Württemberg Leib Grenadier Regiment

This is a complicated regiment as it it did not exist for very long. In 1758, the Garde zu Fuß was twice reorganised. During the second reorganisation, late in 1758, the Garde zu Fuß retained two battalions while its other battalion gave birth to this regiment -the Leibgrenadierregiment which recruited other troops to bring its total force to 3 battalions.

In 1762 and 1763, two battalions were detached from the regiment to form independent grenadier battalions designated Hausgrenadierbataillon and Herzogsgrenadierbataillon. The Leibgrenadierregiment now counting a single battalion was renamed Leibgrenadierbataillon.

So what we see here is the two battalion regiment sometime between 1758-1762.

Another thing that is strange is that Kronoskaf, where these organizational details came from, says that the officers had gold button colour whereas the rank and file had silver despite their brass fronted mitres. Mitre colour always matches button colour so I think the button colour should be brass for all.

Freihusaren von Glasenapp

In 1759, von Glasenapp, who had been in Prussian service, offered his services to the duke of Württemberg who was trying to hire light troops. On February 27, 1760, they came to an agreement and he then raised a squadron of 158 hussars on his estate at Holtmuhl. The unit was disbanded on February 7 1761 when the duke of Württemberg retired from the war. Soon afterward, the entire unit entered Prussian service as Glasenapp light dragoons.

The flag is fictional as is the regularity of their uniforms. Kronoskaf says they were badly equipped and they don’t appear to have performed brilliantly in the war

Gorcy Hussars

This Wurttemberg Hussar regiment was first raised in 1735 with a one squadron strength and was known as the Leibhusarenschwadron. Then in 1758 a further three squadrons were raised and the new regiment was renamed Hussars von Gorcy under it’s new French Colonel Johan Baptist Gorcy de la Martiniere. Wurttemberg was getting large subsidies from France to increase it’s army so it’s not unreasonable to guess that Gorcy (who hailed from a village of the same name in Lorraine close to the Luxembourg border and probably spoke both French and German) raised these extra three squadrons from both Frenchmen and Wurttembergers.

I think the colour scheme of green and red makes this a very attractive looking unit. Also, I wanted to comment on painting cavalry as this is a harder job than it might look at first glance. I always try to put different horses on each base and also different poses of cavalrymen. So no two combinations are the same. This involves no small amount of planning so that also no two horse colours are next to each other! This applies to hussars and dragoons – with cuirassiers I don’t mind so much as I like them all on black horses and, preferably, standing poses.

Lastly, the flag is a fictional creation. These Hussars were never issued flags.

Luckner's Hussars

Back again after a long break. That's because I've moved to Thailand and I'm posting this from the beautiful tropical island of Koh Samui. I've rented a house here and will be spending part of the year here and part of it back in France. So the last few months have been spent moving painting stuff and looking for a place to live. This is a tourist island so if you are in the area, say hello.

Back to painting. This is the first unit painted under these sunny skies and I'm back on familiar ground with Luckner's Hussars, a unit I painted back in February 2009. Last time I used Eureka 28mm figures, this time I've used Foundry Hussars and I must say these are lovely figures, full of character, and a sense of movement. As usual with Foundry, there is quite a lot of flash on the horses but once that has been cleaned up, they paint up nicely. This uniform was, by the way, the later and more well-known uniform with white and red being the dominant colours – the earlier uniform is rarely illustrated and was green and red. On that posting back in 2009 there is also a useful biography of Luckner himself – a man who rose to become a Marshal of France and lost his head, literally, in the Revolution.

Next week, and for quite a few weeks thereafter, I will be embarking on a large project – the Wurttemberg army of the SYW.