Denmark's first national militia from 1614 was abolished after the end of the Scanian War in 1679. Christian V preferred to recruit foreigners into his army so that the Danish men could work in agriculture and contribute to the country's economy. But enlisted soldiers were expensive and an army that would defeat Sweden needed to be large. Therefore, the new king Frederik IV realised in 1701 that it was necessary to reintroduce a national militia. The new national militia became much larger than its predecessor and when it was at its largest at the outbreak of war in 1709 it consisted of just over 16,000 infantry and about 2,400 dragoons. However, casualties during the Great Northern War resulted in its size being gradually reduced to spare the agricultural workforce. After the end of the war, the national militia was only 10,000 strong. Although this was also perceived as too great a burden and Christian VI chose to abolish the national militia immediately after his accession to the throne in 1730.

General History

During the Scanian War of 1675-1679, conscription ceased in Denmark (except for Bornholm) and the Danish army thereafter consisted solely of enlisted soldiers who were mainly recruited in Germany. The native population would thus be spared from military service and instead contribute tax revenue to the Danish crown. Denmark's ambitious foreign policy, however, was geared to create the right circumstances for a war against Sweden that would return lost territories. This required a strong army, but the tax revenue was not sufficient if the army consisted solely of enlisted soldiers. During the interwar period, the generals therefore tried in vain to persuade Christian V to re-establish the national militia, but he remained steadfast until his death in August 1699, just as Denmark was preparing for a new war.

During the mobilisation of 1699-1700, there were once again proposals to relieve the regular army from some of its duties by forming a national militia. This would be recruited through conscription and then used as garrisons in the fortresses so that the enlisted regiments could instead serve in the field army. The new king Frederik IV opposed this because, like his father, he believed that the country's economy would be damaged if agriculture was deprived of labour. But the short war in 1700 revealed that the Danish army was not large enough to defeat Sweden under the prevailing alliances. War experience meant that proposals for a national militia were once again put forward, and this time Frederik IV chose to listen to them. The result was the ordinance on "Establishing the National Milita in Denmark " which was decreed on 22 February 1701.

The differences compared to the old national militia that was abolished in 1679 and the new one that was now established, were first and foremost that the size of the new one was much larger. While the national militia infantry only consisted of 4,911 privates at the time of the Scanian War, the new national militia was initially to have an infantry force of about 13,700 privates (another regiment was added in 1704 in Oldenburg). The cavalry, on the other hand, was more limited and consisted of about 2,200 private dragoons, which was about half of the national cavalry that Christian V created in the 1670s. But Christian V's national cavalry had in practice not been abolished. Because even though the cavalrymen now were enlisted and not conscripted, they were still funded by the so-called cavalry estates that had been formed during his reign. The extra 2,200 dragoons thus effectively meant a larger national cavalry than the one that existed in the 1670s.

The term of service in Frederik IV's national militia was, at six years, double that of the old national militia. However, Frederik IV's national militia had a more limited budget. The ratio of officers to privates was lower and money for equipment and uniforms was at a minimal level. Much less time was also spent on training the men, who mainly worked as farm labourers during peacetime. The training took place after church services on Sundays and consisted of two hours of drill in the summer and one hour in the winter. Depending on the time of year, the men were trained every or every other Sunday. Four times a year, the entire company gathered for joint drill and once a year the entire regiment would be assembled.

The purpose of ​​the new national militia was that it would relieve the enlisted army from some of its duties by being used as a garrison troop, coastal defence and for naval service. The entire enlisted army could thus be freed to serve in the field army. This distinguished Frederik IV's national militia from its predecessor, which was used in the same way as the enlisted regiments. In practice, however, the shortage of troops during the Great Northern War meant that national militia units had to make contributions to the field army, although except for the cavalry, this did not happen to the same extent as during the Scanian War. However, this was done in violation of the ordinance from 1701, which contained a ban on using the national militia outside the country's borders.

The war also brought recruitment problems for a national militia that was considerably larger than its predecessor. Frederik IV had chosen the largest size of the various options that had been discussed. And when a third of the national militia was used to replace losses in the enlisted regiments after the Battle of Helsingborg, at the same time as the naval service claimed many lives because of disease, the burden of maintaining the size of the national militia became too high. Recruitment to the national militia was becoming increasingly onerous for the agriculture, which formed the basis of the Danish economy. The size of the Danish national militia infantry was therefore reduced in stages from the original 13,700 privates to 10,200 privates in 1711 and to 7,300 privates in 1717.

When Frederik IV died on 12 October 1730, his successor Christian VI decided to abolish the national militia that same month. The justification for this was that the national militia was a "large and soon-to-be insufferable nuisance and burden" for the whole country, and especially for the young men. The abolition came as a great surprise to all parties involved. However, after persuasion campaigns, Christian VI agreed to reintroduce the national militia in a new form as early as 1733. It was primarily the landowning aristocracy that was the driving force behind the reestablishment of the national militia. However, their main motive was not to strengthen the country's military defence. The real goal was to make Danish men of military age serfs in the same way that had partly happened in the final stage of Frederik IV's national militia.

Organisation

On 22 February 1701, Frederik IV issued an ordinance establishing a national militia in Denmark. Seven regiments, each with 12 companies, forming three battalions, were to be created. However, the Fynske National Regiment received 13 companies because the Langeland company, which was originally intended to belong to Viborg-Lolland, was transferred to them at a late stage. Each company was to consist of at least 150 privates, but they could be up to 200 strong depending on the availability of men in the recruiting districts. Almost all officers were appointed on 26 March, and the privates were then recruited during the spring and summer. The number of officers and private infantrymen together was about 14,800 men.

The so-called cavalry estates that were responsible for supporting the national cavalry regiments were initially exempt from conscription of national militia soldiers. The idea was that they would later set up national militia dragoons. However, because so many young men tried to avoid conscription by moving to them, the conscription of dragoons was brought forward to 1702. These were first included in the national militia infantry regiments until they formed their own regiments in 1704 (two with nine companies each and formed into three squadrons) with a total personnel strength of about 2,400 men.

