During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Danish army consisted partly of enlisted regiments and partly of national regiments. The national regiments, also called the national militia or land regiments, were recruited through conscription. Unlike in Sweden, the conscripted regiments were regarded by the Danish kings as a low-budget alternative to the preferred enlisted troops. This meant that the Danish national militia organisation did not have the same stability and quality as its Swedish counterpart. One can therefore speak of three different Danish national militias that existed in 1614–1679, 1701–1730 and 1733–1764.

This page describes the history of the national militia that existed from 1614 to 1679 and the subsequent fates of the enlisted regiments that descended from this national militia until 1730. I do not cover general changes in the organisation of the Danish infantry regiments from 1670 to 1730 because that is covered in my page on the organisation of the Danish-Norwegian army.

General History

Like Sweden, the King of Denmark had an ancient right to call every able-bodied man into military service and during wartime peasants had been conscripted to serve in the king's army. However, during peacetime, the peasants did not have to serve in the military and since Denmark had a long period of peace from 1570 to 1611, the civilian population lacked military experience in the early 17th century. The peasants who were conscripted during the Kalmar War from 1611 to 1613 did not impress their King Christian IV, who wrote in 1611 that "they are worse than beasts”. However, it was clear that the growing armies of the neighbouring countries, especially Sweden, made it necessary even in peacetime to have trained regiments that could defend the country's borders at short notice. Christian IV preferred to have enlisted regiments but the State Council (Rigsrådet) did not want to pay for this. Instead, they decided on 17 November 1614 to establish a 4,004-man national militia by conscripting peasants.

The burden was very unevenly distributed, as it was almost exclusively peasants from the border provinces who were to be conscripted. However, this was because the islands were to supply personnel to the navy instead of foot soldiers. A worse inequality was that the burden to recruit soldiers were laid almost exclusively on peasants who owned their own lands (7 out of 8). For purely selfish reasons, both the king and the nobility wanted to protect their own income by exempting peasants working on crown and noble lands from military service (the lands owned by the nobility made up half of the peasants).

The conscripted men were organised in 1615 into two regiments with a manpower that deviated somewhat from the decision the year before (2003 Jutlanders and 1592 men from the Scanian lands). The Jutlanders were organised into nine companies and were included together with the Funen company in the Jutland Regiment. The Zealand company was included in the Scanian Regiment which also consisted of four Scanian companies (751 men), three Halland companies (627 men) and one company from Blekinge (214 men). The staff was paid for by the crown and constituted just two officers per company.

The first uniforms were issued in 1618, but they consisted only of a cassock and a wide-brimmed hat. The colours varied between the different companies. An example is "gule med røde Ruder" (yellow-red chequered).

The development of events outside Denmark's borders, the outbreak of the Thirty Years' War and Sweden's expansion on the other side of the Baltic Sea, meant that the demands for a larger army increased. A reorganisation of the national regiments was therefore carried out in 1621, which meant that the strength was increased by 1,000 men. This was done by allowing the crown peasants to contribute to the army to a greater extent.

Despite the expansion, the old division of two national regiments remained. The Zealand men were first organised into three companies, but shortly after their conscription, this was changed to only two companies. This resulted in a low proportion of officers in relation to the number of privates, which made the companies difficult to manage. During peacetime, however, the conscripted soldiers had mainly been used as labour for construction work.

Emperor War 1625–1629

When Christian IV intervened in the Thirty Years' War in 1625, he was prevented from using the national regiments because they could only be used for the defence of the homeland. However, starting in 1624, he had plundered them of officers and 3,000 soldiers through enlistment, with which he formed the King's Life Regiment (also called the "Blue Regiment" after their uniforms). The vacancies in the militia regiments were immediately filled through new conscriptions. However, Christian IV was still not satisfied and in the winter of 1625–1626, another 3,000 men were conscripted in the same manner, and these formed the Danish Regiment, which was also called the Red Regiment (in addition to red coats, it is also said to have had red, yellow or blue breeches). The latter regiment consisted of 10 companies (4 Jutland, 3 Scanian, 2 Zealand and one Funen). In the Battle of Lutter am Barenberge in August 1626, the Danish Regiment fought bravely but suffered a crushing defeat, with seven companies wiped out. The remainder were used to fill gaps in the King's Life Regiment, which had also suffered heavy losses.

The defeat at Lutter am Barenberge and the loss of its best men exposed Denmark to an imperial invasion. It was obvious that the existing national regiments were not sufficient, and in August 1627 the State Council agreed to a temporary reinforcement of this force by 12,000 men. This time the Salvation Army was also to contribute soldiers.

The reinforcements would form three new regiments, the Jutland men with Vogn Vognsøn as colonel, the men from the islands with Jesper Friis as colonel, and the Scanian men under the command of Christian Eriksen.

However, already in September 1627, Jutland was invaded by imperial troops, and the king's rapid flight and use of scorched earth tactics made him unpopular among the Jutlanders. The invasion effectively disbanded the Jutland units, as no Jutland company was evacuated (except for one or two companies of cavalry raised by the nobility) and not a single Jutland recruit joined the king's army during the two-year occupation.

In the rest of the country, the mobilisation continued in 1627–1628. In Zealand, a total of 15 temporary companies were raised with a combined strength of 4,100 men. Together with 1,200 men from the regular companies, these formed the Zealand Regiment in April 1628 with Jesper Friis as colonel. Additional new regiments were formed in Lolland-Falster with Christoffer Steensen as colonel (2,500 men divided between 2 Falster companies and 4 Lolland companies) and in Funen & Langeland with Holger Rosenkrantz as colonel (16 companies). In Scania, the old regiment was reinforced to 2,500 men (at least 12 companies) and then at least 20 new companies were added that were not included in the Scanian Regiment’s organisation but were still under the command of its colonel Falk Lykke. The total strength was at least 7,000–9,000 men.

The Interwar Period 1629–1643

When peace was concluded with the emperor in 1629, the army was to return to a peacetime footing. Christian IV, who had never been interested in conscripted soldiers, then chose not to re-establish the Jutland Regiment. The regiments on the islands seemed to be going the same way, as no musters or exercises were held with them. Only the Scanian Regiment was safe due to the threat from Sweden. However, the State Council did not share the king's opinion about the national militia and in 1632–1633 managed to bring about a reorganisation and expansion of the permanent national regiments.

The idea was that the Funen companies would be transferred to the Zealand Regiment so that all regiments would have the same number of companies. However, this was not implemented before the Torstensson War and then a separate Funen regiment was formed instead.

Each company now consisted of 1 captain, 1 lieutenant, 1 ensign, 3 sergeants, 1 capitaine d'armes ("vaabenmester"), 3 corporals, 10 gefreiter and 2 or 3 drummers. In the following years, the organisation would be expanded further so that the companies would also receive 1 piper and 1 furér. In addition, the regimental officers would be provided with 1–3 "life shooters" and the regimental staff would be expanded with 1 regimental provost, 1 provost assistant and 1 regimental quartermaster (also regimental clerk), 1 field surgeon, 1 assistant surgeon, 1 provision master and 1 field chaplain. As early as 1636, however, a reduction took place so that ensigns were only appointed in wartime and that each company would only have one drummer.

However, concerns about the increasingly strong Sweden made the demands for further reinforcements stronger. In 1638, the nobility agreed to create independent “nobility companies” (adelskompanier) by conscripting peasants on their lands, which was carried out in the winter of 1638–1639. These companies were only temporary, but the nobility agreed to several extensions so that they effectively formed a permanent part of the army. However, they were temporarily disbanded in 1649–1652 when the crown had financial problems.

In 1642, the national militia was doubled by introducing reserve troops. These reserve soldiers were not organised into their own companies and thus did not have their own commanders. Instead, it was the commanders of the regular companies who would train them so that they could replace losses in these companies. The national militia now consisted of 9,000 regular soldiers and 8,400 reserves.

Torstensson War 1643–1645

In December 1643, Lennart Torstensson's Swedish army carried out a surprise attack on Jutland. As in the previous war, the national militia was now temporarily reinforced. Shortly before the outbreak of war, the Zealand regiment had been expanded by four companies, so that it had the same number as the Jutland regiment. Recruitment for the new companies had been done by conscripting crown peasants. After the outbreak of war, the reserve soldiers were allowed to serve in their own companies and a Funen regiment was separated from the Jutland regiment.

The Interwar Period 1645–1657

The Torstensson War ended with the peace of Brömsebro in August 1645, in which, among other things, Halland was ceded to Sweden. The wartime experience had revealed that the Danish army needed a higher proportion of cavalry, which meant that national cavalry squadrons were formed. But the only reduction in the national infantry was that the reserve soldiers disappeared. The number of regular foot soldiers was increased slightly, despite the loss of Halland, and was distributed among five regiments. The Jutland regiment was thus divided into two regiments, which however had the same colonel. The two regiments on the islands also had the same colonel.

A company would now have 1 captain, 1 lieutenant, 1 ensign, 1 capitaine d'armes ("vaabenmester"), 2 sergeants, 1 furér, 4 corporals, 8 gefreiter and 1 piper.

