(Horse Guards)

Organisational History Colonels and Battles Horse Guards Campaigns Scanian War 1675-1679 The War of 1700 Great Northern War 1709-1720 Horse Guards Uniforms Uniforms of the Scanian War Interwar Uniforms Uniforms of the Great Northern War Officer, NCO and Trumpeter Uniforms Horse Guards Standards Other Equipment

The Danish Life Guards on Horse (or Horse Guards as it was also often called) was the highest-ranking regiment in the Danish army. Its colonel had the rank of major general and its lieutenant colonel had the same rank as a colonel and so on. Originally, the Life Guards were only the king's personal bodyguard, but for the Scanian War it was expanded to a full regiment and then participated in all the major battles against the Swedes in the Scanian War and the Great Northern War. Despite all these battles being lost by the Danish army, the Horse Guards distinguished themselves as an elite regiment.

Organisational History

The Horse Guards were established on 19 January 1661 and initially consisted of a single company of 132 men, all officers. The unit had been created because of the demobilization after the war with Sweden had ended in 1660. This had resulted in many redundant officers that the king wanted to keep in his service as a reserve for future expansions of the army.

As part of the preparations for the Scanian War, the Life Guards on Horse were expanded to a full regiment in 1675, consisting of six companies of 80 men each. After the end of the war in 1679, it was reduced to four companies (a total of 408 men) but was again six companies strong in 1683. A new reduction took place in 1699, but the number of companies remained unchanged. This is according to Karsten Skjold Petersen. Tuxen states that, like the other enlisted cavalry regiments, it was expanded to nine companies in 1683-1684, each with 46 men, which was expanded to 57 men in 1689. After the threat of war disappeared in 1689 when Denmark signed the Treaty of Altona, the number of companies was reduced to six, each with 82 men. But Tuxen does not mention the further reduction in manpower that must obviously have occurred later, since it reports the following organisation for the Horse Guards in August 1699:

Sum: 363 men

Before and during the war in 1700, the other Danish regiments were expanded, but the organisation of the Horse Guards did not change. Although the Horse Guards had two majors in 1701, in both 1699 and 1709 there was only one major. When Denmark re-entered the war in 1709, the Horse Guards therefore had the same organisation as at the outbreak of the previous war. In 1714, however, the regiment was expanded to eight companies of 60 men. After the war had ended, the strength of each company was reduced to 56 men in 1721 and to 48 men in 1746.

At the end of 1763, the Horse Guards and the Foot Guards merged to form the "Combined Life Guards", which consisted of five foot companies and two squadrons of 65 men. They were separated as early as February 1764, but the Horse Guards would continue to consist of only two squadrons. It was again merged with the Life Guards on Foot from 1 April 1767 until New Year 1768, when it became independent again. The regiment was disbanded in May 1771 but was re-established on 27 May 1772, still consisting of only two squadrons but with a total strength of 10 officers, 1 adjutant, 2 "vagtmestre" (watch-masters), 8 corporals and 144 privates. The number of privates was reduced in 1790 to 120 men. The lower staff then included 1 drummer, 6 trumpeters, 2 farriers and 2 saddlers, which was reduced in 1798 to 1 drummer, 5 trumpeters, 1 farrier and 1 saddler. The regiment was reduced to a squadron in 1842 and was finally disbanded on 31 May 1866.

Colonels and Battles
(Green background indicates victories, red background defeats)

Horse Guards Campaigns

Scanian War 1675-1679

Before the outbreak of war, the Life Guard was expanded to a full regiment consisting of six companies in June 1675. Two of these companies were detached to guard the coast in southern Zealand (Næstved and Prestø) while the other four were part of the main army during the campaign in Mecklenburg and Pomerania. During the siege of Wismar, the Guard was stationed in Greifswald. The following year, it was part of the army that invaded Scania in June 1676 and it participated in the Battle of Lund on 4 December. After the battle, the Life Guard returned to Copenhagen but was back in Scania in 1677 and participated in the Battle of Landskrona on 14 July. It was also involved in a minor skirmish against 120 Swedes south of Laholm in 1678, which was more successful than the major battles. In 1679, the Life Guard was in Holstein and returned to Copenhagen after the conclusion of peace.

The War of 1700

When the Danish army began the invasion of Holstein-Gottorp on 21 March 1700, the Life Guards on Horse were kept in Copenhagen as a garrison. It was not until 9 June that two of its three squadrons were ordered to be sent to Kolding in Jutland where they were to be quartered to "spare the new uniforms". Once there, they received orders on 29 June to go to Tønder in the ducal part of Schleswig to collect contributions. But just as they arrived in Tønder on 2 July, new orders arrived, prompted by reports that a force from the enemy coalition was advancing towards the city of Schleswig. They were now to go there to hold the Dannevirke as a defensive line and after a forced march they arrived in Flensburg the next day. But new information that a 2,000-strong Gottorp force was also on its way to Schleswig made the regimental commander Krabbe decide to turn back north to Haderslev as he did not want to expose the Horse Guards to "manifest danger". However, the rumours of the enemy offensive turned out to be false and the Horse Guards interrupted their retreat and returned to Tønder.

The Horse Guards then continued for a little over a month to be part of a mobile force that was to protect northern Schleswig against Gottorp attacks and at the same time collect contributions. All this while the main army was in Holstein where it confronted a Swedish-Lüneburg-Dutch coalition army. Apart from manoeuvre warfare, the Horse Guards were not involved in any actual fighting until the morning of 9 August when a larger Gottorp force attacked the Danish camp at Arleved. After a couple of hours of fruitless firefight, the Gottorp force gave up and called off the attack. This was the very last battle that the Danish army was involved in in the year 1700, as the Peace of Traventhal was concluded on 18 August, after which the Horse Guards squadrons returned home to Copenhagen.

Great Northern War 1709-1720

When Denmark re-entered the war, the Life Guards were part of the field army that invaded Scania in 1709 and were defeated in the Battle of Helsingborg in 1710. The regiment then participated in the campaigns in Mecklenburg and Pomerania in 1711-1716 and fought the Battle of Gadebusch in 1712. From 1716 onwards, it was garrisoned in Copenhagen.

Horse Guards Uniforms

1686	1703	1708	1710

According to Karsten Skjold Petersen, it is only in the following years that it is possible to determine with certainty that the Life Guards on Horse received new coats: "1661, ?, 1684, (1686), 1688, 1692, 1694, ?, 1712, 1714, ? 1721, 1724, ?, 1729, 1731". (page 152). However, in another place he states the years when they received new uniforms as: "?, 1700, 1703, ?, 1713, ?, 1721, 1724, ?, 1729, 1731 " (page 657). Torstein Snorrason, on the other hand, states that the Life Guards received new uniforms on 12 June 1695, October 1699 and 15 April 1700 (Frederik IV's coronation), and that they were mustered in a new uniform on 20 May 1707.

Uniforms of the Scanian War

When the Life Guards on Horse were raised in 1661, they were given coats and cloaks of scarlet cloth with yellow lining. On the left upper sleeve, they had the royal coat of arms richly embroidered with gold, silver and coloured thread. After that, according to Karsten Skjold Petersen, there is no further uniform information about the regiment until 1678 when the king decided that the Life Guards should have grey coats with large white buttons and wide gold lace on the cuffs.

In Hasselhager/Snorrason's article on the Scanian War, the Horse Guards are stated to have had red coats with yellow lining and cuffs, as well as gold-silver buttons and red shabraques with gold. For the year 1677, the Horse Guards are also stated to have had red coats with 18 buttons that may have had yellow lining and were embroidered with the king's coat of arms. In the same year, both leather and cloth breeches were delivered, as well as C5 monograms to be placed on the coats. In 1682, the Horse Guards also had new red cloth breeches and red coats.

Hasselhager/Snorrason mention that the Horse Guards may have had buff coats with red cuffs, since cavalry with that colour combination frequently appear in Møinichen's battle paintings from 1686-1688. But it could also be a question of paille yellow coats made of cloth that private guardsmen seem to have worn before 1686. When the Horse Guards were expanded in 1683, a cost estimate for uniforms was drawn up that mentioned paille yellow coats, red cloaks, new cuffs for the buff coats, and lace on hats and carbine belts. Note also that the officers in Møinichen's paintings have red coats and that the Horse Guards until 1675 consisted only of officers.

Interwar Uniforms

1686		1703

The pictures above largely follow the uniform description from 1686. However, since the cuffs of the buff coats are only stated to have silver lace in 1699, I have made an assumption that all gold lace on the uniform disappeared in the 1690s. I have also depicted the striped cuffs so that they look like the coat of arms of the House of Oldenburg (the Danish royal house).

In the table below, black text = Karsten Skjold Petersen, red text = Torstein Snorrason.

Uniforms of the Great Northern War

1708		1710

The most detailed description of the Horse Guards' uniforms is from 1708 and this differs from the previous ones in that the previous yellow regimental colour had now become bleumerant (light blue). Torstein Snorrason believes that a cost estimate from 6 June 1705 may have been the introduction of the red-blue uniform. New shabraques, pistol covers, cartridge box covers were then embroidered in Hamburg in 1706. The regiment was mustered on 20 May 1707 wearing what Snorrason believes was the new uniform described in 1708.

