"Swedish napoleonic Line Infantry grenadiers" Topic

I've been trying to find more informatoon about the swedish line infantry grenadier companies during the 1790s-1806 period. I know about the Grenadier Regiments formed through the period, and I've also read that the grenadier companies of the line regiments were abolished around 1806. Does anyone know anything about the uniform distinctions of the swedish grenadier companies during the 1790 – 1806 period?

Let me have a look through my reference books, downloads etc. Probably be tomorrow before I can post a proper answer.

From the Rawkins CD

The grenadier regiments were formed in 1806 from the grenadier platoons of the line regiments and some elements of the guard cavalry regiments, but were actually part of the indelta system and were the two senior indelta regiments in the lists. Prior to 1806 the grenadier platoons appear to have worn the same round hat as their parent unit. From 1806 the grenadier regiments were issued with the kask or raupenhelm of distinctive Swedish design, on creation but both the Lifregementsbrigadens grenadiercorps and both regiments of the Lifgrenadierregementets may have retained the 1802 style hat until sometime after 1807 with the addition of a black raupe, or chenille worn front to back. The new 1807 kask was of similar pattern to that of the guard regiments, boiled black leather with rounded crown and a brass band with pointed centre for the Lifregementsbrigadens grenadiercorps and a concave centre for the Lifgrenadierregementets with the Swedish arms embossed at the front. There is some difference of opinion about the badge worn at the front of the raupenhelm. Some authorities give this as a grenade badge of brass which certainly seems to have been the view of both Richard and Herbert Knötel and others state that the badge was in fact the round coat of arms with a crown above as possibly depicted by Schiaonetti. In actuality both appear to have been correct, the crown and arms badge initially being used by the Lifgrenadierregementets but may have been replaced with the grenade motif by 1812.

The actual positioning of the raupe or chenille on the helmet has been a further matter of some debate for many years and may have been changed by design or fashion. Initially it would certainly appear to have been worn ‘fore and aft' but some contemporary illustrations give the appearance that it was worn diagonally or even transverse however artists impressions can be deceiving and are often stylised and the original front to back positioning would seem to be the most likely. The truth appears to have fallen somewhere between, by 1809 the front tip of the raupe was twisted to the right and pinned so that the badge at the front of the kask was not obscured, possibly this was quirk of King Gustavus who was obsessive about uniforms and constantly changing the dress regulations to suit his whims of fancy and new official regulations were issued in 1795, 1802, 1807 plus many minor alterations to detail were enacted every few months. The transverse raupe appears to have been a misinterpretation of early illustrations and there is no evidence that a side to side raupe was ever worn. The cockade strap was yellow leather and initially held a yellow bow cockade fastened with two brass buttons at the top and bottom, which appears to have been discontinued in 1808 and replaced with a white disc: the short plume was white.

NOTE: The ‘raupe' worn on the Swedish army hats and raupenhelm, were not as is commonly erroneously stated made of rolls of bearskin although there is some evidence to suggest that a fur raupe were used by officers of the grenadiers and guard regiments as an affectation. Two different methods of manufacture existed, a simple bag of sheepskin, dyed and stuffed with wool was the most common, or a similar contrivance of horse or goat hide was sometimes used. The raupe was prone to become heavy if wet unbalancing the hat and frequent requests were made to regimental commanders that the soldiers should be allowed to remove the raupe in the field, if these requests were ever granted is not known.

Will also look at what else I have & post as necessary but from a quick glance there are no distinctions showing…

Plansch med uniform för Andra livgardet för åren 1778-1813. Plansch i färgtryck efter original av Adolf Ulrik Schützercrantz. Ingår i planschsamlingen Svenska krigsmaktens fordna och närvarande munderingar.

Plansch med uniform för Livregementets Grenadier Corps för åren 1792-1845. Plansch i färgtryck efter original av Adolf Ulrik Schützercrantz. Ingår i planschsamlingen Svenska krigsmaktens fordna och närvarande munderingar.

Plansch med uniform för Svea livgarde för åren 1803-1845. Plansch i färgtryck efter original av Adolf Ulrik Schützercrantz. Ingår i planschsamlingen Svenska krigsmaktens fordna och närvarande munderingar.

