Prussian Garrison Regiment XIII

Hierarchical Path: Seven Years War (Main Page) >> Armies >> Prussian Army >> Prussian Garrison Regiment XIII

Origin and History

The unit was initially raised in 1713 to garrison Minden. The Garnison Regiment Nr. XIII was officially formed in 1743. It consisted of a single battalion, including 1 grenadier coy, and served as garrison in Minden until 1756. Its grenadiers were part of the garrison of Magdeburg.

In May 1756, the single battalion of the regiment, to the exception of its grenadier company, was integrated into the newly formed Erbprinz von Hessen-Cassel Fusiliers (IR48).

During the Seven Years' War, the regiment was under the command of:

• since July 1 1755 till May 1756: Colonel von Salmuth

Service during the War

For the history of this regiment during the Seven Years War, please refer to the regiment Erbprinz von Hessen-Cassel Fusiliers which was originally formed from Garrison Regiment XIII.

N.B.: During the war the grenadiers from the wing grenadier company were put together with the grenadiers of Garrison Regiment IX and IR45 von Dossow Fusiliers, forming the Standing Grenadier Battalion Nr. II (45/G-XIII/G-IX Ingersleben) (please refer to this article for the details of the service of the grenadiers during the war).

Uniform

This regiment wore a uniform similar to the ones of Garnison Regiment Nr. IX.

As was the case for most garrison regiments, the musketeers and grenadiers of this regiment wore different uniforms. The present article describes the uniform of the musketeers. For the uniform of the grenadiers, please refer to the article dedicated to the Standing Grenadier Battalion Nr. II (45/G-XIII/G-IX Ingersleben).

Privates

Uniform in 1756 - Source: Kronoskaf

Uniform Details

Headgear	Musketeer black tricorne without lace with 1 brass button, 1 yellow within black within blue pompom and 1 smaller white pompom in each lateral corne Grenadier mitre cap with polished brass front plate; polished brass headband edged with a yellow within black within light blue braid and decorated with brass ornaments; red backing piped with an identical braid; yellow within black within light blue pompom
Neck stock	black
Coat	Prussian blue lined red with 6 brass buttons on both sides on the chest, 2 brass buttons at the waist on the right side and 3 brass buttons on each side to fasten the skirts forming the turnbacks Collar black Shoulder Straps Prussian blue fastened with a brass button Lapels none Pockets horizontal pockets piped red, each with 2 brass buttons Cuffs black plush "Swedish style" cuffs with 2 brass buttons Turnbacks red
Waistcoat	Prussian blue
Breeches	Prussian blue
Gaiters	black
Leather Equipment	Crossbelt one white belt over the left shoulder for the cartridge box and one narrower white belt over the right shoulder for the haversack Waistbelt white Cartridge Box black Bayonet Scabbard brown Scabbard none Footgear black

Privates were armed with a short musket and a bayonet.

NCOs

NCOs wore uniforms similar to those of the privates with the following distinctions:

• tricorne with wide gold lace and a black and white quartered pompom
• gold laced cuffs
• no shoulder straps
• yellowish leather gloves
• black and white sabre tassel

NCOs were armed with a sabre and a white light half-pike measuring 7,5 Rhenish feet (2.37 m.).

NCOs also carried wooden canes (normally attached to a button at the top of the right front while carrying the half-pike).

Officers

Uniforms of officers were very similar to those of the privates with the following exceptions:

• black tricorne wearing a thin golden lace and 2 black and white tassels (1 in each lateral corne of the tricorne) (officers always wore tricornes notwithstanding if they were commanding musketeers, fusiliers or grenadiers)
• no shoulder strap on the coat
• no turnbacks on the coat
• black and silver sash around the waist
• a silver and gold gorget

Officers carried white spontoons measuring 7 ½ Rhenish feet (2.36 m.)and an officer stick.

Musicians

Drummers wore uniforms similar to those of privates but were distinguished by white swallow nests at the shoulders.

Drummers carried a side-arm.

The drum pattern had ???.

Colours

Colonel flag (Leibfahne): White field. Centre device consisting of a golden “FR” cipher surrounded by golden palm leaves and surmounted by a gold crown. Grenades in gold.

Regimental flags (Kompaniefahnen): Dark orange field. Centre device consisting of a golden “FR” cipher surrounded by golden palm leaves and surmounted by a gold crown. Grenades in gold.

N.B. the reverses of all colours were mirror images of the obverses

Colonel Colour - Source: Richard Couture from a template by Not By Appointment

Regimental Colour - Source: Richard Couture from a template by Not By Appointment

References

Bleckwenn, Hans: Die friderizianischen Uniformen 1756-1783, Bd. II., Infanterie II, Osnabrück 1984

Duffy, Christopher: Friedrich der Große und seine Armee, Stuttgart, 2. Auflage 1983

Engelmann, Joachim and Günter Dorn: Die Infanterie-Regimenter Friedrich des Grossen, Podzun-Pallas, 2000, pp. 146-147

Grosser Generalstab Kriegsgeschichtliche Abteilung II: Die Kriege Friedrichs des Grossen, Part 3 Der siebenjährige Krieg 1756-1763, Vol. 1 Pirna und Lobositz, Berlin, 1901, App. 1

Guddat, Martin: Die Infanterie Friedrichs des Großen, Herford 1986

Haythornthwaite, Philip: Frederick the Great (2), Men-at Arms-Series No. 240, Osprey

Horvath, Carl Christian: Friedrichs II. König von Preussen Armee-Montirungen, Potsdam 1789. Vierte Sammlung

Merta, Klaus-Peter: Das Heerwesen in Brandenburg und Preußen von 1640 bis 1806 - Die Uniformierung, Berlin 1991

Acknowledgments

Martina Hager for the initial version of this article.