The description from 1708 does not mention the shape of the cuffs, but since the decoration and colours are so similar to the uniform of the Grenadier Corps from the same time, I have made the assumption that the Horse Guards also had small, pointed cuffs.

In the table below, black text = Karsten Skjold Petersen, red text = Torstein Snorrason, pink text = Lars-Eric Höglund, green text = Daniels Schorr.

In December 1709, the postmaster in Malmö wrote a spy report that mentioned "The King's Guard on Horse, with red coats and cloaks, and blue cuffs, silver-laced". However, in the Battle of Helsingborg, the Guard is said to have fought in buff coats with six silver buttons and cuirasses. The silver buttons on the buff coats were removed after the battle because they got in the way of the cuirass. When the heavy losses in this battle were replaced, the uniform was also made less expensive to save money, which meant that the silver lace disappeared and the crimson shade was replaced with the cheaper madder red shade.

According to Daniel Schorr, the m/1711 and m/1716 cuffs were to be blue with two buttons without any other decorations (see his picture on the left, coloured by me). On the right is a detail of a plate from 1716 showing what the Danish army cuffs would look like. Silver lace on the cuffs was reintroduced with the m/1721 uniform, as can be seen in the pictures below (it is not uncommon for colours on old drawings to be darker than the actual uniform colours).

Drawing from 1722

Drawing by Zimmer from 1730

Officer, NCO and Trumpeter Uniforms

Except for the year 1708 as shown in the table above (when trumpeters and non-commissioned officers wore largely the same uniforms), there are only a few notes on the uniforms of officers and musicians. Until 1707-08, however, it was customary for officers to wear reversed colours compared to the men. This seems to have been the case for the non-commissioned officers at least in 1683-1684, when the privates wore yellow coats with red linings, while the non-commissioned officers wore red coats with yellow linings.

Unlike the privates, the non-commissioned officers were not armed with carbines until 1740. Consequently, they did not have cartridge boxes either. They had pistols, but until 1737 these were privately purchased. In addition, all hilts and buckles were to be of silver-plated brass.

Detail from Claus Møinichen's painting of the conquest of Landskrona on 2 August 1676 (painted 1686-1688)

The painting above appears to show guardsmen in yellow, while their officer, trumpeter and drummer wear red coats. Note the trumpet flag, which has vertical stripes of white-blue-red-white.

Horse Guards Standards

Detail from Claus Møinichen's painting of the conquest of Wismar on 13 December 1675 (painted 1686-1688)

Hasselhager/Snorrason state that the standards of the Horse Guards during the Scanian War are unknown but that they were possibly white with gold and silver decorations since such a standard is seen in one of Möinichsen's battle paintings. I assume that it is the picture above that they are referring to.

Lars-Eric Höglund states that the standards in 1683 were white with an unknown motif. Since the standards were very durable, they were probably in use throughout the Great Northern War. The next known set of standards is from 1720 when they were crimson with the national coat of arms and gold decoration. Another set of standards was issued in 1753 which was then in use until the regiment's disbandment in 1866.

Drawings of the preserved colonel’s and squadron standards from 1720, kept in the War Museum in Copenhagen (Fa 44 and 45)

Originally, each company had its own standard, but for reasons of economy, a decision was made in 1710 to henceforth only issue one standard for each squadron, which meant a 50 % reduction.

Other Equipment

1684: Each company was to have three blunderbusses, which were a type of heavy-calibre musket with a short funnel-shaped barrel. It functioned like a shotgun with a short range and wide spread.

1705: It was decided that each company would be armed with rifled carbines, which was unusual for cavalry.

1707: On 1 November, 1,100 new cuirasses with linen lining were delivered (see picture on the right). In September 1709, it was decided that these should be provided with chamois leather and edged with blue cloth. The cuirass was painted black and adorned with Frederik IV's monogram in gilded brass. The straps at the top were covered with black fittings to protect against slashes from swords.

1711: Broad swords were introduced as armaments.

1730: White horses in two companies, brown horses in two other companies and black horses in the remaining four companies.

Hasselager Olaf – Snorrason, Torstein. Danish Uniforms, Colours and Standards 1675-1679. (2000) *
Höglund, Lars-Eric – Sallnäs, Åke. Stora nordiska kriget 1700-1721, II. Karlstad (2003)
Schorr, Daniel. Danish-Norwegian uniforms 1709-1720. (2008) *
Skjold Petersen, Karsten. Den danske hærs uniformer i 1700-tallet. Copenhagen (2005)
Skjold Petersen, Karsten. Faner og Estadarter i Den Danske Hær. Næstved (2016)
Skjold Petersen, Karsten. Kongens klæder. Köpenhamn (2014)
Snorrason, Torstein. Danish Uniforms 1699-1712. (2008) *
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)

* = articles published on the now defunct website www.northernwars.com