‘Hannover Siegt, Der Franzmann Liegt’ (Part 12: The Last of the Hanoverian Horse)

Late last year and early this year, in the wake of our ‘half-scale’ Minden game, I had a major push at finishing the full order of battle for Minden.  There’s still a fair way to go, with eight Hanoverian infantry battalions, three Hessian infantry battalions, one Brunswick infantry battalion, two Prussian dragoon regiments, twenty French infantry battalions, five Saxon infantry battalions and three French cavalry brigades left to paint (plus a few more guns and generals), but as mentioned before, I managed to complete the Hessian cavalry arm and now I’ve also managed to complete the Hanoverian cavalry.

I should mention that for the sake of completeness, I also intend at some point to do the three remaining Hanoverian dragoon regiments and the ‘Luckner’ Hussars (Gotta catch ’em all!).  Those regiments weren’t present at Minden but they will however, come in handy for a few other battles.

As discussed before, the Hanoverian regular cavalry arm was relatively small, with only eight regiments of horse (each of two squadrons), four regiments of dragoons (each of four squadrons) and one squadron each of Grenadiers à Cheval and Gardes du Corps.  Like the cavalry of Hesse-Cassel, the Hanoverian cavalry generally always took to the field en masse without anything left in reserve at home, so it is handy to have ’em all! 🙂

I covered the first four regiments of horse and the single dragoon regiment in Part 8, followed by another two regiments of horse in Part 11.  So here are the last two regiments of horse and the squadrons of horse guards (Grenadiers à Cheval and Gardes du Corps).

As before, for the regiments of horse (and the Garde du Corps) I’ve used Eureka Miniatures 18mm British dragoon figures and have filed the aiguillette from the right shoulder.  The only niggle is the buckle on the front of the belt, which is still visible in these close-up photos, but it’s invisible at normal tabletop viewing-range, so I’m happy with that.  For the Grenadiers à Cheval I’ve used Eureka British horse grenadier figures.

As discussed before, Hanoverian regiments of horse were rather weak, consisting of only two squadrons and numbering around 360 men at full strength, much like Hessian and most British regiments.  In Tricorn game terms, a regiment is therefore represented by six figures and two such regiments are brigaded together to make up a twelve-figure tactical unit on the table.

Christian Ludewig von Hammerstein

Above:  The ‘Hammerstein’ Regiment of Horse was one of the oldest in the army, being first raised in 1631 during the Thirty Years War as the ‘Oesener’ Regiment.  The regiment fought again during the Austro-Turkish War of 1663-1664, the Second Anglo-Dutch War of 1665-1667, the Conquest of Brunswick of 1671, the Nine Years War, the Great Northern War, the War of Spanish Succession and the War of Austrian Succession.

At the start of the Seven Years War, the regiment was owned by Lieutenant General Christian Ludewig von Hammerstein.  With Hammerstein’s death in 1759 the regiment passed to Balthasar von Jüngermann, being therefore known as the ‘Jüngermann’ Regiment until 1761 when Jüngermann retired and the title passed to August Heinrich von Sprengel, whereupon the regiment was known as ‘Alt-Sprengel’.

Above:  The ‘Hammerstein’ Regiment of Horse.  During the Seven Years War the regiment fought at the Battles of Hastenbeck, Krefeld, Bergen, Minden (where it was distinguished, though suffered heavy losses) and Wilhelmsthal, as well as numerous smaller actions and sieges.

After the Seven Years War, the regiment (by then titled ‘Alt-Sprengel’) was paired up with the ‘Alt-Bremer’ Regiment of Horse to become half of the new 2nd Cavalry Regiment.  ‘Alt-Bremer’ took the designation 2C-A, while ‘Alt-Sprengel’ was 2C-B.  These anachronistic regimental numbers are often used by authors when referring to the Seven Years War, as it makes the regiments, with their constantly-changing titles, easier to track.  It also makes maps easier to label.

Above:  The ‘Hammerstein’ Regiment of Horse wore the usual pattern of uniform for Hanoverian regiments of horse, being a single-breasted coat without lapels or collar, with only cuffs and tail-turnbacks showing the regimental facing colour, which in this instance was dark green.  Regimental ‘metal’ was yellow.  The waistcoat was straw with dark green edging (it became all-green in 1761).  Hats had yellow lace edging and a black cockade, secured with a brass button.  Breeches, gloves and belts were buff.  Sources are undecided on whether the cartridge pouch was buff or black (I went with buff).  Horse furniture was dark green, edged with a complicated pattern, mainly consisting of a braided outer border of red and yellow, with an inner border of red, white and light green leaves.

David Morier painted the regiment in 1749, though I can only find this black & white copy.

Above:  The ‘Hammerstein’ Regiment of Horse.  The regiment’s trumpeters and kettle-drummers wore coats in reversed colours of dark green, heavily laced in the ‘metal’ colour of yellow.

Somewhat unusually, each of the regiment’s two squadrons carried a standard of identical pattern.  These had a field of white silk (in most regiments, the second squadron’s standard had a field that usually conformed to the regimental facing colour), while the fringe and embroidery was probably gold, matching the regimental ‘metal’ colour.  The standard is by Maverick Models.

