"Yet more questions on the uniforms and hats" Topic

I've been doing some more checking on military uniforms during the era from about the thirty years war until the seven years war, but the more I find the more questions I have.

First off I found some odd uniforms while browsing the Foundry website. They are from the Great Northern War, and can be found both here

link

and here:

link

What are those hats called, and what era are they appropriate for? I've never seen them and can't seem to find references for them very easily.

Also I've seen some references to Russian soldiers called streltsi, and hte uniforms look sharper than most countries in the era I'm interested in. Were their uniforms copied outside Russia, or are they are unique to that country?
What about the Polish musketeers or drabants' uniforms? Were they copied outside of Poland?

Relatedly were any of the Ottoman empire's uniforms copied by the European powers. I'm especially interested in Janissaries of the era, but I don't know if it would be really ahistorical for a European army.

In short I've found a lot of neat uniforms that I can paint up for my fictional german state, but I want to make sure they're at least historically apropriate for the region and the era.

I think the Russian hat is called something like a kartuz. It was afaik a very Russian piece of uniform and the Russians tended to become more "German" as the C18th progressed, so probably only around for the first half of that century.Streltsi were the regular/ guard infantry of the Russian Czar when his army was mostly feudal cavalry. They were replaced by a more modern army by Peter the Great when they tried to be "kingmaker" once too often. Again quite specifically Russian.

There are quite a few examples of unusual and exotic troops being raised or copied in the C18th. Prussia had its Uhlans, lancers from eastern Europe (?) Hungarian Hussars were recruited outside of Hungary and later widely imitated. The French had a large number of Swiss, German, Scottish and Irish regiments. Napoleon had his Mamluk cavalry guard. For a fictional country it should be possible to think of a reason for a few units of exotic troops.

Perhaps they fought against the Janniseries as part of the army of the Holy Roman Empire and the country's Prince/ King was so impressed he incorporated a unit of Janissaries into his own Guard. Other foreign uniforms can be due to close ties to that country (dynastic or geographical) or due to an expatriot/ exiled corps that have ended up in their service. This can all add nicely to whatever backstory you decide upon for your created state. Sounds like great fun!

The Russian cap is usully called a "pokelem." It was worn by a number of regiments in the GNW,although many regiments wore hats. The Swedish version was called the "karpus" it was worn by most regiments in the 1690s and during the first years of the GNW. Many regiments continued to wear them off and on. Again, many regiments wore hats as the war progressed. I would suggest you look at "Great Northern War 170-1721, Colours and Uniforms" available from Dan Schrr's "Nothern Wars" website. link

Hi

And Streltzi are called "haiduk" by the poles. originally the were a sort of "stirrup rider" dragoon. Then became musket infantry that used a broad axe as a musket rest. As often happens, the name continued to apply to various units after they stopped doing their original stuff.

R

I thought Hungarian style infantry was called "haiduk". But in any event, they belong to the 1500's and 1600's, not the 1700's in which thomfllame2 seems to be interested. But, hey. He's the Emperor! If he wants Landsknechts with Martini Henry's, go for it! Samurai with Pilum and Scutum?

The hat is called Kartuz in Russia and karpus in swedish, and a derivate of it became the pokalem, as used by the French in the later part of the Napoleonic wars.

Many Swedish regiments used it on and off in the GNW, although others used the hat (tricorne). Check Höglund & Sallnäs "Great Northern War 170-1721, Colours and Uniforms" for details on what regiments used what and when.

Cheers,
Koen

Hello!
I'm a wargamer in Canada interested in the Great Northern War to Seven Years War Swedish army. Could anyone tell me where to find some colour pictures of Swedish Commanders, other than Karl XII. I am especially interested in the later period mentioned

There is a good book in swedish called "Karoliner". Dont remember the name of the author (was it Alf Åberg?), but i can check, althougt I doubt that you will find it in Canada.

One of the best references for the Swedes in the GNW is a book called "Karoliner" by Alf Åberg and Göte Göransson. It's quite common here in Sweden. It has the great Karpus problem mentioned. There are most of the regiments, uniforms ranks and organisations as well as tactics, formations etc. I don't know whether it was ever published in English. Mine's the Swedish version.

For the 30 Years War buffs with Swedish armies, Göre Göransson wrote "Gustav II Adolf och hans folk" (Bra böcker)which gives out everything you need.
Again, mine's in Swedish.

Hi Donald Cameron,
There weren't just Sewdish regiments, but Finnish ones too.
Österbottens regemente, Åbo läns dragoner, Åboläns infanteriregemente, Nylands infanteriregemente, Björneborgsinfanteriregemente, amongst others. I counted about 31 of them and this includes only infantry cavalry and dragoons. The uniforma are quite colurful even as late as 1719-20 when the enhets uniform was worn.The Åbo läns infanterieregimente and the Nylands reg. for instance wore a dark green enhets uniform with red turnbacks, cuffs and collars, undercoat and breeches. Blue piping on the tricorne hat and grey stockings. Regiments such as these can spice up the look of your army a little.

What year are your armies marching in? If you're more specific I can give you the uniform details, regimental colours, commanders names etc. of the Swedish and Finnish regts. You have to give the year though as details changed, sometimes very quickly.

Sorry Don Cameron,
I got a bit side tracked there. You wanted some Swedish commanders other than Carl XII. Well, there were the regimental commanders etc. His second in command at Narva was Carl Gustav Rhenskiöld, but maybe this is a bit early for you.The same chap was Fieldmarshal at Poltava in 1709. Magnus Stenbock took over the new army built up after Poltava. He was a bit better as a military commander, although he was defeated at Tönningens fästning (fortress) in 1713.

As far a generalship is concerned, Carl XII was a poor general on the strategic level. A military disaster for Sweden. He emptied the country of manpower and money. Furthermore he lost all of the gains that his father had made. With the destruction of one army he would simply go home and raise another. He was probably killed by one of his own men in Norway who was fed up with his disasters.

For anyone interested in swedish army uniforms during the GNW apart from the book "Karoliner" and the works by Höglund & Sallnäs there is also a book by Åke Bellander "Dräkt och Uniform" which is about swedish uniforms from the 1500´s up to about 1960 I think.

It is written in swedish but I believe there are summaries of each chapter in english, I have a copy at home so will check up on this later. Anyways it is an extensive work and a must for anyone into swedish uniforms.

Dear Major Hardly Withit;

I'm not sure what year I am looking at. Just a sort of general Swedish army for the first quarter of the 18th. century. I have names of commanders; what I'm looking for is a source of pictures of them in their actual uniforms. Lots of pictures of Karl XII, but very few of other generals. Did they wear a sash; waist or shoulder; what colour? The " Drakt och uniform" book has formal portraits of a couple but they are in that 3/4 armour style. It's in the Toronto Public Library's Reference collection.

Some of the those Finnish uniforms sound interesting. The blue and yellow does get a bit tedious!

If you see the famous picture of Karl XII standing in a blue uniform with blue facings, then you have the uniform for most officers. Some had more gold lace. The Acedia Press book "The Great Northern War, Uniforms and Standards" referenced in an earlier post has all the info you need. Here is a link: link You can also get it from Baccus6 if you are in England.

In "Dräkt och Uniform" by Åke Bellander there is a photograph of a generals uniform on page 254, worn by Prince Fredrik during the campaign in Norway in 1716. As dbf1041676 has stated officers uniforms tended to be all-blue and this uniform is no exception. Blue coat with blue cuffs, blue vest and trousers.