‘Imperial & Royal’: My 15mm Napoleonic Austrian Army (Part 7: There’s Never Enough Infantry)

At the start of this year I was set, hell-bent on completing the orders of battle for the Seven Years War Battle of Minden and the northern half of the Battle of Vellinghausen.  However, the SYW Mojo, which had been constantly pushing me forward through the last four years, suddenly started to flag after a couple of months.

But Tricorn-Lovers please don’t be alarmed!  The SYW will soon be back on the menu here at Fawr Towers!  However, I did suddenly feel a stirring in my loins for my first love… Napoleonics!  (which I prefer to call Wellingtonics, but then nobody knows what I’m talking about… Who flippin’ won the war, anyway…?)

I did a small 1809 French v Austrians game at W.A.S.P. to refresh my rules-knowledge and then we re-ran the Battle of Raab 1809, which was bloody good fun.  Then we had another crack at Neumarkt 1809, followed by Teugn-Hausen 1809.  You may be noticing a theme here…

My surviving reader might remember that in the very early days of the Lockdown Years, I did a series of articles on my Napoleonic Austrian army.  My stated intention was to paint the entire order of battle for the Battle of Aspern-Essling 1809 and I did actually get most of the way there (painting 14 infantry regiments and a lot more besides) before the mojo once again ran out.  The main cause of mojo-erosion was those fecking helmets!  As a consequence, I bought my next batch of infantry regiments wearing shakos, simply as a break from the tedium from painting all the fiddly bits on helmets.  Then of course, I didn’t get around to painting them for another five years…

But now I’m back in the zone, making myself snow-blind from all that flippin’ white paint and planning to finally achieve my long-held ambition to play Aspern-Essling.  Hopefully by the end of this year! 🙂

On the subject of Austrian shakos… As I’m sure you all know, it’s a generally accepted rule of thumb that all Hungarian regiments had received the shako (which had been ordered for all regiments in 1806) by the start of the 1809 Campaign.  From various internet discussions on this topic over the years, mainly involving contributions from the exceptionally well-read Markus Stein and Dave Hollins, that does seem to have been generally true, being confirmed for Hungarian Infantry Regiment 33 ‘Colloredo’ in 1806, followed ‘soon after’ by IR 2 ‘Hiller’, IR 52 ‘Erzherzog Franz Karl’ and IR 48 ‘Vukassovich’, with IR 34 ‘Davidovich’ confirming the issue in 1807.

The ‘German’ infantry regiments (‘German’ being a catch-all term for all the non-Hungarians, including Italian, Walloon, Bohemian, Moravian, Galician, etc) are generally assumed to have been still wearing helmets, though a handful of regiments also received the shako in time for the 1809 Campaign.  This is confirmed from documentary evidence for the Walloon IR 30 ‘Prinz de Ligne’ from December 1806 and for the Bohemian IR 54 ‘Froon’ from 1808.  There’s also the personal account of a Bohemian officer who bought the uniform of a dead comrade, which included a shako.  There is also some supposition based on near-to-contemporary paintings of those regiments in action, that the Bohemian regiments IR 15 ‘Zach’ and IR 18 ‘Stuart’ might also have received shakos before the start of the 1809 Campaign.

Regiments who definitely DIDN’T receive the shako in time for the 1809 Campaign are the Inner Austrian IR 27 ‘Leopold Strassoldo’ and Bohemian IR 36 ‘Kolowrat’, who both received their shakos in 1810, the Galician IR 9 ‘Czartorisky’, who received theirs ‘after the 1809 campaign’ and the Moravian IR 22 ‘Coburg’, who recorded in 1809 that ‘nearly all German infantry wore helmets, while all Hungarians wore shakos’.

That notwithstanding, I have no shame, so have painted the entire II. Armeekorps for 1809 in shakos…

These were all painted from May to July this year.  I apologise for the slightly yellowish cast of the lighting; it was a very bright day and my camera must have automatically adjusted the light to compensate.  I didn’t notice until I got the pictures up on my big screen at home.

All models are 15mm figures by AB Figures, with flags by Fighting 15s.

