiere and Füsiliere in 1812, but not later (possibly, some of the covers continued to be worn, but I doubt it). As there were no grenadiers in the field in 1812, you won't have grenadiers with the circle. In 1815 majority of the new regiments (formed from 12 reserve, foreign, and volunteer units) were able to replace the grey cap with a regulation covered shako. In 1813-1815 many soldiers used the captured French shakos (they removed their eagle plates and cockades). The headwear for reserve units was a grey peaked cap called schirmmutz. It was based on the contemporary civilian cap and had rather poor appearance. Some battalions had a capband in provincial colour. A black chin strap was worn. Within followng months most units replaced the cap with a regulation shako (covered with oilcloth).
The line infantryman wore grey trousers with 3 buttons at the bottom. Black gaiters
or black knee-length boots were worn until January 1814. Gaiters were worn under or over the trousers. Due to shortages of uniforms and financial dificulties some troops wore white linen trousers during summer campaign. NCOs wore marching boots instead of gaiters and carried canes.
This is what Oliver Schmidt had to say about Prussian infantry's legwears in 1815: (because they went down only a hand's width above the ankle) In the Elberfeld Manuscript (which will be available in print soon http://www.vs-books.de/elber.htm) there are several images of Prussian line infantrymen with white trousers worn over the gaiters, most of them of 1815. By the way, in the same year, there are also long grey trousers found, which are worn over the gaiters - this seems to be an intermediary pattern between the earlier short grey trousers and the long grey gaiter trousers." The line regiments were distinguished by different color of collar and cuffs. During campaign the NCOs were distinguished by gold lace on the top edge of the cuffs and around top edge of the collar. (No distinctions seen on the shako because it was covered by oilcloth.)
"The uniforms of the Reserve Infantry Regiments may be divided into four types: In response to Prussian requests, large number of British uniforms began to arrive in 1813. Most of them were issued to the reserve infantry. There were also numerous individual cases of reserve infantrymen replacing worn out or lost items of uniform with the French equivalent. Left: Prussian reserve infantry. Picture by Steven Palatka.
Right: the 9th Reserve Infantry Regiment in 1813.
(21st Infantry Regiment in 1815).
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Infantry of the Royal Guard. Picture: Regiment of the Foot Guard in 1808 in Konigsberg, Eastern Prussia. The Foot Guard was a special unit. Their dress-parades, inspections, reports, salutes, bearing in the presence of officers and on guard, were wonderfully regular, accurate, and according to the regulations. The Foot Guard Regiment (Garderegiment zu Fuß or Regiment Garde zu Fuß ) had similar organization to the line regiments and consisted of 1 fusilier and 2 musketier battalions. In summer 1813 the Foot Guard Regiment was removed from the line, causing the other regiments to be re-numbered. The 2nd Foot Guard Regiment was formed from battalion of Colberg Regiment, fusilier battalion of Leib Regiment and a drill demonstration battalion.
In 1813 and 1814 the Guard Brigade was attached to the
Russian Imperial Guard.
In 1815 in the Waterloo Campaign the Guard Brigade and Grenadier Brigade Picture: Guard Jagers in 1810 (in our opinion they were creme de la creme of the Prussian light infantry). Picture by Knotel. The Guard Jäger Battalion (Garde-Jäger-Bataillon ) has its origins back to the wars of King Frederick the Great. In 1813 and 1814 they fought in numerous engagements but didn't see any action in Waterloo Campaign in 1815. They wore dark green coats, red collars and cuffs, grey trousers, shako covered with oilcloth, cartridge box with brass star. They were armed with rifles and bayonets.
After the 1814 campaign a single battalion of Schutzen . The Guard Brigade have participated in some heavy fighting during the campaign of 1813 in Saxony. The Foot Guard Regiment and Guard Jäger Battalion had very high losses at Großgörschen (Lutzen). They did fight in 1813 in Leipzig and in 1814 in Paris. The Guard Jägers took part in a lot of minor skirmishes troughout the 1813/14 campaign.
In 1815 in the Waterloo Campaign the Guard Brigade was in reserve and took no part in the fighting.
One of the battalions of Prussian Guard was attacked by French cuirassiers and dragoons in Etoges in 1814. Picture by W. Kossak
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Grenadiers
For the campaign of 1806 Prussia had 27 grenadier battalions. After the defeats at Jena and Auerstadt
the number of grenadier battalions and infantry regiments was reduced. The infantry
regiments had only 2 grenadier companies each. See below:
For war the grenadier companies formed battalions (4 companies each).
In 1813 the grenadier battalions were distributed among infantry brigades in various army corps. For example at Leipzig two battalions were in Advance Guard, two in 1st Brigade, one in 3rd Brigade etc.
In 1814 four grenadier battalions were put together
and formed one brigade.
