Holnstein Infantry
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Origin and History
Raised on Oct. 1st 1753 from infantry regiment Kurprinz (7 companies) and infantry regiment Morawitsky (1 companie).
The regiment consisted of 2 battalions. Each of these battalions counted 4 fusilier companies (140 men each) and 1 grenadier company (100 men). Furthermore, each battalion had 2 light 4-pdr battalion guns.
Since September 1753, the regiment garrisoned the town of Amberg. On November 15 1755, 4 fusilier companies were transferred to Rothenberg while the rest of the regiment remained in Amberg.
During the Seven Years' War, the regiment Inhaber was:
- since October 15 1753 until August 24 1770: "Generalwachtmeister" Ludwig Count Holnstein aus Bayern
During the Seven Years' War, the regiment was under the command of:
- from ????: Colonel Christoph Friedrich Baron von Werneck
- from ????: Colonel Ignaz Baron von Bartels
- from ????: Colonel Julius Anton Janson von der Stockh
On September 29 1764, the regiment was transferred to Amberg to assume garrison duty.
Service during the War
On June 20 1756, the regiment was transferred to Ingolstadt where it assumed garrison duty.
In June 1757, the first battalion of the regiment together with Pechmann Infantry formed the Infantry Regiment Kurbayern which joined the Reichsarmee. The second battalion of Holnstein Infantry remained at Ingolstadt. The Kurbayern regiment was sent to Freiberg and did not take part to the battle of Rossbach in November, being stationed at Weißenfels.
In 1758, the first battalion, as part of the Kurbayern regiment, served at Sebastiansberg and at the fortress of Sonnenstein near Dresden. For its part the second battalion was transferred from Ingolstadt to Neumarkt on June 2 before returning to Ingolstadt in September.
In 1759, the first battalion, as part of the Kurbayern regiment, served at Dresden, Meissen and Dippoldiswalde. In January of the same year, the second battalion was transferred from Ingolstadt to Donauwörth.
In 1760, the first battalion, as part of the Kurbayern regiment, was at the battles of Strehla and Torgau and at the engagement near Wittenberg.
In 1761, the first battalion, as part of the Kurbayern regiment, was at Plauen.
In 1762, the first battalion, as part of the Kurbayern regiment, took part to the battle of Freiberg on October 29.
Early in 1763 the first battalion of Holnstein Infantry returned to Cham in the Upper Palatinate. In April, it went to its garrison towns in Bavaria: Donauwörth and Landsberg.
Uniform
All sources mention orange or red distinctives. We've chosen to show the distinctives in a pale red (or "old rose") color, as shown by H.Knötel.
Privates
| Headgear |
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| Neckstock | red | ||||||||||||
| Coat | Austrian style blue coat with 3 yellow buttons under the lapel and 1 yellow button in the small of the back
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| Waistcoat | straw | ||||||||||||
| Breeches | straw | ||||||||||||
| Gaiters | black | ||||||||||||
| Leather Equipment |
|
Other interpretations
Drexler mentions orange waistcoat.
H.Knötel shows white buttons.
Böhm / Rottgardt / Weirich mentions white tricorne lace, orange distinctives (red in 1759), white buttons (yellow in 1759), pale yellow breeches and waistcoat.
Officers
The officers were distinguished by a silver lace on the tricorne which was also decorated with a black cockade fastened with a silver lace, and a silver gorget decorated with golden arms of Bavaria.
Junior officers were to carry a thin, hollow "spanish reed", with which to discipline soldiers.
Senior officers were to carry a cane that was to taper from at most the width of a thumb to at most the width of a finger.
NCO's
NCO's were distinguished from the privates by the wearing of a "broadsword". On deployment, the sergeants were to carry the Kurzgewehr, whereas the corpoals carried a musket, bayonet, and cartridge pouch.
Beyond that, all NCO's carried a wooden cane for discpline, of suitable thickness for discpline, but without mauling the soldiers (infantry regulations, page 14). This was to be thinner than the cane used by officers.
Musicians
Drummers wore the uniform of the troopers with the following distinctions:
- white/blue woollen chevrons on the sleeves
- white/blue laced swallow nest at the shoulders
- white/blue laced cuffs
White bandolier edged white/blue.
The white drum barrel was decorated with blue flames and with the crowned arms of Bavaria. The hoops were decorated with white and blue stripes.
Colours
About the colours of the Bavarian infantry regiments , we know some models in use during the first part of the 18th century, before 1740; we know 4 models of flags which were in use between 1742 and 1745 and we also know the two models created in 1786 after the reunification of the bavarian and palatinate armies. So, between 1745 and 1786, information are unfortunately very scarce. The following descriptions represent an "educated guess" based on these few sources.
As this regiment was raised in 1753, perhaps the flags were of the 1750s pattern.
For more details on the various patterns of Bavarian colours used during this period, please refer to our article on the Bavarian Line Infantry Colours.
N.B.: From circa 1748, the Inhaber of the regiments had the possibility to influence the design of the Leibfahne after their wish, using individual images of the Madonna.
References
Boehm, E.; Rottgardt, D., Die Reichsarmee 1757-63. I. Teil: Zusammensetzung und Organisation, KLIO-Arbeitsgruppe 7jähriger Krieg, Friderzianische Epoche, Manuskript, o.J
Boehm, E.; Rottgardt, D.; Weirich, W.-D., Die Reichsarmee 1757-63. II. Teil: Die einzelnen Einheiten, ihre Stärke, Zusammensetzung, Uniform und Feldzeichen, KLIO-Arbeitsgruppe 7jähriger Krieg, Friderzianische Epoche, Manuskript, o.J.
Funken, Liliane and Fred, Historische Uniformen, Vol. 2
Schirmer, Friedrich: Die Heere der kriegführenden Staaten 1756-1763, hrsg. von der KLIO-Landesgruppe Baden-Württemberg, überarb. u. aktual. Neuauflage 1989
Staudinger, Karl, Geschichte des kurbayerischen Heeres unter Kurfürst Karl Albrecht - Kaiser Karl VII. - und Max III. Joseph 1726 - 1777, (Geschichte des bayerischen Heeres 3), J. Lindauer, Munich, 1909
Acknowledgments
rf-figuren for the initial version of this article