The Danish king also ruled the German counties of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst, and despite the bad experiences from the Scanian War, the plan from the very beginning was that they too would recruit a national militia regiment. However, the work of raising this regiment dragged on and the conscription was not carried out until 1704. This regiment was weaker than the Danish ones and consisted of eight companies with a total of 1,222 privates plus 109 "prima plana" (= staff personnel). However, no national militia was raised in the duchies of Schleswig-Holstein, which had a long history of substandard national militia units during the 17th century.

Infantry Organisation

Initially, all private soldiers in the national militia were musketeers, but in 1704 each national militia company was to equip two men as pioneers and eight men as grenadiers.

The literature does not agree on how many ensigns (= colour bearers) each regiment had. According to Tuxen (vol. 2, p. 70), each battalion was to have an ensign, which was normal for Danish infantry regiments. Rockstroh (vol. 2, p. 447) states, on the other hand, that the national militia infantry only received one ensign per regiment, except for Viborg-Lolland, which received two. The justification was that colours were expensive and, since the national militia was not intended to fight in pitched battles, a colour was only needed when new soldiers were to swear their oath. Viborg-Lolland received two colours because that regiment was recruited in two different parts of the country. This is also the reason why Viborg-Lolland received extra staff personnel in other categories. Viborg and Lolland were in practice two separate units with the same colonel.

The literature also disagrees about how many non-commissioned officers each company had. According to Rockstroh (vol. 2, p. 445) each regiment was to have 120 non-commissioned officers. Tuxen, who describes the company staffs in more detail, states (vol. 2, p. 70) that they initially consisted of 9 corporals and 2 drummers in addition to the two officers that Rockstroh and Tuxen agree on. Tuxen also mentions (vol. 3, p. 361) that the number of non-commissioned officers was reduced at the end of 1711 from 9 to 8 in each company.

When the national militia was converted to a war footing in 1709, each infantry company received an extra lieutenant, and they were retained until the peace in 1720.

During the war, the number of privates in each company was reduced in several steps due to recruitment problems. In addition, a reorganisation took place in 1717 that reduced the number of Danish infantry companies from 85 to 73. The reduced companies consisted of the Viborg part of the Viborg-Lolland regiment and eight Zealand (Sjællandske) companies. What remained of the Viborg-Lolland and West Zealand regiments were merged and became the South Zealand Regiment, which also took over the Langeland company from Funen Regiment.

A final reorganisation before the national militia was abolished in 1730 was carried out in 1724. The number of companies was reduced from 73 to 72 and the geographical distribution was changed so that Zealand received more companies and Lolland-Falster received fewer. South Zealand Regiment thus received the normal number of companies, which were distributed among 6 from Zealand, 1 from Møn, 4 from Lolland-Falster and 1 from Langeland.

Note that Oldenburg National Regiment is not included in the table above. It is unclear to me to what extent it was affected by organisational changes since Rockstroh barely mentions it and it never left its home province during the war. Tuxen mentions (vol. 3, p. 152) that Oldenburg National Regiment was reduced by two companies because of Delmenhorst etc. being pawned (summer 1711?). However, Tuxen states (vol. 6, p. 225) that at the turn of 1712-1713 they had eight companies.

Cavalry Organisation

The above organisation was the one that applied in peacetime when the two national dragoon regiments were formed in 1704. Shortly before the outbreak of war in 1709, the regimental staffs were expanded with 1 judge-advocate, 1 adjutant, 1 priest and 1 wagon master. In addition, each dragoon company received an ensign. A more extensive reorganisation took place on 7 December 1709 when both regiments handed over men to the Hungarian Dragoon Regiment (221 men from Zealand-Funen and 135 from Jutland). In addition, the national dragoon regiments were divided into twelve companies each so that all Danish dragoon regiments would have the same organisation consisting of 1010 combatants.

When the national dragoon regiments went on campaign, the cavalry estates lost their workforce, which they replaced by hiring new servants. But when the regiments were sent home after the Scanian campaign ended, many dragoons lacked employment and lived in misery. The king solved the problem by deciding in December 1710 that they would be paid as enlisted soldiers for as long as the war lasted. However, they were still recruited through conscription.

During the winter of 1710-1711, both regiments were converted to cuirassier regiments. According to traditional belief, this was done as a reward for good performance in battles (Helsingborg 1710 for Zealand-Funen and Wismar 1711 for Jutland). However, the Jutland regiment became cuirassiers already on 15 December 1710, while Zealand-Funen was converted on 9 March 1711. When the national dragoons were converted to cuirassiers, the drummers disappeared and they were replaced by a kettle drummer in the regimental staff and trumpeters in the companies.

In 1713 the Danish cavalry was reorganised so that the regiments would consist of only eight companies. For the Zealand-Funen National Cuirassiers this meant that four companies were transferred to the First Zealand Cavalry Regiment, while the Jutland National Cuirassier Regiment, which had been on campaign, disbanded the four most depleted companies. The surplus men were transferred to other cavalry regiments. Although they were still recruited through conscription, the men of the national cuirassier regiments were treated as if they were enlisted soldiers and could be transferred to an enlisted regiment without further ado in the event of reorganisations.

New national dragoons were introduced after the cavalry estates were reorganised in 1715-1716 and the Zealand national militia infantry was reduced in 1717. Each cavalry regiment's district would then also recruit two conscripted dragoon companies of 100 men each. These companies were combined into three national dragoon regiments of eight companies each: an East Zealand regiment, a West Zealand regiment (with four companies on Lolland-Falster) and a Jutland regiment (with two companies on Funen). The colonels of the new national dragoon regiments were appointed in December 1717, but it would be until 1723 before these so-called dragoon regiments actually received horses. The company size was reduced to 75 privates in 1719 and the total strength of a conscripted dragoon regiment was 664 men. All this information comes from Rockstroh, who, however, writes for the year 1722 that the dragoon companies had 88 privates without telling how this change occurred (volume 3, page 78). Such a company size means that the number of privates in each regiment had increased from 600 to 704 men.

The old national dragoon regiments, which had become national cuirassiers, were disbanded in 1721 when the army was put on peace footing. The fact that these were disbanded despite being considered among the better cavalry regiments is believed to be because they were composed of ethnic Danes. The Danish government preferred to recruit foreigners into the army so that native Danes could instead contribute labour to the farms.

