Kreisregiment Sachsen-Gotha Dragoon
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Origin and History
Even though the Upper Saxon District usually contributed more than 800 cavalrymen to the Reichsarmee, the Prussian invasion of Saxony in 1756 at the beginning of the Seven Years' War deprived the Holy Roman Empire of most of the contingent of this district. In addition, other principalities were aligned with Prussia or sympathetic to its cause thus further reducing the potential contingent of the Upper Saxony District.
In the spring of 1757, the Emperor ordered Duke Friedrich III of Sachsen-Gotha to take on some kind of leading role at least in posting the resolutions of the Reichstag. However, the duke respectfully declined, he had been one of the few who did not vote for the raising of the Reichsarmee against Frederick II. Moreover, in 1755, the duke had already concluded a subsidy contract with Great Britain and given an infantry regiment (the so-called Hanoverian Sachsen-Gotha Infantry) for the defence of Hanover. The Emperor repeated his order but the duke, and other Ernestine rulers, managed to procrastinate until the Franco-Imperial invasion of Saxony. The Ernestine principalities had then no other choice but to comply to Imperial orders but they managed to postpone their involvement till 1758.
On November 10 1758, the Ernestine Duchy of Sachsen-Gotha finally supplied a single dragoon regiment which counted 2 squadrons, each of 2 companies, for a total of 222 men, excluding officers.
N.B. This regiment must not be confused with the Sachsen-Gotha Dragoons of the Austrian Army.
During the Seven Years' War, the regiment was under the command of:
- from 1758 to 1769: Colonel von Schmerzing but probably commanded in the field by August Wilhelm Fürst von Hohenlohe
Service during the War
In most campaigns the regiment operated with the Kreisregiment Württemberg Dragoons.
Uniform
Information is too scarce to illustrate the uniform in a plate.
Privates
| Headgear |
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| Neck-stock | no information available yet | ||||||||||||||
| Coat | Prussian style white coat
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| Waistcoat | white | ||||||||||||||
| Breeches | straw | ||||||||||||||
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| Horse Furniture |
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Troopers were armed with a sword, a musket and a pair of pistols.
Officers
Officers wore a gold laced tricorne.
Musicians
no information available yet
Colours
no information available yet
References
Beck, Dr August: Geschichte des gothaischen Landes, Vol. 1, Gotha: Thienemann, 1868
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.
Galetti, Georg August: Geschichte und Beschreibung des Herzogtums Gotha, Vol. 1, Gotha: Ettinger, 1779
Tessin, Georg: Die Regimenter der europäischen Staaten im Ancién Regime des XVI. bis XVIII. Jahrhunderts. Part 1 Die Stammlisten, Osnabrück 1986
Acknowledgments
Digby Smith for the translation and rf-figuren and Dieter Müller for the research
