Uniforms and Equipment of the Old Army - Cavalry - Cuirassier Regiments - Regiment of the Gardes du Corps

The Regiment of the Gardes du Corps goes back to the namesake unit established by Frederick the Great in 1740.

The garrison was always Potsdam, at times also Charlottenburg and Berlin.

The owner of the unit was regularly the Prussian king; the first regimental commander was Otto Friedrich von Blumenthal and the last regimental commander was Peter Martin Count York von Wartenburg.

The formation, which belonged to the Prussian army from the aforementioned year of establishment until its dissolution on 01.10.1919, therefore had 23.06.1740 as its founding day.

Initially only one squadron (178 men) strong, the unit was first increased to 3 (1756) and finally to 5 squadrons (1796).

When the Prussian army was reformed in 1808 the Regiment of the Gardes du Corps was indeed retained, but at first counted only 8 companies.

The formation received the aforementioned name only on 24.04.1855.

From 1867 (28.02.) the unit again counted 5 squadrons.

It was always an elite unit, which in the old Prussian army also served as a model unit for the cavalry and was deployed in battle.

In the Seven Years' War it fought — not always complete — at Lowositz, at Prague, at Kolin, at Rossbach, at Spielberg, at Leuthen, at Hochkirch, at the siege of Dresden, at Burkersdorf and Reichenbach.

The formation was also involved in the Bavarian Succession War and in the campaign against Poland.

In the unfortunate year 1806 the unit fought at Auerstedt.

In the Wars of Liberation the Gardes du Corps were engaged, for example, at Arcis-sur-Aube and in the capture of Paris, but they did not take part in the Battle of Waterloo.

In the war against Denmark the Regiment of the Garde du Corps was not directly involved.

In 1866 the unit fought, among others, in the Battle of Königgrätz and in the Franco-Prussian War, among others, at St. Privat-la-Montagne, at Beaumont, at Sedan and at the siege of Paris, but had no major combat engagements.

In the First World War the mobilized unit first fought at the Marne and then operated in positional warfare in northern France.

Later it performed more policing duties on the Belgian–Dutch border and from mid-1915 fought on the Eastern Front. Here the formation was employed in positional warfare near Pinsk and Kovel until mid-1917.

This was followed by deployments in Galicia, Courland and Livonia and until early 1918 west of Lida (a town in western Belarus, near the border with Poland and Lithuania). Then policing tasks followed in Ukraine.

On 12.11.1918 the regiment received the order to return and returned to Potsdam on 13/14.02.1919, where it was demobilized and ultimately dissolved on 01.10.1919.

The http://www.denkmalprojekt.org lists 107 fallen, missing and deceased members of the Regiment of the Gardes du Corps in the First World War by name.

The Koller of white kersey had a rounded collar and, on the Swedish-style cuffs, two white (old Prussian) lace stripes with red piping. These were embroidered in silver on the officers.

The (narrower) lace trim of the non-commissioned officers was patterned like that of the Guard infantry.

The white shoulder straps showed no name inscription but had red edging.

Around the collar and the sleeve cuffs and down the front ran a red-white-red Koller braid.

The collar was lowered in 1868. From 1893/95 it was almost closed at the front.

The buttons were white.

The Koller replaced the Kollet and was introduced by AKO of 23.10. and 08.12.1842.

It was closed by hooks and eyes (16), not by buttons.

The back seams and the skirt pockets had red edging.

The cut of the skirt was initially bell-shaped.

The armpit buttons on the Regiment of the Gardes du Corps showed the company numbers.

With the Koller the metal helmet was also introduced (AKO of 22.02.1842 and 05.04.1843).

The helmet of the Regiment of the Gardes du Corps was made of tombak and had as front helmet ornament the silver eight-rayed guard star.

The eagle in the yellow-metal central shield was black-enameled.

On officers the star was silvered and inlaid with enamel and gold.

On the officers' helmet the base of the spike was divided into four parts. The spike was fluted. The rosettes were star-shaped. The ventilation hole in the spike neck had a cross shape.

For parade a nickel-silver — ready-to-fly — eagle was screwed on.

This was silvered for officers and had a golden crown.

The base remained the trefoil.

Otherwise the helmet followed the development of the cuirassier helmet.

The cloak of the ranks was — from 05.05.1894 — light gray.

The Regiment of the Gardes du Corps had a special breastplate.

This had a gilded central shield for non-commissioned officers.

For officers the central piece was red-enameled, the trophies were chased, and the rim consisted of white metal.

The cuirass was covered with brass plates. For officers these were made of tombak.

The connecting straps had brass scales; among the ranks and NCOs they were brass chains.

Additionally, for the spring parade in Potsdam the Regiment of the Gardes du Corps had cuirasses of black-lacquered iron with a binding of red wool or red silk.

