"Hessian organisation in 1745" Topic

I have decided to model the Hessian contingent which went to Scotland for the "45". I know they did not take part in any real fighting, but I would quite like to re-create Murray's abortive siege of Blair Atholl Castle, and the Hessians were the possible relief force for that.

Stuart Reid's 1745 A Military History of the Last Jacobite Rising (page 106) says that the force comprised a battalion of Grenadiers, the Prince Maxmillian Regiment (2 Bns), the Ansbach Regiment (2 Bns) and 6 companies of Guards. However this book was originally published in 1996 and in his more recent Osprey Cumberland's Culloden Army (published 2012), Stuart Reid gives the organisation as six regiments, Garde, Prinz Maxmillian, Mansbach, Von Donop, Erbprinz and Grenadiere. These are all shown as of a similar size averaging 845 men each.

As I understand it, their organisation prior to 1760 was as single battalion regiments, each of 10 companies, as mentioned on page 19 of Stuart Reid's 2010 Osprey Frederick the Great's Allies 1756-63, so that is what I am going to go with.

There is a posting on this website from 2010, discussing Hessian organisation in the War of the Austrian Succession, which would clearly be the same as that for the Jacobite Rebellion (link below).

TMP link

The consensus agreed this same organisation of single battalion regiments of 10 companies, but also mentioned one Grenadier company per regiment.

I understand that the Grenadiere Regiment started its life in 1697 as a composite battalion of 6 regimental grenadier companies, but was reconstituted as a permanent unit in 1702. In 1745 they were a similar size to other regiments, so they either had just 6 much larger companies, or they had reorganised themselves into 10 standard sized companies (I suspect the latter).

What I am not sure about is whether the regiments in 1745 had their grenadier companies with them (ie they actually comprised 11 companies). Since there was now a separate Grenadiere Regiment, there was no requirement to converge the other grenadier companies anymore, nor do the Orders of Battle for either the Jacobite Rebellion or the War of Austrian Succession show such a converged battalion. My conclusion is that the 1745 regiments did have integral grenadier companies, and that is how I am proposing to model them. I however doubt if the Grenadiere Regiment itself would have had an 11th company.

I have several books on the Jacobite Rebellion, including Christopher Duffy's "The 45", and I have recently ordered his The Best of Enemies – Germans versus Jacobites 1746, which should add to my knowledge.

Does anyone have any other information on this.

Rod

Duffy mentions a Hessian Hussar officer being captured by the Jacobites in The 45.

The Digital Archive of Hesse in Marburg provides a few primary source bits.
The combined Imperial, Palatinate, & Hesse-Cassel Army in its camp of Plattling under Marshal Törring in 1742 included a Hessian brigade formed of the regts/battalions:
Clement (IR 2), Waldenheim (IR ?), and Donopp (IR ?)
all are listed with a book strength of 800 men inclusive a "grenadier corps" with each.
One of the very few orbats to give also book strength figures.
Another orbat of the same camp makes it a grenadier company instead of "corps", but this should be the result of this tables layout need of conformity.
Another book of Hesse-Cassel's army of 1762 also provides some more on the regiments history and former organization. The period between 1715 and 1756 isn't so well documented. It seems organization varied with each decade and wasn't consistent with all regiments. By around 1745/46 the rule seems to have been each regt with 10 companies formed in 1 or 2 battalions. The 1746 orbat of the Brabant army under Charles de Lorraine shows the Hessians with 1 battalion regiments.
The strength was mostly around 800 men. The universal adoption of a grenadier company was only by 1754. I take it the grenadiers were drawn from each company similar to the Hannoverian organization of this period. The grenadier regiment would also form a corps of "flank" grenadiers.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Christian
crogges7ywarmies.blogspot.com

Fife & Drum is in the process of adding Hessians ( in gaiters) to its figure range and these should be suitable for the '45. Figures should be in production approximately January 2015.

These are sculpted to fit with the Crann Tara '45 range as both are sculpted by Richard Ansell.

Crogge1757 wrote:

The 1746 orbat of the Brabant army under Charles de Lorraine shows the Hessians with 1 battalion regiments.
The strength was mostly around 800 men. The universal adoption of a grenadier company was only by 1754. I take it the grenadiers were drawn from each company similar to the Hannoverian organization of this period. The grenadier regiment would also form a corps of "flank" grenadiers.

That makes sense, and the Hessian practice of drawing 8 men per company to act as grenadiers (prior to 1760) is mentioned on page 19 of Stuart Reid's Osprey Frederick the Great's Allies 1756-63. It is the same practice as Napoleonic Hanoverian (and KGL up to 1812) used to form their sharpshooters (skirmishers).

I assume that such temporary grenadiers would have worn normal centre company hats, not grenadier mitres, although the later Hanoverian and KGL sharpshooters did wear distinguishing features, so it is possible that these Hessians were uniformed as grenadiers. It could be a bit like the practice in some armies of having a couple of Sapeurs or pioneers per company, but centralising them when required.

Any thoughts?

Rod