This organisation, however, did not last long, as it turned out that the tax revenues were not enough to finance it. And when the Thirty Years' War ended in 1648, Sweden began to reduce its military power, which reduced Denmark's need for a strong army. In 1649, the nobility companies were disbanded, while the national regiments were reduced to three, so that the organisation was similar to that which had been in force before 1638. Once again, the ensigns and also a large part of the non-commissioned officers disappeared from the peace organisation.

The nobility companies were re-established in 1652 and together with the three national regiments, the conscripted infantry had a total strength of approximately 8,000 men when Denmark declared war on Sweden on 1 June 1657.

Charles X Gustav's War 1657–1660

Already in the spring of 1657, preparations had been made for the coming war against Sweden. The regiments that were assigned to the Scanian front, Zealand and Scanian, were given a higher proportion of officers by reducing the size of the companies to approximately 100 men. This meant that these regiments then consisted of 22 and 24 companies respectively. The Scanian regiment also included the nobility companies, while the nobility companies from Zealand and Lolland-Falster formed their own regiment with 700 men divided into seven companies. The Jutland regiment and its nobility companies, which together consisted of 2,300 men, were, however, only divided into 14 companies.

During the summer of 1657, further conscriptions were carried out, which meant that an additional three Jutland regiments, each with 1,000 men, and a Funen regiment of about 1,600–1,800 men were raised. However, the quality of these completely new regiments was poor, and they never had time to receive any uniforms. The new Jutland regiments were garrisoned in Frederiksodde, where they were lost when the Swedes took the fortress on 24 October 1657. The Funen regiment was disbanded after the Swedes crossed the Little Belt on 30 January 1658 and then occupied Funen.

Further conscriptions were also carried out in Scania and Blekinge, but these men did not form new regiments but were mainly used as garrisons in fortresses, thereby freeing up older troops for the field army.

As a result of the Peace of Roskilde on 26 February 1658, the Scanian Regiment was disbanded. As compensation for this, it was decided in May that Jutland would have two national regiments, and a colonel was appointed for the new regiment. However, no new conscriptions were carried out during the short peace period and only 600 men remained of the old Jutland Regiment. It was not until 1659 that conscriptions could be carried out so that the Jutland regiments could be organised into eight companies each.

When war broke out again against Sweden on 5 August 1658, it became difficult to conscript additional soldiers because the Swedes quickly took control of almost all of Denmark. To strengthen their own army and deprive the Danes of potential recruits, the Swedes carried out extensive drafts in occupied territory. The Danes who were forced to serve in the Swedish army and did not manage to escape were sent primarily to the Baltic. The exact number is unknown, but sources from Jutland contain anecdotal information that "every third man" or "every fifth man" was taken away during the occupation that lasted almost two months. After the liberation of Jutland, conscriptions were only carried out in the areas north of the Limfjord. This was because most of the province was earmarked for the maintenance of the allied troops that had come to Denmark's rescue. Recruitment to the national regiments was further complicated by the Danish government's preference for using conscripted soldiers to fill vacancies in enlisted units.

The Interwar Period 1660–1675

After the Peace of Copenhagen on 26 May 1660, conscriptions were carried out to complete the three national regiments before they were sent home (Zealand and North and South Jutland). Unlike previous wars, the enlisted regiments were not disbanded because the now absolute monarch Frederick III wanted as large a standing army as possible. However, it was clear that Denmark's economic resources were severely limited, and a series of reductions took place, which, among other things, led to the merger of the two Jutland regiments. However, the merger was restored as early as August 1661 when it was also decided to form a fourth national regiment on Funen. Although enlisted regiments were preferred, the realisation had sunk in that they were too expensive and that the national regiments were needed to maintain a large standing army.

Each regiment was to have eight companies, and each company was to have a captain, a lieutenant, two sergeants, three corporals and a drummer. The company staff was expanded in 1664 with an ensign and a non-commissioned officer. The ensign's task was to carry the colour and these had been returned to the arsenal after the peace in 1660. However, in 1663 there were demands from the officers to have them back, which led to the reintroduction of ensigns and the issuance of a regulation in 1664 that determined the appearance of the colours of the national regiments.

Since conscriptions were carried out irregularly, often at intervals of several years, the effective strength of the national regiments varied. However, in connection with the armament for a short war against England in 1666, an effective strength of 5,347 men was achieved. Due to problems with so-called “deserted farms” that could not contribute to the recruitment of soldiers, the recruitments districts (one "lægd" for each individual soldier) were reorganised in 1673 and made larger to distribute the burden more fairly. This meant a reduction in the nominal strength of the national militia to 4,911 men. Before the reform, the nominal strength was about 5,730 men. All regiments continued to have eight companies, and the reform sought to make the companies of equal size within the regiments, even if they differed between the regiments.

During the 17th century, conscription had also taken place in Schleswig-Holstein, but it had proven very difficult to form militarily useful national units in these duchies. The population had little interest in contributing to the defence of Denmark, and the young men could easily move to another German principality if the government became too demanding. However, despite strong resistance from the local population, the new absolute monarchy decided to establish a national regiment in Schleswig-Holstein in 1663. However, getting the regiment complete and in good condition would be a persistent problem.

Kingdom of Denmark = North Jutland Regiment = South Jutland Regiment = Funen Regiment = Zealand Regiment = Bornholm Militia (described on a different page) = Scanian Regiment (disbanded & ceded to Sweden)

Schleswig-Holstein = The Danish king's areas = Jointly ruled areas = Holstein-Gottorp's areas Oldenburg & Delmenhorst = Oldenburg Regiment

Scanian War 1675–1679

In the summer before the outbreak of war in September 1675, Denmark carried out a comprehensive mobilisation of its army according to a previously drawn up plan. The national regiments were doubled (colours for this purpose had already been made in 1673). In Danish territory this was done by a second conscription which created duplicates of the old regiments. The regiment in Schleswig-Holstein was divided into a Schleswig and a Holstein regiment which were reinforced with forcibly recruited soldiers from the Holstein-Gottorp army which had been disbanded after a Danish invasion. In the County of Oldenburg which had become Danish in 1667, a national regiment was raised for the very first time.

In total, there were now 11 national regiments, organised into 12 companies of 100 men. The exception was the four Danish duplicates, which were to have only eight companies with the same organisation as in 1673. The idea with the increased number of companies was to form eight-company strong field regiments, while the other four companies were to be used as garrison troops. From 1676 onwards, the old Danish regiments were considered to be enlisted, since only the losses of the new regiments were replaced by conscription from the “lægder”. The old regiments that were replenished through enlistment therefore began to be named after their commanders, while the new regiments took over the provincial names entirely.

After the Battle of Lund, the new national regiments were reorganised so that they too would consist of 12 companies of 106 men (including staff) and be paid in the same way as enlisted soldiers. Perhaps the plan was to repeat what had happened in 1675 and create a third set of national regiments while the second set was converted into enlisted regiments. A new complete conscription was also carried out in 1677, but the army's heavy losses during the previous year's campaign meant that the new conscripted soldiers were used to fill vacancies in the other regiments, both enlisted and national. In addition, they were distributed without regard to geographical origin. In connection with the new conscriptions, it was decided that the companies would be increased to 150 men (of which 132 were privates) for all regiments. This was not achieved, however. And in October 1678, the company size was reduced to 125 men (including staff). But losses during the war made it difficult to reach even that nominal size for the regiments.

The End of the National Militia

During the Scanian War, the distinction between enlisted and national regiments gradually disappeared, and when peace was concluded, all regiments were enlisted. The old national regiments had filled vacancies through enlistment from 1676 and were then considered enlisted. From 1677, conscripts were used to fill vacancies in both enlisted and national regiments without any regard to geographical origin. In addition, all national regiments were paid by the crown in the same way as enlisted regiments instead of by the peasants in the “lægder”. During the war and at the conclusion of peace, there were also mergers of units that took no account of whether they were enlisted or national.

The difficulty of conscripting people in the duchies of Schleswig-Holstein and the county of Oldenburg meant that conscription there were quickly replaced by taxes to fund recruitment of enlisted soldiers instead. Later, the same thing happened in the Danish kingdom, where the last real conscription took place in the winter of 1677–78. The very last "conscription" took place in November 1678, but then it was money and not recruits that the king demanded from the “lægder”.

The reason for the abolition of the national militia was that the extensive conscription before and during the war had deprived agriculture of important labour. Not only because young men were forced to do military service, but also because men who wanted to avoid conscription fled in large numbers to the cities or abroad. Christian V therefore chose to replace conscription with taxes and, as far as possible, enlisted foreigners to reduce the damage to Denmark's economy. This did not change during the following peace period. The remaining conscripted soldiers were promised dismissal as soon as a enlisted soldier could replace them. And despite repeated requests from Christian V's generals to re-establish the national militia, this would not happen until just over 20 years later when his son Frederik IV raised a new national militia in 1701.

Scanian Regiment
(Skånske Regiment)

Raised in 1615 and consisted of 1792 men divided into nine companies, four of which were recruited in Scania (751 men), three in Halland (627 men), one from Blekinge (214 men) and one from Zealand (200 men).

The Zealand part was expanded in 1621 to 1,200 men divided into two companies, which meant a total strength of 2,800 men divided into ten companies.

