Prussian grenadiers at the battle of Hohenfriedeberg 1745

The Great Northern War had been going on for fifteen years before Prussia joined the anti-Swedish coalition and attacked the Swedish possessions in Germany in 1715. But even before the Great Northern War began, this state had been invited to join the coalition. Then during the course of the war Sweden was also willing to have Prussia as an ally and it was several times close to Prussia joining either Sweden or its adversaries. But the reason this didn't happen was because of its king Frederick I. He was indecisive and preferred to gain territory without having to take any risks of his own. None of the warring parties wanted to give what Frederick I demanded in order to get so little in return. When Frederick I died in 1713, however, he was succeeded by his far more capable son Frederick William. He did indeed inherit a large army of 38,000 men, but also a kingdom that was in a very poor financial condition after participating in the War of the Spanish Succession of 1702-1714 in return for receiving a royal title. After thorough reforms of both the economy and the army, Frederick William was ready in 1715 to begin the bellicose journey that would eventually make Prussia a great power.

The Prussian army participated in the War of the Spanish Succession 1702-1714 and in the Great Northern War 1715-1720. The table below show which battles and sieges the individual regiments took part in. However, the table ends with the year 1715 since the Prussian army was not involved in any campaigns after that year even though a peace treaty was not signed until 21 January 1720. The only battle the Prussian army fought during the Great Northern War was Stresow 1715 and a separate page shows the participating regiments uniforms at Stresow.

The numbering of the regiments is the same as the one introduced when Frederick the Great was king (1740-1786). Before that there were no regimental numbers and those regiments which does not have numbers in the table had ceased to exist when Frederick the Great ascended the throne. Also note that several dragoon regiments (DR) were reorganised into cuirassiers (CR) 1717-1718, which explains their odd numbers. In the chronological overview next to each regiment's name are there letters which signifies battles (normal style) and sieges (italics). The colours show which theatre of war the regiment was located in according to the following system:

Infantry

1702

1704

1706

1708

1710

1712

1714

IR 1

Wartensleben ("Füsiliergarde" 1707-1713)

C

M

S

IR 2

Otto Graf von Dönhoff ("Alt-Dönhoff")

C

M

S

IR 3

Prinz Leopold von Anhalt-Dessau ("Alt-Dessau")

H

B

C

T

S Se

IR 4

Christoph Graf von Dohna ("Jung-Dohna")

O

M

S Se

IR 5

Schoning - von Arnim ("Leibregiment" -1713)

M

S W

IR 6

Kronprinz (König 1713 "Grenadier-Garde")

H

B

R

O

M

S

IR 7

Markgraf Christian Ludwig von Brandenburg

H

B

C

T

S W

IR 8

Anhalt-Zerbst

R

M

IR 9

Buys, Schlabrendorff - Wulffen - Trossel - Heiden

H

B

T

O

M

IR 10

Heiden ("Alt-Heiden") - Hessen-Kassel

B

R

M

IR 11

Holstein-Beck

IR 12

Markgraf (P. - H. F.) von Brandenburg-Schwedt

B

S

IR 13

Marquis de Varenne - Pannewitz

B

IR 14

Brandt - Canitz - Prinz von Oranien - Finckenstein

H

B

C

T

S

IR 15

C. Ph. Wülich zu Lottum ("Leibgarde" 1740)

H

B

R

O

M

IR 16

Alexander Graf von Dohna ("Alt-Dohna")

O

M

Se

IR 17

Sydow - Grumbkow

H

R

O

IR 18

Pannewitz - Tettau - Gersdorff

IR 19

Markgraf A. F. von Brandenburg-Schwedt

T

O

M

S Se

IR 20

Borstel  - Stillen

S

IR 21

Ernst Graf von Dönhoff ("Jung-Dönhoff")

S

IR 22

von Borcke

S

IR 23

von Kamecke

S Se

IR 24

von Schwendy

S

IR 25

Otto von Schlabrendorf¨

S

IR 26

von Löben

S

IR 27

Prinz L. M. von Anhalt-Dessau ("Jung-Dessau") (raised from Swedish prisoners of war)

Reinich's grenadier battalion (grenadier companies from IR 2, IR 3 and IR 6)

Se

Barleben's grenadier battalion (grenadier companies from IR 1, IR 20, IR 21 and IR 23)

Se

Billerbeck's grenadier battalion (grenadier companies from IR 17, IR 24 and IR 25)

Se

Prince of Holsteins grenadier battalion (grenadier companies from IR 5, IR 7, IR 11, IR 12 and IR 19)

