Guidon of French Dragoon Regiment Beaufremont at least from 1730-?1773

 One of four dragoon regiments raised in 1673, this regiment was recruited in  Franche-Comté, of ten companies. For nearly a century of its existence it was closely associated with the Beauffremont family (the name is rendered in several different forms, double ff, single f etc.) Ranked 8th among the dragoons in 1756.

The motto was that of the house of Beaffremont.

Service:

1674: Reconquering places in Franche-Comté from the Spanish and then cantoned there
1675: On the Meuse in the sieges of Dinant, Huy and Limburg
1676: Army of Flanders and at the sieges of Condé, Bouchain and Aire
1677: Sieges of Valenciennes and Cambrai
1678: Capture of Gand and Ypres; battle of Saint Denis

1681-1683: Camp de la Sarre
1681: Capture of Strasbourg
1684: Helped cover the siege of Luxembourg

1685: Became Grammont Dragoons

1688: Army of the Rhine; capture of Philipsbourg, Mannheim and Frankenthal.
1689: Combat of Walcourt; relief of Mayence
1692: Flanders; siege of Namur and battle of Steenkirchen
1693: On the Moselle
1694: Flanders
1695: Defence of Namur

1696: Became Payssac Dragoons

1698: Camp of Compiègne

1699: Became Beauffremont again

1703: Bavaria; siege of Kehl, attack on the lines of Stolhofen, the entrenchments of the valley of Hornberg, combat of Munderkirchen, first battle of Hochstedt, capture of Kempten and Augsburg
1704: Combat of Schellenberg (where the mestre de camp was seriously wounded); second battle of Hochstedt (Blenheim)
1705: On the Piselle
1706: Alsace; actions at Drusenheim, Lauterburg and Isle of Marquisat.
1707-1708: On the Rhine
1709: Flanders; battle of Malplaquet
1710: Defence of Aire; Marquis de Listenois (a Beaufremont) killed in a sortie

Renamed Beauffremont November 1710

1712: Sieges of Douai and Quesnoy
1713: Siege of Fribourg
1714: Camp of Saône

1733: Army of the Rhine; capture of Kehl and Philipsburg; combats of Ettlingen and Klausen

1741: In garrison at Linz and defence of that place; after the capitulation obliged not to serve for one year; returned to France January 1742
1743: Army of the Maréchal de Noailles; battle of Dettingen
1744: Flanders; sieges of Menin and Ypres; camp of Courtrai
1746: Battle of Raucoux
1747: Battle of Lauffeld

1755: Camp de Richemont

1756-1758: Guarding the coasts of France
1759-1761: Germany

1763: Reorganised at Caen where it was stationed

And this was the uniform in 1756:

Guidon of French Dragoon Regiment Du Roy 1744-?1772

The youngest of the French dragoon regments, it was created by Ordonnance of 24th January 1744 and organised the March following, from 15 companies of the existing 15 regiments of dragoons.

Ranked 4th among the dragoon regiments in 1753.

Service:

1744: Army of the Moselle; combat of Saverne; attack on the fortifications of Suffelsheim; siege of Fribourg

1745: On the Rhine
1746: Army of Flanders; fought before Mons and Charleroi; battle of Roucoux
1746-7: Siege of Antibes

1754: Camp of Plobsheim
1757: Army of the Lower Rhine and its various activities
1758: Army of Hanover; battle of Krefeld; November to the Army of Soubise; seized the town of Schwarzhausen and the castle of Calze and made the garrisons prisoners
1759: Battle of Bergen
1760: Siege of Ziegenhain; combat on the River Werra where the Count Bulow was defeated
1761: Combat of Kindelbruck
1761 March: "During a march on Kreimberg an NCO called Roger, well known in the regiment for his daring, and who was promoted to officer in 1763, was detached in advance with his troop. He discovered a troop of cavalry escorting artillery and munitions. He charged them sabre in hand, killed the NCO at the head of the convoy and the shaft horse of the first carriage, and stopped the column. Promptly helped by the rest of his squadron, he captured seven cannon  which were turned against the enemy. After this exploit, for which he received all the credit, the Count of La Ferronays ordered Roger to get back on his horse and force a passage to the village of Burgeminden, which he did." [My translation from Susane Histoire de la Cavalerie Vol.2 p.320]