The Zealand companies were separated in 1628 and formed their own regiment, while the remaining eight companies were expanded in 1632 to a total of about 2,100 men. In addition to these, two separate nobility companies were raised in 1638, recruited among peasants working the lands of the nobility and consisting of a total of 450 men.

In 1642, reserve soldiers were introduced, doubling the strength of the regiment. At first, these did not form companies and thus had no commanders since they were intended to replace losses among the regular soldiers. During the Torstensson War of 1643–1645, however, they formed their own companies.

After the Peace of Brömsebro in 1645, the Halland part of the regiment was disbanded, and the reserve soldiers were also abolished. In 1647, the remainder was given a strength of 1,500 men divided into eleven companies (not including the nobility companies). Already in 1649, the regiment was reduced to five companies for economic reasons and the nobility companies were disbanded.

In 1652, the two nobility companies were reintroduced, now with a strength of 600 men, while the Scanian Regiment had 1,200 men. Other units in Scania consisted of two enlisted infantry companies stationed as garrisons in the fortresses (about 400 men) and 800 men cavalry (of which 200 men raised by the nobility and 600 men conscripted from the parishes). In total, Scania was defended by about 3,000 men.

Before Charles X Gustav's War in 1657–1658, the Scanian Regiment, together with the nobility companies, were planned to be divided into two regiments with twice as many companies as before. However, the number of officers who had been recruited before the new regimental commander Fuchs died was not enough for more than four companies and these were reunited with the old regiment. Continued conscriptions, however, resulted in the Scanian Regiment consisting of 24 companies in July 1657 (including the nobility companies) with an average size of about 100 men. In addition, ten infantry companies and three dragoon companies were added through enlistment in Scania.

During both the Torstensson War and Charles X Gustav's War, the regiment defended its home provinces. However, it was never concentrated and was in practice divided into several different field units and fortress garrisons. The local commanders did not trust conscripted men and made sure to mix them with enlisted companies.

As a result of the Peace of Roskilde on 26 February 1658, the Scanian Regiment was disbanded.

Zealand Regiment
(Sjællandske Regiment)

Descended from the Zealand company of the Scanian regiment, which was raised by conscription in 1615. In 1628 it became its own regiment and in 1675 another Zealand regiment was raised by conscription. Both were converted into enlisted regiments during the Scanian War and merged in 1678. Its three battalions were part of various auxiliary corps in foreign service from 1701 to 1714, which resulted in each battalion being disbanded and merged with other regiments. The Colonel's Battalion was added to the Zepelin´s regiment in 1714, which then also took over the name Zealand Regiment.

The original Zealand company consisted of 200 men, although already in 1621 it was expanded to 1200 men divided into two companies, mainly recruited by free peasants. The lack of commanders in relation to the number of men made the companies difficult to manage. This was improved somewhat by the fact that the newly formed Zealand regiment, according to the ordinance from 1632, was to consist of six companies (4 on Zealand and 2 on Lolland-Falster) with a total of about 2200 men (of which 1600 men from Zealand). This strength was doubled in 1642 when reserves were introduced. The reserve soldiers were originally intended only to replace losses in the regular companies, but during the Torstensson War of 1643–1645 they formed their own companies. Shortly before the outbreak of war, the regular regiment had also been expanded by four companies through recruitment from the crown peasants, and since 1638 the nobility’s peasants had contributed 360 men in a separate nobility company.

After the Torstensson War, the reserve soldiers were abolished, and the Zealand Regiment was organised into eight companies (1,700 men) that were recruited only on Zealand. However, its colonel was also the commander of another regiment with eight companies that recruited 1,100 men on Funen and Lolland-Falster. As early as 1649, they were merged into a regiment of eight companies. At the beginning of 1657, the four Zealand companies consisted of a total of 1,600 men, while the four companies from the other islands consisted of 800 men. In preparation for the outbreak of war that same year, the officer corps of the Zealand Regiment was expanded by reorganising it into 22 companies. The nobility company had been disbanded in 1649, but several new nobility companies were raised in 1652, and during Charles X Gustav's war they formed their own regiment with 700 men. During the Swedish occupation of Zealand, the Zealand Regiment was reinforced in August 1659 with recruits from northern Jutland.

When the army was reorganised after Charles X Gustav's War, Funen & Lolland-Falster were separated from the Zealand regiment in 1661, whose eight companies were now recruited only from Zealand and Samsø. Its strength was set in 1673 at 1,500 men who were recruited and paid from an equal number of "lægder". In 1675 the “lægder” were ordered to raise a new regiment ("New Zealand or "Second Zealand") which from then on took over the “lægder”, while Old Zealand was reorganised into a 12-company enlisted regiment. At first, New Zealand's men were distributed into four companies, but at the end of August each company was divided into two.

In early 1677, the New Zealand Regiment was reorganised into 12 companies and reinforced with 646 conscripts from Funen and also with the remnants of the First Funen Regiment (the Zealand recruits went instead to the enlisted Prince George's Regiment). The next conscription at the end of 1677, which was the last of the war, did not provide any recruits for the New Zealand Regiment. It was Prince Christian's and the Queen's regiments that received the Zealand recruits this time. Instead, the New Zealand Regiment was reduced to six companies and merged with Jacob Stuart's enlisted regiment, which formed the other half of a normal-sized (enlisted) regiment. It was named the Zealand Regiment and took over the twelve colours from the New Zealand Regiment. Stuart became regimental commander but was court-martialled in the autumn of 1678 and was then stripped of the regiment, which was instead merged with the now greatly decimated Old Zealand Regiment.

After the peace of 1679, the Zealand regiment was supplemented with men from the Pflanz enlisted regiment. The remaining conscripted men who were to be replaced by enlisted soldiers as soon as possible. The result was that the Zealand regiment was increasingly dominated by German-speaking soldiers. In 1726, 51% of the soldiers were Germans, 34% Danes, 4% Swedes, 3% Norwegians and 7% others.

Colonels and Battles
1628	Jesper Frijs
1633	Christopher Steensen
1651	Axel Urup
1655	Erik Quitzow
1661	Georg (Jørgen) Møller
1666	Niels Rosenkranz
1672	Carl von Osten
May 1676	Jean de la Haye († at Landskrona)
July 1676	Christian Lange	1677 Landskrona
1677	Balthazar Knoblauch
1679	Julius Ernst Tettau
1684	Adam Frederik Trampe	1690 Boyne
		1692 Steenkerke 1693 Neerwinden
1696	Georg Christoph Puttkamer	1704 Blenheim
1706	Laurent de Boisset	1706 Ramillies 1708 Oudenaarde 1709 Malplaquet
1714	Daniel Ernst Zepelin
1728–1742	Frederik Valdemar Folkersam
New Zealand Regiment
1675	Martin Bertelsen (Barthold)
Feb. 1677	Duke of Croi
June 1677	Andreas Fuchs
1677–1678	Jacob Stuart

Campaigns and Garrison Towns

During the Torstensson War, the regiment was mainly used to protect the coast in their home province from Swedish raids. However, two companies were part of a force that landed in Holstein on 24 July 1644 and established a redoubt at Christianspris. This redoubt was stormed by Swedish troops on 28 July, who then massacred the Danish-born soldiers of the garrison. Out of a total of 1,300 men, only about 80 Germans were spared. In September of the same year, four companies (1,200 men) were temporarily transferred to Scania to participate in an unsuccessful autumn offensive.

Together with the Scanian Regiment, it was assigned to the Scanian front during Charles X Gustav's First War 1657–1658, and like that regiment, the Zealand Regiment was not concentrated but instead scattered to different places and mixed with enlisted units. During Charles X Gustav's Second War 1658–1660, the Zealanders were garrisoned in Copenhagen and defended the city during the storming of 1659.

In the autumn of 1675, the Old Zealand field regiment (8 companies) participated in the Mecklenburg campaign. The reserve companies were left behind as garrisons in Helsingør and later Korsør (1 company) and in Copenhagen (3 companies). New Zealand Regiment was stationed in Helsingør (2 companies) and Copenhagen (6 companies). The following year garrison companies from both regiments contributed men to the navy and participated in the conquest of Gotland. A detachment from each regiment was left behind there as a garrison and, together with detachments from other regiments, formed the Gotland Battalion.

After being at home in Zealand during the first half of 1676, the Old Zealand field regiment participated in the invasion of Scania and was stationed in Kristianstad (5 companies), Karlshamn (2 companies) and Kristianopel (1 company). The remaining reserve companies were first stationed in Ystad and later transferred to Landskrona and Helsingborg. A Swedish counter-offensive in the winter of 1676–1677 led to losses for the Old Zealand when the Swedes recaptured Kristianopel and Karlshamn. The five companies in Kristianstad had a strength of 450 men in April 1677, while the rest of the regiment formed a battalion that was part of the field army and participated in the Battle of Landskrona. The battalion in Kristianstad was forced to surrender to the Swedes in 1678 and the greatly reduced regiment now consisted of only four companies with a total of 278 men who participated in the campaign on Rügen in 1678.

