Archive for this collection

Heeressoziologie

The Prussian Army under Frederick William I (1713 - 40) - Chapter 13 - The Officers.

Descriptions of the illustrations follow.

Organisation

The infantry and cavalry regiment, battalion, or the infantry company or the cavalry squadron.

A contribution to the formation and organizational history of the old Prussian army.

Organisation

A contribution to the history of the Old Prussian Infantry Regiment Duke of Brunswick (IR No. 21).

Infantry Regiment No. 21 was formed in 1713 from various regiments returning from Dutch service, namely surplus personnel from five regiments. The canton (replacement district) lay in the Principality of Halberstadt, namely — in part — the counties of Wernigerode, Ilsenburg and Hohenstein and the towns Quedlinburg, Gröningen, Wegeleben, Halberstadt, Wernigerode, Derenburg, Bleicherode, Schsa, Ellrich and Beneckenstein.

Organisation

A contribution to the history of the Old Prussian Infantry Regiment Duke Friedrich Ferdinand of Brunswick-Öls (IR No. 12).

The Infantry Regiment No. 12 was formed - from detachments of seven field regiments - in 1685 in Potsdam and initially bore the name Markgraf Philipp.

Heeressoziologie

The Age and Length of Service of the Old Prussian Soldier

Looking at today’s circumstances one is easily tempted to imagine the Old Prussian soldier as a relatively young person. That this does not correspond to reality is shown by the surviving source material. Contemporary documents rather attest a comparatively high age and length of service and show that there were quite a lot of old men in the regiments.

Organisation

The Prussian Army under Frederick William I (1713–40) - "The Tall Lads" - on the History of the Famous Guard Regiment

Besides No. 3, the King's Regiment (No. 6) was the second infantry unit with an increased establishment. Even before the standing armies were formed, princes raised special formations for the protection of their person, some of which as early as the 16th and 17th centuries wore uniform dress and, above all, displayed splendid clothing; examples include the Swiss Guard of the Papal States (established 1506), the Royal Bodyguard (Trabant Guard) in England (established 1485), the Royal Noble Guard in Spain (established 1646) and the Royal Musketeer Corps in France (established 1622). The designation ‘guard’ became generally customary for these body and protective guards (Fr. garde = to protect, guard, watch).

Heeressoziologie

The Old Prussian Non-Commissioned Officer Corps - Insider Views of an NCO Group

Between the privates and the officers stood the non-commissioned officers as an intermediate link in the vertical structure. If one considers the Old Prussian army as a social formation, from the beginning of the 18th century a separation between the (senior) officer corps and the NCO corps can be observed, which was also reflected clearly in the fact that the Articles of War of 12 July 1713 applied only to NCOs and privates, i.e. no longer to the officers. With the reservation of officer positions for the native nobility as a means of its statization, the first third of the 18th century saw a social decline of the NCOs, who now together with the privates comprised the ranks. Nevertheless, in this precise system of superiority and subordination they, as holders of the lowest ranks and functionaries, had a weighty significance; the framework and conditions of existence of this NCO group therefore deserve to be the subject of consideration.

Uniformierung & Ausrüstung

Prussian Uniforms in the Wars of Liberation

Colored plates taken from:

Heeressoziologie

Laeso et invieto militi - the Old Prussian system for the care of disabled soldiers

Laeso et invieto militi = Inscription above the portal of the Berlin Invalidenhaus.

Heeressoziologie

The Old Prussian Military Medical Service

The essay originally appeared in the Zeitschrift für Heereskunde (1994, pp. 13 ff., without headings and illustrations).

Uniformierung & Ausrüstung

Prussian Soldier Types from the 'Soldatenfreund'

Heeressoziologie

Lutherans, Reformed and Catholics - a Contribution to the Religious History of the Old Prussian Army

The essay originally appeared in the Zeitschrift für Heereskunde (1990, p. 52 ff., without headings and illustrations).