1761: The 15th August "Lückner attacked M. de Belzunce on the heights of Aslar; flags of the infantry were captured by the enemy; the Marquis de Créquis was in despair. Roger set off at the gallop with his comrade Cruze and dragoon Dabant and all three came back with a recaptured flag, which they returned to their mestre de camp who was thrilled by the courage of these dragoons."  [My translation from Susane Histoire de la Cavalerie Vol.2 p.320]

At the end of the Seven Years War the regiment was in garrison at Strasbourg.

And this was the uniform in 1756:

Flags of the Palatinate in the War of the Spanish Succession: Infantry Regiment Sachsen-Meiningen

The Palatinate was a poor area and was in the pay of the Allies against the French.

First raised 1688. In Imperial pay from 1705-1714.

The regiment was badly mauled and many flags were captured by the French at Speyer in 1703. We therefore know the patterns from the Triomphes Louis XIV.

The top row shows the flags as depicted in the Triomphes Louis XIV; it is surmised that the colonel's flag (oberstfahne) on the right may have been damaged and missing its central motif. At the bottom is a speculative version of what the complete flag may have been.

Strength in 1704 was:

1492 men plus 1 Fireworker, 3 Buchsenmeister, 7 Stück and 6 drivers, possibly indicating 3 regimental guns

Various strengths:

1701 Flanders: 10 companies, in 2 battalions, each company nominally 100 strong
1702 On The Lauter Lines: 10 companies and 1200 men
1704 End of year paper strength 1600
1705: Sent to Italy with a strength of 17 companies
1710: 507 strong
1712: 1st May 801 strong in Imperial pay
1712: 3-4th May 736 strong
1712: Le Quesnoy casualties: 3 officers, wounded, 12 men dead, 65 men wounded, 3 men missing
1712: Denain casualties: 1 officer dead, 3 men dead, 1 officer wounded, 2 men wounded
1712: Muster at Quaregnon[?] 638 men
1712: In Imperial Pay in Flanders: 1 battalion with 800 men
1713: Muster at Mannheim 763 men
1713: Ditto 30th June 886 men and 31st July 868 men with 170 in garrison in Mannheim/Weinheim

Actions:

1702: Capture of Lauterburg, St Remy Schloss, Kronweissenburg and Bergzabern
1702: Sieges of Mannheim and Landau; occupation of Landau
1703: Skirmish at Speyerbach [where the flags were lost to the French]
1704: Siege of Landau
1705: Capture of Munich
1705: Skirmish, detachment
1706: Battle of Turin
1706: Sieges of Tortona, Pavia and Casale
1707: Siege of Toulon
1707: Returned to Germany
1708: Siege of Lille
1709: Siege of Mons; battle of Malplaquet
1710: Siege of Douai and Aire
1712: Siege of Le Quesnoy

In 1705 the regiment had red coat with cuffs, lining and waistcoat dark green, trousers red and and buttons white (officers silver)

The uniform was probably like this in 1705:

Details from Electorate of the Palatinate under Elector Johann Wilhelm 1690-1716 by Claus-Peter Goldberg and Robert Hall

Flags of Savoy 1693-1704: Colonel's Flag of a British-Paid Protestant Regiment from the Triomphes Louis XIV 1690s

This is the matching Colonel's flag for the previously published battalion flag (see below).

Flags of the Palatinate in the War of the Spanish Succession: the Garde Grenadiere

The Palatinate was a poor area and was in the pay of the Allies against the French, although the Palatinate was still chasing up subsidy payments for the WSS as late as 1723.