Se

Sydow's grenadier battalion (grenadier companies from IR 4, IR 8, IR 9 and IR 10)

Se

Cuirassiers

1702

1704

1706

1708

1710

1712

1714

CR 1

Friedrich von Schlippenbach

O

M

CR 2

Kronprinz

O

M

S

CR 3

Wangenheim - Hackeborn ("Leibregiment")

O

M

S

CR 5

Markgraf (P. - H.) von Brandenburg-Schwedt

H

B

O

M

S W

CR 6

Hamel - de L'Ostrange - Portrail - Anhalt-Dessau

H

B

C

M

W

CR 8

Markgraf von Bayreuth-Kulmbach - von Dewitz

H

B

CR 9

Schoning - Canstein - Katte

R

O

M

CR 10

von Netzmer ("Gens d'Armes")

H

O

M

S Se

CR 13

Trabantgarde / Garde du Corps

Heyden

R

S

Wartensleben

B

Dragoons

1702

1704

1706

1708

1710

1712

1714

CR 4

Wreech - Blanckensee ("Leibdragoner" -1714)

H

B

O

S W

CR  7

Sonsfeld - von der Albe

H

B

C

M

W

CR 11

Markgraf A. F. von Brandenburg-Schwedt

S

CR 12

Wittgenstein - Pannewitz - Anhalt-Dessau - Portail

O

DR 1

Ansbach - Veyne - Wense

O

M

W

DR 3

von Derfflinger (horse grenadiers)

M

Se W

1702

1704

1706

1708

1710

1712

1714

While the Great Northern War was still ongoing, in 1717 two dragoon regiments were raised under the command of A. von der Schulenburg (DR 5) and von Wuthenau (DR 6). The latter regiment was called the "Porcelain Dragoons" because it consisted of former Saxon soldiers that the Prussian king had bought from Saxony by paying in part with precious china. The dragoon regiment that was later named DR 2 was originally the "Kreis Dragoon Regiment Ansbach-Bayreuth" which was raised in 1689 and then in 1717/18 subordinated to DR 1 only to become its own unit again in 1725. DR 4 was raised in 1704 but during the Great Northern War it was part of DR 3 and did not become its own regiment again until 1741.

During the War of the Spanish Succession, the Prussian army had uniforms of a cut that almost all armies had at this time. However, when Frederick William I began his reign as king of Prussia in 1713, several military reforms were initiated. Among other things, the uniforms gradually changed so that less and less fabric was used. In the end, they were so tight that they couldn't be buttoned. In addition, they became more colourful by folding up the coat skirt and introducing breast lapels. Thus the classic Prussian uniform had been created. However, the question is exactly when the uniforms got this typically Prussian look. It could have been as early as 1715 and that is how the Prussians are depicted below, but it is also possible that they still had the same type of uniforms as their allies.

Virtually all of my knowledge of the various Prussian regimental uniforms for this period comes from two authors (Lars-Eric Höglund and Stephen Summerfield). Both, in turn, seem to have drawn their information from largely the same source (Bleckwenn), but even so there are many differences. If the differences are not due to mistakes, they may instead be due to Höglund's descriptions only referring to the time period 1715-1720, while Summerfield only reports the content of "Dessauer Spezifikation von 1728 ".

The pictures below follow Höglund's descriptions and the biggest deviations from Summerfield are the hat lace and the cuirassiers' collars. According to Höglund, the hat lace of the infantry were of "Leonische Tressen", which consisted of a thin plate of yellow metal that gave a gilded impression, while the cavalry would have gold lace. He mentions, however, that some infantry regiments such as IR 22 already had hats with white wool lace in 1713. According to Summerfield, however, both infantry and cavalry had white hat lace. Regarding the cuirassiers' coats, Höglund wrote: "In general, white coats were still worn with collars and cuffs in the regimental colour". According to Summerfield, the cuirassiers' coats would be collarless. As for the infantry's coats, collars are only mentioned for a couple regiments by both authors. Both write that IR 3 had it and Höglund also mentions IR 6 and Summerfield also mentions IR 11.