Recruitment

Peasants and landowners were given the responsibility of recruiting soldiers for the national militia, and the burden was distributed based on how much farmland they owned. The unit used in Denmark to measure farmland was barrels of “hartkorn” (hard corn), and Denmark was divided into “lægder” (the Danish equivalent of the Swedish “rotar”), each of which corresponded to 20 barrels of hard corn. Each lægd was to recruit one foot soldier. The cavalry estates were exempt from this division, as they were to recruit dragoons.

Although each lægd was formally of equal size, the supply of men was not the same. In the parts of the country with many small farmers (especially western Jutland), it was necessary to combine several different scattered farms to form lægder of the right size. But small farmers had limited access to farm labourers who could be conscripted. In the first round of conscriptions in 1701, this was clearly noticeable and many lægder were unable to recruit a soldier. After the summer conscription, there were a total of 915 vacant lægder and almost all of these (823 vacancies) were from the dioceses of Ribe and Århus in Jutland. Other provinces had only minor vacancies: 21 in Zealand, 5 in the diocese of Funen and 66 in the dioceses of Ålborg and Viborg. The solution to this problem was to make it possible to conscript men in populous lægder to fill vacant lægder. But even then, some lægder would occasionally be vacant due to a shortage of men, which is why there are different columns for the years 1702 and 1706 in the above table for the organisation of the infantry regiments. The recruitment problems would only get worse during the Great Northern War, and this led to the system of lægder being practically abandoned on 3 April 1711. Thereafter, losses were replaced jointly by all lægder in the respective province.

When Denmark was divided into lægder in 1701, it quickly became apparent that it was not possible to accommodate a full regiment of 1,800 men in each of the four Jutland dioceses. Only the diocese of Århus was large enough and it had to contribute to the Ribe regiment by allowing it to recruit soldiers in the southern counties of Stjernholm and Skanderborg. The Ålborg regiment recruited 520 men in the part of Ålborg county that belonged to the diocese of Viborg (south of the Limfjord). The rest of the diocese of Viborg only managed to recruit 550 men, so that more than two-thirds of the regiment was recruited on the islands of Lolland and Falster, which were in a completely different part of the country.

The term of service for the individual soldier was originally set at six years. However, since the entire national militia was raised at the same time, it meant that almost the entire militia would be replaced by new, untrained soldiers in 1707. To prevent the quality of the national militia from deteriorating drastically when war with Sweden was imminent, the term of service was extended so that only 20 men per company were allowed to leave each year. When war broke out in 1709, the term of service was extended indefinitely.

The Great Northern War resulted in high losses of men, which put pressure on the farmers and landowners who were supposed to replace the losses with new conscripts. Already during the Scanian campaign of 1709-1710, the field army suffered such extensive losses in the Battle of Helsingborg that the Danish government judged that it was not possible to replace them by enlistment. Instead, a third of the Danish national national militia (about 4,600 men) was used to fill gaps in the enlisted regiments during the spring of 1710. National militia soldiers who agreed to be enlisted were promised to be discharged from military service after the end of the war. It was believed at the time that the war would be shorter than the six-year term of service in the national militia. Another attraction was that enlisted soldiers were spared from service in the navy, where mortality was high. Every year during the period 1710-1712, over 3,000 national militia soldiers were commandeered to the navy.

The national militia would then replace the soldiers who enlisted with new conscripts. But the national militia's own losses also needed to be replaced, which meant a total need to conscript 7,000 men. This was a heavy burden for the Danish farmers, which was made worse by the fact that they also had to replace all the soldiers who died of disease during naval service. When so many young men were conscripted as soldiers, the shortage of labour in agriculture became increasingly onerous. Therefore, on 3 April 1711, it was decided to cancel conscription for the national militia during that year. Instead, each company was reduced to 120 men, which meant a total strength for the national militia infantry of 10,200 privates. The surplus men were discharged from military service and could now work as farm labourers instead. In 1712, however, conscriptions returned because naval service and a plague epidemic had resulted in the death of at least 2,000 national militia soldiers.

During the 1712 campaign, the Danish army suffered another defeat at the Battle of Gadebusch. This time, the national militia did not have to replace losses in the enlisted regiments. On the other hand, the Viborg-Lolland regiment had suffered high casualties, since the Viborg battalion had participated in the Battle of Gadebusch and the Lolland battalions lost a lot of men due to illness when they were commandeered to the navy (40% and 33% of the strength had to be replaced, respectively). The Funen regiment had also suffered high losses (20%). To reduce the burden on the Lolland farmers, whose soldiers were frequently used for naval service, the size of their companies was reduced to 100 privates.

Continuing recruitment problems led at the beginning of 1714 to the Jutland regiments filling vacancies by recruiting Swedish prisoners of war. These consisted of 130 Germans, 42 Scanians & "native Norwegians" (= Bohuslän men) and about 400 ethnic Swedes. The Viborg battalion in particular came to consist of so many prisoners of war that the Danish army had reservations about using it in the upcoming campaign. Funen and Lolland-Falster were also subsequently allowed to recruit Swedish prisoners of war, while it remained prohibited on Zealand for fear of Swedish landing attempts on the island. However, Swedes belonging to companies that were commandeered to the navy were left behind on Zealand. It also became routine to leave the Swedes in Denmark every time a battalion was on campaign.

A new reform took place in December 1717. This was because Funen National Regiment had suffered high mortality during its stay in Norway and that six Jutland companies were captured by the Swedes when their ship ran aground in November 1716. The company size was reduced to 100 privates of the "Danish nation" for all infantry regiments in the national militia. The Viborg battalion had also almost melted away in Norway and was disbanded (its district was divided so that Århus and Ribe each received half). The Zealand infantry was reorganised from 24 companies to 16 in order to increase the number of cavalry. In total, this meant that the strength of the infantry was reduced to 7,300 men.

