Denmark wanted to maintain a strong army that they could use to take back lost territories in future war against Sweden. But a large army was costly and risked draining the treasury unless someone else could be found willing to pay for it. During the years 1689-1714, however, Denmark succeeded in exactly that feat. This was due to the recurring major European wars which meant that the great powers were willing to pay large sums to quickly gain access to well-trained troops. During these wars, the Danish troops were then able to gain valuable experience while the money Denmark earned made it possible to further strengthen the military.

The auxiliary corps formed an extensive part of the Danish army. But it was usually not complete infantry regiments that were selected for them, instead they usually contributed only one of their battalions. It did happen, however, that regiments were set up solely to form part of an auxiliary corps. The table below will show ​​how large the part of the Danish army in foreign service was during this period. In the table, I have provided the infantry regiments with a row for each battalion that was part of it.

Note that only enlisted Danish regiments are included in the table. The national militia that was created by conscription in 1701-1704 completely replaced the manpower that had been sent abroad in 1701. Then there was also the Norwegian army that stayed at home, but which in 1700 made up a third of the combined Danish-Norwegian army.

Just because the colours end up on the same row doesn't necessarily mean it's the same battalion. I do not have information about exactly which battalions within the same regiment were part of the various auxiliary corps and campaigns. The auxiliary corps in Saxony 1700-1701, however, consisted largely of the same troops that were sent to Austria to serve the emperor 1701-1709.

The Auxiliary Corps to the Maritime Powers
1689-1697

Faced with the threat of being attacked by a coalition consisting of Sweden, England, the Netherlands and the Dukes of Lüneburg (future Hanover), Denmark was forced to sign the Treaty of Altona in June 1689 and end its occupation of Holstein-Gottorp. In connection with this crisis, Denmark had strengthened its army, which would now return to its former peacetime strength. But England and the Netherlands showed interest in hiring the troops that were no longer needed, so instead of dismissing them they became an auxiliary corps in the service of the Maritime Powers (England and the Netherlands were ruled jointly by William III and were therefore called the Maritime Powers).

William III, the stadtholder of the Netherlands, had invaded England in the autumn of 1688 and expelled James II from his three kingdoms (England, Scotland and Ireland). But when a Jacobite rebellion broke out in Ireland in 1689, William III needed more troops to maintain control of the British Isles.

According to the agreement concluded on 30 September 1689, Denmark would send an auxiliary corps consisting of 6,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry to William III. The Auxiliary Corps consisted of three cavalry regiments which had been formed from detachments from the ten national cavalry regiments and which were named after their colonels. The infantry consisted of one battalion each from the nine oldest infantry regiments. In practice, however, there were only eight battalions as four companies of Dronningen’s (Queen's) Life Regiment were captured by French privateers before they could reach Britain. The Oldenborg battalion was therefore merged with the Dronningen’s Life Regiment so that it would become a full-fledged battalion. The captured Danes went into French service and formed the Royal Danois Regiment which was disbanded in 1698.

In the service of the Maritime Powers, the Auxiliary Corps fought in Ireland in 1690 and took part in the Battle of the Boyne on 1 July. Then they were transferred to the Netherlands and participated in the War of the League of Augsburg against France until the Peace of Rijswijk was concluded in the fall of 1697. However, the battalions were in a weakened condition when they returned home. In the battle at Steenkerken in 1692, for example, the Guard and Dronningen had suffered losses of 400 and 200 men respectively

When the auxiliaries returned to Denmark in 1698, they were reintegrated into their parent regiments. The number of companies of the home cavalry regiments had remained the same throughout and was not affected by the returning troops. But the eight oldest infantry regiments now again got 18 musketeer companies (the Guard also got two grenadier companies again). The Oldenburg regiment, on the other hand, did not get any soldiers back and continued to consist of only a five-company strong battalion.

The Auxiliary Corps to the Emperor 1692-1698

To assist the emperor who was embroiled in two wars at the same time (against France and the Ottoman Empire), an agreement was concluded in 1692 to send a 2,400-strong Danish auxiliary corps to the imperial army. It consisted of the First Jyske Cavalry Regiment, the most recently raised dragoon regiment and a battalion each from Schack's ("Copenhagen Garrison") and Courland's regiments. The entire auxiliary corps was later transferred to Saxony-Poland after Denmark formed an alliance with Augustus the Strong in March 1698.

The Auxiliary Corps to Saxony and Poland
1698-1699

Augustus the Strong who had recently become King of Poland under dubious circumstances needed troops to fight the Poles who resisted him. He made an alliance with Denmark in March 1698 which resulted in the Danish auxiliary corps that had been in imperial service being transferred to him. In addition, one battalion each from Sjællandske, Fynske and Courland was transferred from Denmark (the latter was thus entirely in Saxon service). Together this constituted a force of 4,000 men.

The infantry battalions and dragoon regiments that had been part of the Imperial Corps were sent to Poland where they were disbanded after the Peace of Karlowitz in 1699.