In the end of 1814 the grenadier battalions were for the first time formed in two full regiments. The honorary chefs of these units became Allies' monarchs, Tsar of Russia and Kaiser of Austria. In 1815 the two units formed a single brigade under von Ratzmer.
The Prussian grenadiers were not a precious elite kept in reserves and out of harm's way. They participated in numerous combats, especially those units attached to the advance guard.
Two grenadier battalions participated in as many as 20-30 combats (!), the remaining four in 12-15 combats on average. In 1815 the two best battalions (see below) became part of the 1st Grenadier Regiment (1. Grenadier-Regiment-Kaiser-Alexander). The third battalion of this regiment had 15 combats.
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Line Infantry. Picture: musketiers of 1st and 2nd West Prussia Infantry Regiment in War of Liberation in 1813. Picture by Knotel. The line infantry included musketiers and grenadiers. The line infantry made the bulk of the army. For example in 1806 there were 147 battalions of line infantry (120 musketier and 27 grenadier) in comparig to only 27 battalions of light infantry (24 fusilier and 3 jägers). The average height of Prussian infantryman (in 1811) was 1.63 cm. The minimum height for the recruits was 157 cm but for the guard was 175 cm. "The grenadiers (and guardsmen) were the tallest, although probably the tallest musketeers will have been a bit taller than the shortest grenadiers. Prussian Fusiliers should have been the smallest and most agile men of the regiment, but in fact, they were just the smallest..." (- Oliver Schmidt)
In March 1813 Prussia had the following infantry regiments: One of the best line units was the 9th 'Life' Infantry Regiment (Leib-Infanterie-Regiment). In July 1813 the 8th Infantry Regiment was taken out of the line and became the 1st Foot Guard Regiment (1. Garde-Regiment zu Fuß) so the 9th 'Life' Infantry Regiment became the 8th 'Life'. The Life Infantry Regiment was the first unit assigend to the Brandenburg Province but never bore number 1. In July 1813 thirty-nine Battalions of Reserve Infantry were grouped into 12 Reserve Infantry Regiments. These troops had little training and they lacked everything; uniforms, weapons etc. They were enthusiastic and patriotic. The reserve infantry regiments became infantry regiments on March 25 1814 and were numbered 13th-24th. (See below.)
reserve battalion of Elbe Regiment and 7th Replacement Battalion (32nd was not formed before December 1815)
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Light Infantry.
Picture: from left to right: two buglers of the Silesian jagers
(in campaign and parade uniform), officer and private of the Silesian jagers,
three volunteer-jagers (freiwillige-jagers).
The Fusiliers, Jägers, Volunteers Jägers and Schützen were the Prussian light infantry. However very often the 3rd ranks of musketeers (line infantry) served as skirmishers. They were to make use of woods, bushes, buildings, gardens, walls and hills.
Two examples below, one from 1813 (Battle of Leipzig) and another from 1815 (Waterloo Campaign).
A member of the Prussian 12th Brigade describes attack on Probstheida near Leipzig: "We [skirmishers] moved up via Meusdorf and the brickworks against Probstheida.
The first thing that hit our skirmishers - of which I was one - was an artillery crossfire.
It didn't take long for us to be scattered. We reformed and threw ourselves into a sunken road up against the
loopholed garden wall of the village. We waited until the French had fired a full volley at our main body, jumped out of the road and rushed forward to take half the village.
The surprised French fell back before us, abandoning a battery of 10 guns in the centre of the
village." (Digby-Smith - "1813: Leipzig" p 195)
The light infantryman had greater allowance of practice rounds per year than the line troops.
In 1812 the target practice was:
Jägers
Volunteers Jägers
Fusiliers
Schützen
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Landwehr Infantry. Picture: Silesian landwehr, by de Beaufort, France. Loraine Petre writes: "A decree of the king established the landwehr, based on the model of that of Austria of 1809. ... As the impoverished state of Prussian finances precluded much assistance from the State, the expense of equipment had to fall on the men themselves, or their villages. ... At first, the front rank was often armed with pikes or scythes, and it was only as French muskets were taken from the battlefields that the men were armed with yet another pattern of firearm. There was a great dearth of officers, as most of the half-pay officers still fit for service were required for the reserve battalions. All sorts of officials, many of them very unsuitable as military officers, joined, and it was only later on that men of some experience were got from the 'volunteer-jagers, etc. Naturally, the landwehr, as a whole, was at first of no great military value, though their initial worth was in some corps (Yorck's and Bulow's especially) enhanced by long marches and still more by early successes." (Petre - "Napoleon at War" p 114)
The Landwehr accepted men aged 25 to 40, too old and weak for the regular troops.
They were equipped not by the central goverment and ministry of war but by provinces.
