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Örjan Martinsson

The Danish-Norwegian
Army Organisation

The information about the Danish army's organisation on this page is almost exclusively collected from C. A. Sapherson's book "The Danish Army 1699-1715". Unfortunately he limits himself to the year 1699 and does not describe the numerous changes in the organisation during the following years. Especially the size of the cavalry regiments increased considerably during this time period and I have added some complementary comments about this in the table. There are however question marks about the changes in infantry organisation. In the beginning of the war infantry regiments usually consisted of three battalions, but several regiments had to send one of the battalions abroad to serve in the Austrian army and these were shortly afterwards reorganised into separate regiments (1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Danish infantry regiments). I do not know if the parent regiments were permanently reduced as a consequence of this or if they replaced their lost battalions. The Marine Regiment which only consisted of 2 battalions, one of them sent to Austria, participated however in the battles of Helsingborg and Gadebusch with two battalions. A similar change occurred in 1701 when the enlisted regiments transferred their grenadier companies to the newly created Grenadier Corps, but in this case these regiments later created new grenadier companies.

I have collected the information about the Norwegian army's organisation from Daniel Schorr's article on the now defunct website www.northernwars.com. Schorr describe in detail all the numerous changes that occurred during the Great Northern War. I have however chosen to only show the organisation that was in effect during the Norwegian campaign of 1716. It is for the most part also valid for the campaign in Bohuslän 1711 and the first half of the 1718 Norwegian campaign. In the middle of the latter campaign a large reorganisation occurred which resulted in all Norwegian national regiments being split into two regiments each (the two Trondhjemske regiments were reorganised into three regiments).

Danish Infantry

  Regiments which existed 1699

Battalions

Musketeer Companies Grenadier Companies Privates
(peace)
Privates
(war)

Total strength
(war)

1  Livgarden til Fods 3

18

2 1 640 2 036 2 347
3  Dronningen's Livregiment 3 18 2 1 460 1 856 2 111
4  Prince Christian's 3 18 1 1 360 1 756 1 999
5  Prince Georg's 3

18

1 1 360 1 756 1 999
6  Prince Carl's 3 18 1 1 360 1 756 1 999
7  Sjællandske 3 18 1 1 360 1 756 1 999
8  Jyske 3 18 1 1 360 1 756 1 999
9  Fynske 3

18

1 1 360 1 756 2 003
10  Schack's (disbanded 1714) 2 12 1 940 1 204 1 360
11  Marine Regiment 2 10 1 1 120 1 120 1 277
12  Oldenborgske 1 5 1 450 560 644
  Garrison Units which existed 1699

Artillery Companies

Musketeer Companies Cavalry Companies Privates
(peace)
Privates
(war)

Total strength
(war)

28  Bornholm Militia 1 3 1 555 555 612
29  Christiansö Free Company - 1 - 80 80 83
30  Fladstrand Free Company - 1 - 45 45 51
31  Hitler Redoubt Free Company - 1 - 45 45 51
 
   SUM Regiments: 29 171 13 13 777 17 312 19 737
   SUM Garrison Units: 1 6 1 725 725 797
 
*  Apart from the units above there was also in 1699 the 57 men strong Drabantgarden which was the king's bodyguard. These men also served as officers in
 Livgarden til Fods and other field regiments. Another free company (in Korsör) was raised in 1706.
  Regiments created 1700-20

Battalions

Musketeer Companies Grenadier Companies Strength
2  Grenadier Corps

 Created 1701 by merging the 13 grenadier companies from the other regiments. This would suggest a strength
 of 1 339 men in both peace and war time. Torstein Snorrason has however stated that the Grenadier Corps
 only had 12 companies. The other regiments would later raise new grenadier companies to replace those
 that had been transferred to the Grenadier Corps..

13  Württemberg-Oels (1701-1714) 1

8 (or 10)

2 (or 0)

1 007
14  1st Danish

 Created 1703 by merging one battalion each from Dronningen's and Prince Georg's regiments as well as a
 third of a battalion from the Marine Regiment.