FWIW there is also this Article. It generally tracks what I have read in other secondary sources. link

Key takeaway is that aside from the senior regiments there at best you are talking about a platoon of grenadiers in idelta infantry regiments, and then only up to about 1806.

From my notes on the Swedish Army:
The Swedish Armeemuseum book (and some others) make no mention of grenadier sections, whereas some of the other sources say about 25 men per company were grenadiers, separated from the parent company & brigaded into elite battalions, and that the grenadier sections appear to have been disbanded in either 1801 or 1806.

According to "Svenska armens uniformer del 2 infanteriet" (Uniforms of the Swedish Army Part 2 The Infanbtry) by Christian Braunstein has the above above labelled as grenadiers from the Bohuslan Regiment circa 1790; but text against this from the Swedish Armee Museum has "Plansch med uniform för Infanteriets jägare 1779, ritad av Einar von Strokirch"!

Not sure if there are any other native Swedes in this thread but maybe I can help. The grenadier function was abolished in most regiments by 1806 and replaced by Jägers. There was a number of name changes on units but mainly two enlisted grenadier formations remained in the Swedish army and saw actions on several fronts during the Napoleonic wars 1806-1814:

-Livregementets Grenadjärkår (Life Regiment Grenadier Corps). The name is a bit strange and was give since this 500 strong battalion was part of the Life-Regiment brigade . Image here:
link

-Livgrenadjärregementet (Life Grenadier Regiment) was formed by changing the name and function of the Östgöta Infantry regiment (2 batt) and the Östgöta Cavalry Regiment(2 batt) in 1791. These four battalions were also sometimes called Livgrenadjärbrigaden (Life Grenadier Brigade). Image here:
link

A bit confusing, but both these formations had Jäger companies, who participated in the storming of the Grimma Gate in Leipzig 1813.

The only 28mm miniatures I am aware of to represent these are from Eagle Miniatures

During the war with Russia 1788-1790, the grenadiers were still in function with 12 grenadiers per company in the indelta (alloted) regiments, typically around 50 per battalion. In some units the grenadiers wore bearskins or mitres.

Prince of Essling,
The last picture is actually of the Savolax/Savolks (Savo) jagare regiment (also known as the Finnish Rangers) during the 1788 Russo-Swedish War. That's actually one of the regiments on my painting table right now! One of the most colorful regiments in the 1788 Swedish army. Well, those and the Bahuslan dragoons!

@Swampking,

Very many thanks – that is indeed interesting.

In the light of your comments, then clearly the Swedish Armee Museum needs to correct their website and the text in the book published by National Museums of Military History also needs amending!

Baumstein the author is shown on the fly of the book as Lieutenant-Colonel Rtd (Royal Lifeguard Dragoons) employed since 1997 as 1.war antiquarian by the Swedish National Museums of Military History in Stockholm.

Thank you all for the answers! Travellera, would the grenadiers in the 1792-1806 period dress like they did during the 1788 russo swedish war, with bearskins/mitres as distinctions?
Does anhone with access to the "Dräkt öch uniform" book know if it has any more information about the subject?

@Don Sebastian,

after reading a lot of regimental histories it seems the headgear could vary a lot. It seems old headgear maybe from the 1756-1763 Pomeranian war was used with additions when worn out. I have "Dräkt och Uniform" but it does not provide any useful guidelines. "Gustav IIIs Armé" by Martin Markelius is more useful and give a few hints on regimental level. The regiments had to source the grenadier headgear by themselves which is a reason for the diversity. If you can give me the regiments you are interested in I can try to find out more

The Swedes are a nightmare of inconsistencies as regards uniforms during this period! While fun as hell to paint, finding accurate info on them is frustrating to say the least!

When I had FFUK make the 1788 Swedes and Potemkin Russians (back in the 1990s), I toyed with the idea of adding a Swedish grenadier in mitre with the Gustavian uniform (jacket, pants and stockings) as a joke because I had read somewhere (Narke Varmlands Regt. history?) that SOME (only for emphasis – I ain't yelling) grenadiers wore the mitre as part of their parade uniform.

Glad I didn't – although it would make for a cool as hell uniform to paint up! In fact, I found out years later that many of the regiments in Finland weren't in the 'Gustavian' uniform but were wearing the uniform from the 7 Years War! By that point in time, I'd already painted up the 1788 Swedish army and I wasn't going to change them, besides, who'd know (except for a few wackos like me)?

Prince of Essling, If I'm not mistaken, the province of Bahuslan only raised a dragoon regiment for Gustav III's army (that's the uniform pictured). So, not only is he wrong about them being grenadiers, he's also wrong about the province. Although I can kind of understand his confusion, as the Bahuslan dragoons had a similar uniform under Gustav III. And actually, it seems the artist has the equipment wrong as well – the jaegers weren't issued bayonets. Jaegers in Finland were supposed to have been issued a short sword. I'm unaware of any jaeger units in Finland being issued bayonets, although I'll have to look at my sources to confirm that.

Leave it to wargamers to set the 'professional' historians straight! ROTFLMAO! :)

Yes, Swedes are a nightmare :)

I had some fun and went through "Gustav IIIs Armé" by Martin Markelius tonight. I am currently researching the Swedish Napoleonic uniforms so I would need to do it eventually anyway. Here you go:

1748=year when equipped with headgear
PM= "Prussian" Mitre with metal plate
BS = Bearskin

Enlisted foot regiments
Svea Livgarde - 1778 BS
Änkedrottningens livregemente – 1773 and 1792 PM
Finska gardesregementet – ??
Göta gardesregemente – ??
Drottningens livregemente – 1771 PM
Engelbrechtenska(Psilanderhielms) regementet -1779 PM(?)
Konungens Eget värvade regemente -1781 PM
Hintzensterns infanteribataljon (1789-1791) – Same as Engelbrechtenska?
Sprengtportens värvade regemente – 1775 PM
Saltzas värvade regemente – 1777 PM
Stackelsbergs(Flemings/Jägerhornska)värvade regemente-1779 PM

Alloted foot regiments
Upplands regemente – 1771 PM (BS back) – discarded 1791
Skaraborgs regemente – 1774 PM
Åbo läns regemente – not mentioned
Södermanlands regemente – 1748 PM
Kronobergs regemente – 1783 BS
Jönköpings regemente – 1757 PM
Björneborgs regemente – 1775 PM
Dalregementet – No grenadier headgear, only moustaches
Livregementsbrigadens lätta infanteribataljon – ??
Livgrenadjärregementet(Östgöta inf+cav regiments) – 1770 PM, 1792 BS
Tavastehus regemente – 1779 PM
Hälsinge regemente – 1748 PM
Älvsborgs regemente – 1779 PM
Västgöta-Dals regemente – 1767 PM
Savolax regemente – 1768 PM
Västmanlands regemente – 1778 BS
Västerbottens regemente – 1786 PM
Kalmar regemente – 1758 PM
Nylands regemente – 1782 PM
Närke-Värmlands regemente- 1759 PM
Österbottens regemente – 1770 PM
Jämtlands infanteriregemente(dismounted dragoons) – 1770 PM
Kajana bataljon – 1777 Karpus?
Bohusläns regemente – No grenadier headgear

A small note on the Bohusläns Regemente. It had two squadrons, The South squadron were dragoons but the North squadron was transformed into an infantry battalion in 1777. They requested grenadier mitres from the Crown in 1781 but were rejected, thus I have no information on their possible grenadier headgear

Thank you very much for this amazing list, Travellera! Does the book mention if the bearskins were of different models? Because In a quick search for the approximate period I've found both this model that looks more conventional:

link

As well as those two which look more like a bearskin on top of a Gustavian round hat:

link

link

I suppose the grenadiers of the 1790s-1806 would continue to wear whatever special headgear they were last issued, right?

And do you know any contemporary picture of swedish grenadiers of line regiments from the 1770s-1806 period?

