From: "patterson,george r" <patter@dasher.cc.bellcore.com>
Subject: Re: Prussian Military
Keywords: books history prussia
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 17:25:38 GMT


From "patterson,george r" <patter@dasher.cc.bellcore.com>

In article <Bz9Ez9.6Ix@law7.DaytonOH.NCR.COM> fr@compu.com (Fred Rump from home) writes:

>Who were the hussars. What was their duty? Same with the dragoons and 
>grenadiers. The latter I presume were infantry which carried some kind of 
>grenades around.

The hussar was a lightly armed cavalryman. "Battledress", by I.T. Schick
(ISBN 0 907408 72 9) shows several uniforms from the Prussian armies of this
period. Apparently every unit had their own. Most are depicted with bearskin
hats, as are now worn by the British palace guards. The hussar typically
wore his coat over one shoulder (strapped to his throat) with both arms
outside the sleeves.

The dragoons were heavily armed calvalry. The uniform resembled the US
revolutionary army uniform, but the boots come to mid-thigh and the hat is
a two-cornered cocked hat with a plume.

In this period, grenadiers were foot soldiers who threw grenades. This was
a specialized job which required great strength and skill. They also were
armed with musket and short sabre. The Prussian grenadier of the 1700s wore
the type of uniform which is seen in paintings of the Hessian troops during
the US Revolution. The most distinctive feature was the tall arch shaped hat.

>............ maybe find pictures of the various uniforms 

"Battledress" will give you this.

>One of my ancestors was a 'Feldjaeger' in the Royal Prussian Army ...

This would be light calvalry, similar to the British "lancers". Literally it
means "field hunter".

>I'm also curious how the Principality of Ansbach, which is near Nueremberg,
>got to be fighting for the Prussians.  I know that Ansbach and Bayreuth were
>part of Prussia in the late 1700's but how did that happen?  I mean Prussia
>and Bavaria were arch enemies for centuries.

According to "Germany", by Ivan Ivanji, (ISBN 0-8317-3849-9), Frederick
Wilhelm consolidated his position and the position of Prussia as an entity
from the "ruins of the thirty years war". He set up the first regular,
professional army in Europe, along with a lot of other good works. The
first king of Prussia was Friedrich Hohenzollern (Frederick I), who crowned
himself.  In 1713, Friedrich Wilhelm I, his son, took over. He increased
the size of the army, dying in 1740.

So, finally, we get to his son, Friedrich II (Frederick the Great), who
fought wars with virtually any Germanic noble who resisted him, nearly
unifying the Germanic states. This gave him the power to successfully
fight Austria, France, and Russia. It was during his reign that units of
the Bavarian military became Prussian. Of course, your ancestor may have
been a mercenary soldier; much of the Prussian army were mercenaries.

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                    | You can't find the answers in the bottom of a
George Patterson -  | whiskey glass, but if you look hard enough, you'll
                    | forget the questions.
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