"Light Infantry Battalion von Barner at Saratoga" Topic

Just what was this unit?
I have used the Wargames Foundry Copplestone sculpted SYW figures firing, without lapels.
All that means is that I have figures that match Mollo and Funcken.
Then I read that they also had jaegers in them. Your standard green coat with red facings jaegers?
In what ratio? Or, is this wrong?

The more I read about them, the more confused I get.
Sometimes they appear in an OOB for a battle, and another source lists someone/something else.

Does anybody want to step out on a limb and say something definitive about them?

John,

See here – scroll down to no.7:-

home.ica.net/~claus/PAGE2.HTM

The battalion appears to have been raised in Brunswick from men from other corps, possibly including the Landmiliz given the number of officers who went back to that organisation after the war. There were one jaeger and four musketeer companies; all five companies had just under 120 all ranks.

The plates should answer your uniform questions, but yes – green faced red coats, as with all the jaeger contingents (I did have a note somewhere listing the uniform differences between all the various German jaeger in N America, but I can't find it at the moment – from memory, I think the Brunswick "distinction" was green waistcoats and green turnbacks/lining on the coats). Geyso took over from Schottelius as company commander fairly early on in the campaign.

I assume the battalion make-up was to provide musket-armed men to support the slower-loading riflemen (as was common in Europe at the time), but there's no evidence that the bulk of the battalion ever did that. At Hubbardton, for example, the jaeger were supported by platoons of grenadiers. I have sometimes wondered if perhaps the battalion was not that good a unit and was unreliable in some way, although I have never seen that written down anywhere. Riedesel's memoirs describe the Brunswickers adopting looser tactics to match their British allies; I would have thought that a "light battalion" would have joined in this.

The musketeer companies seem to have been "brigaded" (for want of a better word) with the Grenadier Battalion Breymann throughout the campaign. However, I don't think I would categorise them as an "elite" unit, though.

John, I have been corresponding with the Park Historian at Saratoga Battlefield(I live 30 minutes away). I obtained the following information from him:

Von Baerner's light infantry battalion was a mix: it consisted of five companies, one of which was a jaeger company. The jaeger, of course, carried rifles, but the rest of them carried muskets and bayonets. The non-jaeger companies had yellow-coated drummers, with black cuffs and collars (no lapels). They must have looked sharp! The jaegercompany had horn players (no drummers), and were dressed in green coats with red facings, the same color combination as the men of the company.

Interesting how fast General Riedesel pulled the jagers (2nd.company) out of the battalion and used them as an separate elite striking force for the entire campaign.
The battalion has a Leib company but no flags to my knowledge. A very quickly formed unit to hire to the British.

Tom, That may speak volumes about the quality of the unit.

From the document on the Perry Miniatures website:

link

Jaeger Company – Captain Carl von Geyso (or Geisau)
• Composition – probably four platoons [total 4 officers and 120 combatants]; the company was part of the Light Battalion, nominally its 2nd Company, but often operated separately.
• Uniform – dark green coat with green lining and dark red facings; sleeveless green waistcoat; straw breeches, tan/grey under-knee gaiters; "white" buttons.
• Headgear – plain black tricorne bound with black tape; green cockade, white/yellow cords, pompom white with yellow centre.
• Officers – gold button and loop on cockade, no gorget or sash, gold aiguillette on right shoulder; gold/silver sword knot; cavalry boots were regulation, but black versions of the gaiters worn by the men were more likely in the field.
• Musicians – two hornists in normal jaeger uniforms, with silver laced "wings" and cuffs, otherwise the same lace as the Light Battalion drummers.
• Colours – this unit carried no colours.
• Equipment – jaeger rifle with belly-box cartridge pouch (probably without a plate) holding 20-24 rounds; short sword (hirschfδnger).

Light Battalion – Major Ferdinand von Barner
• Composition – four musketeer companies [20 officers and 478 combatants].
• Uniform – dark blue coat without lapels, black collar and cuffs, red lining and "yellow" buttons; white aiguillette on right shoulder.
• Headgear – plain black tricorne
• Officers – gold button and loop on cockade, no gorget, gold aiguillette on right shoulder; gold/silver sword knot and sash; black gaiters; coat had no turnbacks
• Musicians – yellow coat, black collar and cuffs (no lapels), red turnbacks; white lace with black and yellow broken lines; white and yellow hat cords/pom-pom; drum hoops had yellow/red/black triangles.
• Colours – this unit carried no colours.
• Equipment – known to have carried the lighter and shorter artillery carbine when in Europe; bayonet; short sabre with sword knot in the company colour (1st – or Leib – Company white, others unknown, but possibly followed the Prussian system).

Oh no! Carried no colours? Preposterous.

Baroness von Riedesel,saved all the units colours.

John;
I expect this battalion (sans colours) at our next game…

Simply because…

Eric

I thought she (Baroness) wrapped the flags around her under her dress???

Eric, I just have to add that rad drummer (I have a few spare drummers) and 2 stands of jaegers (which I can condense).
When I do the "800 Fighting Englishmen" game, those will be the OFFICIAL "weird unit".

So, the Brunswick jaegers were originally from Von Barner's battalion?
Interesting, and that may explain the confusion.

According to the Saratoga OBs I have, there were two separate units. One Jaegers and one light infantry.

I have been using Perry Brunswick Fusiliers. But now I will check out the Foundry figures. Thanks John.

Rallynow,

The jaeger were originally the 2nd Company of the Light Bn von Barner, but seem to have served separately more or less all through the campaign; latterly, they were in two detachments of about 50 men each, one of which was lost at Bennington.

SM,

Thanks for clearing that up. These German units gives me headaches.

Don't feel bad – the better ones did the same to your forbears!