Above:  Infanterie-Regiment 14 ‘Klebek’.  This was an Upper Austrian regiment, named for Freiherr Wilhelm Klebek and widely known as ‘The Black Regiment’ or simply ‘The Blacks’.  At Aspern-Essling, the regiment was brigaded with IR 59 ‘Jordis’ as part of Hohenfeld’s Brigade of Kottulinsky’s Division of VI. Armeekorps (1st Column).  At Wagram the regiment served with the same formation, though Hohenfeld had been promoted to divisional commander and the brigade was then commanded by Adler.

Above:  Infanterie-Regiment 14 ‘Klebek’.  The regiment’s facing colour was black (by 1809 it was the only regiment wearing black facings) and the buttons were yellow metal.

It should be noted that the shako-ornamentation for all regiments was yellow metal, regardless of the regimental button-colour.  The ‘rosette’ and its button and loop on the front of the shako were actually a false version made of brass, with a black enamel centre.  Officers also had gold lace edging to the front peak and the false peak at the rear, as well as one or two bands of gold lace around the crown, depending on rank.  NCOs had yellow lace bands around the crown (as seen on my standard bearers).  The rank-and-file had a woollen cockade-pompom in yellow with a black centre, while the officers’ version was gold and black.  The pompoms were invariably decorated with a sprig of greenery, ideally oakleaves, presumably depending on the season.

Above:  Infanterie-Regiment 15 ‘Zach’.  This was a Bohemian regiment, named for Freiherr Anton Zach.  At Aspern-Essling the regiment was brigaded with IR 57 ‘Joseph Colloredo’ in Buresch’s Brigade as part of Brady’s Division of II. Armeekorps (3rd Column) and was still in the same grouping at Wagram.  Archduke Charles famously seized one of the colours belonging to this regiment, as depicted in the well-known painting below.

Above:  Infanterie-Regiment 15 ‘Zach’.  The regiment’s facings were madder-red  (‘krapprot’) and buttons were yellow metal.  As mentioned above, the regiment may be one of those issued with shakos prior to the 1809 Campaign, though there’s nothing definite about that supposition.  The camera has actually made the red look a lot brighter here than the paint I used, which was a dark ‘bad batch’ of Humbrol 60 Scarlet, which looks more like a dark blood-red (although it’s a bad batch, it does actually come in handy for some jobs).

Above:  Infanterie-Regiment 18 ‘Stuart’.  This was a Bohemian regiment, named for Graf Patrick Stuart.  However, Stuart had died exactly a year before Aspern-Essling, at Prague on 21st April 1808.  The regimental title was therefore vacant until it was given to Freiherr Constantin d’Aspré at some point between the battles of Aspern-Essling and Wagram, therefore making it IR 18 ‘d’Aspré’ at Wagram.  At Aspern-Essling the regiment was brigaded with IR 21 ‘Rohan’ and IR 28 ‘Frelich’ in Wied-Runckel’s Brigade, as part of Weber’s Division of II. Armeekorps (3rd Column).  The regiment remained in the same formation at Wagram, though it was then Ulm’s Division.

Above:  Infanterie-Regiment 18 ‘Stuart’.  This regiment had pompadour (‘pompadour-rot’) facings and white metal buttons.  As mentioned above, the regiment may well be one of those issued with shakos prior to the 1809 Campaign.  The camera has made the facings look more fuscia-pink than pompadour, but here’s an older photo of IR 1 ‘Kaiser Franz’, which better shows the actual colour of the paintwork:

Above:  Infanterie-Regiment 1 ‘Kaiser Franz’, demonstrating what my version of ‘pompadour’ actually looks like, without the camera changing it!

Above:  Infanterie-Regiment 21 ‘Rohan’.  This was a Bohemian regiment, named for Viktor Ludwig Prinz Rohan.  At Aspern-Essling the regiment was brigaded with IR 18 ‘Stuart’ and IR 28 ‘Frelich’ in Wied-Runckel’s Brigade, as part of Weber’s Division of II. Armeekorps (3rd Column).  At Wagram the regiment was grouped into a separate brigade under Alstern, though remained in the same division, now commanded by Ulm.