The men wore either a black or dark blue Litevka coat with white, dark blue or grey
trousers. Each regiment had three battalions of 4 companies.
"The Prussian Landwehr regiments adopted and carried in the field many unofficial designs of flags prior to the issuing of the order of 30th September 1813 which prohibited their further use. From October that year until 1816 when a new official Landwehrfahne was introduced it seems that these units were without flags." (- warflag.com)
In June 1815 were the following Landwehr regiments: Picture: Battle of Lutzen, picture by Oleg Parkhaiev of Russia. On the left Prussian Landwehr. The performance of the Landwehr in combat varied. They stampeded on several occassions and also had some splendid actions. Digby-Smith writes: "The Prussian Landwehr received their baptism of fire at Lowenberg. The Schweidnitz battaalion braved canister fire and threw the enemy back at the point of the bayonet. They were only taken out of the line when they ran out of ammunition, and when they marched past Yorck he had his line regiments oresent arms to them. Blucher wrote: 'At first it was only so-so with the Landwehr battalions, but now that they've had a good taste of powder, they're as good as the line battalions.' Napoleon, however, had a very different opinnion of them. When he saw some captured Landwehr, he wrote: 'The enemy infantry is absolutely wretched; this encourages me." (Digby-Smith, - pp 18-19) In 1815 in the battle of Ligny, the II Btn. of 1.Westphalian Landwehr formed square on top of a hill near Brye. The Landwehr was charged three times by French cuirassiers and heavy cavalry of Old Guard. Each time the Landwehr fired volley and the French retired with casualties.
This is a myth that the Landwehr was never used in skirmish order. They were used as
skirmishers if only the tactical situation required it. On few occassions even entire
battalions were employed in such formation. In 1813 at Hagelberg the full IV Battalion of
3rd Kurmark Landwehr deployed into skirmish formation and advanced forward together with
two other battalion formed in columns screened by their own skirmishers. In the end of
battle approx. 300 Prussian skirmishers pursued 2 battalions of French infantry
(total 1.000 men). These skirmishers were joined by Cossacks and Russian guns and the
French halted and surrendered.
The typical Landwehr uniform was designed for function and serviceability, not show. The outfit was much plainer than the finery worn by most regular troops but were easily manufactured in the numbers necessary to outfit tens of thousands. They also wore captured French and purchased British items. "Their uniforms had to be provided by the municipalities, which led to many unfortunates marching off to war in terribly poor quality clothing which quickly fell apart. They had only one pair of shoes, which often fit badly and were frequently torn off in deep mud, leaving many soldiers barefoot for much of the campaign." (Digby-Smith, - p 36) Generally the Landwehr infantry wore either black or dark blue Litevka coat with grey or white trousers. The collar and cuffs were in the provincial colour (see diagram below).
"The Prussian Landwehr regiments adopted and carried in the field many unofficial designs of flags prior to the
issuing of the order of 30th September 1813 which prohibited their further use.
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Flags of Prussian Landwehr. Source: www.warflag.com click here This is an excellent (and large !) collection of Napoleonic flags by Alan Pendlebury. Please visit his website.
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Sources and Links.
Recommended Reading.
Schmidt - "Prussian Regular Infantryman 1808-1815", Osprey 2003
Hofschroer - "Prussian Light Infantry 1792-1815" 1984
Nafziger - "Imperial Bayonets" 1996
Craig - "The Germans" , published in 1991.
Digby-Smith - "1813: Leipzig"
Duffy - "Frederick the Great" , Rutledge 1985
Duffy - "The Army of Frederick the Great" New York 1974
Holborn - "A History of Modern Germany 1648-1840" publ. in 1982
Petre - "Napoleon’s Conquest of Prussia 1806", Greenhill 1993
Simms - "The Struggle for Mastery in Germany" St. Martin’s Press 1998
Information supplied by Oliver Schmidt of Germany.
flags from warflag.com
"Deutsche Uniformen - Das Zeitalter Friedrich des Großen" von Herbert Knötel d. J., Text und Erläuterungen von Dr. Martin Letzius, Herausgegeben von der Sturm-Zigaretten GmbH Dresden-A. 21 (Erscheinungsjahr: 1932)
Prussian Infantry 1815
(plastic soldiers for wargaming and dioramas).
Colors of Prussian infantry regiments (1740-1806).
Military Flags 1701-1918 (Prussia, Germany).
Prussian Infantry - - Prussian Cavalry - - Prussian Artillery
Battle of Dennewitz, 1813
General von Bulow crushed Marshal Ney
Battle of Leipzig, 1813
The Battle of the Nations,
the largest conflict until World War One:
Battle of Waterloo, 1813
The German Victory - interview with Peter Hofschroer
Infantry Combat and Tactics
Musketry, Accuracy of Muskets, Bayonet Attacks