Blau Würzburg Infantry

From Project SYW

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Contents 1 Origin and History 2 Service during the War 3 Uniform 3.1 Privates 3.2 Officers 3.3 Musicians 4 Colours 5 References

Origin and History

The regiment was raised in 1757. Its first battalion was made up of the 500 men of the Kolb infantry regiment remaining after the establishment of the Rot Würzburg regiment. The second battalion included infantry of the Imperial District and many new recruits.

It joined the Reichsarmee by summer 1757. Here, one bataillon was made prisoner in 1759, the remainder were incorporarted into Rot-Würzburg early in 1761.

During the Seven Years' War, the regiment was owned by the prince-bishop of Würzburg and Bamberg Adam Friedrich Graf von Seinsheim.

During the Seven Years' War, the successive commanders of the regiment were:

1756: Gottfried Ludwig Moser von Filseck
1759: Johann Friedrich von Wurmb
1760: Max Wilhelm von Stetten

The regiment was disbanded at the end of the war in 1763.

Service during the War

While the Blau regiment was diverted to counter the threat of a Prussian raid on Franconia in May 1757 and so accompanied the Imperial army on its march towards Saxony, the Rot Würzburg joined the Austrian field armies in March 1757. Both regiments thus shared the respective fates of the forces to which they were attached. The Blau regiment suffered 291 casualties and prisoners at Rossbach when it fled along with the Kurtrier regiment. The unit was considered to be of fair quality by the French general Soubise.

In 1758, the second battalion was in Eger in Bohemia, while the other continued to be part of the nominal Austrian contingent with the Reichsarmee. The unit fought along side the Hohenzollern Cuirassiers at Meilrichstadt along the Rhine.

In August 1759, most of the first battalion was captured, prompting the Austrians to release the other battalion to the Rot Regiment that had continued to serve with the main Austrian army in 1758 and 1759.

In 1761, the heavy losses placed an increasing strain on Würzburg's limited resources, and the Bishop of Würzburg began pressing the Austrians to amalgamate the two regiments into a single regiment entitled Kaiserliche Würzburg. While one battalion remained in Eger as a depot, the other two battalions served with the Austro-imperial army operating in Saxony in 1761 and 1762. These battalions were present at the battle of Freiberg.

Late in 1762 the field elements were sent to the Austrian Netherlands (modern day Belgium and Luxembourg) as part of a vain effort to seize Prussian territory in Westphalia. However, the Peace of Hubertusburg put an end to all such attempts and the regiment was formally discharged from service on February 24, 1763.

Uniform

Privates

Uniform Details

Headgear	Musketeer black tricorne laced white and three white pom poms Grenadier Austrian style brown bearskin with a dark blue bag piped white
Neckstock	red
Coat	white wool (Austrian style) Collar none Shoulder Straps dark blue Lapels dark blue with 7 pewter buttons Pockets horizontal pockets, each with 3 pewter buttons Cuffs dark blue with 3 pewter buttons Turnbacks dark blue fastened with a pewter button
Waistcoat	white
Breeches	white
Gaiters	black
Leather Equipment	Crossbelt white Waistbelt white Cartridge Box black Bayonet Scabbard black Scabbard black Footgear black

Troopers were armed with a musket and carried brown haversack and a canteen.

Officers

Officers wore a fancier uniform with silver buttons instead of pewter. They wore straw gloves and had a yellow waist sash.

Musicians

Drummers wore the same uniform as the infantry but had a swallows nest in dark blue on the shoulder.

The drum pattern is speculative but would have been brass rimmed in dark blue, the facing color, with white drum cords. This is a recurring pattern of the period.

Colours

The colors are speculative but based on the pattern common to the Reichsarmee troops of the period.

Colonel Flag: White field, Imperial eagle bearing the Würzburg coat-of-arms with white and blue waves as a trim on the flags edge.

Regimental Flag: Red field, Imperial eagle bearing the Würzburg coat-of-arms with white and blue waves as a trim on the flags edge.

        

References

Boehm, E.; Rottgardt, D.: Die Reichsarmee 1757-1763 I. Teil. Zusammensetzung und Organisation, Manuskript, KLIO - Arbeitsgruppe 7jähriger Krieg, 1979

Boehm, E.; Rottgardt, D., Weirich, W.-D.: Die Reichsarmee 1757-1763 II. Teil. Die einzelnen Einheiten, ihre Stärke, Zusammensetzung, Uniform und Feldzeichen, Manuskript, KLIO - Arbeitsgruppe 7jähriger Krieg, o.J.

Brabant, Arthur: Das heilige römische Reich teutscher Nation im Kampf mit Friedrich dem Großen, vol. I, II Berlin 1904, vol. III Dresden 1931

Hagen, Eduard: Die Fürstlich Würzburgische Hausinfanterie von ihren Anfängen bis zum Beginne des Siebenjährigen Krieges (1636-1756), in: Darstellungen aus der Bayrischen Kriegs- und Heeresgeschichte, hrsg. vom K.B. Kriegsarchiv, Heft 19, München 1910

Hagen, Eduard: Die Fürstlich Würzburgische Hausinfanterie vom Jahre 1757 bis zur Einverleibung des Fürstbistums in Bayern 1803, in: Darstellungen aus der Bayrischen Kriegs- und Heeresgeschichte, hrsg. vom K.B. Kriegsarchiv, Heft 20, München 1911

Henke, Julius: Über das Heerwesen des Hochstifts Würzburg im 18. Jahrhundert, in: Darstellungen aus der Bayrischen Kriegs- und Heeresgeschichte, hrsg. vom K.B. Kriegsarchiv, Heft 7, München 1889

Knötel, Herbert: Rot- und Blau-Würzburg (Vor 200 Jahren "Leuthen"), in Zeitschrift für Heeres- und Uniformkunde, No. 156, Jg. 1957/VI, page 102-103

Rogge, Christian, The French & Allied Armies in Germany during the Seven Years War, Frankfurt, 2006

Wilson, P., Wurzburg and Bamberg in the Seven Years War, Seven Years War Association Journal Vol. IX No.2