First raised 1698 from the grenadier companies of Infantry Regiments Lübeck, Sachsen-Meiningen, Bourscheidt and Wurtbye. In 1701 16 companies strong. In Dutch pay 1704.

Ten company and a colonel's flag were captured by the French at Speyer in 1703. We therefore know the patterns from the Triomphes Louis XIV.

Strengths at various periods were:

January 1704 About 400 men
Theoretical full strength was 2 battalions and 1440 men

In 1706 the regiment was sent to the Imperial Army and the strength is recorded as 967 men, with 166 deserters and totalling 2 battalions.
In September 1706 the regiment had 971 men with 90 sick and 157 absent
In March 1708 800 men were present
In 1711 with the Neutrality Corps in Silesia there was one battalion with 640 present
In 1712 there were 794 men
In 1712 at Denain the GG had one officer dead, 27 men dead, 80 officers wounded and 56 men wounded [which seem odd proportions!]
In 1713 mustering at Mannheim on 30th June there were 768 men and on the 31st July 800. 75 men were in garrison in Mannheim/Weinheim

Actions:

1702: Capture of Annweiler
1702: Siege of Landau
1703: Skirmish at Speyerbach [where the flags were lost to the French]
1704: Siege of Landau
1705: Siege of Drusenheim
1707-8: Siege of Lille
1709: Siege of Tournay; battle of Malplaquet
1710: Siege of Douay
1712: Denain
1713: Mannheim

In 1705 the regiment had dark blue coat and trousers; cuffs, lining and waistcoat were red, and buttons were yellow (copper). The grenadiers wore a white fronted grenadier cap with a complex design.

Details from Electorate of the Palatinate under Elector Johann Wilhelm 1690-1716 by Claus-Peter Goldberg and Robert Hall

Flags of Savoy 1693-1704: Battalion Flag of a British-Paid Protestant Regiment from the Triomphes Louis XIV 1690s

This seems to be a flag of a unit which was disbanded in the later 1690s. The heraldry is entirely British.

Flags of Denmark in the War of the Spanish Succession: Prince George's Regiment of Foot Battalion Flag

3 battalions strong; each of 6 musketeer companies. There was one grenadier company.

One battalion of Prince George served in Ireland in 1690. One battalion served in Imperial service 1702-1709 and was in theory 6 companies and a total  of 691 men strong. The first and second battalions of Prince George were in the service of Holland and Great Britain in 1701-1714; there were 13 companies (including the grenadier company) with a theoretical strength of 1544 men.

And this was the battalion flag according to Sapherson, The Danish Army 1699-1715:

And this was the uniform in the early part of the WSS:

Flags of French Infantry Regiment Cambresis 1684-1775

First raised as Cambresis in 1684 and created out of the third battalion of Piémont. Given to the Count of Châteaurenaud.

This flag design was carried by the regiment from 1684-1775.

Service:

1689: Army of the Alps; capture of Cahours
1690: Battle of Staffarde; the colonel wounded

Given in 1693 to Charles-François-Anne, Count of Montberon
Given in 1694 to N. de Vienne, Marquis de Presles

1696: Siege of Valencia
1697: Army of Flanders
1701: Army of Italy
1702: Defence of Cremona; the colonel killed

Given in 1702 to François-Louis d'Hautefort, Count of Marqueyssac

1702: Battle and capture of Luzzara
1703: Expedition to the Tyrol
1704 and 1705: Sieges of Verceil, Yvrée and Vérue; battle of Cassano
1706: Siege and battle of Turin
1707-1719: Army of Dauphiné

Given in 1708 to Jerôme-Augustin de Boisset, Marquis d'Arville

1711: Army of Flanders
1712: Battle of Denain; capture of Douai, Quesnoy and Bouchain

Given in 1732 to Claude-Louis de Bouthillier de Chavigny, Marquis de Pont-Sur-Seine

