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.

When recruiting replacement personnel not only the body height of the prospective recruits in view of the prescribed minimum was of interest, but minimum and maximum age limits also had to be observed. The Infantry Regulations of 1743 did not standardize a minimum age for the infantry, however the grenadiers should be of "ripe age"¹ and the recruits to be sent to the Guard "not older than from the 18th to the 26th year"². According to the regulations of 1743 the cuirassier and dragoon regiments "should take no horsemen under 30 years", the hussar regiments should recruit no recruits "under 28 years"³. When Frederick the Great in his last years prepared the formation of three free regiments, he specified that the corresponding "men should not be old but young and such who are not much over 20 years old and can run, since they must attack certain posts on the run"⁴. Elsewhere the king considered an age range of 20 to 45 years acceptable for the personnel of the free battalions. The regulation for recruitment of 01.02.1787 determined regarding the age of recruits: "With regard to the age of recruits the most careful consideration is also to be given upon their enlistment, and none of them shall be over 30 years old. If, however, such should be found who have only recently passed their 30th year, but are healthy and of robust constitution, and have good teeth, then men of that kind may still well be recruited. Yet no recruit shall be enlisted over 35 years, even if he should have the most advantageous appearance"⁵. In the Seven Years’ War the shortage of soldiers was in part so great that, due to the war, 15-year-old cantonists already served. An ordre of 31.12.1773 prescribed for the enlistment of canton-mandated recruits that the regiments should no longer take in young men under 20 years from their conscription districts (cantons); the recruits already enlisted under 20 years were allowed to remain in the units.

According to Lossow⁶ "the majority of the soldiers in King Frederick II’s army at least at the beginning of his wars ... were in the middle age between 30 and 40 years ...". Berenhorst⁷ reports that there were regiments "that did not have a man who would be over fifty years old". Such units, however, were exceptions, as the examples below documenting the age distribution in Old Prussian regiments demonstrate⁸:

On average, for example, the musketeers of the Infantry Regiment von Saldern (No. 5) in 1771 were 30 and the grenadiers of that unit 35 years old. The rank-and-file of the Infantry Regiment von Hacke (No. 8) had an average age of 33 years in 1783, with the grenadiers again older at 35 than the musketeers at 32. Also in the Infantry Regiment von Thüna (No. 23) the average age in 1784 was highest in the grenadier companies (36.5 and 38 years), while it was lowest in the life company (29 years). That company had only 9 men aged 40 and over. Kopka von Lossow reports about Infantry Regiment No. 16 that the average age of the rank-and-file at various times was between 29 and 30 years⁹. The relatively high age naturally resulted in long lengths of service. For example, the average length of service of the rank-and-file in the Infantry Regiment von Saldern (No. 5) in 1771 was 8 years, whereas the ranked privates of the Infantry Regiment von Hacke (No. 8) in 1783 had served on average 9 (locals) and 10 (foreigners) years. Finally, some examples of service-age structures in cavalry regiments:

Service obligation in the Old Prussian army was not limited in time; the foreigner (without capitulation) and the local served "for life"¹⁰. Foreigners, however, usually capitulated for a specified number of years. Frederick William I forbade the conclusion of time-limited capitulations in 1713¹¹; in practice this could not be enforced. According to item 15 of the "Disposition and Orders, whereby the Royal Prussian infantry regiments from the date of 13 September 1732 are to conduct themselves with regard to recruitment", the new capitulations were to be concluded for a term of six years, but there are also known ones for three years¹². Under King Frederick William I only for soldiers of the 1st and 4th ranks was a renewed payment of the signing money connected with a renewed capitulation. The already mentioned Regulation for Recruitment of 01.02.1787 stipulated that capitulations in the infantry were to be for a period of 10 years (and one day) and of both