After the peace of 1720, the term of service was supposed to be six years again, but abuse of power meant that the soldiers continued to serve indefinitely. The officers wanted to retain experienced men instead of replacing them with green recruits. The landowners, in turn, had benefited from the fact that the term of service had no end date. This meant that the only option for the soldier to end his military service was to agree to lease one of the landowners' farms. The landowners could therefore offer worse conditions than if the soldiers had had greater freedom of choice. Therefore, both officers and landowners unanimously claimed that it was not possible to find new soldiers to replace the old ones and that it was thus not possible to grant them a discharge. As a compensation, Frederik IV decided in 1726 that soldiers who had served for twelve years would receive higher pay. Less than a month after Frederik IV's death in 1730, all soldiers were discharged from military service when his successor Christian VI abolished the national militia (with the exception of the Oldenburg National Regiment, which is also not included in the above-mentioned sums).

Great Northern War

The task of the national militia during the war was to supply men to the navy and fortress garrisons. It was primarily the regiments on the islands that bore the heaviest burden for the naval service. The division of labour for the garrisons was such that the Jutland regiments were garrisoned in the Holstein fortresses and the Zealand regiments were garrisoned in Copenhagen and Helsingør. It was only the national dragoons that were intended to be used in the field armies, but nevertheless the national militia infantry came several times to contribute battalions from nearby fortresses to the field army in Scania and northern Germany, respectively, when necessary. In the final stages of the war, the national militia was also sent to Norway. However, the Oldenburg national regiment remained in its home province throughout the war.

Scanian Campaign 1709-1710

On 28 October 1709, Denmark declared war on Sweden, but already on 17 September parts of the national militia had been ordered to mobilise. One battalion each from the Ålborg and Århus national regiments were then ordered to march to Schleswig-Holstein together with the Jutland national dragoons to strengthen the southern border. One battalion each from Lolland and Funen together with three companies from the Ribe national regiment were ordered to the fleet. The Zealand-Funen national dragoons were to be part of the main army that was assembled on Zealand.

At the turn of October-November, the commander of the army in Holstein used his permission to order additional national militia battalions to reinforce the border defence if necessary. The national militia in Schleswig-Holstein thus became twelve battalions strong in December after a Lolland battalion and the remaining Jutland and Funen battalions arrived in batches. However, the situation at the southern border was considered to be calm and the cost of having the national militia in the field was high. The king therefore gave a counter-order at the end of December to send six battalions home. The six battalions that remained in Holstein then consisted of 2 Århus, 1 Ribe, 1 Ålborg. 1 Funen and 1 Viborg. At the end of January, however, the king ordered a Ribe battalion to return to Holstein, and when the army in Holstein was forced to hand over two enlisted regiments and the Jutland national dragoons to the main army in Scania in mid-February, they were replaced by one battalion each from Ålborg, Århus and Funen. Thus, there were ten national militia battalions in Holstein at the beginning of March 1710. However, the constant marches back and forth made it difficult to train the inexperienced men, and only the original six battalions were properly trained. The best men were also lost in April-May when a third were selected to fill gaps in the enlisted regiments after the Battle of Helsingborg.

In early November, the Zealand national regiments were mobilised and stationed in Copenhagen and Helsingør as garrison troops, while the Zealand-Funen national dragoons reinforced the field army in Scania in early December. However, at the end of December, one battalion from each infantry regiment was temporarily sent home to save money. At the beginning of 1710, 1 battalion of East Zealand was in Helsingør and the other three battalions in Copenhagen. The battalions that had been sent home were later recalled to service when the national militia infantry began to reinforce the army in Scania. One battalion each from the Zealand regiments crossed the strait in February and was part of the corps that blocked the Swedish fortresses in Malmö and Landskrona. These later withdrew to Helsingborg, where another battalion each from the Zealand regiments and a Lolland battalion arrived from Denmark. Of the five national militia battalions in Scania, four participated in the Battle of Helsingborg together with the Zealand-Funen National Dragoons. The remaining West Zealand battalion was garrisoned in Helsingborg during the battle. The Jutland National Dragoons, which had been ordered to reinforce the field army in Scania, did not get further than Zealand.

After the Scanian campaign had ended, the Zealand and Lolland battalions that had participated in the campaign were sent home, while the others were commandeered to the navy on 21 April, together with a Funen battalion and three Ribe companies. The strength in Holstein was reduced to seven battalions (1 Ålborg, 1 Viborg, 3 Århus, 2 Ribe, 2 Funen). Two Ålborg battalions and one Ribe company were garrisoned in Fredericia. The Langeland company (Funen Regiment) was garrisoned in Nyborg and Korsør. An Ålborg battalion was moved from Fredericia to Vendsyssel during the summer to defend the coast against Swedish raids. In September, two Funen battalions were moved to Fredericia in September, while the rest of the national militia in Holstein was sent home.

The national dragoons were also sent home after the Scanian campaign. But during their absence, the cavalry estates had hired new workers, so the dragoons lacked employment. The king therefore decided in December that they should be paid as if they were enlisted soldiers for as long as the war lasted, and they were also converted into cuirassiers. As early as October 1710, they had been drawn together on Zealand to protect the island against a possible Swedish landing.

German Campaigns 1711-1715

Concerns about raids by the Swedish navy meant that the national militia was mainly used to guard the coasts in early 1711. In April, 2 companies from East Zealand, 4 companies from Lolland and 6 companies each from Funen, Ålborg, Århus and Ribe were ordered to the fleet. Four Ribe companies that were originally intended for the field army and then Norway were commandeered to the navy during the summer. The remaining 2 Ribe companies were garrisoned in Rendsburg in Holstein together with 2 Ålborg companies. In Holstein, 2 companies from Århus were also stationed in Friedrichsort and 3 companies from Funen in Glückstadt. 3 companies from Funen were also stationed in Frederica in Jutland.

The Jutland national cuirassiers set out from their cantonments in central Zealand on 31 May 1711 to head to plague-stricken Helsingør, which was to be cordoned off. At the end of June they marched to Holstein, except for two companies that had been infected and were sent to Copenhagen after recovering. The cuirassiers were relieved at Helsingør by 6 companies from West Zealand, who were sent home in February 1712. The plague also broke out in Copenhagen in June, and the troops there were hit harder by the infection because the government was unwise enough to use them to bury the bodies in the plague cemetery. When the plague culminated in September, the garrison had been halved. Apart from the Jutland squadron, the national militia in Copenhagen also included a Zealand squadron. The infantry component consisted of 4 companies from Lolland, 5 companies from East Zealand (one of these companies was transferred to the navy) and 6 companies from West Zealand. The plague epidemic in Copenhagen did not end until March 1712.