Infantry

Wartensleben IR 1	Alt-Dönhoff IR 2	Alt-Dessau IR 3	Jung-Dohna IR 4
Arnim IR 5	König IR 6	Markgraf Christian Ludwig  IR 7	Anhalt-Zerbst IR 8
Heiden IR 9	Hessen-Kassel IR 10	Holstein-Beck IR 11	Markgraf Heinrich IR 12
Pannewitz IR 13	Finckenstein IR 14	Lottum IR 15	Alt-Dohna IR 16
Grumbkow IR 17	Gersdorff IR 18	Markgraf Albrecht IR 19	Stillen IR 20
Jung-Dönhoff IR 21	Borcke IR 22	Kamecke IR 23	Schwendy IR 24
Schlabrendorff IR 25	Löben IR 26	Jung-Dessau IR 27 (raised at the end of 1715 from Swedish prisoners of war)	Five independent grenadier battalions (each company had separate uniforms)

Grenadier Battalions

The Prussian grenadier battalions were temporary units that only existed during the Rügen campaign. They were formed by merging the grenadier companies of the various infantry regiments. For this reason, no battalion had a single standard uniform, but each company instead retained the uniform of its parent regiment. The exact composition of each battalion is described below. The uniforms pictured are the standard musketeer uniforms with tricorne hats as I have no information on the appearance of their grenadier caps. A Prussian grenadier, however (at least during the time of Frederick the Great) had both a grenadier cap and a tricorne hat. The cap was used in battle and parade while the hat was used in more everyday contexts.

First battalion Reinich (3 companies)	=	Alt-Dönhoff (IR 2)	Alt-Dessau (IR 3)	König (IR 6)
Second battalion Barleben (4 companies)	=	Wartensleben (IR 1)	Stillen (IR 20)	Jung-Dönhoff (IR 21)	Kamecke  (IR 23)
Third Battalion Billerbeck (2 ½ companies)	=	Grumbkow (IR 17)	Schwendy (IR 24)	Schlabrendorff (IR 25)
Fourth Battalion Prince of Holstein (4 companies)	=	Arnim (IR 5)	Christian Ludwig  (IR 7)	Holstein-Beck (IR 11)	Heinrich (IR 12)	Albrecht (IR 19)
Fifth Battalion Sydow (4 companies)	=	Jung-Dohna (IR 4)	Anhalt-Zerbst (IR 8)	Heiden (IR 9)	Hessen-Kassel (IR 10)

Prince Georg of Hessen-Kassel's regiment (IR 10) had until 1715 Prince Friedrich of Hessen-Kassel as regimental commander. This Friedrich married Charles XII's sister Ulrika Eleonora the same year and later became King Fredrik I of Sweden (1720-1751). It was probably this wedding that caused him to hand over the command of IR 10 to his younger brother Georg, who in turn retained it until 1730 when, like his older brother, he continued his military career in Sweden.

Cuirassiers

Schlippenbach CR 1	König CR 2	Leibregiment CR 3	Blanckensee CR 4 (dragoon regiment before 1718)
Friedrich von Brandenburg-Schwedt CR 5	Anhalt-Dessau CR 6	Wülich und Lottum CR 7 (dragoon regiment before 1718)	Bayreuth-Kulmbach CR 8
Katte CR 9	Gens d'Armes CR 10 Garde du Corps (CR 13) was merged with this unit in 1713	Albrecht Friedrich von Brandenburg-Schwedt CR 11 (dragoon regiment before 1718)	Winterfeld CR 12 (dragoon regiment before 1718, but had perhaps become cuirassiers already in 1715)
		All cuirassier regiments had completely unique uniforms. The regiments with the same colours were separated with white edging bands on shabraques and coats that had different types of patterns in the regimental colour. No similar arrangement for the dragoon regiments is mentioned Regarding the dragoon regiments that were converted to cuirassiers in 1717-1718, Höglund only has information about the cuirassier uniforms from Frederick William's reign. But the uniform colours match those they had during Frederick I's reign so it seems the colours did not change because of this. The camisole/vest worn by the dragoons below depicted as made of leather. but they could also have been made of cloth and then presumably of the regimental colour.
Heyden Disbanded 1718 (the uniform is not described for the reign of Frederick William, but it was dark blue during Frederick I:s reign.)	Wartensleben Disbanded 1718 (the uniform is not described for the reign of Frederick William, but it was green during Frederick I:s reign.)
Dragoons
Blanckensee CR 4 (converted to a cuirassier regiment in 1717-1718)	von der Albe CR 7 (converted to a cuirassier regiment in 1717-1718)	Brandenburg-Schwedt CR 11 (converted to a cuirassier regiment in 1717-1718)	du Portail CR 12 (converted to a cuirassier regiment in 1717-1718, perhaps as early as 1715)
du Veyne DR 1	Derfflinger DR 3 (horse grenadiers)	Schulenburg DR 1 (raised in 1717)	Wuthenau DR 6 (bought from Saxony in 1717, the "Porcelain Dragoons")

 
Prussian grenadiers at the battle of Leuthen 1757

The Prussian contribution to the Great Northern War campaigns was modest. A couple decades later the Prussian Army would achieve all the more notoriety during what was its absolute heyday. Namely in the years 1740-1763 when the Prussian king Frederick the Great waged a series of wars that raised Prussia from a small state to a great power. It is these wars that are reported in the table below, i.e. the first and second Silesian wars of 1740-42 and 1744-45 respectively (which were part of the Austrian War of Succession 1740-48) and the Seven Years' War 1756-1763.