Like the foreigners who voluntarily extended their obligations or had given up their capitulations (for example to obtain permission to marry), locals in principle also served until invalidity. A discharge normally took place only for lack of physical fitness, which usually meant too small a stature, or upon taking over a peasant farm. Only the revision of the canton constitution by the Canton Regulation of 12.02.1792 brought a fixed service period of twenty years for locals. A leave should, however, only occur after the completion of the twenty years of service if the respective soldier could prove "how he, without being a burden on the public invalid care institutions, and without requesting anything more than the free citizen- and master-right, is able to support himself"¹³. Canton conscripts not yet ranked had to present themselves annually for canton reviews from the 16th to the 45th year of life, and only upon reaching the stated maximum age did the service obligation lapse. The non-limitation of service time for locals was perceived as a defect. Therefore General von Moellendorff proposed, in the context of reform efforts at the beginning of Frederick William II’s reign in a memorandum of 9 June 1788, the limitation of service time to 18–20 years; the Duke of Brunswick agreed with this idea in a pro memoria of 19 June 1788¹⁴. In principle, however, locals already served only 20 years even before the fixing of a regular service period¹⁵, if one can speak at all of a twenty-year service period, since the active service of the cantonists and also part of the foreigners, namely the free guards, was limited to the so-called exercise period. According to the regulation of 1726 this lasted three months, was already reduced to two months in the regulation of 1743 and later comprised only six weeks.

Primarily cost reasons opposed a limitation of service time, for the discharged soldier had not only to be replaced by a recruit, which at least for foreigners could be associated with the payment of a signing bonus, but possibly also had to be provided for. The provision for service-incapacitated soldiers within the framework of the invalid system was in the Old Prussian army, above all for lack of financial means, only inadequately regulated. So they preferred to accept a certain aging of the ranks. However, the presence of an "old core" in the regiments was welcomed, since these experienced soldiers who had grown gray in service stabilized the quality of a unit, acting almost like corset stays. With an ordre of 13.09.1732 Frederick William I therefore criticized: "Since His Royal Majesty has also noticed that some regiments have discharged large fellows who were still healthy and fresh, and could still have served for a long time, though they were already advanced in years, He orders all their chiefs and commanders that in future no old fellow shall be discharged until he can no longer march"¹⁶. On 20 June 1742 Frederick the Great ordered: "The staff officers must pay special attention to the conservation of the old soldiers ..." and in a cabinet order of 9.08.1747 it read: old non-commissioned officers shall be kept with the regiment "as long as possible"¹⁷. The chief of H 5, Joseph Theodor Freiherr von Ruesch, received in 1749 a sharp royal order with the following content: "He has in one month dismissed 43 hussars of his regiment. Of this I am very displeased and do not understand how you come to discharge so many old men without asking me. Only completely invalid hussars may be discharged, the others remain in the regiment as long as they are capable of serving"¹⁸. In a letter of 21.06.1783 the king again expressed to the chief of the 1st Artillery Regiment and inspector of the entire artillery, Georg Ernst von Holzendorff, his view on the importance of old soldiers: "I find that you dismiss and send away so many non-commissioned officers in the artillery who can still serve well, and I am informed of such every day, who are by no means invalid and only want to be cared for in service. That is by no means in accordance with my intention that you should let the people of the artillery go so easily. Especially as regards non-commissioned officers; for if such have grown old, they are all the better suited for service; for they have so much more experience, and that is better than other young men who must first learn the matter ..."¹⁹.

Obeying the royal orders and practical considerations, attempts were made to "conserve" the old soldiers and the age structure was documented by exact personnel statistics at regimental level: among the essential personal data of the soldier that were entered in the lists and tables of the regimental books, in addition to civil status, profession, height and nationality (fatherland), are details on age and service and campaign experience. As usual, the values for the soldier’s age were subsequently compiled clearly for the individual company muster rolls and this overall result was recorded. Thus it was immediately possible to give detailed information about the age situation in the regiment. The current balance was compared with the previous year’s result, the age gradient fixed by groups, and the "old core" of the formation listed with special consideration of the "campaign events". If this shows on the one hand the need to record the potential of experienced combatants, on the other it can also be linked to a certain need for tradition: the regiment was understood as a historically significant organism whose members deserved mention as actors and participants in war-historical events.

There are numerous examples of the existence of an "old core" in the regiments; here is a selection:

Of the ranks of the Infantry Regiment von Saldern (No. 5) in 1771, 71 non-commissioned officers, 6 musicians and 179 privates (including 5 supernumeraries) belonged to the "old core". 1 non-commissioned officer, 1 musician and 2 privates were "in Silesia anno 1740 et 42", 26 non-commissioned officers, 2 musicians and 37 privates "in Bohemia, Saxony, anno 1744 et 45". Also a "Rheinströmer" still served in the regiment (the regimental drummer).