Above:  The Leib-Regiment Reuter (or ‘Life Regiment of Cavalry’) was raised in 1681 as the ‘Prinz Georg Ludwig’ Regiment.  From 1685 to 1687 the regiment fought in Hungary during the Great Turkish War, though was recalled in 1688 and then fought in the Nine Years War, during which time it was distinguished.  At the end of that war, selected men from six disbanded regiments were amalgamated into the regiment, now known as the Leib-Regiment.  The Regiment fought again in the Great Northern War, the War of Spanish Succession and the War of Austrian Succession.

The regiment’s inhaber at the start of the Seven Years War was Heinrich Adolph Jacob von Diemar.  This changed briefly in 1757 to Maximilian Johann Christian von Breidenbach before changing again in the same year to Georg Siegfried von Pentz.  The regiment changed hands once again in 1758, this time to Franz Ludwig von Spörcken and yet again in 1761 to Wilhelm von Jonquières.  As the regiment had the official title of Leib-Regiment, it wasn’t officially known by the name of its inhaber, though I have found instances of titled regiments being referred to by the name of their inhaber, which can make things rather confusing and it is therefore handy to know who the inhaber was.

Above:  The Leib-Regiment Reuter.  During the Seven Years War the regiment fought at the Battles of Hastenbeck, Krefeld, Minden (where it was distinguished but suffered heavy losses and the capture of Colonel von Spörcken), Corbach, Clostercamp, Vellinghausen and Wilhelmsthal, as well as numerous other smaller engagements and sieges.

Above:  The Leib-Regiment Reuter wore the same style of uniform described above for the ‘Hammerstein’ Regiment, though this time with yellow as the distinguishing facing colour and the regimental ‘metal’ being white.  Waistcoats may have become all-yellow from 1761.  Horse furniture was yellow with a broad red outer border and an inner border of red, white and light green leaves.

David Morier painted the regiment in 1749. Note that the horse furniture is very different to that described for the SYW and the yellow facings look more buff.

Above:  The Leib-Regiment Reuter.  The regiment’s trumpeters and kettle-drummers unusually wore British Royal Livery of red, faced blue and heavily laced with golden braid with thin central purple stripes.  The horse furniture was probably coloured to match, though that’s just my guess.

Like the ‘Hammerstein’ Regiment above, both squadrons of the regiment unusually carried white standards, though these were each of a different design and had gold fringes and embroidery, rather than the expected ‘metal’ colour of silver.  The standard shown here is the Regimental Standard carried by the 2nd Squadron.  The standard is by Maverick Models.

Above:  The Grenadiers à Cheval were a very new unit, having only been raised in December 1742.  During the War of Austrian Succession, they did engage in some campaigning, though were primarily used as a guard and garrison unit for the city of Hanover.  The unit only ever consisted of a single squadron of two companies, never numbering more than 183 men.  At the start of the Seven Years War Johann Friederich von Bock von Wülfingen served as the inhaber, though in 1757 the squadron passed to Carl August von Veltheim.  The squadron changed hands again in 1761 to Johann Ludewig Graf von Wallmoden-Gimborn, who at that time was also inhaber of the Garde du Corps.  However, the Grenadiers à Cheval were normally referred to by their title, not by the name of their inhaber.

Above:  The Grenadiers à Cheval.  During the Seven Years War the squadron was frequently used as a headquarters guard unit, though it was placed in the line at a number of battles, always being paired with the Garde du Corps.  However, the squadron didn’t actually see all that much action, due to frequently finding itself in quiet sectors of the battles.  At Hastenbeck they were posted on the largely-unengaged right wing and at Krefeld they were on the largely-unengaged left wing.  At Minden they were kept out of the battle due to Sackville’s inaction.  At Vellinghausen, the squadron did finally see action in support of Wutginau’s Corps on Granby’s left wing.  At Wilhelmsthal the squadron fought as part of the 7th Column.  After the war, the squadron was amalgamated with the Garde du Corps as a single regiment of horseguards.

Above:  The Grenadiers à Cheval, unusually for the Hanoverian cavalry, wore a red coat like the infantry and wore tall mitre caps, like the horse grenadier companies of the Hanoverian dragoon regiments.  The coats had black lapels and cuffs, though red tail-turnbacks.  Buttons were yellow metal.  On the right shoulder was an aiguillette of braided black and yellow cords.  Waistcoats were straw with red edging.  Breeches, gloves and belts were buff, though note that there should really only be a single belt over the left shoulder (the Eureka British Horse Grenadier figures have two belts).  The cartridge pouch was black with a brass central badge and a brass grenade in each corner.  The mitre caps had a black front, black false peak and black band with red bag and golden decoration, piping and tassel (some sources say a black bag).  Horse furniture was red with a yellow outer border superimposed with black diamonds and a yellow zig-zag inner border with a black central stripe.  The squadron rode black or very dark brown horses.