The years 1740 and 1763 are not included in the table since no battles were fought in those years. The first Silesian War started 16 December 1740 when the Prussian army crossed the border to Silesia without a declaration of war. And the Seven Years War ended with the peace at Hubertusburg 16 February 1763. A much more eventful year was however 1757 when the biggest battles were fought, among others Frederick the Great's first defeat (Kolin) and his greatest victory (Leuthen). Between those battles he had also inflicted a crushing defeat on the French and the German Reichsarmee at Rossbach, and the Prussians had faced the Russians for the first time at Gross-Jägersdorf. Because of this density of battles there are two columns for 1757 (one for each half-year).

The wars fought by Frederick the Great were geographically limited, so in contrast to my other pages the colour codes in this page do not show which country the regiments were located in, but rather which opponents they fought against in the battles according to the following system:

The letters represent different field types and explanations for these can be found at the bottom of the page . The only exception is Schweidnitz in 1761 (S) which was a fortress that fell to the Austrians.

The Prussian regiments were usually named after their regimental commanders, who were changed several times during this time period. For the sake of simplicity, I have only chosen to stick to the official numbering of the regiments that existed in the Prussian army. In cases where there was an official name for the regiment in question, it is indicated in bold. Otherwise, instead of names, I have indicated in the name field which provinces the various regiments were recruited from, alternatively any nicknames. The third column indicates the year the regiments were founded

The difference between musketeers and corporals is that the latter were newly formed regiments whose soldiers did not meet the same standard as the others. For example, they had shorter body height and were therefore equipped with shorter muskets and with special fusilier caps that resembled the caps used by the grenadiers.

Musketeers

1741

1742

1744

1745

1756

1757

1758

1759

1760

1761

1762

1

Brandenburg

1615

M

H

P

RL

H

LT

B

2

Ostpreussen

1655

C

HS

G

Z

Ka K

3

Magdeburg

1655

HS

L

PK

Ka

L

B

4

Ostpreussen

1672

C

S

G

Z

B

5

Magdeburg

1655

HS

RL

H

LT

B

6

Grenadier-Garde

1675

HS

RL

H

LT

B

7

Pommern

1676

M

C

H

L

K

Z

K

T

8

Pommern

1679

H

P

L

H

T

9

Westfalen

1679

L

P

R

Ka K

T

10

Westfalen

1683

M

C

L

B

11

Ostpreussen

1685

C

H

G

Z

12

Brandenburg

1685

M

H

P

K

B

13

Brandenburg

1686

M

H

L

RL

H

LT

B

14

Ostpreussen

1626

C

HS

G

Z

K

15

Regiment-Garde

1688

M

C

HS

K

RL

H

LT

B

16

Ostpreussen

1698

C

G

Z

Ka K

T

B

17

Pommern

1693

C

HS

L

PK

T

18

Brandenburg

1698

PL

ZH

LT

B

19

Brandenburg

1702

M

HS

P

RL

H

K

T

20

Magdeburg

1674

H

L

K

H

T

21

Halberstadt

1713

H

L

K

R

K

T

22

Pommern

1713

M

H

K

Z

T

B

23

Brandenburg

1713

M

HS

P

RL

ZH

LT

24

Brandenburg

1713

M

C

H

P

R

Ka K

LT

25

Brandenburg

1713

M

HS

K

L

Z

T

B

26

Brandenburg

1714

M

P

RL

H

LT

27

Brandenburg

1715

M

C

L

L

Z

28

Niederschlesien

1723

H

P

29

Niederschlesien

1723

C

H

PK

K

30

Pommern

1728

C

H

L

P

L

H

T

31

Niederschlesien

1729

P

G

K

LT

32

Niederschlesien (fusiliers 1743-45)

1743

P

Ka

34

Brandenburg

1740

C

L

L

Fusiliers

1741

1742

1744

1745

1756

1757

1758

1759

1760

1761

1762

33

Glatz

1740

P

La

35

Prinz Heinrich

1740

PK

L

K

T

36

Pommern

1740

L

K

L

M

S

37

Niederschlesien

1740

H

P

L

Z

K

La

S

B

38

Oberschlesien

1740

P

B

K

39

1740

P

L

H

40

(Transferred from Saxony-Eisenach army)

