The Army of Augustus The Fat: My 15mm SYW Saxon Army

Elector Frederick-Augustus II of Saxony, also styled King Augustus III of Poland or ‘Augustus the Fat’

As mentioned before, I’m slowly painting my way through the order of battle for the Battle of Minden, which is serving as my ‘to do’ list for the armies in the West German Theatre of the Seven Years War.  However, I’ve also had occasional distractions along the way, including extra British cavalry, Highlanders, the Légion Britannique, French dragoons, Chasseurs de Fischer, Hessian Jäger, etc, etc.

But coming back to Minden, a significant portion of the French order of battle is Prince Xaver’s Saxon Corps.  The Saxon Corps was originally formed in 1757 from the thousands of Saxon deserters flooding into Poland, Austria and Hungary, having fled the Prussian regiments into which they had been conscripted following the surrender of the Saxon Army in 1756.

Prince Xaver of Saxony

In March 1758 the Saxon Corps was taken into French service and was initially formed into fifteen infantry battalions and two grenadier battalions.  The French also provided the Corps with 24x ‘Swedish’ 4-pounders, which had been purchased by the Dauphine and these were organised into two artillery companies which then provided the regimental artillery.

The Saxon Corps at this point did not include any cavalry, though as discussed in Part 1 and Part 7 of my previous articles on the Reichsarmee and Imperial Auxiliary Troops, five regiments of Saxon-Polish cavalry did manage to escape the surrender due to their being stationed in Poland.  However, these cavalry regiments remained as an auxiliary corps under Austrian command throughout the war and never served with the ‘main’ Saxon Corps.

Wargamers tend to have a poor view of the Saxons; primarily due to their mass-surrender at Pirna in 1756 and also due to their being kicked like a ginger step-child during the battles of the Second Silesian War; Hohenfriedberg (depicted the picture at the top), Soor, Hennersdorf and most notably at Kesselsdorf.  However, the Saxons generally fought well at regimental and brigade level; it was primarily their senior leadership (or lack of same) that was the problem.

During the Seven Years War, both Prince Xaver’s corps (with the French) and General von Nostitz’s corps (the five cavalry regiments with the Austrians) performed extremely well, aided in no small part by superb leadership from those two generals.  Most notably, Prince Xaver’s corps conducted a remarkably effective flank-attack against the Allied army during their first battle at Lutterberg and conducted a determined, though ultimately unsuccessful counter-attack at Minden.  They remained a solid and reliable force throughout the Seven Years War.

The Saxon Carabiniersgarde Regiment, which remained under Austrian command, as part of Nostitz’s Corps

The fifteen infantry battalions of the new Saxon Corps were initially organised into three two-battalion ‘Old’ Regiments (Kurprinzessin, Prinz Friedrich-August & Prinz Xaver) and nine single-battalion ‘New’ Regiments (Garde, Prinz Carl-Maximilian, Prinz Joseph, Minckwitz (which became Prinz Anton in 1759), Rochow, Prinz Clemens, Graf Brühl, Fürst Lubomirsky & Prinz Sachsen-Gotha).

Prince Xaver of Saxony, uniformed as a French Lieutenant General (1758)

Each regiment also included a single company of grenadiers, many of which were formed from former personnel of the old Leibgrenadiergarde, the Garde du Corps, the cuirassier regiments and the artillery corps.  However, the grenadier companies of the ‘Fürst Lubomirsky’ & ‘Prinz Sachsen-Gotha’ Regiments, being formed from former gunners, were immediately removed again in order to form the two new artillery companies.  The remaining ten grenadier companies were formed into two combined grenadier battalions.

In 1761 the Saxon Corps was reorganised, with all twelve regiments now consisting of a single battalion and a grenadier company.  The grenadiers were then massed into a Leibgrenadiergarde Battalion and two Feldgrenadier Battalions.  A new cavalry regiment (of which details are scant) and a single company of hussars were also added at this time, while the artillery contingent was expanded to three companies and 30 guns.

The Saxon Corps was clothed and equipped largely according to the old Saxon dress-regulations and colourings, though the uniforms came from Austrian stocks.  Consequently, the Prussian-style mitre caps worn by the old ‘Kurprinzessin’ and ‘Rochow’ Regiments were replaced by cocked hats, while the mitre caps of the grenadier companies were initially replaced by cocked hats with scalloped lace and then from 1761 with Austrian-style bearskin caps.  The exact cut and colouring of uniforms probably varied from the Saxon originals, depending on what was available from Austrian contractors.  New regimental flags were issued, which conformed to the old ‘fiddly’ Saxon designs, but which were made more cheaply, being painted onto a single layer of silk.