1733-1735: Army of the Rhine

1739-1741: Served in Corsica
1742: Army of Flanders

Given in 1743 to Charles-Pierre, Marquis de la Châtre-Nançay

1744: Defence of Alsace
1745: Capture of Kronembourg
1746: Sieges of Mons, Charleroi and Namur; battle of Rocoux
1747: Defence of Provence; conquest of Nice
1748: Army of Var

One battalion strong in 1756 and ranked 80th

1756: Served in Brittany
1757: Army of Germany; conquest of Hannover
1758: Grenadier company in the Combat of Mehr
[Susane reports the regiment at the battles of Hastenbeck 1757 and then Krefeld in 1758 but this is not supported by Kronoskaf]

Given in 1758 to Armand-Charles de la Galissonnière, Vicomte de Barrin

1760: Departed for the Ile de France and the Indies

Given in 1762 to Louis-Charles Le Pellerin de Gauville

1763: Returned to France

1764 Sent to Saint Domingue

And this was the uniform in 1756:

Flags of Denmark in the War of the Spanish Succession: The King's Lifeguard of Foot Battalion Flag

According to Sapherson The Danish Army 1699-1715, this was the design of a battalion flag of the Danish Foot Guards.

My previous post of a flag of the Danish Guards captured at Ramillies 1706 and shown in the Triomphes Louis XIV has information on the regiment and its history in the War of the Spanish Succession: https://nba-sywtemplates.blogspot.com/2024/01/flags-of-denmark-in-war-of-spanish.html

Flags of Savoy 1693-1704: Another Flag of an Unknown Regiment from the Triomphes Louis XIV

Here we have another probable Savoyard flag as depicted in the Triomphes Louis XIV but the exact date is uncertain, although late 17th/early 18th century. It is probably from a Swiss regiment.

Flags of Savoy 1693-1704: Another Flag of an Unknown Regiment 1704

This is another flag of an unknown Savoyard regiment as depicted in the Triomphes Louis XIV. The manuscript says it was taken after the capture of the town of Vercelli in 1704. The Kronoskaf WSS page on the siege lists a number of Savoyard militia regiments captured and I wonder if this flag belonged to one of them: http://kronoskaf.com/wss/index.php?title=1704_%E2%80%93_Siege_of_Vercelli

 

Flags of French Royal Corse Infantry 1739-1762

Back to the WAS and SYW this time and a relatively simple flag set but with an unusual motto.

First raised 1739. Only the colonel and lieutenant colonel were French; all the other officers were Corsican. 12 companies strong and soon embarked for France.

At the beginning of the War of the Austrian Succession the regiment guarded the Flanders frontier. In 1744 the regiment was embarked in the fleet designed to invade Scotland but, a storm having damaged the fleet, the enterprise was cancelled and the regiment sent to join the army of de Saxe. It served in the sieges of Menin, Ypres and Furnes. In 1745 it was at Fontenoy and then at the sieges of Tournai, Oudenarde, Termonde and Ath. In 1746 it was at the battle of Rocoux. In garrison at Antwerp for five months in 1747, it then served at the taking of Lierre. It missed the battle of Lauffeld as it was garrisoning the town of Tirlemont. It was then at the siege and capture of Bergen op Zoom and the next year 1748 at the siege of Maastricht. In 1749 it returned to France to garrison Bouchain.

One battalion strong in 1756 and ranked 103rd.

Susane Volume 7 claims the regiment was at the battles of Hastenbeck and Krefeld but Kronoskaf has it manning the coast of Provence from 1756 to 1757 and then as garrison on the Isle de Ré in Aunis.

In December 1762 the regiment amalgamated with Royal Italien Infantry.

And this was the uniform in 1756:

Updated and Much Improved Standard of the Bavarian Horse Grenadiers 1696

I was previously working from secondary sources for the reverse of this standard but yesterday Frédéric Aubert posted a photograph of the reverse of the surviving standard on Facebook which showed how defective those secondary sources were. So I have now revised and improved it.