1740

PK

Z

Ka

L

41

Westfalen (from Württemberg army)

1741

PK

K

LT

42

Oberschlesien

1741

P

La

43

Niederschlesien

1741

P

K

44

1742

F

45

1743

M

46

(Raised only with foreign recruits)

1743

P

L

Z

K

47

Oberschlesien (from Holstein-Gottorp)

1743

KM

48

(Recruited from the Minden garrison)

1756

49

Niederschlesien (pioniers 1742-58)

1758

Z

Ka K

T

50-9

In October 1756 ten captured Saxon regiments were forced into Prussian service. Desertions resulted however in that all regiments except IR 54-56 ceased to exist after barely a year. The remaining regiments were disbanded after the war and their men were transferred to IR 33 and IR 36. Their numbers would be reclaimed by new regiments raised 1773-74 in Oberschlesien (50) and Westpreussen (51-55).

1741

1742

1744

1745

1756

1757

1758

1759

1760

1761

1762

Cuirassiers

1741

1742

1744

1745

1756

1757

1758

1759

1760

1761

1762

1

1666

C

HSK

PK

BL

H

Ka K

T

F

2

1666

C

HS

L

K

B

Z

K

LT

3

Leibregiment zu Pferde

1672

K

L

PK

RL

K

LT

F

4

1674

C

HS

P

BL

H

T

F

5

1683

M

HK

P

BL

Z

Ka K

LT

6

1688

HK

L

K

BL

M

7

1688

C

HK

L

PK

RL

KM

8

1691

C

HSK

L

K

RL

ZH

LT

9

1691

C

HS

P

BL

H

M

10

Regiment Gens d'Armes

1691

M

HS

L

RL

ZH

LT

11

Leib-Carabinier Regiment

1691

M

HK

L

PK

BL

ZH

LT

12

1704

C

HSK

PK

L

H

Ka K

T

13

Garde du Corps

1740

HS

L

PK

RL

ZH

LT

Dragoons

1741

1742

1744

1745

1756

1757

1758

1759

1760

1761

1762

1

1689

M

H

PK

BL

ZH

LT

2

1689

H

PK

BL

H

K

LT

3

1704

M

C

HS

L

PK

R

K

4

1704

M

HK

L

PK

RL

ZH

LT

5

1717

M

C

HK

L

BL

T

6

"Porcelain Dragoons"

1717

H

G

Z

K

F

7

1727

C

K

G

Z

F

8

1744

K

G

Z

K

T

F

9

1741

K

G

K

Mi

L

10

1743

K

G

K

Mi

L

11

1740

H

PK

L

KM

T

F

12

1742

S

PK

BL

M

T

Hussars

1741

1742

1744

1745

1756

1757

1758

1759

1760

1761

1762

1

Preussisches Husaren (Green)

1721

C

H

L

K

RL

K

T

F

2

Leib-Husaren (Red)

1730

M

H

PK

BL

ZH

Ka K

LT

3

1740

PK

L

LT

4

White Hussars

1741

HS

PK

L

H

Ka K

5

Totenkopf (Death skull or Black)

1741

H

G

KZ

Ka Mi

6

Brown Hussars

1741

HK

PK

L

H

T

7

Yellow Hussars

1743

K

P

GL

Z

Ka Mi K

8

Red Hussars

1743

H

KB

RL

M

9

Der ganze tod (Whole Dead or New Black)

1758

K

F

1741

1742

1744

1745

1756

1757

1758

1759

1760

1761

1762

In addition to the above mentioned units there were also temporary grenadier battalions in each war which were raised by pairing the grenadier companies from two infantry regiments. There were also up to 17 garrison regiments and special units such as two jäger corps and 23 free corps. These are not included in the list since I have no information about which battles they participated in.

B = Breslau (1757), Burkersdorf (1762)
C = Chotusitz (1742)
F = Freiberg (1762)
G = Gross-Jägersdorf (1757)
H = Hohenfriedeberg (1745), Hochkirch (1758)
K = Kesselsdorf (1745), Kolin (1757), Krefeld (1758), Kunersdorf (1759)
Ka = Kay (1759)
L = Lobositz (1756), Leuthen (1757), Liegnitz (1760)
La = Landeshut (1760)
M = Mollwitz (1741), Maxen (1759)
Mi = Minden (1759)
P = Prag (1757)
R = Rossbach (1757)
S = Soor (1745), Schweidnitz (1761)
T = Torgau (1760)

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