Thus far, I’ve painted the eight battalions of the 1st Saxon Brigade; the ‘Prinz Xaver’ Regt (2 Bns), ‘Prinz Friedrich-August’ Regt (2 Bns), ‘Prinz Carl-Maximilian’ Regt (1 Bn), ‘Fürst Lubomirsky’ Regt (1 Bn), ‘Prinz Joseph’ Regt (1 Bn) & ‘Prinz Clemens’ Regt (1 Bn), plus a grenadier battalion and an artillery detachment.  The next phase will be to paint the rest of the corps (7 infantry battalions and one grenadier battalion).  After that, I intend to expand the army in order to play some of the 1740s battles, such as Hohenfriedberg and Kesselsdorf; I’ll start by adding 2nd battalions to the ‘New’ regiments and grenadier battalions in mitre caps, followed by a load more cavalry, artillery and generals.

To start off, here are the two ‘Old’ Regiments, and the artillery.  I’ll cover the rest in Part 2.  For the infantry, I’ve used Eureka Miniatures 18mm Austrian infantry figures; this seemed like a good idea, but I soon realised that these are modelled with a bunch of oakleaves behind the hat-pompom, which wasn’t really a feature of Saxon dress until after 1813.  I did consider filing them off, but life’s too short… Who’s to say that they didn’t use such a field-sign while allied to the Austrians…?

Above:  The ‘Prinz Xaver’ Infantry Regiment was actually a relatively new regiment, being first raised in 1723 as a garrison battalion to guard the royal residences.  Then in 1729 it became the Dresden garrison battalion and in 1730 was expanded to a full regiment as the ‘Sachsen-Weimar’ Grenadier Regiment.  In 1733 the regiment lost its ‘grenadier’ title and was re-titled as the ‘Prinz Xaver’ Infantry Regiment, for the infant Prince Xaver of Saxony, fourth son of Elector Frederick-August II.  Consequently, when re-formed as part of Prince Xaver’s Corps in 1758, it was classed as an ‘Old’ Regiment, as it was the C-in-C’s own regiment.

Above:  The ‘Prinz Xaver’ Infantry Regiment served in Poland during the War of Polish Succession and was actively engaged in the First and Second Silesian Wars (Saxony was an ally of Prussia during the First Silesian War and an enemy during the Second).  However, the regiment went ‘into the bag’ in 1756, when the Army of Saxony surrendered to Prussia at Pirna.  The regiment was then dragooned en masse into the Prussian Army, becoming the new Prussian Fusilier Regiment ‘Jung-Braunschweig-Bevern’ (IR 57) and being sent to garrison the fortresses of Krossen and Cottbus.  However, their Prussian service didn’t last long, as in late March 1757 the entire regiment mutinied and escaped to Poland, where they joined the rapidly-forming new Saxon ‘Army in Exile’ (the Prussians reformed IR 57 from new Saxon levies, but the regiment was lost for a second time in November 1757 and was not reformed).

Above:  The ‘Prinz Xaver’ Infantry Regiment, as mentioned above, became one of the three ‘Old’ Regiments of Prince Xaver’s new Saxon Corps.  The ‘Old’ Regiments were initially organised with two battalions (reduced to one battalion in 1761) and a detached grenadier company.  The regiment’s grenadier company was formed from personnel of the dismounted Garde du Corps.  Each battalion comprised four companies and with each company numbering around 125 men, this gave a rough battalion strength of 500 men.

Above:  The ‘Prinz Xaver’ Infantry Regiment wore white coats and smallclothes, supplied by the Austrians but apparently conforming to the previous Saxon regulations.  This style had buttons spaced 1-2-3-3 down each side of the breast and three buttons arranged vertically at the ‘trailing edge’ of each cuff.  The cuffs, turnbacks and collar were coloured a pale shade of blue known as bleu-mourant and buttons were brass.  The regiment’s uniform did not have lapels or lace and shoulder-straps were either absent or they were white to match the coat.  Neck-stocks were red.  Hat lace was white for all regiments, though was gold or silver for officers and NCOs, matching the button colour.  Cockades were white and pompoms were white with a central spot matching the facing colour.

One mistake I’ve only just noticed; the officers’ breeches should be coloured bleu-mourant, not white!