The Infantry Regiment von Hacke (No. 8) still had 69 non-commissioned officers, 6 musicians, 155 privates from the Seven Years’ War in 1783. In 1787 the Infantry Regiment von Braun (No. 13) still counted "several non-commissioned officers and 60 privates" who had already taken part in the Battle of Prague (6 May 1757). In 1777, that is 14 years after the end of the Seven Years’ War, the Infantry Regiment Prinz Heinrich (No. 35) still had 3/4 of the non-commissioned officers, 1/5 of the musicians and more than 1/4 of the privates who had experienced that war as participants.

In 1806 the Cuirassier Regiment von Beeren (K 2) counted no less than 109 invalid soldiers before the start of the campaign who stood in ranks and had in part already been acknowledged as such since 1802.

The Regiment of the Garde du Corps (K 13) still counted in 1788 3 non-commissioned officers, 1 trumpeter and 14 Gardes du Corps who had been at the Battle of Leuthen (5 December 1757) and 7 non-commissioned officers, 1 trumpeter and 22 Gardes du Corps who had taken part at the Battle of Zorndorf (25 August 1758). 15 non-commissioned officers, 1 trumpeter and 56 Gardes du Corps already belonged to it at the regiment’s march-in in 1763.

Among the ranks that stood in 1806 in the Dragoon Regiment King of Bavaria (D I) there was still a quartermaster who had served since 1756. 374 had been engaged in the "Rhine campaigns" (1792–95), 153 in the Dutch campaign (1787) and 75 in the Bavarian Succession War (1778/79).

In 1805 the Dragoon Regiment of Ansbach-Bayreuth (D V) still had 6 men who had fought in the Seven Years’ War and 142 men who already served in 1779.

The Dragoon Regiment von Borcke (D VII) in 1786 still showed 1 non-commissioned officer who had taken part in all of Frederick the Great’s campaigns; 133 had already served in the unit in the Seven Years’ War.

By ordre of 04.05.1743 Frederick the Great instructed the chief of H 1, Johann von Bronikowski, that the old hussars were to be dismissed; these were two 90-year-old (!) hussars²⁰.

In the brown Hussar Regiment (H 6) an 86-year-old hussar took part in the 1792 campaign²¹, and from the Hussar Regiment von L’Estocq (H 1) it is known that at the beginning of 1806 an 82-year-old non-commissioned officer served in it, 3 men were over 70 and 9 over 60 years old.

However, keeping already invalid soldiers in the ranks²² had a negative effect on the striking power of the troop. Too young or too old soldiers of course suffered particularly from the burdens of a campaign; the resulting increased losses could, especially with irregular provisioning or extreme employment conditions (e.g. overly long marches), lead to increased casualties or rising desertion. Soldiers who did not meet the requirements of a real emergency then formed the group of deserters, of those left behind and populated the hospitals. Nevertheless, the "conservation" of old soldiers made sense, for there are many examples of the courageous behavior of older soldiers in crisis situations, e.g. in the night battle of Hochkirch. Older soldiers also had a social function within the regimental association, for by exemplary conduct and exhortation they could make it easier for younger comrades to adapt to the world of the military shaped by coercion and obedience. This integrative assistance in the socialization process of recruits or unwilling soldiers is attested to several times in the literature; Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau reports in his writings: "It is certain that I have experienced it many times that disorderly soldiers, who would not be improved by punishment nor by the officers’ exhortations, when I had them admonished by old soldiers, changed so much thereby, that when I had been absent from the company and returned, I hardly recognized them again"²³.

The positive influence of older on younger soldiers in terms of disciplining is also confirmed by the memoirs of the well-known "poor man in Tockenburg" (Bräker)²⁴. This was also aided by the fact that age in the 18th century enjoyed high esteem; in the hierarchy-emphasizing world of that time age was authority and the power of the elder was unchallenged²⁵. Mente expresses this clearly in his memories: "Although the young people were permitted to take a place in the circle of the old, they were by no means allowed to take part in the conversation, for the long-serving soldier then claimed a special respect which was never to be violated with impunity. Yes, even the long-serving common man allowed no impertinent behavior from his younger comrades; the latter was only allowed to speak when he was asked, and during his recruit period, which then lasted a full year, he was not allowed to address his older comrades with 'Du' but had to use the more respectful 'Er'"²⁶. It is therefore understandable that Frederick the Great, after the first loss-ridden battles of the Seven Years’ War, lamented the loss of precisely this experienced cadre: "These old brave soldiers were no longer present, and the new ones, of which the army was composed, consisted largely of deserters or of weak young men under 18 years, who were unable to endure the heavy strains of a campaign"²⁷.