Sunday 27 April 2014

Saxons SYW: Infantry Massed band.

Massed band of musicians from every regiment! Not designed to fight but to just stand at the back and play jaunty musical ditties while their colleagues get slaughtered.
This concludes the infantry part of this project.

Saxons SYW: Prinz August Grenadiers

Grenadiers of the early and late parts of the SYW. This was a yellow faced regiment with yellow buttons. This creates a painting problem with the drummer – they wore reversed colours so had yellow coats laced in yellow!

Saxons SYW: Late Kurprincessen Grenadiers

The Saxons system was to use a particular facing colour for two regiments and to give one regiment yellow buttons and the other one white. But in the case of the facing colour, pale blue, three regiments used this. In the early period this did not matter as Kurprincessen was a grenadier regiment and all its ranks wore the mitre (white buttons) and it was easily distinguishable from
Prinz Gotha Regiment, which also had white buttons, but whose rankers all wore the tricorne.

But between 1757 and 1761 Kurprincessen all were forced to wear the tricorne (the mitres had been lost at Pirna), and then later in 1761 they were all given lapels on their coats and bearskins. This created a problem distinguishing grenadiers of Kurpincessen with those of Prinz Gotha. The Saxon solution (in 1761) was to give the grenadiers of Kurpincessen medium blue lapels and waistcoat while retaining pale blue cuffs and turnbacks. Confused, I'm not surprised!

Saxons SYW: Rochow Fusiliers


At first sight this regiment does not look Saxon at all but it was raised as a Fusilier regiment and by that original description it's job was to protect the artillery. By the SYW it was just another line regiment and had lost it's previous specific role. But if you look at the uniform of the Saxon artillery you will see that this regiment had essentially the same uniform with the exception that the artillery had gold/brass buttons and Rochow probably had silver/pewter ones.


There is confusion about the button colour but I stick to the theory that this regiment had white buttons to distinguish it from the artillery.

Monday 21 April 2014

Saxons SYW: Grenadier Garde


These pictures show the Saxon Grenadier Garde in their early and late headgear. Interestingly, during the WAS they appear to have had yellow coats with red facings and this appears to have been reversed by the SYW.

Saxons SYW: Lubomirsky Regiment


Here is Regiment Lubomirsky, one of two Saxon regiments with yellow facings. We are approaching the end of this project soon.

Sunday 13 April 2014

SYW Saxons: Bruhl Regiment


Regiment Bruhl was slightly unusual as throughout the war it appears to have had lapels. I have shown it with a dark red although this is conjectural. Note the late-war Grenadiers in bearskins. Also yellow buttons so yellow flag bordering and yellow drummer's lace.

SYW Saxons: Queen's Regiment


This is the first Battalion of the Queen's Regiment with it's pre-Pirna Grenadiers in mitres. Note that the bordering of the flags should always match the button colour. Kronoskaf is not always consistent in this matter.

Monday 7 April 2014

SYW Saxons: Prinz Maximilian Regiment

You have to like those Saxon uniforms - so colourful!
Figures from Eureka of course

SYW Saxons: Prinz Gotha Infantry


Here is another Saxon Infantry Regiment, although I'm only showing you the first battalion. Note the minor uniform change from early war to late war in the second picture - the early war grenadiers wear the mitre and the uniform had no lapels. By the war's end the mitre had been replaced by the bearskin and lapels had been added to the coat. Such is the minutiae of uniforms that is my minor addiction.

Sorry about the absence of posts for a while - I've been on holiday in Thailand. I lived in Bangkok as a child 50 years ago and there have been a few changes since then.