Above:  The ‘Prinz Friedrich-August’ Infantry Regiment was originally raised in 1701 and fought in the Great Northern War, the War of Polish Succession, the Austro-Turkish War of 1737-39 and the first two Silesian Wars.  At the start of the Seven Years War in 1756, the regiment surrendered at Pirna along with the rest of the army and was conscripted into the Prussian Army as the new Fusilier Regiment ‘Loen’ (IR 56), being sent to garrison Lübben and Guben.  However, like the ‘Prinz Xaver’ Regiment above, in late March 1757 the entire regiment mutinied and escaped to Poland, where it joined the Saxon Army in Exile (the Prussians reformed IR 56 from fresh Saxon levies and it actually became one of only two ex-Saxon regiments (the other being IR 55) to last the course of the Seven Years War).

Above:  The ‘Prinz Friedrich-August’ Infantry Regiment, as one of the three ‘Old’ Regiments, was initially organised as two battalions (reduced to one battalion in 1761), plus a detached grenadier company.  In this instance, the grenadier company was actually raised from the regiment’s own personnel.

I should mention that the lovely flags are by Frédéric Aubert of Ad Hoc Editions, printed on my own laser-printer (which, thanks to the high-quality flag pictures now available from people such as Frédéric, as well as David Morfitt at Not By Appointment and websites such as Kronoskaf, has now more than paid for itself in the savings made on buying printed flags).

Above:  The ‘Prinz Friedrich-August’ Infantry Regiment‘s uniforms were essentially the same as those of the ‘Prinz Xaver’ Regiment above, except the distinguishing facing colour was yellow.  Note that again, I made the mistake of painting the officers’ breeches white; they should be in the facing colour.  Note also that Saxon officers wore waist-sashes of mixed silver and red threads and had white neck-stocks.

Above:  The ‘Prinz Friedrich-August’ Infantry Regiment.  The drummers of all Saxon regiments wore reversed colours, in this case yellow coats with white facings.  Smallclothes remained the same as the rank-and-file, so a facing-coloured waistcoat with white breeches.  Hats were also the same.  The coat was laced in the button-colour with lace buttonholes on the breast (arranged 1-2-3 from top to bottom), swallows’ nests on the shoulders, upward-pointing chevrons and seams on the arms and edging to the cuffs and pockets.  In this instance, the lace is yellow on yellow, which is a god-send to those of us who are bone-idle! 🙂

Above:  The Saxon Artillery Corps had traditionally been one of the more effective branches of the Saxon Army, with well-trained gunners and some very innovative artillery designs.  Most notably, the Prussians had received a very bloody nose at the hand of the Saxon gunners at the Battle of Kesselsdorf in 1745, with the Saxon Artillery Corps being the just about only part of the Saxon Army to come out of that débâcle with any credit.  However, Prince Xaver’s artillery contingent was a shadow of its former self, with only just enough hand-me-down French 4-pounders to provide one or two battalion guns to each infantry regiment.

This situation improved slightly in 1761 with the creation of a third artillery company and the expansion to 30 guns, though that still only allowed each battalion (including the grenadiers) to have a pair of battalion guns and it doesn’t seem that they were used as position artillery.

Above:  The Saxon Artillery Corps wore a rather attractive uniform consisting of a green coat with brass buttons and red lapels, cuffs, tail-turnbacks, collar and shoulder-strap.  Smallclothes were straw.  Hats had yellow lace, white cockades and two small white-over-red pompoms in the corners.  Belts were white and gaiters were black.  I’ve used Eureka Miniatures 18mm British Artillery figures for these, though I’ve had to pick out the British artillery officer figure (who turns up in the random-pose mix at a ratio of 1:5), as he’s got a clearly-modelled sash over the shoulder.  I can use him for other things.

Above:  The Saxon Artillery Corps originally painted its gun-carriages black and had ‘yellow metal’ fittings, thus matching the black-and-yellow-striped armorials of Saxony.  It’s a matter of some debate as to whether the ‘yellow metal’ was brass or simply iron painted yellow.  I’ve gone with yellow paint, as to be honest, brass looks a bit rubbish and from a soldier’s point of view, would have been murder to keep clean and shiny.  It’s likely that the ‘Swedish’ 4-pounders supplied to Prince Xaver by the French would have retained their light blue paintwork with black ironwork, though if they were re-painted black, they wouldn’t have replaced the ironwork with brass!  That’s my excuse, anyway…

For the gun I’ve used a generic SYW gun from my massive stash of spare guns by Old Glory 15s.

More Saxons to follow!  Also the story of Prussia’s Great Victory over France in our 1870 Campaign! 🙂