The First Jyske Cavalry Regiment and the troops that came directly from Denmark, on the other hand, were used as garrison troops in Saxony while Augustus the Strong's own army fought in Poland. They returned to Denmark in the summer of 1699, but the battalion that remained of the Courland regiment was disbanded except for one company which was transferred to the Oldenburg battalion. First Jyske was temporarily reduced to four companies but became six companies strong again in when it was decided in October to strengthen the army before the impending war against Holstein-Gottorp and Sweden.

The Auxiliary Corps to Saxony 1700-1701

When Denmark concluded the peace of Traventhal in August 1700, Augustus the Strong feared that Saxony was now next in line for a Swedish invasion. In accordance to the treaty signed in 1698, he requested that Denmark send an auxiliary corps to assist in the defence of Saxony. When it turned out that Charles XII was instead shipping his army over to the Baltic, August tried to withdraw his request as he did not want to bear the cost of troops he no longer needed. But Denmark, unwilling to reduce the size of its newly expanded army, insisted on following the agreement to the letter to reduce its own costs.

In October 1700, Frederik IV ordered the gathering of 8,000 men in Holstein, which then would be sent  Saxony under the command of Carl Rudolf of Württemberg. According to plan, the auxiliary corps had the following composition:

The infantry consisted of eight battalions that had been separated from their parent regiments in Denmark and except for the Marine Regiment, the battalions consisted of 6 musketeer companies and one grenadier company. The organisation was the normal one for a Danish battalion at this time with the exception that the companies had 90 musketeers instead of 80. The Marine Regiment differed in that its battalion consisted of only 5 musketeer companies with their own organisation. This information, which come from the work of Danish General Staff: "Bidrag til den storet nordiske krigs historie" (volume 2, page 51), would suggest a battalion strength of 790 and 690 men respectively, and a total infantry strength of 6,220 men. The General Staff, however, mentions the sum of 6,217 men and even then they have not included regimental staff personnel and an ensign for each battalion that probably should have been there. The total that the work of the Danish General Staff states for the entire auxiliary corps is 8,237 men, but it includes a general staff of four people.

The two dragoon regiments had recently been merged with two newly formed dragoon regiments (the Life Dragoons with Glücksburg’s regiment and the Holstein Regiment with Rodsten’s regiment) and therefore had an irregular organisation as follows

Most of the Saxon auxiliaries were transferred to Imperial service in October 1701. The two dragoon regiments were split so that the halves that retained the names returned to Holstein (where they were then merged under the name of the Life Dragoon Regiment) while the other halves (Rodsten and Juel) became included in the Emperor's auxiliary corps.

The Fynske battalion and the grenadier companies from Prince Carl, Prince Georg and Sjællandske were taken to Altona in Holstein, where they later left to join an auxiliary corps sent to the Maritime Powers.

The Auxiliary Corps to the Emperor 1701-1709

As the War of the Spanish Succession was expected to break out soon, the Emperor was in need of auxiliary troops from Denmark. The Treaty of Laxenburg concluded on 4 June 1701 meant that the Emperor would receive an auxiliary corps of 6,000 men plus a further 2,000 men at a later date. The Saxon auxiliaries were used for this purpose and left Saxony in October 1701. However, mainly due to numerous desertions among the men who had been recruited during the stay in Saxony, 491 men were lacking to achieve the agreed strength. Instead it had the following composition (battalions with 7 companies had a grenadier company):

The auxiliary corps was brought to Northern Italy via Thuringia, Franconia, Swabia and the Tyrol. Once in Italy, the corps was used until May 1702 for the blockade of Mantua and on 15 August it took part in the Battle of Luzzara. The winter quarters of 1702-1703 were laid in Revere. The corps was reorganised at the end of March 1703 so that the two dragoon regiments were merged into a 12 company strong regiment with Rodsten as its colonel. The seven battalions were combined into three regiments of 10 companies each (one of which was a grenadier company) in the following manner:

The Marine Regiment's battalion was disbanded and its men distributed among the other regiments

Organisation 1703

According to this organisational plan, the dragoon regiment would consist of 1,064 men and the infantry regiments of 1,508 men each. But at a muster of the corps in April 1703 there were only 469 dragoons and 1,837 infantry.

The additional 2,000 men that had been promised in the Treaty of Laxenburg were requested by the Emperor as early as the end of 1701. This was to be solved by the recruitment of a cuirassier regiment and an infantry regiment (the latter would be known as the Fourth Danish Regiment). But problems with recruitment meant that these regiments could not be mustered until April 1703 (in Oldenburg).

Nicolai Hinrich v. Dithmersen's Cuirassier Regiment – 998 man
&
Christian Vollrath v. Enden's Infantry Regiment – 1008 man
(both had 10 companies)

On 3 May 1703, an infantry battalion commanded by Maltzahn which had been transferred from the army of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was also mustered. It consisted of 500 men divided into 5 companies plus a staff of 8 people (apparently the same organisation as above). These three regiments then marched via Bavaria to Upper Austria where they were laid into winter quarters in 1703-1704. At the beginning of 1704 they were also joined by the Danish troops from Northern Italy and they gathered in March 1704 in Vienna to defend the city against Hungarian rebels. Until the end of July 1709, the auxiliary corps remained in imperial service and was mainly used against the Hungarians.