The connecting straps were brass scales. For officers these were gilded.

The dark-blue tunic was regulation. Collar and sleeve cuffs were ponceau red and showed guard lace like on the Koller.

It had red skirt lining on the officers' coats.

The officers' Koller corresponded to that of the ranks, but could be made of cloth.

The lace stripes consisted of silver embroidery.

The epaulettes and shoulder pieces of the officers had silver fields or edgings.

As mentioned, the metal plates mounted on the officers' cuirass were made of tombak.

The scales were gilded.

The officers also had a red gala coat. Mila describes it (History of the Clothing and Equipment of the Royal Prussian Army 1808–1878, Berlin 1878 (reprint Krefeld 1970, p. 162) as follows: "For the great court gala the officers of the two guard regiments wore ponceau-red tunics, as described in § 572, with silver buttons, Swedish cuffs, square-cut collars; on each cuff and each side of the collar two silver lace stripes; epaulettes as on the Koller; to this, for the Regiment du Corps dark-blue collars, cuffs and coat facings, for the Guard Cuirassier Regiment cornflower-blue collars and cuffs with white edging and white coat facings. With these coats at great court courts white breeches and high cavalry boots with stiff shafts, cartridge pouch and pallasch, at great court balls long white breeches of casimir (= cloth of cotton) with braid, no sashes and no cartridge pouch, and instead of the pallasch the small sword were worn."

From the beginning of 1900 the officers of the Regiment of the Gardes du Corps wore the supraweste, the cover for the saber pouch and the bandolier of red velvet.

The waistcoat, the pouch, the cartouche and the bandolier were trimmed with silver patterned braid or silver-embroidered.

The Regiment of the Gardes du Corps had a special gala guard uniform.

Its striking component was the so-called supraweste.

This was a red wool waistcoat with a surrounding white braid and a guard star appliquéd at the front with a hand-embroidered center in enlisted-man execution.

The waistcoat had hooks at the sides for closing.

The interior of the waistcoat was lined with linen.

In addition — from 1883 — a saber pouch was worn. This saber pouch was made of juchten-red dyed leather and had a binding in double Koller braid.

It also showed the curved name cipher FR and above it a crown made of white ribbon.

The saber pouch was attached to the belt with white straps.

The white trousers were made of washed leather.

The high black cavalry boots were made of stiff polished leather.

On the Koller and on the tunic the trumpeters, as usual, wore swallowtail adornments.

These were trimmed with regimental braid. In the Guard the braids were patterned.

In addition there was a special braid trimming on the sleeves of the Koller. The Koller had braid trim on the sleeve seam and on the sleeves, set transversely eleven times. The shoulder straps were also of braid trim. The swallowtails were white and also trimmed with braid.

The latter were furnished with fringes for the staff trumpeter. He also had 12 transverse braids.

Trumpeters never wore cuirasses.

For parade the eagle was also mounted; previously the trumpeters had red hair tufts.

The trumpeters did not wear suprawestes for gala.

The cuirassiers received high — old Brandenburg-style — boots, which had already been trialed since the mid-1850s. These became obligatory for the ranks from 1867.

The shafts were pulled up high. During foot duty they were pushed down.

Later (from 1886) gaiter boots came into use.

The Gardes du Corps therefore had white kersey trousers with white piping. The latter was later omitted. The white trousers were also faced with white riding leather.

There were also cloth trousers and stable trousers.

Spur straps were in use on the shoes and boots.

Furthermore, white gauntlet gloves were in use.

The armament of the cuirassiers initially included the pallasch. From 1814 French captured pieces came into use. These were also to be retained by the Gardes du Corps.

With regard to the pallasches there were then two forms, namely French and Russian. The former had three side guards, the latter two. The basket was made of brass.

The grip was made of twisted brass wire.

The officers wore so-called dress daggers for small dress and off-duty.

The guard officers had the small silver guard star on the grip of the pallasch and the dagger.

From 1888 the cuirassiers had lances of wood, from 1890 of cast iron. The holder strap was white.

As firearms pistols and — generally from 1888 — carbines (M 1871) were in use. The former were replaced from 1883 by the revolver 79.

The cartridge pouch had a lid fitting, namely a silvered star. For officers it was a silver-enameled star.

The usual belt was white, as was the bandolier.

From 1883 the gala guard uniform included a white bandolier trimmed with red braid and a white belt likewise trimmed with red braid.

The cartridge pouch was then also made of white leather, trimmed with Koller braid and set with a silvered star.

The saddlecloths and saddle flaps were dark blue with white trim.

In the rear corners of the saddlecloths and on the saddle flaps was the star of the Order of the Black Eagle.

Its orange-coloured medallion showed the black eagle with yellow talons, crown etc. The wreath was green and the crown above it was embroidered light yellow.

For the officers it was silver embroidery or silver braid.