15  2nd Danish  Created 1703 by merging one battalion each from Prince Christian's and Prince Carl's regimentsas well as a
 third of a battalion from the Marine Regiment.
16  3rd Danish

 Created 1703 by merging one battalion each from Sjællandske and Jyske regiments as well as a
 third of a battalion from the Marine Regiment.

17  4th Danish

 Created 1703 by merging two newly raised battalions (von Malzahn's and von Enden's)

18  Hansen's (1710-1713) 2  One battalion transferred to Prince
 Christian's regiment in 1712.
1 400
19  Baartig's (1712-1713) 1  Disbanded 1713 and temporarily
 restored in 1717
?

*

 Short lived units created during this time period were: von Enden's battalion (1703), von Malzahn's battalion (1703-04), Callenberg's battalion (1711-13)
 and Klepping's battalion (1712-13). All of them had their privates transferred to
4th Danish Regiment when they were disbanded.
  National Militia raised 1701-1704

Battalions

 Companies     Privates Total strength
20  East Sjællandske 3 12 Existed 1701-1730 1 800 1 940
21  West Sjællandske 3 12 Existed 1701-1730 1 800 1 940
22  Fynske 3 12 Existed 1701-1730 1 800 1 940
23  Ålborgske 3 12 Existed 1701-1730 1 800 1 940
24  Århusiske 3 12 Existed 1701-1730 1 800 1 940
25  Riberske 3 12 Existed 1701-1730 1 800 1 940
26  Viborg-Lollandske 3 12 Existed 1701-1730 1 800 1 940
27  Oldenborgske 3 12 Existed 1704-1764 1 800 1 940
 
   SUM National Militia: 24 96   14 400 15 520
 


Danish Cavalry
 

  Regiments which existed 1699

Squadrons

Regular Companies Grenadier Companies Privates
(peace)
Privates
(war)

Total strength
(war)

1  Livgarden til Hest 3 6 - 300

360

427
2  Livregiment til Hest 3

6

- 300 360 412
3  Holsteinska Cuirassier Regiment 3 6 - 300 360 412
7  1st Sjællandske 3 6 - 300 360 413
8  2nd Sjællandske (disbanded 1714) 3 6 - 300 360 413
9  3rd Sjællandske 3 6 - 300 360 413
10  1st Fynske 3 6 - 300 360 413
11  2nd Fynske 3 6 - 300 360 413
12  1st Jyske 2 4 - 200 240 279
13  2nd Jyske 3 6 - 300 360 413
14  3rd Jyske 3 6 - 300 360 413
15  4th Jyske (disbanded 1714) 3 6 - 300 360 413
16  5th Jyske 3 6 - 300 360 413
17  Liv-dragoon Regiment 3 5 1 360 360 415
18  Holstein Dragoon Reg. (disbanded 1701) 3 6 Six grenadiers in each company 360 360 415
 
   SUM:   86 1 4 520 5 280 6 077
 
*  1st Jyske had as a result of losses during the Nine Years War been reduced to 4 companies, but they later regained normal strength.
 According to Torstein Snorrason a decision was made in 1710 to increase the strength of the national cavalry regiments  (No. 7-16) from 6 till 10 companies.
 The four cuirassier regiments (No. 2-5 ?) all had 12 companies each while Livgarden til Hest would continue to have just 6 companies. This reform would
 however take long time to be implemented. At the end of 1712 only 1st Sjællandske and the Fynske regiments had 10 companies while the others had 8.
 Snorrason does not mention the dragoon regiments but these also appear to have been twice as large as the national regiments during the battles of
  Helsingborg and Gadebusch.
  Regiments created 1700-20

Squadrons

Companies Strength
4  Württembergske Cuirassier Reg.  Raised 1701.
5  "Hungarian" Cuirassier Regiment  Raised 1701. Fought in the battle of Gadebusch with sex squadrons.
6  Brockdorffs Cuirassier regiment  Existed 1710-1712. Disbanded after the battle of Gadebusch in which it fought with sex squadrons.
19  "Hungarian" Dragoon Regiment  Created by merging two dragoon regiments that had been raised in 1700. They consisted each of
 510 men in 6 companies.
20  Württembergske Dragoon Reg. (1701-) 5 10 1 008
17  Sjælland-Fynske National Militia  These two dragoon regiments were raised by conscription in 1704 and had a combined
 strength of 2 000 man. They were reorganised into enlisted cuirassiers 1710-11.
18  Jyske National Militia
23  East Sjællandske National Militia  These three regiments were the second batch of national militia dragoons which were
 raised in 1717.
24  West Sjællandske National Militia
25  Jyske-Fynske National Militia
               


