| SKORDLY | 21 Mar 2011 9:08 a.m. PST |
Just both two boxes of Warlords Prussian Landwehr, worth enough for 3 btgs. What are the distinctions between the Silesian Landwehr Battallions from 1st to 3rd ? Just the shoulder strap colour?
Yellow/Red/White ? Am I right ? Many thanks
Stefano |
| idontbelieveit | 21 Mar 2011 9:15 a.m. PST |
I don't think it was officially done, but was attempted. I think the order was white, scarlet, yellow, blue. |
| Dutch508 | 21 Mar 2011 10:56 a.m. PST |
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| Oliver Schmidt | 22 Mar 2011 2:29 a.m. PST |
By the regulation, the number of the regiment should be sewn onto the shouder strap in red cloth (yellow for the 2nd battalion). Examples: picture (The 2. Schlesisches Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment had been dissolved on 29 January 1814, and the 17. Schlesisches Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment took its number. It seems the number on the shoulder straps had not been changed by 1815 though !) PDF link (1815) |
| gounour | 22 Mar 2011 7:42 a.m. PST |
beware, Silesia had 3 regiments each of 3 battalions during Flanders campaign. Uniforms were the same within one regiment (or should have been, Landwehr units were poorly equiped) 2nd Silesian Landwehr regiment had english-style uniform (no litewka), with stovepipe shako and red plume, as seen in picture above |
| Camcleod | 22 Mar 2011 8:07 a.m. PST |
Oliver Thanks for the pics.
I note that your first one shows the man in a shorter coat.
Is this just a short litewka? In your second is a Kurmarker in short Reserve style jacket.
How common were these in the Ldwr.?
I've seen plates showing the entire 1st Westphalian Ldwr. Regt.in short jackets (the mont-saint-jean site). Was the unit actually in these jackets ? Also, how common were the British style stovepipe shako in the Ldwr. ? Thanks for any info.
Cliff |
| 4th Cuirassier | 22 Mar 2011 9:43 a.m. PST |
Haythornthwaite in Uniforms of Waterloo has the 1st Westphalian Landwehr in normal Landwehr garb, i.e. Litewka plus flat 'at. I've not heard of any Landwehr infantry having stovepipe hats, but neither have I read that much about Prussians lately. A number of Landwehr cavalry units wore the stovepipe shako though. |
| Oliver Schmidt | 22 Mar 2011 10:52 a.m. PST |
Cliff, probably the length of the Litewka varied from unit to unit. I presume it basically just reached the mid of the thigh, and some may have been longer. Some Litewkas made for some Silesian Landwehr units in 1813 are said to have been made from cloth which shrank extremely when getting wet in the rain, but those will have been disappeared by 1815 anyway. Already by the end of 1813, some Litewkas of the infantry of Lützow's Freikorps had been reduced to mere jackets, as the soldiers used up the lower parts of their Litewkas for making patches … The Jacke (jacket) for the Landwehr was meant to replace the Litewka and was ordered to be introduced on 29 April 1815. On 29 July 1815 it was replaced with a Rock (uniform coat) simliar to those of the line. Giving orders didn't mean they were executed immediately. link
(article in German only) I believe (= can't prove at all) hardly any Landwehr jackets were worn during the 1815 campaign, except maybe for some few reinforcements. The 1st Westphalian Landwehr in uniform coats with tails is based on a 1815 plate by Genty: link The original five Westphalian Landwehr regiments had coloured shoulder straps according to the regiment (e.g. white for all battalions of the 1st, green for the 5th), and Westphlaian provinces ar east of the river Rhine. So Genty seems to be reliable here. However, the regimental history of this regiment shows a plate with Prussian style shakos and Litewkas: picture I have no good explanation for this contradiction. Oli |
| Terry37 | 22 Mar 2011 8:41 p.m. PST |
Some great info here! Thanks Terry |
| Camcleod | 23 Mar 2011 9:24 a.m. PST |
I wonder if Genty has just mistaken the soldier's unit ??
The uniform looks a lot like one of the Reserve Regts. in
British supplied uniform.
And plates 28 and 20 show the other two bns. of the regt. Cliff |
| Oliver Schmidt | 23 Mar 2011 9:49 a.m. PST |
Which regiment do you propose ? In 1814, is was ordered that all British style uniforms should be "prussified": making them double-breasted, and adding the regulation collars and cuffs of the respective Prussian regiment. The green collars and cuffs with white buttons were worn only by the Landwehr from Westphalia, and the 1st Westphalian Landwehr regiment actually was in Paris in 1815. The yellow buttons were introduced for the Landwehr uniform coats on 29 July and 21 September 1815. As indicated in the plate's inscription, plate 20 seems to show Rhineland Landwehr. These Landwehr units were organised mid-1815, and reached Paris somewhen in September or October 1815. They had carmoisin (crimson / dark red) collars and cuffs as well as white buttons (at least this was the regulation when those units were formed). Also the blue trousers are confirmed by another source: link The colouring of plate 28 seems a bit odd though: link |
| Camcleod | 23 Mar 2011 12:20 p.m. PST |
Did the 21st Regt. still wear their British supplied uniforms
in 1815 ? That's the one I was thinking of. Cliff |
| Oliver Schmidt | 23 Mar 2011 1:37 p.m. PST |
No, I dealt with this regiment's uniforms in the commentaries to the plates of my Osprey Warrior (unfortunately the relevant passages are not part of the Google Books preview). By December 1814, the whole regiment (including the 3rd battalion) had blue uniforms (of different provenience, partly shabby, partly patched, but others brand new) with white collars and cuffs and red shoulder straps. The British shakos were given a kind of "Prussian" appearance by adding a wide cardbord top and putting them in waxcloth covers. |
gets started with Flintloque.