A force consisting of 5 squadrons of Zealand-Funen National Cuirassiers and four companies each from Ålborg, Århus and Ribe was intended to be transferred to Norway but they did not get further than the city of Ålborg. Most of the force was sent to Haderslev in September and then to Funen in October and in November to Zealand. The Ålborg battalion and two Zealand squadrons were also sent to Zealand in November.

The national militia's contribution to the field army in northern Germany during the second half of 1711 consisted of the Jutland national cuirassiers and four companies each from Viborg and Århus. The national cuirassiers and the Viborg battalion were part of the corps that from August onwards blocked Wismar. The Århus battalion was first garrisoned in Rostock in August, joining the Wismar corps the following month and then returning to Rostock before joining the main army in Pomerania in October. In January 1712, the Danish army broke off its campaign and withdrew to Holstein where it wintered until June. During this period, the field army was reinforced by one battalion each from Ribe and Ålborg.

The 1712 naval contingent consisted of four companies from all infantry regiments. The remaining Zealand companies were garrisoned in Copenhagen together with 4 companies from Lolland, 3 companies from Funen and 2 companies each from Ålborg, Ribe and Århus. Of the remaining Funen companies, 4 were stationed in Fredericia and 1 each in Nyborg and Fladstrand. In Holstein, 2 Århus companies were stationed in Friedrichsort and 2 companies each from Ålborg and Ribe were garrisoned in Glückstadt.

The field army with four national militia battalions and the Jutland national cuirassiers invaded the Duchy of Bremen in July 1712, which was conquered after a siege of Stade in August. The field army then returned to Holstein in September and in October it attacked the free imperial city of Hamburg, which was pressured to pay 246,000 reichsthaler. To meet Magnus Stenbock's army, the Danes entered Mecklenburg in November. However, the Ribe and Ålborg battalions, which were in poor condition, were left behind in Holstein (Altona), so only the Viborg and Århus battalions and the Jutland national cuirassiers participated in the Battle of Gadebusch in December 1712. The Danish losses were extensive and the two national militia battalions, which before the battle had a strength of about 400 men each, were so weakened that Viborg counted 185 men and Århus 130 men after the battle. These could no longer be used by the field army and when Magnus Stenbock's army was later besieged in Tönning in the spring of 1713, only the national cuirassiers and the Ålborg Battalion were part of the siege army. After Stenbock's capitulation, the Ålborg Battalion was garrisoned in Rendsburg while the national cuirassiers remained in the field army.

While Magnus Stenbock's army in Tönning had surrendered in May 1713, the fortress itself was still held by the Holstein-Gottorp army and did not fall into Danish hands until early February 1714. After that, a long-term work began to demolish all the fortifications. The workforce consisted of 6 companies from Ålborg (arrived from Rendsburg in March) and 4 Ribe companies, who after completing the work were sent home in early July. Shortly after, ten national militia companies that had been stationed in Glückstadt were also sent home (2 Ribe, 4 Århus, 4 Viborg) and the next month, 2 Århus companies were also relieved in Friedrichsort. With this, the national militia's garrison service in Schleswig-Holstein was temporarily ended.

The part of the national militia that was stationed on Zealand (and available to naval service) consisted at the beginning of 1713 of the Zealand-Funen national cuirassiers, both Zealand national regiments on foot, 6 companies Ribe, 8 companies Lolland, 6 companies Århus and 7 companies Funen. Some of these were to serve on the navy while the rest were in garrison or guarding the coast. The national cuirassiers were transferred to Holstein during the summer of 1713 and in November 6 companies Ålborg arrived in Zealand. This force composition then remained unchanged until 1715.

In April 1715, the part of the Århus and Ribe regiments that had been sent home, received orders to go to Copenhagen and they arrived there just before they received counter-orders to go to Holstein instead together with the Viborg battalion. These 16 companies were used as a garrison troop in Rendsburg. Friedrichsort, Altona and Gottorp. The home-based part of the Ålborg regiment received orders the same month to relieve the 6 companies of the Funen regiment that were stationed in Fladstrand, Fredericia and Nyborg. Thus, there were 6 home-based Funen companies on Funen and 2 Ålborg companies in Nyborg while the remaining 4 Ålborg companies were stationed in the Jutland fortresses of Fredericia and Fladstrand. In mid-August, however, the entire Funen regiment was ordered to Copenhagen.

The only national militia units that participated in the campaigns in Germany in 1715 were the national cuirassiers. The Jutland national cuirassiers were part of the army that besieged Stralsund and that conquered Rügen in November, although they had not yet landed before the Battle of Stresow was fought. The Zealand-Funen national cuirassiers were part of the force that besieged Wismar.

Norwegian Campaigns 1716-1719

In January 1716, the Copenhagen garrison consisted of the entire national militia infantry from Zealand, Lolland-Falster and Funen and six companies each from Ålborg and Ribe (in addition, the Norwegian Bergenhus Regiment was included in it). In Helsingør, six companies from Århus were stationed. The other Jutland infantry companies were garrisoned in Holstein, Jutland and Funen as described above and the national cuirassiers were on campaign in Sweden's German possessions. Fear of a Swedish invasion, however, meant that a large part of the field army was transferred to Zealand and this made it possible to send home 7 companies from Funen and 4 companies from Lolland and to spread the Zealand companies out on the island. Outside Zealand, the national militia had been redistributed so that during the spring there were 6 companies from Ålborg in garrison on Funen, and 6 from Ribe, 6 from Århus and 4 from Viborg on Jutland.

Charles XII did not invade Zealand, however, but instead attacked Norway in the spring. To reinforce the Norwegian army, the four Jutland regiments were ordered to send a battalion each to Norway. However, the shipment was delayed and the battalions did not arrive until late May/June and did not have time to take any action against Charles XII, who called off the campaign a month later. However, two East Zealand companies serving on the navy participated in the Battle of Dynekilen.

