Chortle | 27 Sep 2014 11:12 p.m. PST |
I ordered Front Rank Napoleonic Wurttemberg Dragoons. But I lost my notes on what I was going to paint them as when my house was flooded. So I have to figure out which unit will be good to paint (i.e. which was involved in interesting combats) and how many figures to paint. So far I only found about one unit. So that could make my decision easy. Württemberg Dragoon Regiment # 3 (6 squadrons) was present at the battle of Abensberg in 1809. In Elting I *think* this one is referred to as Dragoon Rgt No. 5 Kronprinz.
Is there another Dragoon regiment? Does anyone have the number of men in this unit? I make my units 1:20 normally. I have 38 Wurttemberg Dragoons. I bought the Front Rank packs so I ended up with excess standard bearers and some extra figures to take their places. I could have planned to make a 24 man unit and also a 12 man unit to sell off. Or I could have planned to make a single 32 man unit (my French Dragoons are in 32 – 4 x 8 man squadrons). Perhaps I saw that there were six squadrons and planned to make the unit 6 x 6 man squadrons – but I have only 4 officers, so this is unlikely (for me). Any info on the Wurtty Dragoons gratefully received. |
von Winterfeldt | 27 Sep 2014 11:29 p.m. PST |
Check at Histofig, I found the information provided there quite usefull for a start. Württemberg to make matters complicated had Jäger zu Pferd (Chasseurs à Cheval) Chevaulegers Dragoner – Dragoons Regiment nr.5 – • 1809-1811 Dragoner Rgt. Kronprinz • 1811-1813 Kavallerie Rgt. Nr.5 Dragoner Kronprinz • 1813-1815 Kavallerie Rgt. Nr.3 Dragoner Kronprinz (above from histofig) and Guard Cavalry |
Chortle | 27 Sep 2014 11:55 p.m. PST |
Thanks. That ties in with the information I have. It looks like there was just the one Dragoon regiment. Did you see anything giving the number of men in the Dragoon unit? They appear again in an 1814 army list (4 squadrons). Nafziger is usually good for numbers but he doesn't mention their strength. |
von Winterfeldt | 28 Sep 2014 3:26 a.m. PST |
I checked some of my source, a complicated army, best to be avoided ;-)). Yes, only one dragoon regiment, it was formed at 24.th of July 1809 from the depots of the existing cavalry, out of 4 sqaudrons 3 were mounted one unmounted – usually a cavalry regiment had in 1809 4 squadrons, the Leib squadron and 3 others. The Chevaulegers had originally 5 but one was given to the Garde REgiment zu Pferd, the Leib squadron so that Garde Kavallerie regiment had 4 squadrons, partially in different uniforms – at least for 1809. |
Marcel1809 | 28 Sep 2014 1:11 p.m. PST |
Contrary to the chevau légèrs and tthe Jägers zu pferde(chasseurs a cheval) the 5 dragoon regiment did not see that much action, mainly employed for home service. It was not involved in the 1812 campaign. I might have fought on against the French in the 1814 campaign but I am not sure of that. |
Bandolier | 28 Sep 2014 4:17 p.m. PST |
The 5th Rgt is the only Württemberg dragoon unit I know of. I painted them because I saw them on a couple of late war army lists. If it wasn't for that I probably wouldn't have bothered. Nice looking unit regardless. |
Chortle | 28 Sep 2014 5:55 p.m. PST |
If there were around 480 men in this unit I'd paint them as a 24 man unit (1:20 ratio). If something more like 640 men, than that would justify a 32 man unit. Does anyone have any reference to these numbers? I see them mentioned in 1809 and then 1814. As has been said, they don't have much of a history – but they look pretty! |
Bandolier | 28 Sep 2014 6:30 p.m. PST |
Here is a quote from a pdf I have called "The Army of Württemberg 1806-14" by W.J.Rawkins. Cavalry of the Line Organisation The normal strength of the cavalry regiments was four squadrons each with two companies of an approximate establishment of 100 other ranks plus officers and appointed ranks. The five line regiments of cavalry were numbered consecutively, the 1st and 2nd Regiments being Chevaulegers, the 3rd and 4th Regiments were Jäger-zu-Pferd and the 5th Regiment Dragoons.
That would support a 400-480 strength unit. |
Chortle | 29 Sep 2014 4:11 a.m. PST |
Bandolier, thanks very much for posting. The strength you quote can be read two ways: 4 squadrons x 2 companies x 100 men = 800 4 squadrons x 2 companies x 50 men = 400 Did the author disambiguate this in the text with examples? or, is the strength of any of the regiments mentioned in an ORBAT? That would be great since this author indicates that the different cavalry types had the same strength. All things considered, a 24 man unit for these Dragoons seems very sensible. |
vonLoudon | 30 Sep 2014 4:50 p.m. PST |
Actually, at 1:30 it wouldn't be difficult to paint a decent representation of their whole army. Just saying. |