Standard of the Bavarian Horse Grenadiers 1696

This is one I did many years ago. I have very little information on the history of the unit. I took most of the detail from a photograph of the original standard which survives in the Bavarian Army Museum.

And this was probably the uniform in 1702:

Flags of Savoy 1693-1704: Flag of Swiss Reding Regiment 1704

This is my last Savoy flag for now; I must return to some flags of the Seven Years War!

Swiss regiment Andorno was assembled in 1694 from six separate Swiss companies and renamed Reding in 1699 after its new colonel. Andorno was eventually two battalions strong, each with 4 companies of about 150 officers and men. Reding's colonel was Johann Franz, chevalier of Reding de Biberegg from the canton of Schweiz. Regiment Reding was three battalions strong during much of the War of the Spanish Succession. The flag as depicted was captured by the French and is shown in the Triomphes Louis XIV.

Kronoskaf in its WSS site suggests a possible battalion flag for this regiment with yellow in place of the white in the corner flame sections but this is highly speculative.

And this was probably the uniform in 1704:

Flags of Savoy 1693-1704: Flag of Unknown Regiment 1704

The Triomphes Louis XIV depicts this flag of an unknown Savoyard regiment, which Boeri's book on the Savoyard army says was captured in 1704. Boeri also depicts the flag with twiddly decoration at the ends of the arms of the cross but they do not appear on the flag on the Triomphes, so I have stuck to the source material and omitted them.

Flags of Savoy 1693-1704: Sheet of National Flags To Go With The Battalion Flags

I was asked on an 18th Century Wargaming Facebook page if the Savoy regiments carried only the battalion flags but they did carry National flags too (I did depict them on the first few Savoy flag sheets) so to accompany the sheets which show only battalion flags here is a sheet of National flags:

Flags of Savoy 1693-1704: Regiment Desportes and Unknown Battalion

 Here are two more Savoy-Piedmont flags with the uniform of Desportes Regiment in 1704 (it had changed by 1707 but the flag remained the same):

 

And this was the uniform in 1704 of Desportes:

A Question About How Best To Present The Palatinate WSS Flags...

I have a sheet of flags of the Palatinate in the War of the Spanish Succession which I created for a commission back in 2013. The whole sheet is too big to put on the blog at a decent resolution. So, the question is: Do I ask people to email me so I can email them back the full size sheet? Or do I split it up into smaller sections and post it gradually on the blog? The latter option will be much slower! I look forward to hearing opinions...

And this is a low resolution snapshot of the sheet:

Flags of Denmark in the War of the Spanish Succession: Prince Carl's Regiment

First raised 1657.

One battalion was in English pay and service 1689-1697.

1695 renamed Prince Carl's Regiment.

In the WSS it consisted of three battalions (each of six companies) and one grenadier company. One battalion was in Austrian pay and service and two in British.

The single battalion in Austrian pay served in Northern Italy from 1701-2 and fought in the battle of Luzzara in August 1702. Heavy losses led to the battalion being merged with parts of two other Danish units in 1703.

The two battalions in British pay served in Holland from 1701. In 1702 they took part in the siege and capture of Liège. In July 1704 they joined Marlborough's army in Bavaria and were placed under the command of Prince Eugène. In August that year they fought at the battle of Blenheim and then in the autumn were at the sieges of Trarbach and Saarburg.

In May 1706 they fought at Ramillies (where these flags may have been captured) and then were at the sieges of Antwerp, Ostend, Menin, Ath, Dendermonde and Oudenarde.

They were at the siege of Tournai in 1709 and fought at Malplaquet in September that year.

They were repatriated to Denmark in 1713.

And this may have been the uniform in the WSS:

Flags of Denmark in the War of the Spanish Succession: The King's Lifeguard of Foot

I have been working on some Danish flags of the early 18th century as a small thank you for a splendid gift of two part-painted Crimean War armies and the chap is happy for me to put them on my blog so this is the first.