New Zealand Regiment initially contributed four companies to the garrison in Kristianstad, but by 1677 the regiment was divided between garrisons in Helsingør, Korsør and Gotland. It was transferred to Glückstadt in Holstein where it was merged with Stuart's regiment at the end of 1677. It participated together with the Old Zealand Regiment in the campaign on Rügen in the autumn of 1678, where the two regiments were merged into one. The united Zealand regiment was then commandeered to the navy in the summer of 1679.

After the peace treaty, the regiment was stationed with four companies each in Copenhagen, Helsingør and Nakskov. In 1684–1689, half of the regiment was in Copenhagen and the other half in Holstein. In 1689–1698, one battalion served in the auxiliary corps sent the Maritime powers and fought in Ireland and Flanders. In 1699, 12 companies were stationed in Copenhagen, 4 in Helsingør, 1 in Holbæk and 2 in Slagelse.

During the war of 1700, its three battalions were stationed in Copenhagen, Helsingør and Holstein. After the Peace of Traventhal, the Zealand Regiment contributed one battalion to the auxiliary corps that was in Saxony in 1700–1701. Except for the grenadier company, it was then part of the auxiliary corps in imperial service until 1703, when it was merged with a Jutland battalion to form the Third Danish Regiment. The rest of the Zealand Regiment was in the service of the of the Maritime powers (The Netherlands) 1701–1714. When these two battalions returned to their homeland, they were disbanded so that the men from one battalion was transferred to Prince Carl's Regiment while the men of the Colonel's battalion transferred to Zepelin's regiment, which then changed its name to the Zealand Regiment.

The Zealand Regiment was garrisoned in Glückstadt until 1716 when it was transferred to Copenhagen. Its two battalions were sent to Norway in 1717 and 1718 and participated in the Bohuslän campaign before returning to Copenhagen in 1720 where it remained until 1742.

Uniforms

Both regiments 1670-1677	New Zealand 1677-1678	Merged regiment October 1678	1685
Red coat with yellow lining and red cuffs. 36 pewter buttons in 1675. Piecoats July 1677. In May 1676, the grenadiers were dressed in grey coats with blue cuffs while the pioneers and artillery drivers wore grey coats with red cuffs. Captain Spormann's company in Korsør had red coats with blue lining, which in the second half of 1677 was changed to yellow lining.	Had very poor uniforms before the autumn of 1677 when they received new red coats with blue lining and pewter buttons, as well as blue breeches  In 1678 the coat was red, cuffs and lining blue, hats were grey without lace, stockings were white, and the breeches were of yellow leather. Vietinghoff's battalion in Wismar had blue breeches and 48 pewter buttons on the coat.	Light grey coat with blue cuffs and lining. 48 pewter buttons in Knoblauch's battalion and 60 pewter buttons in Teutmann's battalion. Vietinghoff's battalion retained the red coats with blue cuffs and 48 pewter buttons. 1679 leather breeches and possibly white stockings.	Blue coat with white cuffs and lining. Skjold Petersen describes the uniform from 1677-1681 as a light grey coat with red cuffs and lining. This matches the uniform that according to Hasselager/Snorrason was worn by Stuart's regiment, which merged with the New Zealand regiment at the end of 1677. They also mention that it had leather breeches and red stockings
According to Skjold Petersen, New Zealand wore light green coats with red cuffs and linings in 1675-1677.
1691-1695, (1708?)	1704	1714-1716	1716-1723
Light grey coat with blue cuffs and lining (dark blue shade according to Snorrason).	Blue coat with white cuffs and lining. In Dutch service 1701-1714.	Red coat with cuffs, lining (and leg clothes?) in feuille morte and brass buttons.	Same as before but with a red waistcoat and red leg clothes.
Snorrason mentions a decision from 1707 that Zealand Regiment should have brass buttons and blue wool for the buttonholes, as well as blue breeches and stockings. These colours are also stated by Skjold Petersen for the year 1708, which indicates that the 1691 uniform regulation was also followed in the 18th century, even though Skjold Petersen does not mention anything about grey coats. 1724-1731 The coat was red, cuffs and collar yellow with white edges, buttonholes white, brass buttons, lining yellow. Leg clothes and waistcoat red. See Worgewitz drawing from 1728 on the right. According to Skjold Petersen, the regiment was issued new uniforms in 1713, ?, 1716, 1721, 1724, (1727), 1730 and 1733.

Colours

According to the regulation from 1664, the Zealand Regiment was to have red company colours with three blue lions in a yellow field scattered with nine hearts in the middle and the Danish flag in the upper inner corner. The colonel’s colour was to be white. The colours were distinguished by being decorated with different mottos. There is a list of the mottos that has been reported by both Vaupell and Bruhn, but their spelling differs with Vaupell being more modern and Bruhn strangely using the letter ö instead of ø.

Vaupell Vi lade se vor egen Ære. For os skræckes Land og Vand. Vi ere færdige til Landets Forsvar. Vor Fjende til Frygt. Alle gode Ting ere tre. Brug mange til Strid och faa til Raad. Før swige de svorne end de baarne. Af Mandighed vi yndes.

Bruhn Vi lader see woris egen Ære. For os skreckes Land och Vand. Vi er færdige til Landsens Forsvar. Vor Fiende til Frygt. Alle gode Ting ere trey. Brug mange til Strid och faa til Raad. För swiger de sworne, end de baarne. Af Mandighed wi yndes.

In 1675, the Old Zealand Regiment was reorganised so that four more companies were formed. Their colours were lost in the Battle of Landskrona on 14 July 1677 and are preserved in the collections of the Swedish Army Museum. They differ from the 1664 regulation in that they do not have any hearts in the yellow field (see the image above). Below are links to both the preserved colours (the inventory numbers) and to the depictions of them made by Olof Hoffman in 1677-1709 (the company names).

9th company – (AM.080039) 10th company – (AM.080035)

11th company – (AM.080036) 12th company – (AM.080038)

In 1683, white colours with a blue lion were issued. Höglund/Sallnäs has a description of a colour that they believe is from the 1710s. "Yellow cloth with wild men holding a shield with the Zealand coat of arms, three blue lions and nine red hearts on a gold field". There does not seem to be any more information than that about the colours of the Zealand regiment.

The colour of the Zealand Regiment interpreted by Höglund/Sallnäs

Gotland Battalion
(also called Visby Battalion)

Formed in June 1676 by men from the King's Life Regiment, the Queen's Life Regiment, Prince George and the two Zealand regiments. Its six companies were under the command of Martin Barthold (colonel of the New Zealand Regiment). The battalion was disbanded when Gotland was returned to Sweden in 1679 and the men were transferred to the King's Life Regiment (some, however, ended up in Bille's free company).

Its uniform in 1676 was a red coat with yellow lining (the same as the Zealand regiments). Grey breeches are mentioned both in August 1677 and 1679. In October 1677 the men had red coats with green cuffs. The non-commissioned officers then had brown coats, most with black and some with grey cuffs.

In addition to the enlisted battalion, the Danish occupation forces included three companies raised through conscription from the local population, each with 600 men. These companies may have lacked uniform.

Funen Regiment
(Fynske Regiment)

The regiment trace its lineage from the Funen Company in the Jutland Regiment, which was raised in 1615 by conscription. During the Torstensson War of 1643-1645, the now expanded Funen contingent was detached and became a separate regiment. A reduction of the army in 1649 meant that this regiment was merged with the Zealand Regiment. It again became a separate regiment in 1661, consisting of a battalion from Funen and another from Lolland-Falster. It was converted into an enlisted regiment when a new regiment from Funen was raised by conscription in the summer of 1675. After heavy losses in the battles of Halmstad and Lund, the old regiment was disbanded in December 1676. The new regiment was converted into an enlisted regiment at the same time and was in turn disbanded when peace was concluded in 1679. Its men were then transferred to an enlisted German regiment, which took over the name Funen Regiment.

Funen Regiment consisted of eight companies when it was created in 1661, and like its predecessor from the 1640s, recruited half of its men from Funen & Langeland and the other half from Lolland-Falster & Møn. In 1673, its recruiting area was divided into 1245 lægder whose farmers were to recruit and pay for one soldier each. In the summer of 1675, these lægder were ordered to raise another regiment ("New Funen" or "Second Funen") which subsequently took over the lægder while Old Funen was reorganised into a 12-company strong enlisted regiment. At first, New Funen's men were divided into four companies, but at the end of August each company was divided into two.

Old Funen regiment suffered very high losses in the winter of 1675-1676 because of poor quarters. The field regiment had lost 500-600 men from an original force of 800 men. It returned to Funen to replace the losses by enlisting new recruits but this proved unsuccessful. Instead, it plundered its other companies so it could contribute a four-company strong battalion to the field army that landed in Scania, while four very weak companies were left in Nyborg (they had only a quarter of their nominal strength). In the Battle of Halmstad on 17 August 1676, the field battalion's companies were destroyed and only about half of the men managed to get back to the Danish army during the following month. The remaining companies in Nyborg were transferred to Scania to reinforce the field battalion, which then suffered further heavy losses in the Battle of Lund. Old Funen Regiment was then disbanded, and its men were used to fill vacancies in the New Zealand Regiment. The officers may have ended up in New Funen Regiment because its colonel had received a promise from the king in the autumn of 1676 to recruit from the old regiment's officer corps.

