"Austrian landwehr & Friekorps flags" Topic
9 Posts
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matthewgreen | 28 Apr 2014 11:21 a.m. PST |
Though I'm not currently working on my 1809 Austrian figures, I will return to them some day. To add a bit of character, I like to give the landwehr and freikorps units local flags, based on snippets of information from works such as the Osprey by David Hollins. So I was interested to see this flag on a recent visit to Prague Castle:
Not a very good picture, as it was very crowded and photography was not strictly allowed. According to the blurb the flag was produced by a Schwartzenberg in 1800 to hang in the castle – no mention of military use. But it is styled on a military flag. The obverse is a double headed eagle in black on the dirty white background – it shows through as white on the side you can pictured. Could Bohemian Landwehr or Archduke Karl Legion units have used a flag such as this? Does anybody have any information on Landwehr/Freikorps flags? |
Dan Beattie | 28 Apr 2014 11:37 a.m. PST |
Here is the best introduction I've found: from Blunders on the Danube blog(including great painting and much enthusiasm): link
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matthewgreen | 28 Apr 2014 11:55 a.m. PST |
Thanks Dan. Prom this it would seem that the EHK Legion's 1st battalion used the flag illustrated. Like Gonsalvo I painted up a red flag based on Hollins, which I used for for my rendition of the 2EHK (which had different flag again). I may end up copying many of Gonsalvo's ideas, though I'd like to have a better idea of the evidence. |
marshalGreg | 28 Apr 2014 2:43 p.m. PST |
Is there a picture of the other side available? or can you give a description? This would be great. I too am currently working on EZK legion flags. thanks MG |
Prince of Essling | 28 Apr 2014 2:53 p.m. PST |
Dave Hollins post at link "
. The Legion is covered in Osprey MAA299 (by me!). On flags, I was misled by the HGM – the description of the "Moravian" flag is actually just the reverse of the Bohemian flag – it is not known which unit carried it however, but was most likely the 1st batt ACL. The 2nd Batt we now know carried a yellow over blue 5-horizontally striped with a black Doppeladler on it." Further to above also see Dave Hollins post of Feb 22 14 1:14 AM at link |
matthewgreen | 29 Apr 2014 4:08 a.m. PST |
marshalGreg The back was up against a wall – and although I could see it, I did not attempt to photo it. Essentially it was the same dirty white cloth as the front, with the same red and white flame edging. There was just a black doppeladler. I'm no expert on these, so I can't tell you the version, but it was dated about 1800. You can see its reverse in white on the photograph of the flag. This is rather a curious effect – the eagle seems to be black in front and white behind! Incidentally this is different from the illustration shown in Prince of Essling's link:
This has essentially the same design on both sides. However, with a doppeladler on one side and regional crest on the other this does seem to conform with the flag regulations – so as a basis for a guess for a flag for a Bohemian unit it isn't a bad one. Several were made, apparently – so it's not impossible that some were used militarily or at least something on the same pattern. |
Eclipsing Binaries | 29 Apr 2014 1:55 p.m. PST |
A possible reason for the "white" eagle showing through is that the cloth of the flag has discoloured over the years, except where it has been sealed or protected by the painted doppleadler on the reverse. This could indicate that the flag was originally the white colour shown on the protected areas. |
Prince of Essling | 30 Apr 2014 3:10 a.m. PST |
Now see Dave Hollins' new post at link – text reproduced below (some good cross-fertilisation): "1800/1809 Legion flags Seems I owe the Army Museum an apology! There were in fact two flags and not one as I thought above, (so the Osprey is right!). Over on TMP TMP link a photo of the original of the left hand flag in link has been posted – the flag is hanging in Prague castle. Looking close at those old photos, you can see the ordinary black Doppeladler on the reverse of the white flag with the visible side showing the red lion of Bohemia. The photo on the right is of a flag displaying the arms of Moravia and (famous last words!), it doesn't look like the reverse design is different as nothing is visible. This must then be the flag in the HGM, which is in poor condition now. The Bohemian flag would be the flag of the 1800 Leib battalion (the Prague students) and the Moravian flag would be the flag of one of the Moravian battalions. The catalogue to the 1909 exhibition says two 1800 Legion flags were known to have been carried at Wagram – which are presumably these two. However, on top of that, we know what the 2nd EKL battalion carried – as it is described by Criste in the OMZ (yellow/blue bars with a black Doppeladler) and there is the flag I published in the Osprey, which was red with some provincial arms. As there were 22 Legion battalions in 1800, there was probably no shortage of flags for the 1809 nine Legion battalions (6 EKL and 3 Moravian Freikorps) and possibly some Landwehr units." |
matthewgreen | 30 Apr 2014 7:00 a.m. PST |
Thanks! Yes that second flag does have the Moravian eagle on it, so would not have been on the reverse of the other one. Slowly things get a bit clearer! |
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