However, Maltzahn's battalion had been attacked and completely shattered by the Hungarians on the night of 27 May 1704. The remainder of this battalion which had enjoyed a good reputation was at the end of the year disbanded. The men were distributed to the other regiments according to the Danish General Staff (Höglund only states the Third Danish and Snorrason states that it was the Fourth Danish that received them)

The Danish auxiliary corps had suffered high losses during its time in the Emperor's service, which is reflected, among other things, in the fact that all the commanders of both the corps itself and the individual regiments had been replaced during these eight years. And despite attempts to fill vacancies with new recruits, the corps was in a very weakened condition when it arrived in Holstein in September 1709:

The Auxiliary Corps to the Maritime Powers
1701-1714

The Maritime Powers (England and the Netherlands) also needed auxiliary troops for the upcoming War of the Spanish Succession and concluded an agreement with Denmark on 15 June, 1701. In the public part of the agreement, Denmark undertook to contribute a corps consisting of 8,000 infantry, 3,000 cavalry and 1,000 dragoons. In a secret part of the agreement, Denmark promised to contribute an additional 4,000 men three months after the delivery of the first 12,000 men in case these proved insufficient. But the Maritime Powers also agreed to limit the size of the auxiliary corps to 10,000 men in case Denmark sent 8,000 men to the Emperor, which also happened.

The Auxiliary Corps was handed over to the Maritime Powers in October-November 1701 and consisted of approximately 10,470 men who, in addition to a corps staff, consisted of the following regiments (the flags indicate which country paid for each regiment):

Cavalry		Infantry	Battalions	Companies	Strength
Livregiment Holstein Ahlefeldt Second Sjællandske Second Jyske Third Jyske Fourth Jyske Fifth Jyske		Foot Guards Prince Carl Prince Georg Sjællandske Fynska Oldenborgske	1 2 2 2 1 1	6 13 13 13 7 6	740 1 530 1 530 1 530 862 740
		Sum:	9	58	6,932
Sum: 3,520 men	(odd number of companies means one of them was a grenadier company)
(all cavalry regiments consisted of 440 men divided into 6 companies)

In the service of the Maritime Powers, each individual battalion came to function as its own regiment and therefore the infantry had battalion staffs instead of regimental staffs.

The information in both the table above and the one below comes from the work of the Danish General Staff Office "Bidrag til den store Nordiske krigs historie" (volume 2, page 58). However, the numbers do not match each other. Possibly the infantry numbers in the table above refer only to non-commissioned officers and privates, but even then there are minor differences with the table below.

At the beginning of 1703, the Maritime Powers began negotiations to get the remaining 6,000 men. However, Denmark was dissatisfied with the way the Dutch had managed the payments and did not want to give up the regiments because Charles XII's army was dangerously close to Denmark in north-western Poland. Denmark therefore negotiated down the next round of auxiliary troops to only the 2,000 men remaining from the public part of the agreement. And instead of sending existing regiments away from Denmark, completely new regiments were recruited. These consisted of a 997 strong dragoon regiment and a 1008 strong infantry regiment (both with 10 companies) which were handed over to the Maritime Powers in June. England and the Netherlands each paid for one half of both regiment which both bore the name Württemberg-Oels (whose duke had recruited them so that his sons could become colonels).

Württemberg-Oels Regiments 1703
(One dragoon and one infantry regiment, each with 10 companies)

Note that Ahlefeldt's Cuirassier Regiment changed its name to Württemberg's Cuirassier Regiment in 1705 when Carl Rudolf of Württemberg-Neustadt became its colonel. Thus, there were then three Württemberg regiments in the Danish auxiliary corps.

The Danish Auxiliary Corps would serve the Maritime Powers for twelve years and participated in the major battles at Blenheim, Ramillies Oudenaarde and Malplaquet. After the Peace of Utrecht in April 1713, the regiments paid by England returned home. The regiments paid by the Netherlands, however, remained in their service for another year before returning to Denmark.

References

MacDowall, Simon. Malplaquet 1709 - Marlborough's Bloodiest Battle. Oxford (2020)
McNally, Michael. Battle of the Boyne 1690 – The Irish campaign for the English crown. Oxford (2005).
McNally, Michael. Ramillies 1706 - Marlborough's tactical masterpiece. Oxford (2014)
Tincey, John. Blenheim 1704 - The Duke of Marlborough's Masterpiece. Oxford (2004)
Tuxen, A. P. – With-Seidelin C. L. Bidrag til den store nordiske krigs historie. Copenhagen (1899-1934)
Vaupell, Otto. Den danske hærs historie til nutiden og den norske hærs historie indtil 1814. Copenhagen (1872-1876)