Above:  The Grenadiers à Cheval.  The squadron had trumpeters and dragoon-style drummers.  These were dressed in British Royal Livery, as described above for the Leib-Regiment.  Again, I’ve gone with matching horse furniture, as well as mitre caps in the Royal Livery colourings, though I’ve no idea if this is correct.  Note that some sources state that the musicians were dressed in reversed colours.

The squadron carried a single standard; this was black with gold fringe and embroidery, with gold armorials on the obverse and the white horse of Hanover on the reverse.  The Maverick Models version for some reason doesn’t match this description, so I printed my own, using the picture on the Kronoskaf page.

Above:  The Hanoverian Garde du Corps could trace a continuous lineage back to 1631, when the regiment was first raised as the Braunschweig-Lüneburg Leib-Regiment.  In 1648 it became the Hannover Leibwache and then the Leibgarde.  The regiment fought in the Franco-Dutch War of 1672-1678, though following that war the regiment was reduced to a single squadron.  At the outbreak of the Great Turkish War in 1683, the squadron was sent as part of the relief force to relieve the Siege of Vienna and the squadron fought again during the Nine Years War, the War of Spanish Succession and the War of Austrian Succession.

The Garde du Corps on parade.

At the start of the Seven Years War, the squadron’s inhaber was Georg Ludewig Graf von Platen-Hallermünd, though he retired in 1757 and ownership passed to Johann Friedrich von Zepelin.  When he retired in 1759 the squadron passed to Johann Ludewig Graf von Wallmoden-Gimborn, who in 1761 also became inhaber of the Grenadiers à Cheval.  Once again, the regiment was normally known by its title, not by the name of its inhaber.

Above:  The Garde du Corps.  During the Seven Years War the squadron consisted of three companies and numbered no more than 191 men.  It was often used as a headquarters guard unit, though did see some action paired up with the Grenadiers à Cheval, as described above.  After the war, the squadron was amalgamated with the Grenadiers à Cheval as a combined horseguards regiment.

Above:  The Garde du Corps uniquely wore a single-breasted red coat with a collar.  This is often depicted and described as a being of a crimson shade, so that’s the colour I’ve gone with (I had previously painted an officer of the regiment in crimson when I did Ferdinand of Brunswick and his staff).  The collar, cuffs and tail-turnbacks were blue and all buttons and lace were silver.  The collar, cuffs, tail-pockets and front-seams were edged with silver lace, as were the buttonholes on the breast, cuffs and pockets (I must confess that I’ve gone with white for the rank-and-file, simply because it looks rather better than metallic silver paint).  Kronoskaf describes a black-and-yellow aiguillette, though I’m sure that this must be a cut’n’paste error, carried over from their Grenadier à Cheval uniform description.  I decided to go with white/silver aiguillettes, though it’s probable that they didn’t wear aiguillettes at all.

In this depiction note that the cuffs are red/crimson and there is no collar or aiguillette.

Waistcoats were straw edged red, while breeches were buff.  Gloves and belts were also buff, though I now note that a couple of period depictions show the belts decorated with three strips of silver lace…  Ah well…  Cartridge pouches were black, decorated with a silver badge.  Hats were decorated with silver lace and a black cockade, secured with a silver strap and button.  Horse furniture was red/crimson, though the valise was blue.  The shabraque and holsters were edged with a double strip of silver lace and were decorated with the Badge of Hanover (a crowned blue garter, surrounding the white running horse of Hanover).  Horses were dappled greys, though I’ve given the kettle-drummer a contrasting black horse (this was before I saw the parade painting above, showing the kettle drummer (second from the left) also riding a grey).

Above:  The Garde du Corps.  The regiment had trumpeters and a single kettle-drummer and for once I decided to go with a kettle-drummer, as this is a special unit.  The musicians wore British Royal Livery (which can be seen in the parade painting above), though some sources describe reversed colours (which seems doubtful).  I’ve already described Royal Livery above, but note that this kettle-drummer is modelled with hanging ‘false sleeves’ on his back.  Also note that musicians’ belts were coloured like the regimental lace.  The kettle-drums themselves were/are solid silver and actually still exist in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of New York (‘The Met’).  Although a pair of crimson drum-banners also survive with the drums, these were probably created at a later date, as the drum-banners used during the Seven Years War are recorded as being white with silver fringes and embroidery, matching the squadron standard.  Again, the Maverick Models version of the standard doesn’t match any description that I’ve seen, so I printed my own, using the Kronoskaf picture.

Above:  The combined Garde du Corps and Grenadiers à Cheval.  As mentioned above, I ‘brigade’ two regiments together to make a unit for the tabletop.  However, with a combined strength of less than 400 men, this bunch aren’t really a viable unit in game terms!  Nevertheless, they are too pretty not to have on table, so I’ve shamelessly beefed them up to unhistorical levels.  Whenever they appear on the table, I promise to give the French cavalry a matching strength-boost! 🙂

That’s it for now!  As previously mentioned, I’m presently painting Napoleonic Bavarians in preparation for a forthcoming refight of Eggmühl and they will be followed by yet more Napoleonic Austrians for our planned Aspern-Essling refight.  However, there will be more SYW stuff to come on the blog, including these chaps…