The Zealand-Funen National Cuirassiers participated in the siege of Wismar until its fall in April 1716. After that, one squadron was stationed in Holstein and three in Pomerania. It was the only Danish cavalry unit that did not assemble in Zealand during the summer to participate in a planned invasion of Scania together with a Russian army. The Jutland National Cuirassiers, which had already been sent to Funen during the winter, were included in this force until the plans were shelved in October and the Russian army left Zealand. After that, the Danish army went into winter quarters, which for the Jutland National Cuirassiers was on Zealand. The national militia infantry on Zealand was also sent home. An East Zealand battalion had been stationed in Helsingør, while another battalion together with two West Zealand battalions and a Lolland battalion had been stationed in Copenhagen. A Funen company had been stationed in Korsør.

Although the campaign in Norway was over, the four Jutland battalions remained in Norway because Charles XII was expected to return. It was also decided to transfer three more Jutland and two Funen battalions as well as the Jutland National Cuirassiers to Norway. However, a violent storm resulted in the ships carrying 4 Ålborg companies and 2 Ribe companies being stranded on the Swedish coast in November. They were captured by the Swedes who refused to exchange them because Denmark was holding Stenbock's army captive in violation of the terms of the capitulation at Tönning. These national militiamen were not released until after the peace of 1720 and were not replaced by new conscripts until early 1718. Other ships were also hit by the storm and forced to return, but by January 1717 all the national militiamen who were not captured were in place in Norway. The Danish soldiers, however, were unaccustomed to the Norwegian climate and suffered from high levels of sickness during the winter. The Viborg Battalion in particular had so high casualties that it was disbanded, and its remaining men were distributed between Århus and Ribe. The Funen National Regiment also suffered high losses, while the national cuirassiers escaped relatively unscathed.

As Sweden showed no signs of an imminent campaign, the Jutland infantry regiments were sent home in June 1717, while the Funen National Regiment remained in Norway and participated in the unsuccessful attack on Strömstad the following month. In May 1718, the Funen Regiment was also sent home, and only the Jutland National Cuirassiers remained of the Danish land militia in Norway. The national cuirassiers would not return home until the peace of 1720.

In May 1718, 18 Jutland national militia companies were ordered to serve as garrison troops in Schleswig-Holstein after the regular enlisted regiments were sent to Oldenburg to assist with reconstruction after devastating floods. This was a task that would continue until 1720. The Zealand and Lolland national militias continued to supply men to the navy during the final stage of the war. The newly conscripted dragoon regiments were in their home districts during the same period together with the Zealand-Funen national cuirassiers.

In July 1719, one battalion each from Århus and Ålborg was transferred to the Norwegian field army in Strömstad and subsequently participated in the Bohuslän campaign together with the Jutland national cuirassiers. In addition, the East Zealand men serving in the navy participated in the conquest of Marstrand. The campaign was interrupted already in early August and the Danish national militia units were sent home to Denmark never to be used in war again.

Uniforms & Equipment in General

National militia infantrymen depicted in 1704-1706 on a plaster relief on the ceiling of Rosenborg Castle's Knights' Hall

When the national militia was raised in 1701, each recruit was ordered to obtain his own piecoat for protection against rain and cold "which should be cut in the right way and have the same colours as the regiments were distinguished by". But the regular coat was to be provided by the crown, while the regulation did not mention anything about the rest of the uniform. However, the recruits could not afford to purchase piecoats, and these and the small clothes were paid for by their lægder against deductions from the soldiers' salaries. The problem with this procedure became apparent during the muster in 1702, when the uniforms lacked uniformity. The crown had also not yet delivered the promised coats because there was a lack of money for this. However, the worst shortcomings with their armament had been addressed. In 1701, there had been a great shortage of muskets and bayonets, and only 900 muskets per regiment were issued. In addition, no shooting exercises were held. But by the beginning of 1702, most had received their weapons and associated equipment. For example, the Crown had purchased large quantities of waist belts and bandoleers made of yellow ox leather from Sweden. These had brass buckles and sewn-on sword scabbards. However, it was not until the summer of 1704 that the equipment of the national militia was complete.

National militia soldier from Ålborg Regiment depicted by Worgewitz in 1728. Note that the sword has an iron hilt, even though the current m/1710 stipulated that swords should have a brass hilt. The national militia were given the old weapons of the enlisted regiments when these received new equipment.

A source from 1702 states that Funen National Regiment had hats with red lace and cockade. Since red was the regimental colour of Funen, it is possible that the other regiments also had lace and cockades in the regimental colour at this time. But in that case, it was something that the regiments paid for without the involvement of the Crown. In 1705, the General Commissariat objected to a royal proposal to procure cockades and hair pouches, which were items they considered unnecessary. On the other hand, gloves, knee straps as well as knee and shoe buckles were deemed necessary but something the soldiers themselves should procure. The following year, however, the king approved that the hats should be provided with cockades and it is noted that some regiments already had such. In addition, funds were also granted for gloves, shoe buckles and powder horns. The colour of the cockades was later, at least, standardised to black and the colour of the hat lace became the same as the button colour.

According to the uniform regulation from 1704, the grenadiers' cartridge boxes were to be provided with brass plates with the provincial coat of arms and the name of the diocese. The front of the grenadier caps was to be embroidered with the same motif. A source from 1708 states that Ålborg National Regiment had grenadier caps made of fur.

The uniform regulations of 1705 introduced a new type of coat called a surtout. No waistcoat was issued, and the soldiers continued to have to obtain this themselves. The waistcoats probably therefore did not have a uniform appearance, which could explain why the national militia soldiers were always depicted with buttoned coats, unlike the enlisted soldiers. However, breeches made of broadcloth, hat, shoes, stockings, neckcloth and waist belt were now issued to them in the same way as to the enlisted regiments.

After the Battle of Helsingborg, new conscriptions were held to replace the losses. In connection with this, it was decided that the soldiers would be provided with a grey vadmal coat, waistcoat, leather breeches, stockings and shoes with buckles.

Torstein Snorrason notes that it was decided on 12 April 1712 that the national militia would keep grey breeches and stockings in the same colours as before. The new uniform regulation regarding the colours of these garments would not be applied until it was time to issue new coats.

