SYW 40mm: 6th Prussian Hussars “Fleischhacker”

Here is a squadron of Sash & Saber's new 40mm SYW Prussian hussars. I've just done the four figures and I plan to have 4 squadrons in total. At full strength Hussars were 10 squadrons strong, divided into two 'battalions' of 5 squadrons each, but were regularly hived off into smaller parts.

I painted this unit because of the unusual uniform, brown being quite a rarely used colour in the 18^th century. The regiment was often referred to as” die Kapuziner” (the Capuchins) or the “Fleischhacker” (the butchers because brown was the colour of the guild of the butchers).

More Saxon Infantry

Here we have more Saxons from the excellent SYW Eureka range. The top two pictures show the regiment Minckwitz. This regiment was the second in the Saxon Army with dark blue facings. The battalion is accompanied by late-war grenadiers and the eagle-eyed amongst you might notice that lapels have been added to the coat. Upon their capture at Pirna the army surrendered their military accoutrements (mitres, flags etc) and were re-uniformed by the Prussian. So when the army was reconstituted later on in the war, and in service with the French, it was with Austrian style uniform details, like bearskins.

The bottom picture shows both early and late grenadiers of the regiment Prinz Xaver. The regiment has been painted before and these are now ready to join their companions.

40mm SYW Prussians: GL Friedrich von Forcade

Frederick William Quirin von Forcade ( Marquis de Biaix ) was born in 1698 to a well established military family and he was the son of a Lieutenant General. He entered Prussian service in 1713 aged 15 and by 1740 was Lieutenant-Colonel of his father's regiment IR 23. On 4th December 1747, he became a major general and in July 1748 Chef of the same regiment. On 10th February 1757 he was appointed a lieutenant general.

Forcade participated in the Pomeranian campaign of 1715-16 and also fought in the Silesian Wars both at the battles of Hohenfriedberg and Soor. In that latter battle in September 1745 he was shot through the calf and severely injured. Frederick II, who seems to have liked him, recognized his heroism and awarded him the Order 'Pour le Merite'. During the SYW he participated in many of the battles – Prague, Roßbach, Leuthen, Zorndorf, Torgau and Freiberg. He was again wounded at Zorndorf. Towards the end of the war he was serving with Prince Henry, which might imply that he had fallen out of favour with his fickle monarch. He survived the war and died in 1765.

These figures are from the 40mm AWI range from Front Rank. They are part of the Hessian range but, of course, entirely suitable for use as Prussians in the SYW. They are quite glorious figures and the horses are particularly good. In my view the real genius of a sculptor of miniatures is to be found in their ability to sculpt horses not human figures.

I have been ignoring my 40mm ranges for a while but I really must up the Prussian presence as I have finished phase one of the Austrians. To see more of them, check the links on the right hand side of this blog and go to 40mm.

Prinz Clemens Regiment

This regiment was one of two in the Saxon army with medium/dark blue facings. Pre-Pirna it was two battalions strong and it's grenadiers wore the mitre (3rd picture) but by the time they had fled Prussian service and joined the French army they were down to a single battalion and their reduced grenadier company had been given Austrian style bearskins (picture 4).

Figures from the excellent Eureka SYW range with the latter grenadiers just added to the range.

Saxon Garde zu Fuss

Eureka Saxons from their excellent SYW range. I've painted them with the darker shade of red facings that they had pre-Pirna.