Norwegian Army 1716
 

  Infantry Regular Companies Reserve Companies Regular
Soldiers
Reserve Soldiers All Soldiers Total Strength
1  Enlisted Regiment 16 - 1 600 - 1 600 1 774
2  Akershusiske 9 3 1 204 601 1 805 1 917
3  Smaalenske 9 3 1 224 570 1 794 1 906
4  Oplandske 9 3 1 129 562 1 691 1 803
5  Vesterlenske 10 3 1 334 666 2 000 2 122
6  Bergenhusiske 9 5 1 310 656 1 966 2 090
7  North Trondhjemske 12 - 1 296 - 1 296 1 421
8  South Trondhjemske 12 - 1 296 - 1 296 1 421
9  Ski Corps (Skiløperkorpset) 1 - 150 - 150 166
10  Rørosske bergjegercorpset 3 - 400 - 400 400 (+?)
  Dragoons (the reserves were mainly used as garrison units)
1  1st Søndenfjeldske 6 - 600 150 750 834
2  2nd Søndenfjeldske 7 - 700 100 800 870
3  Nordenfjeldske 5 - 500 100 600 662
  
   SUM Infantry: 90 17 10 943 3 055 13 998 15 020
   SUM Dragoons: 18 - 1 800 350 2 150 2 366
3
*

 Norway also had a home guard called land-dragoons which were organised in independent companies. In 1711 there was 20 of these in
 Østlandet (3 576 men) and 9 in Trøndelag (2 131 men).

 

Danish Company Organisations

The above reported strengths of the Danish regiments in 1699 are based on the company organisations described in the tables below. Furthermore, regimental staff are included which had between 7 to 17 men depending on the type of regiment. Several members of the regimental staffs were civilians but I have despite of that included them in the total strength. I refer those who want to know the exact composition of the staffs to Sapherson's booklet.

In the cases where the tables have two numbers in a cell, the different numbers show the difference between peace time and war time organisation. A regular musketeer company had for example 6 gefrieters and 62 musketeers in peace time, and had 10 gefrieters and 80 musketeers in war time. A "gefrieter" was a private soldier who received the same pay as a grenadier and was regarded as elite (the title is usually translated to "lance corporal")

Infantry

  Guard Company Musketeer Company Grenadier Company Marine Reg. Company Oldenborgske Company National Militia Free Company Bornholm Militia
Officers 3-6 3 3 3 4 2 2 3
NCOs 3-4 3-4 4 3-4 3-4   1 3
Corporals 3 3 3 3 3 9 2 3
Drummers 2 2 2 2 2   1  
Pioneers 2 2   2 2 2    
Gefrieters 8-12 6-10   10 6-10   5  
Grenadiers     100     8    
Musketeers 70-88 62-80   90 62-80 140 40 133
Privates (war): 102 92 100 102 92 150 45 133
Total strength (war) 117 104 112 115 105 161 51 142
 
Cavalry
 
 
Dragoons
 
 
  Guard Company Cuirassier Company Bornholm Militia   Liv-dragoon Company Holstein Company   The Drabants
Captain 1 1 1  Captain 1 1  Captain 1
Lieutenant 1 1 2  Lieutenant-captain   1  "Førere" (NCOs) 2
Cornet 1   1  Lieutenant 1    "Underførere" 2
Quarter master 1 1 2  Sergeant 1 1  Quarter master 1
Corporals 3 3 6  Corporals 3 3  Judge advocate 1
Trumpeters 2 1 2  Drummers 1 1  Drabants 50
Privates 50-60 50-60 150  Privates 60 60    
Total strength (war) 69 67 164  Total strength 67 67  Total strength 57

Return to Campaigns of the Danish-Norwegian Army.