In April 1713, all the national regiments were told that they would have to wear the old light grey uniform for another campaign season. This was despite the decision from October 1711 that the entire army would switch to red coats. As a last resort, they could have their coats turned (this probably meant that the coats were split open and then re-sewn so that the old insides of the broadcloth and lining became the new outsides). Fabric samples for the new cuffs and collars for the red uniform were approved in May 1713, and the new uniforms were then issued to the national militia in 1713-1714.

According to the uniform regulations from 1723, the national militia was to wear red breeches and stockings. In addition, new small clothes were to be issued every four years instead of every six years as before.

Officer of the national dragoons, depicted 1704-1706 on a plaster relief on the ceiling of the Knights' Hall at Rosenborg Castle

Private national dragoon, depicted 1704-1706 on the plaster relief in the Knights' Hall of Rosenborg Castle

INFANTRY

East Zealand
(Østsjællandske, renamed in 1717 to Nordsjællandske)

The regiment was recruited in the counties of Kronborg, Hørsholm, Frederiksborg, Copenhagen, Jægerspris, Roskilde and Tryggevælde, as well as part of Holbæk. The first conscription was completed on 21 June 1701. The twelve companies were named after districts (herred) and their size varied from 165 (Smørum herred) to 192 men (Horn herred). After the company size gradually decreased during the Great Northern War, in 1717 there was a reorganisation of the national militia on Zealand, whose national militia infantry was reduced from 24 to 16 companies, each with 100 men. Twelve of these companies formed a reconstituted East Zealand Regiment, which was renamed the North Zealand Regiment.

1701-1713	1714-1716	m/1716
Light grey coat with brass buttons, and lining and cuffs in "de Bourgogne" (dark red/burgundy).	Red coat with brass buttons and light blue lining. Striped cuffs (red-white-light blue).	Same as before but with red waistcoat and red leg clothes.

In May 1713, samples of new cuffs and collars of wool for the national militia's m/1711 uniforms were approved. However, the two Zealand regiments had already ordered cuffs and collars of plush and were given permission to use these.

Skjold Petersen stated in his book from 2005 that the waistcoat and leg clothes were light blue in 1714-1716, but in the book from 2014 this information has been removed. In the same way, he has removed the following information from the first book (unreliable information from Worgewitz and others?):

1728: Light blue cuffs and collar. On the cuffs two light red stripes, each surrounded by two white ones. On the collar only one such set of three-coloured stripes.
1730: Light blue cuffs and collar. On the cuffs: two red, two white and one light blue stripe. On the collar a white stripe. White buttonholes.

Great Northern War

East Zealand Regiment was used almost exclusively as garrison troops on Zealand and for naval service. The only exception was in February 1710 when two battalions were transferred to Scania and participated in the Battle of Helsingborg. There they suffered losses of about 300 men in dead and wounded and a further 63 men who were taken prisoner.

According to Vaupell, two companies are said to have distinguished themselves in the Battle of Dynekilen, the conquest of Marstrand and the attack on Gamla Älvsborg.

West Zealand
(Vestsjællandske, renamed in 1717 to Sydsjællandske)

In addition to Zealand itself, West Zealand Regiment was also recruited on Møn (135 men). The islands of Samsø, Sejrø, Nexelø, Agersø, Omø and Bogø, among others, were actually supposed to contribute 83 men, but the distances made it more practical for their recruits to serve in the navy instead. The company size originally varied from 164 (Ods herred) to 204 men (Bårse herard). Gradually, the size was reduced to 100 men per company and in 1717, an extensive reorganisation of the national militia on Zealand was carried out, which reduced West Zealand to four companies. It was then united with eight companies from Lolland-Falster and one from Langeland to form the South Zealand Regiment. Another reorganisation in 1724 reduced the regiment by one company and changed the geographical distribution to: 6 companies from Zealand, 1 from Møn, 4 from Lolland-Falster and 1 from Langeland.

1701-1712	1714-1722	Lolland Battalion 1722-1730	Zealand Batalion 1722-1730
Light grey coat with brass buttons. Aurora-coloured lining and cuffs. The piecoat had blue cuffs in 1701.	Red coat with brass buttons and Aurora-coloured lining. The cuffs were striped in Aurora-white-red.	Red coat with brass buttons and aurora-coloured lining. The cuffs were striped in green-paille-red as well as red waistcoat and red breeches. Black neckcloth. First issued yellow hat lace but soon changed to white.	Red coat with brass buttons and paille-coloured lining. Green-paille-red striped cuffs, red waistcoat and red breeches. White hat lace and a neckcloth that was not black.

The information that the conscripted soldiers were to acquire a grey piecoat with blue cuffs in 1701 may indicate that the regiment was originally intended to have blue facings and that it was later changed to aurora. However, Skjold Petersen has written on the contrary in his first book from 2005 that the cuff colour of the regular coat was at some point changed from aurora to blue and then became aurora again in 1712. He supports this with a reference to Tøjhus accounts, but in the book from 2014 he has removed that information. In his first book he had also stated that the regiment wore grey coats until 1714 but that the striped collars were introduced as early as 1712. In the new book this is also gone and he has left the year 1713 blank in his table of uniform colours. He has also removed text that the regiment had collars in feuille morte "1716-?".

In May 1713, samples of new woollen cuffs and collars for the national militia were approved. However, the two Zealand regiments had already ordered plush cuffs and collars and were given permission to use them.

When the regiment was reorganised in 1717, the majority of the men came from the disbanded Viborg-Lolland regiment and they probably still wore their old uniforms. The uniform that was issued in 1722 had the colours of the former Viborg-Lolland Regiment.

South Zealand Regiment was issued new uniforms in 1722 and was then actually supposed to have paille-coloured lining. However, there was a larger quantity of aurora-coloured baize available and in order to avoid wasting it, the two battalions were given different lining colours. The Zealand battalion got paille as their lining colour and the Lolland battalion got aurora-coloured lining. However, in addition to the different lining colour, the Lolland battalion also received yellow hat lace and black neckcloths. The colonel complained about the lack of uniformity and the king approved the expense of replacing the yellow hat lace with a white one, but the lining and neckcloths were left as they were.