Danish troops fought extensively against the forces of Louis XIV between 1688 and 1715. As a relatively poor country Denmark relied on subsidies from its richer allies like Britain and the Netherlands.

Den Kongelige Livgarde (til Fods) (The King's Lifeguard of Foot) was first raised in 1658 by Frederick 3rd. It had 18 musketeer companies and two grenadier companies. There were 3 battalions, each of six musketeer companies.

One battalion of the Guards served in Ireland in 1688-1690 with the forces of William III. The first battalion was in the service of the Netherlands and Great Britain from 1701-1714 at a strength of 7 companies of around 740 men total.

The flag shown here is from the Triomphes Louis XIV and was apparently captured at Ramillies 1706.

And the uniform was something like this in the WSS:

Flags of Savoy 1693-1704: Regiments Nizza and La Reine

Here is the flag sheet for the battalion flags of Regiments Nizza and La Reine. I have no uniform information and next to nothing on the regimental histories of these units. Saves me a lot of effort writing a long accompanying text! :-) (And you get a flag sheet far more quickly than would otherwise be the case... Win, Win?)

Season's Greetings and a Happy New Year to All

Around Christmas I usually try to post something that is somehow (however vaguely)  Christmas-related on the blog. Previously it would often be some made-up nonsense or other; while it might possibly have been slightly amusing, I would rather post some authentic flags of the period. It is not easy to find flags that contain Christmas-like elements. However, all these flags have conifer trees and the colours seem largely to fit the bill too. It has to be said that they are mostly contentious and much-debated flags of their period, which has few authentic surviving flags.

I shall post later with a discussion and proper labelling of these flags but for the moment I will just say that I wish all my  followers and users of my flags all the best of the Season and a Happy New Year.

Flags of Savoy 1693-1704: Regiments Piedmont, Savoy, Schulemberg and Aigoin

I did these as a favour a while ago so thought I'd share them more widely as some people might find them useful. I hope and plan to do more Savoyard flags eventually.

For the Savoyard Army of the WSS, see: http://kronoskaf.com/wss/index.php?title=Savoyard_Army

Standard of French Cavalry Regiment Condé 1740 onwards

The État Générale of 1753 says the regiment was first raised 1666 under Louis XIV for the House of Condé but Pajol, Les Guerres Sous Louis XV suggests a much more complicated history, with a creation in 1645 as Enghien but then a history of being disbanded and reformed a number of times for, amongst other things, rebellion against the Crown.

Ranked 21st in 1753 and 2 squadrons strong.

This is my version of the standard from 1740 onwards based on verbal descriptions:

Its Chefs were: Louis de Bourbon, Duc D'Enghien who became The Grand Condé; then Henri-Jules, Prince de Bourbon, 11th December 1686; Louis-Henri de Bourbon, 15th September 1709; The second Duc de Bourbon, 1st April 1710; Louis-Joseph de Bourbon, Prince de Condé 20th January 1740.

Its service history and postings to 1763 as given by Pajol [with additional information from Kronoskaf]:

1726-1729: The Saône Camps
1733-1735: Army of Germany
1736 and 1739: Lamballe

1740: Stenay
1741: Bohemia
1742: Sahay; Retreat from Prague
1743: Battle of Dettingen
1744: The Lines of Lauter
1745: Passage of the Rhine
1746: Brussels; Anvers; Mons; Namur; battle of Raucoux
1747: Battle of Lauffeld
1748: Maastricht

1749-1750: Valenciennes; Saint-Quentin
1751: Rethel
1752-1753: Neufchâteau
1754-1755: Condé

1756: Epinal; Sedan
1757: Battle of Hastenbeck; battle of Rossbach [as part of Saint Germain's Corps]
1758: Battle of Krefeld
1759: Battle of Minden, where it was badly mauled and consequently sent to the rear to recuperate after the battle
1761-1762: Paris
1763: Lille where it was reorganised and absorbed the regiment of Toulouse-Lautrec

And this was probably the uniform in 1756: