Volontaires de Saxe

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Moritz of Saxony

The Volontaires de Saxe ("Volunteers of Saxony") were an association of French cavalry . 1743 by the French Marshal Maurice of Saxony as of Lancers and Dragoons mixed volunteer corps established (also called Volontaires du maréchal de Saxe ), it was in 1762 as the 17th Regiment of Dragoons in the line of troops taken over and dissolved the 1815th In the 18th century, it was the only French cavalry unit armed with a lance.

history

Established on March 13, 1743, the 960 rider regiment was divided into six mixed companies (lancers and dragoons). In France, the Volontaires de Saxe caused quite a stir: On the one hand, there were the oriental uniforms of the troops made up of Hungarians, Poles, Lithuanians, Germans, Turks and Tatars. On the other hand, there was the use of the lance, which had been banned from the French arsenals since the end of the 17th century.

Moritz von Sachsen made Captain Babac his deputy as regimental commander. "This is probably the first time that a Muslim has been appointed lieutenant colonel in the army of His most Christian majesty (note: the French king)," wrote the marshal to the Saxon Prime Minister Heinrich Graf Brühl on February 15, 1747 - not without it Pleasure in provocation.

Although (or precisely because) there were numerous Muslims among the soldiers (namely the Turks and Tartars), the eccentric marshal always kept the corps closed and led to church to the sound of drums.

Another issue was hotly debated at the French court: 78 blacks were among the 97 Uhlans of the Leibcompanie ( compagnie colonelle ). The ages of these men from Africa, South America, the Caribbean and the Orient ranged from 12 to 43 years.

It was due to the resentment towards these warriors, who were defamed as "armed slaves", that the body company was dissolved immediately after the death of the Marshal of Saxony (1750). Their soldiers were distributed among the other cavalry regiments as fancifully costumed kettledrums.

Under the command of Count Friesen, the regiment was transformed into a pure dragoon unit from 1751; the Uhlans received their farewells. In 1755 the regiment went to Count Schomberg (also Schonberg or Schönberg / Schoenberg) and was now listed as a volunteer regiment Schomberg ( Volontaires de Schomberg ) in the army list. In 1762 it was renamed Schomberg-Dragoons; the regiment now ranked 17th and thus last of the Dragoon regiments. In the same year, Count Schomberg himself advanced to major general ( Maréchal de camp ), in 1781 to lieutenant-général and until 1789 to a member of the council of war ( conseil de la guerre ).

With the abolition of the regiment owners during the French Revolution, the association was renamed Dragoon Regiment No. 17 in 1791 .

commitment

The regiment fought in the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748). After the marshal retired from active service at the end of the war and retired to the Palais Chambord , his riders accompanied him there and guarded the castle until his death in 1750. In the Seven Years War (1756–1763) it took part in the Battle of Minden part.

In the coalition wars the regiment fought with distinction a. a. at Valmy , Austerlitz , Eylau , Friedland , Albuhera and Vittoria . It was allowed to use the honorary names of the battles of Moskowa , Bautzen , Dresden and Champaubert on its standards. After Napoleon's first abdication , it was given trunk number 12 due to the dissolution of other regiments. When the emperor returned , it was given its old trunk number back, but was dissolved after Waterloo under the Restoration .

organization

The corps was organized like a Polish cavalry regiment (Polish regiment = Pułk ): Half of the cavalrymen consisted of lance riders ( Uhlan (d) s ), the i. d. R. came from the rural nobility. Each Uhlan - Towarzysz (Polish "[weapon] companion") was subordinate to a Pacholke (Polish pachołek , "servant", "servant") or Podzone (Polish pocztowy , "follower") named personal boy , who was also a mounted Dragoons served. The dragoons made up the second half of the regiment. On campaigns they were probably combined into a closed unit.

Uniforms

The basic color of the uniforms was green, the badge color was red - a combination of the national colors of the Saxon-Polish dual monarchy that existed from 1697 to 1763 (Saxony: green-white, Poland: white-red).

The Uhlan uniform was based on Polish-Turkish influences (calf-length caftan or short jacket with short or slit long sleeves, wide harem pants, red underclothes, short-sleeved Hungarian boots, as headgear a soft pointed cap with a sideways falling lid; later antiqued, shieldless brass helmet à la Schomberg with falling Horse tail and turban placed around the base of the helmet).

The dragoon uniform followed Western European standards (tight skirt with straight red cuffs, borders and collar, red armpit cord on the right shoulder (replaced by epaulettes on the right shoulder in 1757), yellow-beige petticoats, knee-high leather gaiters , tricorn as headgear , later a Schomberg helmet with falling horse tail).

The color of the feathers on the helmet was based on the badge color of the individual brigades (here: regimental subdivisions): white, red, yellow, blue, green or black.

  • Uniforms

  • Régiment de Schomberg dragons 1762 to 1763

  • Régiment de Schomberg dragons 1763 to 1776

  • Régiment de Schomberg dragons 1776 to 1779

  • Régiment de Schomberg 1779 to 1786

  • Régiment de Schomberg dragons 1786 to 1791

  • 17 e Régiment de dragons from 1791

  • Uniforms

  • Ulan 1745

  • Dragoons around 1743

  • Ulan around 1743

  • Dragoons and Dragoons- Sapeurs of another regiment of the line 1809

The elegant appearance of the corps had a style-defining effect: its green coat, the copper Schomberg helmet with horsehair tail and the equipment were taken over in 1762 by the dragoons of the line troops, who had been wearing red skirts and three-pointed tips. Under Napoleon, the cuirassiers also received a similar helmet made of steel, which is still part of the parade uniform of the cavalry of the Garde républicaine in a slightly modified form . The regiment's badge color changed several times until 1815 (see pictures).

See also

literature

  • Henri, comte de La Bassetière: Maurice de Saxe et ses Uhlands (1748–1750), dans Loire-et Cher historique, May 15, 1893 (pp. 130–139) and June 15, 1893 (pp. 162–178) (Bibl. de l'Institut catholique de Paris) ; Based on: André Corvisier, L'armée française de la fin du XVIIe siècle au ministère de Choiseul, tome I. Paris 1964.
  • Liliane and Fred Funcken: Historical Uniforms. Volume 2, Munich 1978.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jon Manchip White: Marshal Of France; The Life And Times Of Maurice, Comte De Saxe, 1699-1750 , 2016, ISBN 9781786258601 , e-book without page numbers , footnote 252