Chevauleger

Postcard: King Ludwig II of Bavaria in the uniform of the 4th Chevaulegers Regiment

Chevaulegers (. Cheveauxlegers originally, also: Chevauxlegers, Chevaux-Leger, Chevau-laying machine, or Cavalleggeri Chevau-légers) were originally a kind of light cavalry . In the Kingdom of Bavaria they formed the medium-weight cavalry from 1813 and were considered a characteristic weapon of the Bavarian army until the end of the monarchy . The Italian armed forces still have a tank reconnaissance regiment under the name Cavalleggeri Guide .

etymology

The term Chevauleger comes from the French ( chevaux = horses ; léger = light) originally from the Italian (cavalleggeri) .

France

Chevaulegers lancer of the French 2nd Line Regiment, 1811–1815

The French King Louis XII. established the Chevaulegers in 1498 as an independent branch of arms. They were more easily armed than other cavalrymen and initially armed with a lance . At that time, “light” primarily referred to the equipment and the horses used and not to the use in the later classic functions of light cavalry such as reconnaissance , flank protection and guerrilla warfare. From 1593 these Chevaulegers formed a company of the house troops of the king , who was also their captain , under the name Chevau-léger de la garde du roi . In 1787 it was dissolved for cost reasons. The in Napoleonic France established Chevaulegers Lancers , however, were actually Lancers . The Chevaulegers of the French royal guards were rebuilt in 1814, but dissolved again around 1816.

Austria-Hungary

Chevauleger of the kuk regiment Karaiczay, 1796

From 1759 to 1765 six dragoon regiments in Austria-Hungary were successively converted to Chevaulegers, which, like hussars, were used as light cavalry, but were recruited from German subjects of the dual monarchy . That is why one spoke of "German hussars". In 1798 they were made into light dragoons (without changing their duties or uniforms ), only to be referred to as Chevaulegers again from 1801 onwards. In 1851 they were converted into dragoons or lancers. One of the most famous Chevauleger regiments was the later Dragoon Regiment "Fürst Windischgrätz" No. 14 .

Germany

Bavaria

Uniforms of the Bavarian Chevaulegers regiments around 1904

In 1790 Chevaulegers were set up in Bavaria . In the Bavarian Army , the entire cavalry was converted to Chevaulegers in 1811, which temporarily took over all cavalry tasks (guerrilla warfare, reconnaissance, security, mass deployment in battle ) as a unit cavalry , until there was a specialization again in 1813 with the reorganization of the army after the Russian campaign. Nevertheless, until the end of the First World War , the majority of the Bavarian cavalry consisted of Chevaulegers, who were regarded as a typical Bavarian branch of arms and enjoyed a considerable reputation among the population as "Schwalangschärs" or "Schwolis" for short. The 4th Chevaulegers regiment "König" garrisoned in Augsburg had always had the respective Bavarian ruler as " owner " since 1799 and was therefore regarded as the prestige regiment of the Bavarian cavalry. The Bavarian Chevaulegers were light green, from 1809 in dark green uniform and from 1848 on they wore a tunic in the style of the Uhlans with a breast trim in the regimental color ( 1st / 2nd regiment carmine red, 3rd / 6th pink, 4th / 5th vermilion, 7th . / 8. white; collar and cuffs in the same color as the badge , buttons and helmet fittings made of white metal for regiments with even numbers, yellow metal for those with odd numbers). In 1800 the caterpillar helmet was introduced, which adopted a lower helmet bell until it was replaced by the pickel hood in 1886. The armament consisted of sabers and carbines . Around 1890, as with the entire German cavalry, additional lances were introduced.

Louis Braun , battle near Stürzelbronn , Chevauleger Hermann Weinacht saves a Prussian hussar

Hermann Weinacht of the 5th Chevauleger Regiment "Prinz Otto" went down in Bavarian military history on August 1, 1870, when he pulled a fallen Prussian hussar onto his horse in the battle near Stürzelbronn at the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War and so went forward saved the pursuing French. Louis Braun depicted the event in a painting that was reproduced countless times as a symbol of the new Bavarian-Prussian brotherhood in arms.

regiment	Location	founding	resolution
1st Chevaulegers Regiment "Emperor Nicholas of Russia"	Nuremberg	June 29, 1682	1919
2nd Chevaulegers Regiment "Taxis"	regensburg	June 29, 1682	April 1, 1919
3rd Chevaulegers Regiment "Duke Karl Theodor"	Dieuze	January 23, 1724	1919
4th Chevaulegers Regiment "King"	augsburg	September 1, 1744	1919
5th Chevaulegers Regiment "Archduke Friedrich of Austria"	Sarreguemines	April 1, 1776	1920
6th Chevaulegers Regiment "Prince Albrecht of Prussia"	Bayreuth	April 1, 1803	1919
7th Chevaulegers Regiment "Prince Alfons"	Straubing	October 1, 1905	1919
8th Chevaulegers Regiment	Dillingen	October 1, 1909	February 17, 1919

Chevauleger memorial on the north side of the nave of the Basilica of St. Ulrich and Afra .

When the First World War broke out, the eight regiments of Chevauleger formed the backbone of the Bavarian cavalry, which consisted of a total of twelve regiments . In the further course of the war, the regiments were for the most part distributed as " division cavalry " to the Bavarian infantry divisions and deployed with them on all fronts. Both cavalry and infantry tasks fell to them.

The regiments were then demobilized with the exception of small regular units , which after the transfer of military sovereignty from Bavaria to the Weimar Republic (1919) in the 17th (Bavarian) cavalry regiment in Bamberg. This only cavalry regiment of the Reichswehr stationed in Bavaria continued the tradition of the two Bavarian Heavy Rider and Uhlan regiments of the Old Army. The regiment was renamed Cavalry Regiment 17 in 1936 and disbanded in 1939 to set up reconnaissance departments.

The memory of the Chevaulegers is continued today by various traditional and re-enactment associations.

Other

In Saxony there were Chevaulegers from 1735, but they were not used as light cavalry until the end of the 18th century . During the Wars of Liberation, these associations were all converted to lancers or dissolved.

From 1790 Chevaulegers were set up in Hessen-Darmstadt , Württemberg and Würzburg . The Würzburg armed forces were taken over into the Bavarian army in 1814, all cavalry regiments in Württemberg were renamed to cavalry regiments in 1816 and the Chevaulegers in Hesse-Darmstadt were converted into dragoons in 1872. Outwardly, the uniforms usually followed the dragoons, but were of a green base color.

The Chevaulegers-Lancers set up in the Napoleonic satellite states of Westphalia and Berg , however, were actually Uhlans .

Italy

Of the various Italian Chevauleger units since the Cisalpine Republic , the Cavalleggeri Guide regiment still exists today and functions as a tank reconnaissance unit.

literature

Wilhelm von Diez : Under the caterpillar helmet. The Bavarian Army 1848–1864. Edited by Paul Ernst Rattelmüller . Association of Friends of the Bavarian Army Museum. Munich-Ottobrunn 1979.
Liliane and Fred Funcken :
- Historical uniforms, Napoleonic times, French Imperial Guards, the Allied troops, the Swedish, Austrian and Russian armies at the time of the First Empire. Mosaik-Verlag. Munich 1979. ISBN 3-570-05449-7 .
- Historical Uniforms, 19th Century, 1814–1850: France, Great Britain, Prussia. Infantry, cavalry, technical troops and artillery. Mosaik-Verlag. Munich 1982. ISBN 3-570-04961-2 .
- Historical Uniforms, 19th Century, 1850–1900: France, Great Britain, Germany, Austria, Russia. Infantry, cavalry, technical troops, artillery. Mosaik-Verlag. Munich 1983. ISBN 3-570-01461-4 .
Richard Knötel , Herbert Knötel, Herbert Sieg: Colored Manual of Uniform Studies. (2 volumes). Augsburg 1997.