New Funen Regiment had tried to supplement its Lolland battalion with enlisted soldiers during the summer of 1676, but despite this it only reached half its strength. The other battalion participated in the Scanian campaign and suffered as many losses as the Old Funen in the Battle of Halmstad. It was then sent back to Funen to be reorganised.

In the winter of 1676-77, the regiment was given the same organisation as the enlisted regiments (12 companies with a nominal strength of 150 men) and was also paid as such. Eight companies were transferred to Wismar in April 1677 where it was to reach the planned strength of 1200 men through enlistment, while the other four companies were taken to Kristianstad where they during the siege shrank to 154 men in total at the capitulation in 1678. The soldiers who were conscripted from the regiment's old recruiting district in Denmark were used in early 1677 to fill vacancies in the New Zealand and Prince Frederick's Regiment (Funen) and the New South Jutland (Lolland-Falster). The latter regiment also received men from both Funen and Lolland-Falster at the end of 1677, which was the very last conscription until 1701.

After the end of the Scanian War, the Funen Regiment was disbanded and its men were transferred to Edmund Esche's regiment, which had originally belonged to the army of the Prince-Bishopric of Münster. Esche's regiment took over the name Funen and now Funen was not just an enlisted regiment but increasingly a German-speaking regiment. Conscripted Danish soldiers were used to replace losses in the Battle of Helsingborg in 1710. But those conscripts who remained after the peace of 1720 were allowed to end their military service and by 1726 Germans made up 65% of the regiment.

Campaigns and Garrison Towns

The Scanian War began with the Old Funen Regiment participating with two battalions in the Mecklenburg campaign of 1675. The regiment was garrisoned in Wismar after its conquest on 13 December. The third battalion had been transferred to Holstein in August but returned to Funen at the beginning of 1676 together with the greatly weakened field regiment. It could now only contribute one battalion to the Scanian campaign and suffered heavy losses in the battles of Halmstad and Lund (in the meantime it was garrisoned in Ystad). Despite reinforcements from companies at home, the regiment was disbanded in December when its colonel was court-martialled and dismissed. He had been temporarily arrested already during the summer, which is why its field battalion was then led by the New Funen’s colonel.

New Funen regiment participated with its Funen battalion in the campaign in Scania during the summer of 1676 and suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Halmstad and then returned to Funen. The Lolland battalion was stationed in Nakskov.

Eight of the Funen Regiment's companies were garrisoned in Wismar in April 1677, while four companies were stationed first in Landskrona and then in Kristianstad, where they were forced to surrender to the Swedes in August 1678. The Wismar part of the regiment participated in the conquest of Rügen in September 1678. In 1679, the regiment was assembled in Holstein and united with Esche's regiment.

After the end of the Scanian War, the regiment was garrisoned in Odense (4 companies) and Nyborg (8 companies). However, during the 1680s it was often used as a workforce to improve fortresses on Zealand.

In 1689-1698 a battalion served in the auxiliary corps sent to the Maritime powers and fought in Ireland and Flanders.

In 1699, 6 companies were stationed in Odense, 4 in Nyborg, 1 in Assens, 1 in Faaborg, 1 in Svendborg and 6 in Rendsburg. In the autumn of the same year, two battalions were assembled in Schleswig to join the main army during the 1700 campaign. Three companies were left in Nyborg, and one was transferred to Korsør.

In 1709 the disposition was: 2 companies in Nyborg, 1 Fredericia, 5 in Rendsburg and 4 in Friedrichsort. One battalion (7 companies) had first been in Saxon service 1700-1701 and then participated in the War of the Spanish Succession 1701-1714 in the Maritime powers’ service (The Netherlands). The battalions at home participated in the Scanian (1709-1710) and North German campaigns (1711-1716). The regiment was then garrisoned in Fredericia, Nyborg and Copenhagen. Its two battalions were transferred to Norway in 1717 and 1718 and participated in the Bohuslän campaign in 1719 before returning to Denmark.

Uniforms

1675	1676-1677	1677-1681	1685
Grey coat with green lining and cuffs. Unlike Skjold Petersen, Hasselager/Snorrasson state that the green-yellow uniform was worn as early as 1675. They also claim that this uniform was worn by New Funen, while Skjold Petersen writes that the New Funen’s uniforms are completely unknown.	Green coat with yellow lining and cuffs. Pewter buttons. The grenadiers wore grey coats with blue cuffs and black grenade boxes, while pioneers and artillery drivers wore grey coats with red cuffs and grey piecoats.	Light grey coat with green lining and cuffs. Pewter buttons. Green breeches 1679.	Green coat with cuffs and lining.
		The shade of green of the Funen Regiment is not mentioned until 1735, when it is stated to be dark green. However, a plate from 1716 showing the cuffs of the various regiments depicts Funen Regiments in a light green shade.
1691-1710		1714-1716	1716-1721
The 1691 regulation specifies a light grey coat with green cuffs and lining. A source from 1702 also states that the waistcoat and breeches were green, the buttons white, the hat lace yellow and the cockade green-white (officers had grey-white waistcoat and gold hat lace). The collar was stated to have been red, but the source may have misidentified the neckcloth as a collar. A spy report from 1709 mentions "white coats and cloaks with green cuffs and collars".		Red coat with green lining, cuffs and leg clothes and, since 1712, brass buttons.	Same as before but the leg clothes and waistcoat should now be red.
		Sometime during the period 1721-1735, the waistcoat turned green, but otherwise no changes occurred.

According to Skjold Petersen, the regiment was issued new uniforms in 1709, ?, 1715, ?, (1720), 1723, 1726, 1728, 1732 and 1735.

Old Funen Regiment

5th company – (AM.080042)

6th company – (AM.080043)

7th company – (AM.080040)

8th company – (AM.080041)

According to Digitalt museum, where the links go, the fifth company's colour was possibly lost at the capitulation of Helsingborg on 30 December 1676. The other colours were lost at the Battle of Lund. The regiment should also have lost colours at the Battle of Halmstad where a battalion was destroyed, but these have not been preserved.

There is a preserved record from the 1670s of the mottos on the regiment’s colours that has been reported by both Vaupell and Bruhn. Vaupell has modernised the text in his version, but there are also other differences where I believe it is Bruhn who deviates from the original. For the 2nd company, Bruhn has written "Guld" (Gold) when it should reasonably be "Gud" (God). And in another context, he has reported the text on the Second Funen colonel’s colour with the German-Swedish letter Ö, even though the preserved colour has an Ø:

New Funen Regiment

Livcompany – (AM.080044)

2:a company – (AM.080046 ?)

3:e company – (AM.080045)

4:e company – (AM.080047)

The colour of the 3rd company of New Funen in its current condition.

The colonel's colourg of New Funen in its current state. The motto is: "Krig prøffuer Manddom" (War tests Manhood).

The New Funen Colonel’s Battalion lost all its colours in the Battle of Halmstad on 17 August 1676 and these are in the Swedish Army Museum's collections. In addition to the fact that they do not have a red field in the middle as they should have according to the 1664 regulation, there is another interesting detail on them. Under the wreath, each colour has a number of bullets indicating which company it belonged to. Also note the blood stains on the lower corner of the colonel’s colour.

The middle photos of Olof Hoffman's depictions of the colours appear to have been rendered in too dark a shade. Compare with the photo of the 3rd Company's preserved colour on the right (although it may well have faded).

Funen Regiment

After the Scanian War, very little is known about the colours of the Funen Regiment. However, the colours of a battalion that was in the service of the Maritime Powers have been described. These were green with a silver-coloured lindworm in a red field surrounded by a crowned light blue ribbon (which should refer to the Order of the Elephant). It is likely that the battalions at home had the same type of colour during the Great Northern War.

The colour of the Funen Regiment interpreted by Höglund/Sallnäs

Jutland Regiment
(Jyske Regiment)

The first Jutland regiment was raised in 1615 by conscription but was disbanded because of the imperial occupation of Jutland in 1627-1629. It was re-established in 1632, and a second Jutland regiment was raised in 1658. Before the Scanian War, the number of Jutland regiments was doubled in 1675 by a new round of conscriptions. The old regiments were immediately converted into enlisted regiments. All Jutland regiments were disbanded in 1679, but one of them had its men transferred to an enlisted German regiment which took over the name Jutland Regiment.

Recruitment

When the Jutland Regiment was established in 1615, it consisted of nine companies of Jutlanders (2001 men) and one company from Funen (200 men). The 1621 ordinance adjusted this to 1,800 Jutlanders and 400 men from Funen (divided into two companies). The imperial invasion and occupation of Jutland in 1627-1629 led to the Jutland regiment being effectively disbanded and it was not re-established until 1632 with a strength of about 2,700 men (eight Jutland and two Funen companies). In 1638, independent nobility companies recruited from peasants on the nobility’s lands were added with 900 men from Jutland (four companies) and 300 men from Funen (one company). In 1642, the regiment was doubled by the introduction of reserve soldiers. But, like the imperial war, the Torstensson War of 1643-1645 meant that Jutland was occupied and that recruitment was thus reduced to those who could voluntarily make their way to the Danish islands.