Above:  Infanterie-Regiment 21 ‘Rohan’.  This regiment had sea-green (‘meergrün’) facings and yellow metal buttons.

Above:  Infanterie-Regiment 25 ‘Zedtwitz’.  This was a Bohemian regiment, named for Graf Julius von Zedtwitz, though was actually a vacant regiment in 1809 as Graf Zedtwitz had died in Vienna a year earlier, on 14th April 1808.  At Aspern-Essling the regiment served with IR 54 ‘Froon’ as part of Koller’s Brigade of Brady’s Division, II. Armeekorps (3rd Column).  At Wagram the regiment was still with the same formation, though the brigade was then commanded by Paar.

Above: Infanterie-Regiment 25 ‘Zedtwitz’.  This regiment also wore sea-green (‘meergrün’) facings, the same as IR 21 above, though had white metal buttons.

Above:  Infanterie-Regiment 28 ‘Frelich’ (aka ‘Frölich’).  This was a Bohemian regiment, named for Freiherr Michael Frelich (or Frölich).  At Aspern-Essling the regiment was brigaded with IR 18 ‘Stuart’ and IR 21 ‘Rohan’ in Wied-Runckel’s Brigade, as part of Weber’s Division of II. Armeekorps (3rd Column).  The regiment remained in the same formation at Wagram, though it was then Ulm’s Division.

Above:  Infanterie-Regiment 28 ‘Frelich’ (aka ‘Frölich’).  This regiment had grass-green (‘grassgrün’) facings with white metal buttons.

Above:  Infanterie-Regiment 54 ‘Froon’.  This Bohemian regiment was named for Freiherr Joseph Froon von Kirchrath.  At Aspern-Essling the regiment served with IR 25 ‘Zedtwitz’ as part of Koller’s Brigade of Brady’s Division, II. Armeekorps (3rd Column).  At Wagram the regiment was still with the same formation, though the brigade was then commanded by Paar.

Above:  Infanterie-Regiment 54 ‘Froon’.  This regiment wore apple-green (‘apfelgrün’) facings and white metal buttons.  As mentioned above, this is one of the very few ‘German’ regiments positively identified as wearing shakos at the start of the 1809 Campaign.

Above:  Infanterie-Regiment 57 ‘Joseph Colloredo’.  This regiment was originally Bohemian, but by 1809 raised two battalions in Moravia and one in Galicia.  The regiment was named for Graf Joseph Colloredo-Waldsee.  At Aspern-Essling the regiment was brigaded with IR 15 ‘Zach’ in Buresch’s Brigade as part of Brady’s Division of II. Armeekorps (3rd Column) and was still in the same grouping at Wagram.

Above:  Infanterie-Regiment 57 ‘Joseph Colloredo’.  This regiment was one of two Austrian regiments to have Gris de Lin facings, the other being IR 36 ‘Kolowrat’.  This mysterious colour (literally translated as ‘flax grey’ or ‘linen grey’) has caused much anguish, wailing and gnashing of teeth and has variously been translated in various books as ‘pale red’, ‘mauve’, ‘pale mauve’ and ‘linen’ and depicted in book-plates and on wargames figures as everything from pink, to purple, to grey, to sand to flesh-pink!  However, from a few contemporary colour-charts (extracts shown below), it’s clear that ‘pale mauve’ is the closest approximation, being paler and slightly more drab than rose pink (‘rosenrot’) facings.

For this colour I’ve used mostly white, mixed with a dash of magenta and a dash of a warm grey.  Again, the camera has rather buggered up the colour-reproduction, making it look more like shell-pink, so I’ll take another photo of this unit and post it in a future article.  This regiment apparently had yellow metal buttons, but one of the contemporary charts shows white metal.

Anyway, that’s it for now!  I’ve got a few more Austrians to do for Aspern-Essling; two Hungarian regiments, a hussar regiment, three dragoon regiments, a load more generals and a pile of casualty markers.  However, before that I’ve got a few more Bavarians to do for Eggmühl and having recently discovered that Bavarian Light Infantry also carried flags, I’ve belatedly given a standard-bearer to these chaps I painted five years ago: