"6th prussian reserve uniform and flags" Topic

Hi can anyone tell me did the reserve infantry carry any flags in 1813? also did the uniforms for the 6th prussian reserve change before and after the armistice?

No official flags for the Reserve Regts.
Summerfield says they wore their grey (I & II) and dark blue (F) coats from March 1813 till 1814 and regulation uniforms by June 1815.

okay thanks – those summerfield works seem great references, i wish i could afford them

If you read German, here a well-sourced description of the uniforms of the first six reserve regiments (PDF):

link

And for the non-issueing of flags see here:

TMP link

Heer und Tradition plates for the Reserve Infantry:

I read German but I can't make out what's going on in those plates at all. The placement of the captions is completely baffling.

I don't read German but think I know what the captions are telling us.
RIR # = and later Regiment #
Where units were from

According to David Nash in his The Prussian Army: 1808-185 {Almark, 1972}:

Sechtes Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment

I Battalion. Grey coat cut in the French style, with crimson coat tail piping and collar patches. A grey Schirmuetze with crimson band was the general form of head-dress, but some men wore a Prussian shako. Brass buttons were worn.

II Battalion. This battalion wore grey sleeved waistcoats with white shoulder straps, yellow cuffs and colalr patches, and white metal buttons. They had a grey greatcoat with a yellow collar. A black waxed cover was worn over the Schirmuetze.

III Battalion. Dark blue sleeved waistcoat, breeches, and cap, crimson collar patches and cap band, and black cross belts were worn by this battalion.

On the march from Warre to La Belle Alliance, the regiment is reputed to have torn off their colalrs to make marching more comfortable. In commemoration of this, the regiment was later granted the right to wear rose coloured collars.

This regiment was retitled Nr. 18, Ersted Posensches Infanterie-Regiment in March 1815.

This description, by the way, agrees with what Prince of Essling posted, above.

As far a colors are concerned, I believe that its Stammregiment (parent regiment) was Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 6, Erstes Westpreussiches Infanterie-Regiment. This it could have carried excess colors from its Stammregiment, although regulations prohibited reserve regiments from carrying colors. For wargaming purposes, all of the Prussian reserve infantry regiments in my miniature 1813 Prussian army carry colors.

Jim

@ 14Bore

Looking at the top left of PoE's first image, the first bit says 1813 Brandenburg Infantry Regiment, and underneath, 1815 12th Infantry Regiment. Then there's a shako and a horizontal bracket which I guess means they all wore it. IHNI, however, what the text to the right of the shako contributes. What is the significance of 30th September 1919 and what and when is the Reichswehr if it is different?

I did learn from the link that Krümper comes from the textile trade and means a sort of shrinkage allowance in cloth manufacturing. I didn't know that, I thought the Krümpersystem was so called because it was thought up by a colonel Krümper, or something.

On 30th September 1919 the old German army was dissolved, and – in consecutive steps – the Reichswehr created. Means on this day the old regiments formally ceased to exist. The names of the regiments at the day of this dissolution are given on the plates.

From 1921, in the now shrunk Reichswehr, each of the 16 companies of the new infantry regiments took up the "tradition" of a former Imperial German regiment.

So for example Reichsw. 16 I.-R. 18 on the Brauer plate means: tradition taken up in the Reichswehr by the 16th company of infantry regiment no. 18.

The Brauer plates were published around 1930, when these traditions were still felt to be relevant by many former soldiers of WW I.

When the guard was removed from line numbers, Brandenburg jumped up into the #12 Regiment.
My Prussians are numbered after this reposition phase.

thanks for these replies this helps alot!

You can access Robert Mantle's "Prussian Reserve Infantry: 1813-15" at
Introduction – link
Part II: Organisation link
Part III: Uniforms of the Reserve Infantry link
Part III: Uniforms of the Individual Regiments link
Part IV: Appendices link
Bibliography link
Note – this is a re-publication of a classic work originally published by the Napoleonic Association on the Napoleon Series website – unfortunately it doesn't include the black & white drawings that were in the original booklet.

thanks Prince of Essling – what was the original book then – was it published, would one be able to still find a copy to buy?

Amazing that books published 50 years ago are still the go-tos on this.

@GeorgBuchner,

Occasionally on Abebooks, couldn't see one on ebay.
This one is available from Pasadena, USA – postage to the UK will be a killer: link

@4thCuirassier,

Indeed but I have even older German reference material on the Reserve Infanterie in "Gesellschaft fur Heereskunde – Mitteilungen" which date back to 1929 onwards!

For the regiment's uniforms in 1815, see here:

TMP link

yes the postage to australia is very high too – too high for a book staple bound of just 58pages

I downloaded David Nash in April from somewhere. My Prussians were all done by the time Dr Summerfield books came out.