"Prussian 11th Hussars 1815" Topic

I have decided to paint some 11th Hussars for my 1815 Prussians in 15mm. I am going for the official 1815 Prussian uniform, although this unit had been formed from the Berg Hussars and I don't know whether the new uniforms had been issued by June.

This seems quite clear except for one point. The Osprey says that the fur on the Pelisse was white. Mont St Jean link shows black. Anybody have any better information?

Thanks

Not an expert, but I think the better guess is that the old uniforms are more likely.

And I would leave the pelisses in the baggage train and not worry about the colour of the fur.

According to Haythornethwait's Uniforms at Waterloo, the fur on the pelisse varied by rank: officers had grey fur, NCO's had black fur, and troopers had white fur.

In the case of Prussians, they tended to wear the pelisse as a jacket over the dolman while on campaign, but maybe they went without them since the 100 Days was in the summer.

The Prussian regulations of March 1815 said: white fur, and dolmans and pelisses with white cords.

However, according to a regimental history, the Berg hussar regiment had green cords (the other regimental history states: white cords), and black fur. Here a bad copy (too few rows of cords, in the original the piping at the pelisse's cuffs is light green, collar and cuffs are plain red without white piping) of the Elberfeld manuscript: 26 March 1814, the fur is brown (faded black ?):

The now Prussian regiment received its new uniforms in late 1815, still wearing its old uniform in November 1815, the new ones being transported on waggons.

PS. Concerning the colour of the cords of the Berg hussars, the 1814 volunteer squadron of the regiment is depicted in the Elberfeld manuscript on 11 February 1814 with green cords. The above Elberfeld image of 26 March 1814 also shows green, probably (my personal opinion) mixing up volunteers and rank-and file. The first regimental history, of ca. 1880, states: white cords. The regimental history which states: green cords, was published in 1913, after Richard Knötel had published the Elberfeld manuscript. Select the colour you like most ;-)

Thank you Oliver. Looks like Mt St Jean have done some homework.

The officers may have had the official uniform, which would mean grey fur and white cords, but otherwise not so different. This is exactly what Mt St Jean suggests.

Any information on horse furniture?

The older regimental history states for the Berg hussars in 1814: green cloth shabraque with red and white dents.

The newer regimental history for the officers of the the Berg hussars in 1814: dark green dolman and pelisse, red collars and cuffs, golden cords, five vertical rows of buttons, pelisses with black fur.

The newer regimental history gives so detailed info on the officers' uniforms, not found in written sources elsewhere, that it is probably based on orders found in the regiment's archives. This makes the green cords for rank-and-file much more probable than I thougth in my previous post.

Many thanks Oliver. Mt St Jean seems to be wrong on that point. No doubt at least some of the officers would have equipped themselves with the new Prussian uniform, though others may not.

Quite by chance my Old Glory Prussian hussars are more accurate for this unit than they would be for the generality of Prussian hussars. They have a cloth shabraque – which I don't think were issued to the Prussians until later in 1815. And if the Prussians tended to wear pelisses over the dolman, then that's wrong too (apart from the officer). It's the first unit I chose to depict, and I will look for another figure maker for future regiments.

In several regimental histories I read that the officers corps decided to put on newly introduced uniforms earlier than the men (the officers were paying their uniforms themselves anyway), but if they did, they did it all together.

This doesn't necessarily mean that this was done in all regiments, most regimental histories (including those of the 11th hussars) are silent on this topic anyway, but I tend to believe that the "typical" Prussian officers corps was dressed homogeneously.

Would or might not junior officers newly posted to the unit have their kit made up according to regulation, rather than the old pattern?

Either way it's good to see the Berg hussars ride again, not just the umpteenth variation on the Leibhusaren!

Please post pictures when they are finished.

Well it's the first time I've tried posting a picture on TMP. So let's see if it works:
sdrv.ms/1cYW7kw

Well I don't make any claims to either the quality of the paint work, or to the photography, but I hope it gives you a general idea. These are Old Glory 15mm figures – and though their Prussian figures are generally quite good, these hussars are a bit disappointing. I will probably stump up for AB figures for my next regiment.

They look really nice.