After the Torstensson War, the Jutland Regiment was reorganised in 1647 so that it would consist of 2,800 men divided into 16 companies. These consisted only of Jutlanders since the men from Funen had formed their own regiment. However, for economic reasons, the regiment was reduced to seven companies in 1649 and the noble companies were withdrawn from 1649-1652. Before Charles X Gustav's war, the Jutland Regiment (including nobility companies) had a strength of about 2,300 men divided into 14 companies. Three more Jutland regiments were raised by conscription in the summer of 1657 with a strength of 1,000 men each. However, these poorly equipped regiments (they had no uniforms) were lost already in October when the fortress of Frederiksodde fell to the Swedes. The regular regiment also suffered heavy losses and, as in the previous war, the Swedish occupation made it difficult to recruit new soldiers. Another Jutland regiment was raised in May 1658 and although it was to become permanent, it initially existed only on paper, as new conscriptions were not carried out until 1659. And then the conscription were limited to the very north of Jutland, which also had to send recruits to enlisted regiments. The older regiment had a strength of only 230 men in March 1660.

Immediately after the peace of 27 May 1660, the two Jutland regiments were made complete with a new round of conscription and then they were sent back home. A very temporary merger into an eight-company strong regiment took place in February 1661 and was restored in August of the same year. Both regiments had received their recruits from all over Jutland, but in 1661 they were given separate recruiting districts so that the older regiment received northern Jutland (the dioceses of Ålborg and Viborg) while the younger one received southern Jutland (the dioceses of Ribe and Århus). Both were to have eight companies and a reform in 1673, which involved a reduction of their size, set the strength at 984 men for North Jutland and 1182 men for South Jutland. Just before the Scanian War, the number of Jutland regiments was doubled by each recruiting district raising another full-sized regiment in the summer of 1675, initially only four companies, but already in August they were organised into eight companies. The old regiments, on the other hand, were reorganised into twelve companies each and became enlisted regiments. The new regiments were also paid as enlisted regiments (with twelve companies) from 1677 onwards, although they continued to receive conscripts. However, while the New North Jutland Regiment received 789 conscripts from its own district in northern Jutland at the beginning of 1677, the New South Jutland Regiment received 454 men from Lolland-Falster. The South Jutland districts instead delivered their conscripts to Prince Christian's (742 men from the diocese of Århus) and Prince Frederik's regiments (472 men from the diocese of Ribe and also 200 men from the diocese of Viborg in northern Jutland). Also, from the next conscription which took place in the winter of 1677-1678, New South Jutland received its recruits from Lolland-Falster (227 men) and also from Funen (200 men) while New North Jutland received its recruits from its home district. The majority of the Jutland conscripts this time went to Prince Frederik's and Prince Georg's regiments. This was then the last real conscription until 1701 because the following year the government demanded money instead of recruits.

The two old Jutland regiments were reduced to eight weak companies in 1677. As a result of heavy losses during an unsuccessful storming of Malmö in June, they lost one battalion each, whose men were used to fill gaps in the ranks of Prince Frederik's (from Old South Jutland) and Prince Georg's (from Old North Jutland) regiments. The remainder of the regiments were stationed in Wismar, and they had already been ordered at the beginning of 1677 to reach a strength of 1200 men each through enlistment. However, this was not achieved and Old North Jutland, which only consisted of 300 men, was disbanded at the beginning of 1679 when its men were transferred to Prince Christian's regiment. After the peace, Old South Jutland was also disbanded and its men were transferred to Prince Christian's regiment. New North Jutland had to hand over one battalion to Prince Georg's regiment while the other two were merged with Prince Frederik's regiment. The New South Jutland Regiment was disbanded and the men transferred to Wedel's regiment, which was renamed the Jutland Regiment. This regiment had been part of an auxiliary corps from the Prince-Bishopric of Münster, which had now passed into Danish service. The last remnants of the national Jutland regiments were a company of the New North Jutland Regiment, which remained in the Copenhagen garrison as a free company until 1685, when it was incorporated into the Foot Guards. Similarly, a company of the New South Jutland Regiment remained in garrison in Fredericia.

The new enlisted Jutland Regiment was German-speaking, and the remaining conscripts were granted discharge as soon as new enlisted soldiers had been recruited in their place. Later during the Great Northern War, Danish conscripts replaced its losses at the Battle of Helsingborg in 1710. But after the peace of 1720, these were allowed to leave the army, after which the German dominance increased again. In 1720, 62% of the men were Germans while 33% were Danes. By 1726, the German proportion had increased to 82% while the Danes now only made up 15%.

Colonels and Regimental Names

The four Jutland regiments are often numbered from 1 to 4 in historical literature, but these designations are recent. When the then two Jutland regiments were given separate recruiting areas in 1661, they were named the North Jutland (Nordjyske) and South Jutland (Sydjyske) regiments, respectively. Later, when the national regiment from Schleswig came to be called the South Jutland regiment, both Danish regiments were called "North Jutland" and were distinguished by numbering. Oddly enough, the older regiment was named "Second North Jutland". When the regiments were doubled in 1675, they were first distinguished by the designations "old" or "new". But from 1676 onwards, the old regiments were considered to be enlisted and were then named after their colonels, so that only the new regiments were called "First Jutland" (from South Jutland, or more correctly, middle Jutland) and "Second Jutland" (from North Jutland). However, the frequently used number series from 1 to 4 follows the age of the regiments and gives the northern regiments the numbers "First" and "Third", which results in confusion. For this reason, I use geographical names instead of numbers, which I consider to be more informative (I follow Rockstroh's and Vaupell's geography here, Hasselhager/Snorrason's geographical names are the opposite compared to them).

Campaigns and Garrison Towns

When Lennart Torstensson's Swedish army invaded Denmark in December 1643, the Danish army evacuated Jutland, but between 1,000 and 1,500 men from the Jutland regiment remained and were taken prisoner. Among them were soldiers without uniforms whom the Swedes sent home because they believed they were levied peasants. What remained of the regiment was transferred in January to Sehested's enlisted regiment. However, enough Jutland officers and soldiers managed to leave Swedish-occupied Jutland on their own during the first half of 1644 so that the regiment could be re-established with a strength of eight companies. A large part of the regiment then served in the navy. In the summer of 1657, the Jutland Regiment participated in the campaign in Bremen-Verden and lost about 1000 men. Six companies (of which two nobility companies) were garrisoned in Frederiksodde and these had an effective strength of 500-600 men when the fortress fell to the Swedes on 24 October. All that remained of the regiment when the Peace of Roskilde was concluded on 26 February 1658 were four companies (of which one nobility company) with a strength of 600 men who were garrisoned in the Holstein fortresses of Glückstadt and Krempe. Although there were to be two Jutland regiments from May 1658, Swedish occupation prevented recruitment to them and the Jutland national infantry was even weaker at the Peace of Copenhagen in 1660 than it had been after the Peace of Roskilde. The Scanian War began with a Danish siege of Wismar in the autumn of 1675, in which the old Jutland regiments participated with eight companies each. Their reserve companies were left as garrison troops in Schleswig-Holstein (Old South Jutland) and in Fredericia (Old North Jutland). After the fall of Wismar on 13 December, the field regiments were garrisoned in Wismar and in early 1676 they were joined by their reserve companies. Two companies of Old North Jutland were commandeered to the fleet in July 1676 and made an unsuccessful landing attempt on Rügen. The regiment then returned to Wismar except for two companies that were garrisoned in Kristianopel and were then forced to surrender to the Swedes on 22 February 1677. Both regiments transferred one battalion to Landskrona in early 1677, while one battalion remained in Wismar. After an unsuccessful storming of Malmö on 26 June, the Landskrona battalions were

disbanded and used to fill gaps in the ranks of other regiments. The Wismar battalions survived until their disbandment in 1679, although one (the Old North Jutland Battalion) did not number more than 300 men. Before its disbandment, however, the Old North Jutland Battalion participated in the conquest of Rügen in September 1678. The new regiments did not participate in the 1675 campaign except for 300 men who were commandeered as artillery drivers. The following year, the New South Jutland contributed a battalion to the field army that invaded Scania on 29 June 1676, while the other battalion was left behind in Fredericia. The field battalion was garrisoned in Kristianstad after its capture on 15 August. To reinforce the field army, the Fredericia battalion and a battalion of the New North Jutland were transferred to Scania in the autumn, which then participated in the Battle of Lund on 4 December 1676. The heavy losses in the battle meant that the New South Jutland battalion was transferred to Nakskov on Lolland to receive new recruits and reorganise into seven companies. They were then divided into two battalions, one of which remained in Nakskov (later also Nyborg) while the other was sent to Glückstadt in Holstein. An eighth company was formed in Fredericia, mainly from men who had served as artillery drivers (in January 1677 there were 181 men in Fredericia) and it remained there throughout the war, after which it was converted into a free company. The regiment's second battalion (4 companies) remained in garrison in Kristianstad until its capitulation on 4 August 1678, when it had been reduced to only 60 men. Before that, one battalion had been transferred to Landskrona and another was commandeered to the fleet and participated in the conquest of Rügen in September 1678 before returning to Glückstadt. The battalion from New North Jutland that had participated in the Battle of Lund was stationed in Landskrona where, after a month's rest, it had 84 healthy, 333 sick and 116 dead. It suffered another defeat six months later in the Battle of Landskrona on 14 July 1677. The second battalion was garrisoned in Copenhagen. Part of the regiment participated in the conquest of Rügen in September 1678. As the only conscripted regiment it was to consist of three battalions with a total of 1,500 men in a reorganisation in October 1678 according to plan (New South Jutland was to have 1,000 men in two battalions). When the Scanian War ended, all Jutland regiments were disbanded. However, the men from New South Jutland were transferred to a regiment that changed its name to the Jutland Regiment and were first stationed in Fredericia and Kolding. It was used as a workforce to reinforce fortifications in Copenhagen in 1683-1685 and was then

