"1866 Hesse-Darmstadt Shuetzen bn." Topic

In obats. for the VIII Federal Korps the Electoral Hesse Division has a Schuetzen bn.. I am having great difficulty finding out about their uniform. Knotel doesn't mention them, they don't appear to exsist in 1870, just two jaeger bns. (which they didn't have in 1866). Help?

…."The tunic for both battalions was of single breasted dark green cloth with yellow metal buttons. The front opening vent of the tunic was piped red and the tunic cuffs were Brandenburg in cut with a dark green upright patch. The battalions were distinguished by the color of the collars, cuffs and shoulder straps. For the Guard Jager battalion the collar and cuffs were red and the shoulder straps white with a yellow crown motif whilst for the Guard Schutzen the collar and cuffs were back piped red with red shoulder straps. Trousers were as per the Infantry and footwear was black leather. The equipment was as per the Infantry Regiments but in black leather and greatcoats were grey cloth..

This is from the Pickelhaube Press' "The Armies of 1866"

..I plan to us only the two squadrons of Kurhessen Hussars that managed to join the Federal Corps before they were captured like the remainder of the slowly mobilizing army..

…..and I gave you info on Electoral Hesse, or was it the Hesse Darmstadt units you were wondering about?..

You gave Hesse-Kassel…

My mistake I should written Grand Ducal Hesse. Electoral Hesse (Hesse-Kassel) troops were part of the Mainz garrison

I guess I should have Hesse-itated before I tried to answer your question! I guess I need to go back and do some research on all things Hesse!

..and I highly recommend getting your hands on the Pickelhaube Press guide on the 1866. It's very handy to have when uniform questions come up.

I just received a copy Stuart Sutherland's book on the minor German states. In it he states that the Hesse-Darmstadt shuetzen battalion was "provisionally raised August 1861". It was made permanent in May of 1866 by drafts from the shuetzen coys. belonging to the infantry reg'ts. So I assume that they are wearing the regular infantry uniform, with shuetzen distinctions, of the parent reg'ts.

Is The Armies of 1866 in print? I am having trouble finding it.

….I got myself all spun around on this question earlier. When I get back to it I will get you the description of their uniform from the book. One thing I do recall is that their headgear was very unique. Standby for a detailed description later today!..

…so here is what I see…

For Hesse Darmstadt they have a description for "sharpshooters":
"The tunic was as per their infantry counterparts save that buttons were white metal and the collar of the tunic was green with a collar patch. The collar patch was red for Guard Jagers (the color for the Jagers Corps and Leib Battalion is not certain but is believed to be white) with tow bars of white Litzen lace. The tunic was decorated with Green wings."
The cap, trousers, boots and equipment were as per the infantry.

Also described are the "Hesse-Homburg Jagers":

The tunic was a single breasted dark green garment with red collar, cuffs, shoulder straps and piping down the front vent. Buttons were white metal. The cuffs were of Brandenburg cut with an upright red collar patch.
Trousers were gray and presumably boots and equipment were as per the infantry, although it can be said with certainty that the infantry style harness and greatcoat were as per infantry (presumably with white metal buttons)
The head gear was a soft cloth cap of extremely unusual design. It was a cross between a peaked field cap and forage cap. The upper forage element was dark green cloth piped red with a red tassel whilst the bottom field cap element was comprised of a black leather cap band and black leather front peak

You can see an image here on this ebay auction

auction

Now I am puzzled. In Sutherland's book the only Jaegers that are listed for Grand Ducal Hesse are the two Hesse-Homburg companies. Each company was attached to an infantry brigade in the Grand Ducal Hesse Division. The "converged" Schuetzen are part of the divisional troops.

Now the Hesse-Homburg uniform is very cool. . I found a copy of of Armies of 1866 on ebay this morning, not cheap, but it is now mine. Bwaa ha ha ha ha.

Thanks for the help.

…I found that booklet indispensable!

…and to answer your "organizational question, and you can read this yourself once you get the booklet, the way it's worded sounds like the "sharpshooters" were companies of troops peeled off the infantry regiments. The only dedicated jager unit shown is the Hesse Homburg Jagers..