OK, I guess you would like some images :) lets start with the two Grenadier regiments:

Livregementets Grenadjärkår (Life Regiment Grenadier Corps)

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This is the uniform before it was renamed (1807) from Livregementsbrigadens Lätta Infanteribataljon (The Light Infantry battalion of the Life Regiment Brigade) to Livregementets Grenadjärkår:

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Livgrenadjärregementet (Life Grenadier Regiment)

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If we then take a look at the bearskins for the earlier period up to 1806/1807. These were of different designs, comments below:

Life regiment

First the mitre:

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There are no images of the 1774 model bearskin(I wrote 1778 incorrectly above) but the officer model had yellow feathers while the NCOs and privates blue feathers

Kronobergs regemente 1783

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Västmanlands regemente 1778

url=https://postimg.cc/F7FtqWNX]

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new plate added 1790

url=https://postimg.cc/dhfVJ796]

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Livgrenadjärregementet(Östgöta inf+cav regiments) 1792

Frontplate missing

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Since grenadier headgear were very expensive items, especially the bearskins, they were used until they basically fell apart.

The images you had a link to are of later date, after the Napoleonic period

Sorry, please disregard my latest comment. Your links are all good, in period. I realise that there are probably more bearskins used than in my list. Markelius, and the primary sources, are not always enough specific to indicate if it is BS or PM. Your first link is from the Hälsinge Regiment which I indicated as PM.

@Travellera,
Many thanks for the information & the illustrations. I had not seen some of the black & white ones. Will now add them to my files on Sweden's army.
Ian

@Prince of Essling
The plates are made by Strokirch in cooperation with the Army museum more than 100 years ago. He made a big number of plates on all the guard units from the 17th century to the 19th century. And the best thing is….that you can download them here from the Swedish online library:

link

@Travellera,,

Many thanks – I had previously downloaded most of Erich's drawings from Internet archive: link
Ian

Wow, thats a great resource, thanks!

Dear Travellera, thank you very, very much! This was amazingly helpful!

You mentioned you are researching swedish napoleonic uniforms. Do you know anything about swedish cavalry trumpeters uniforms during that period? If so, would it be possible for you to comment on the thread on the subject I made on this forum? I'll post a comment there.

I made a post on the other topic, but musicians are a challenging subject…

Travellera,
Yep – that's something I forgot to mention! From what I've seen of the drawings of the Bahuslans regt – they were in the Gustavian top hat (at least the dragoons). It stands to reason that since the request for special headgear was rejected, wouldn't the grenadiers have the same hat as the ranks, i.e. the top hat?

Musicians – didn't Bellander have a picture in the back of "Drakt och uniform" showing the alloted infantry musicians' sleeve lace and swallows' nests from 17655-1815 or thereabouts? It's been so long since I've seen that book that I might have confused it with someone else.

Swampking,
if the Bohuslän Infantry battalion did not acquire any grenadier headgear, the grenadier would have the same hat as the rest of the fusiliers.

I am unfortunately away from home so I cannot check Bellander for the musician but if my memory serves me right there is such a picture. I am anyway certain re the swallows nest and lace for the Swedish alloted regiments. However, the sleeve lace style could vary between regiments. Some of the Finnish regimental drummers might not have any distinctions at all.

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I know that the Bjorneborgs regt. had lace during the 7YW and 1788 war period, as I used to have the regimental history, although I'll have to check to see what lace (if any), the regiment had during the 1808 War. It appears that the Finnish regiments simplified their uniforms somewhat during the 1788 war and I believe that some of those simplifications carried on into the 1808 War.

The 'profplansch' from Nordensvan's "Finska Krig 1808 och 1809" is really cool. In fact, Nordensvan was one of the first books I acquired for my 1808 book collection (back in the early 1990s). It's a beautiful example of late 19th century book making! His book and Angell's "Syv-aars Krig 1808-1814" are some of the treasures in my library (along with the complete set of "Sveriges Krig, 1808-1809") and a few rare Danish and Polish military books.

OOPS – that should've read "Osterbottens" regt., not Bjorneborgs! And, "Syv-aars Krig 17 Mai 1807-1814".

I swear, my mind sometimes! ;)

I just found this link:
link

With many paintings of what look like 1790s swedish grenadiers by the painter Johan Abraham Aleander. I don't know if the uniforms were worn or just proposed, but they look interesting

Don Sebastian,

nice find! I have to investigate this further but Aleander was employed to document uniform changes so these are most likely the actual 1790s uniforms.