been assembled in Holstein and in 1687 it was again used for fortification work on Zealand. When Denmark was on the verge of war with Sweden in 1689, the Jutland Regiment was stationed with two battalions in Holstein and one in Fredericia and Helsingør. In October of the same year, a battalion was sent to join the auxiliary corps in the service of the Maritime Powers, which participated in the campaigns in Ireland and Flanders in 1689-1697. The home-based part participated in the campaign in Ratzeburg in 1693 and the destruction of the Holstein-Gottorp fortifications in 1697. In 1699 the regiment was stationed with 6 companies in Fredericia, 1 in Kolding, 1 in Ribe, 2 in Haderslev and 8 in Rendsburg. The entire regiment participated in the war in Schleswig-Holstein in 1700. After the Peace of Traventhal, a battalion was included in the Saxon Auxiliary Corps in 1700-1701 and then in the Imperial Auxiliary Corps until it was separated from the parent regiment in 1703 and became part of the newly formed Third Danish Regiment. The home-based part was stationed in Rendsburg.

At the outbreak of war in 1709, the Jutland Regiment was stationed with 2 companies in Rendsburg and 10 in Glückstadt. It participated in the Scanian campaign of 1709-1710, after which it was stationed in Zealand. In 1714, it was transferred to Glückstadt and then participated in the Pomeranian campaign, where it distinguished itself in the Battle of Stresow. It returned to Zealand in 1716 after which its two battalions were transferred to Norway in 1717 and 1718, where it remained until the end of 1719. After that, the Jutland Regiment was stationed in Rendsburg until 1728.

Uniforms

Skjold Petersen states that the North Jutland Regiment had blue coats in 1663 while the South Jutland Regiment had red coats in 1663 and grey coats with yellow cuffs and lining in 1667. According to him, they would keep the yellow cuff colour until 1679. The next coat colour for the Old South Jutland Regiment is first mentioned in 1676-1677 when it was red and in 1677-1679 when it was grey.

I have received most of the information about the uniforms of the Scanian war from Hasselager/Snorrason's article, but they often conflict with Skjold Petersen's more sparse information.

Skjold Peterson stated in his first book (from 2005) that the red coat was issued in 1713 and that it had pewter buttons from 1715 to 1766. This was changed in his second book (from 2014) to the year 1714 and brass buttons, which is the same button colour as Schorr states.

According to Skjold Petersen, the regiment was issued new uniforms in 1709, ?, 1715, ?, (1720), 1723, 1726, 1728, 1732 and 1735.

Colours

In a proposal from 1663, South Jutland would have red-yellow colours and North Jutland would have green colours (according to Bruhn, Vaupell has it the other way around). But in the regulation that was established in 1664, the colours were changed to yellow for South Jutland and blue for North Jutland. Both regiments would have the Gothic coat of arms as a symbol in the middle (a lion with nine roses in a yellow field) and the Danish flag in the upper inner corner. The colonel’s colour would be white, and the colours were distinguished by being decorated with different mottos. There is a list of mottos that has been described by both Bruhn and Vaupell, but since the two are not consistent, I have included both versions with Vaupell in red text . Note also that both regiments were referred to as North Jutland at this time because the Schleswig Regiment had taken over the name South Jutland.

Colours from the new Jutland regiments were lost in the Battle of Lund and are preserved in the Swedish Army Museum. Below are links to both the preserved colours (the inventory numbers) and to the depictions of them made by Olof Hoffman 1677-1709 (the company names):

New North Jutland 2nd company – (AM.080054) 5th company – (AM.080056) 7th company – (AM.080055) 8th company – (AM.080057) The image on the right is the 5th company of New North Jutland. New South Jutland (very fragmentary colours) Company ? – (AM.080059) Company ?  – (AM.080060)

Vaupell states that in 1685 the Jutland Regiment's colours were white with Christian V's cipher in red. Then in 1695 they were red with white stars and divided by a saltire, in the middle Christian V's cipher and in the upper inner corner the Jutland lion (Gothic coat of arms). Höglund/Sallnäs also mentions that new red colours were issued in 1695. Then they describe the colours for the battalion that was in imperial service 1701-1703: "red colours divided by a white St. Andrew's cross. In the middle a crowned monogram and a white star in each of the red fields. In the upper inner corner, a yellow field with a blue lion and nine red hearts (Other sources mention only a blue lion, without field and hearts, and three stars in the fields)". This matches Vaupell's description of the colours from 1695, but Höglund/Sallnäs has depicted the colour with Frederik IV's cipher instead of Christian V's. Even if Vaupell only guessed that the red colours from 1695 looked like the colours in imperial service, it is very reasonable to believe that it is the same set of colours and that they should therefore have Christian V's monogram.

Unfortunately, no other Jutland colours from the time of the Great Northern War are known.

The Jutland Regiment's colour interpreted by Höglund/Sallnäs with Frederik IV's monogram instead of Christian V's.

Schleswig-Holstein Regiment

The duchies of Schleswig-Holstein also created a national militia at about the same time as the Danish kingdom. However, the local population was very reluctant to contribute to the financing or to serve in the companies. Since the young men eligible for military service could easily move between different German principalities, it was difficult to impose any demanding burdens on them. Those who were conscripted were therefore only required to spend minimal time on drills, making their military value very low. In practice, they were not soldiers but rather levied peasants.

Mobilisations during the Thirty Years' War in 1625 improved the situation somewhat in Schleswig, but in Holstein everything remained as before. When an imperial invasion was imminent after the defeat at Lutter am Barenberge in 1626, a decision was made to raise a considerably larger national militia. In the royal parts of the duchies, a Holstein regiment consisting of 4,000 men divided into 10 companies and a Schleswig regiment of similar strength were to be raised. In the ducal parts, 7,100 men divided into 18 companies were to be raised. The other princes of Schleswig-Holstein as well as the Schleswig diocese and the nobility were to raise a regiment consisting of 4,000 men (10 companies). All in all, the duchies were to field a force of 19,000 men according to plan. How many who actually were conscripted is unknown, but it cannot have been many as the will to fight was weak in the duchies. After minimal resistance in 1627, these newly raised forces were disbanded.

The agreement between the king and the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp that had been concluded in 1623 stipulated that they would jointly raise 4,000 men on foot and about 600 cavalry. The agreement was renewed in 1634 when the nobility of Schleswig-Holstein would raise a further 11 companies of 400 men each. The royal part of the force was divided into three regiments with five companies each, while the Gottorp force of 2,000 men lacked a fixed company organisation. There was still a great lack of discipline, and the conscripted men largely failed to appear at the musters. That the figures mentioned only existed on paper is illustrated by the fact that the force that the duchies actually fielded during the war of 1657–1658 consisted of only a few hundred poorly armed and completely untrained infantrymen.

In 1663, the now absolute king decided to establish a national regiment in Schleswig-Holstein and he did not let the strong resistance from the local population stop him. This regiment was initially to consist of nine companies, but the following year it was changed to eleven companies (4 in Schleswig, 5 in Holstein, 1 in Pinnenberg and 1 from the cities). However, completing the regiment would become a recurring problem and the County of Pinnenberg managed to reach an agreement to only recruit its company during wartime in exchange for paying a vacancy fee in peacetime. Later, the crown also agreed that soldiers from the recalcitrant Dithmarschen region of Holstein would be exempt from some fortress exercises in exchange for money.

By the time of Christian V's accession to the throne in 1670, it appears that the regiment had been disbanded and become eleven independent companies (Tuxen volume 1, pages 76 and 78). In the same year, a reorganisation took place that re-established the regiment but reduced the number of companies to eight (4 in Schleswig and 4 in Holstein), with a total strength of 1,609 men. When the regiment was mustered in 1672, however, it was in a very poor condition. Especially the Holstein companies, which were practically useless. For example, the inhabitants of Dithmarschen had recruited a group of beggars who had only agreed to a four-week term of employment.

Another reorganisation took place in 1675, just before the outbreak of the Scanian War, when the regiment was expanded to 14 companies. However, the number of privates did not exceed 1,461. Of the new companies, two came from the princely estates on the island of Als in Schleswig and two companies from the Holstein districts of Pinneberg and Segeberg.

Scanian War

Before Denmark attacked Sweden in September 1675, they invaded Holstein-Gottorp during the summer and disbanded its army. Much of the men from the Gottorp army were forcibly recruited into the Schleswig-Holstein regiment, which was doubled and then divided into a Schleswig and a Holstein regiment. Despite the choice of names, the Schleswig regiment consisted of 6 Schleswig and 6 Holstein companies from the royal parts of Schleswig-Holstein, while the Holstein regiment was assigned to the Gottorp parts as its recruiting area.

The quality of the Gottorp soldiers was unfortunately even lower than those in the old Schleswig-Holstein regiment and they largely deserted. At the beginning of 1676, the crown agreed that in exchange for money the Gottorp districts in Schleswig would not have to recruit soldiers. The Holstein regiment, which then only consisted of six companies, was supplemented by recruiting another six companies through enlistment. After the Danish landing in Scania in June 1676, four conscripted companies joined the field army. In August of the same year, however, they were destroyed in the Battle of Halmstad and the few survivors were assigned to the Schleswig regiment. But instead of replacing the losses with new conscripts, the residents of the recruiting district preferred to pay money so the crown could recruit four companies of enlisted soldiers. A little later, two more enlisted companies were recruited, after which the remaining conscripts were sent home and the Holstein regiment ceased to be a national regiment. The six newly recruited companies were transferred to Zealand in 1677, where they were soon transferred to the King's Life Regiment. Of the six remaining Holstein companies that stayed in Holstein as a garrison troop in Rendsburg, five were transferred to Prince George's Regiment at the end of 1678. The last company was then used as a garrison unit until it was disbanded in 1689.

The Schleswig Regiment, which was of somewhat better quality than the Holstein Regiment, contributed two battalions to the Mecklenburg campaign in 1675 and was given winter quarters in Rostock after which they returned to Schleswig. This field regiment (eight companies) took part in the landing in Scania in June 1676 and shortly afterwards the remaining four companies joined the main army in Scania. The regiment took part in the conquest of Landskrona and Kristianstad and in the Battle of Lund. The Schleswig Regiment also abandoned conscription in favour of taxes at this time so that enlisted soldiers replaced losses in the Battle of Lund. The regiment was disbanded in September 1677 and the men were transferred to the King's Life Regiment.

Uniforms

Rockstroh mentions in connection with the mobilisation in 1674-1675 that the Schleswig half of the regiment had blue uniforms similar to the North Jutland regiments while the Holstein men had red uniforms, which then became red uniforms for both regiments after the partitioning (volume 2, pages 98 and 104). Hasselager/Snorrason dates these blue uniforms to 1670 and writes "maybe" and mentions Vaupell's information from 1667 (grey coat with yellow cuffs) and 1676 (grey coat with red cuffs) together with his own information about grey coat colour with unknown cuffs in 1674.

Incidentally, Skjold Petersen states that the Holstein Regiment's uniforms are unknown, while Hasselager/Snorrason has a lot of information about them.

Schleswig Regiment
1670-1675	May 1675	May 1676	1677
Skjold Petersen states that the Schleswig-Holstein regiment had light grey coats with orange cuffs in 1670. Hasselager/Snorrason mentions that in 1674 the Schleswig men had grey coats with unknown lining colour while the Holstein men had red coats with blue lining.	Red coat with blue lining and pewter buttons. White hat? Grenadiers, pioneers and artillery drivers wore grey coats with red lining. The drivers wore a yellow crown on their right sleeve.	Some companies, two raised by von Blankenstein, may have worn grey coats with blue cuffs, leather breeches, blue stockings and a black hat with a blue brim.	Light grey coat with red cuffs and leather breeches. Skjold Petersen states the same uniform for 1676-1677 (except for the breeches) and adds that the lining was yellow or red.
Holstein Regiment
1675-1676	1676-1677	1676-1677	1677-1679
Red coat with blue lining. In the spring of 1676, 60 buttons are mentioned and that year four companies still have these colours.	Four companies had red coats with yellow cuffs in 1676. An enlistment capitulation also mentions this colour combination in 1677.	Enlisted companies wore blue coats with yellow cuffs in 1676. The entire regiment was to have this uniform in 1677, but only the colonel's company wore it in the autumn of 1677.	Newly raised companies were to wear light grey coats with blue cuffs and black hats in 1677. In May 1679 the uniform was a grey coat with blue cuffs.

Colours

When the Schleswig-Holstein Regiment was raised, both halves were to have red colours with a large white cross, but in the upper inner corner they were to have a provincial symbol. For Schleswig companies, this meant two lions (blue in a yellow field) while the Holstein companies' symbols were either golden nettle leaves (the actual Holstein coat of arms), a white crowned swan (the coat of arms of Stormarn) or a white knight (the coat of arms of Dithmarschen), all on a red field. The colonel’s colour was to be white and the one that was produced had, according to a list from the 1670s, the monogram of Frederick III and a golden laurel wreath as motifs. Each colour was to have its own motto, but unlike the Danish regiments, these were in Latin and not in Danish for the Schleswig-Holstein Regiment. In addition, the colonel’s colour and a Holstein colour lacked a motto.

Schleswig Regiment A company from Schleswig – (AM.080061) (taken by the Swedes in the Battle of Lund)	Schleswig Regiment Segeberg company – (AM.080071) (taken by the Swedes in the Battle of Lund)	Holstein Regiment Company 1 – (AM.080094) Company 2 – (AM.080095) Company 3 – (AM.080096) Company 4 – (AM.080097)

The links below the images go to photos of the preserved flags (inventory numbers) and to drawings of them that were made by Olof Hoffman and Jonas Jonsson.

Oldenburg Regiment
(Oldenborgske Regiment)

The two counties of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst were inherited by the Danish king in 1667 and were thus united with the Danish monarchy. Under the previous count, there had been a national militia organisation there and Christian V decided to activate it in 1670 so that a couple of hundred men could be garrisoned in the fortresses. However, the governor of Oldenburg found that the conscripted men were practically useless for service in war and sent them back home. However, before the outbreak of war in 1675, he received new orders and was now to set up a 12-company strong regiment through conscription, which he completed in September. This was also intended to be used as a garrison force in the home province, but conscription was no less unpopular in Oldenburg than it was in Schleswig-Holstein. As early as December 1676, a decision was therefore made to replace conscription with taxes that would pay for enlisted soldiers. The plan was that the conscripted men would gradually be discharged as they were being replaced by enlisted soldiers. But in several places, it proved impossible to get the conscripts to stay until then. In 1677–1679, 200 men were garrisoned in the fortress of Carlsburg in Bremen-Verden, which had been captured from the Swedes.

After the end of the Scanian War, its strength was set at 1,000 men divided into eight companies. During the mobilisation in 1683–1684, the regiment was expanded to twelve musketeer companies of 102 men each and a 112-man grenadier company (a total of 1,336 men). A new mobilisation in 1688 was to increase the number of musketeer companies to 18, which would also be as strong as the grenadier company. However, this expansion was never completed and in 1689 the Oldenburg Regiment contributed a battalion to the auxiliary corps sent to the Maritime Powers. This battalion did not return but was merged with the Queen's Life Regiment already in 1690. What remained of the Oldenburg Regiment was thus only a battalion of 5 companies. It was expanded in 1699 with a company from the disbanded Courland’s regiment. Another musketeer company was recruited in 1700, so that the battalion consisted of six musketeer companies and one grenadier company. In the autumn of 1701, the grenadier company was transferred to the newly formed Grenadier Corps, while the rest of the battalion then became part of the auxiliary corps that was in the service of the Maritime Powers during the War of the Spanish Succession. The Oldenburg battalion was paid by England during that time and returned home after the conclusion of peace in April 1713.

Once home, Oldenburg was reinforced with five companies from the disbanded Württemberg-Oel's regiment and one company from Prince George's regiment (these regiments had also been part of the auxiliary corps in the service of the Maritime Powers). Oldenburg thus received the normal organisation of a Danish infantry regiment (12 companies). It was also now that Oldenburg participated in the Great Northern War for the first time by being garrisoned in the occupied fortress of Stade in Bremen-Verden until 1715. During the war in 1700, it had remained in its home province. It then participated in the Pomeranian campaign and was garrisoned in Stralsund before being transferred to Copenhagen at the end of 1716. It was stationed in Copenhagen and Helsingør until 1725 when it returned to Oldenburg.

Uniforms

According to Skjold Petersen, the regiment was issued new uniforms in 1700, ?, 1712, 1715, ?, 1721, 1724, (1727), 1730 and 1733.

Colours

The colours are said to have been red in 1685. There is a very torn colour that Höglund/Sallnäs believe is from the 1710s. They have described it as: "Red flag with wild men holding up the Oldenburg coat of arms”. Their reconstruction follows below but they admit that it is largely guesswork since the original is in such poor condition.

Höglund/Sallnäs' reconstruction of an Oldenburg colour

Bruhn, Helge. Dannebrog: og danske faner gennem tiderne. Copenhagen (1949)
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)
Isacson, Claes-Göran. Skånska kriget 1675–1679. Lund (2000)
Rockstroh, K. C. Udviklingen af den nationale Hær i Danmark i det 17. og 18. Aarhundrade. Köpenhamn (1909-1926)
Schorr, Daniel. Danish-Norwegian uniforms 1709-1720. *
Skjold Petersen, Karsten. Den danske hærs uniformer i 1700-tallet. Copenhagen (2005)
Skjold Petersen, Karsten. Kongens klæder. Copenhagen (2014)
Snorrason, Torstein. Danish Uniforms 1699-1712. *
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