For the year 1728, there is again information in Skjold Petersen's book from 2005 that has been omitted in his book from 2015. I suspect that it comes from a drawing by Worgewitz that he has judged to be unreliable. It is a uniform that consists of cuffs and collar in paille with two dark green stripes and a light red one in the middle on the cuffs and a dark green and a light green stripe on the collar. White buttonholes on the coat.

Great Northern War

West Zealand and later South Zealand regiments were used almost exclusively for naval service and as garrison troops on Zealand. The only exception was in February 1710 when two West Zealand battalions were transferred to Scania. One battalion participated in the Battle of Helsingborg while the other was garrisoned in Helsingborg. West Zealand's casualties in the battle consisted of about 300 men killed and wounded and a further 119 men who were taken prisoner.

Viborg-Lolland
(disbanded in 1717)

This regiment was recruited in two different parts of the country and in practice functioned as two separate units with a common colonel. The first conscriptions were completed in August 1701 when the regiment consisted of eight companies on Lolland-Falster (1,325 men) and four companies in the Viborg diocese (550 men). The colonel's company was located on Lolland and this island recruited a total of 901 men. Falster recruited 386 men while a further 38 men were recruited from the smaller islands of Fejø, Femø, Askø north of Lolland-Falster.

The size of the Lolland-Falster companies varied from 149 men (Falster's North Herred) to 182 men (Lolland's North Herred). On 3 April 1711, the size was reduced to 120 men for all companies of the regiment and two years later the Lolland-Falster company sizes were further reduced to 100 men. In 1717, the regiment was disbanded in such a way that the Viborg part was divided between the Århus and Ribe regiments while the Lolland-Falster companies were united with four West Zealand companies to form the South Zealand regiment (see above).

In the book from 2005, Karsten Skjold Petersen wrote the following about the cuffs: "1714-1716 Paille yellow?" and stated "-1717" for the three-colour cuffs above. However, in the book from 2014, he stated the period as "1714-1717" for the three-color cuffs.

Great Northern War

During the war, the Lolland-Falster companies were used extensively for naval service and as garrison troops in Copenhagen. The only time they participated in a campaign was in February 1710 when a Lolland battalion was transferred to Scania and fought in the Battle of Helsingborg. About 200 men were killed or wounded in the battle and another 9 men were taken prisoner.

The Viborg battalion was mainly used for garrison duty in Holstein. It participated in the campaigns in Germany in 1711-1712 and was then part of the force that blockaded Wismar in 1711 and conquered Bremen-Verden in 1712. It fought in the Battle of Gadebusch and suffered such heavy losses that only 185 men remained out of an original force of about 400 men. However, 149 exchanged prisoners from Wismar were returned in May 1713. The battalion was transferred to Norway in 1716 but did not participate in any battles. However, the battalion was so severely decimated by disease that it was disbanded in 1717 and its men were transferred to other Jutland battalions.

Funen
(Fynske)

The first conscription for the Funen National Regiment was completed on 12 September 1701. The regiment consisted of twelve companies from Funen with a total of 1,829 men (which was soon reduced to 1,815 men) and one company from Langeland with 195 men. The latter company was transferred to the South Zealand Regiment in 1717 and at the same time the size was reduced to 100 men for all companies (it had already been reduced to 120 men in 1711).

The information from 1702 comes from the English envoy Vrigny who witnessed a muster. He also mentioned that only one colour per battalion was issued. But this is probably a misunderstanding since the whole regiment was supposed to have only one colour.

Karsten Skjold Petersen wrote in the 2004 book that the lining and leg clothes were green in the years 1712-1717 and that the coat was grey until 1714. However, he removed this overlap between two uniform models in the 2014 book where he has no information at all about what the uniform looked like in 1713.

I have depicted the middle uniform in dark green to match a fabric sample from 1713, while the m/1716 uniform has been given a light green colour because a plate from 1716 shows its cuffs with a light shade.

In the earlier book, Skjold Petersen also had information about the appearance of the uniform in 1728-1730, which he removed in the later book. It probably came from a Worgewitz drawing that he later judged to be unreliable. This was a description of a uniform with dark green cuffs and a collar with two white stripes on the cuffs and a white stripe on the collar.

Great Northern War

During the war, Funen National Regiment was used for garrison duty in several different places in Denmark and Holstein. It was also used extensively for naval service. However, it never participated in any campaign, although two battalions were transferred to Norway at the end of 1716 and did not return until May 1718.

According to Vaupell, Funen National Regiment participated in Tordenskjold's attacks on Gothenburg and Strömstad.

Ålborg
(Ålborgske)

The regiment recruited eight of its companies in the diocese of Ålborg and four companies in the diocese of Viborg. The conscription of 1,318 men in the diocese of Ålborg was completed on 29 July 1701 and on 31 August the conscription of 520 men was completed in the part of Ålborg County that was in the diocese of Viborg. The size of the companies was reduced in 1711 to 120 men and in 1717 to 100 men.

Great Northern War

During the Scanian campaign of 1709-1710, at least one battalion was stationed in Holstein at all times, and for a short time all three were there. After the campaign, one battalion remained in Holstein while the other two were stationed in Jutland. During 1711, half the regiment served in the navy, while two companies were garrisoned in Holstein. The other four companies were originally intended to be transferred to Norway, but were instead stationed in Copenhagen at the end of the year, where two of them remained during the following year. Of the rest of the regiment, two companies were stationed in Holstein in 1712, four companies were ordered to serve in the navy in 1712, and four companies were part of the field army that conquered Bremen-Verden. The Ålborg battalion was in poor condition after the campaign and was left behind in Holstein when the army fought the Battle of Gadebusch. It did, however, participate in the siege of Tönning in 1713, after which it was again garrisoned in Holstein. All six companies stationed in Holstein were used as labour in March-July 1714 when the Tönning fortifications were to be demolished, and after the work was completed, they were returned to their home district. From November 1713, the other six companies were stationed in Copenhagen, where they remained until 1716 and were available for naval service.

Rockstroh has summarized the time the regiment was in service during the latter part of the war as follows. One battalion (six companies) was permanently mobilised in the years 1713-1716, in the home district in 1717-1718 and then mobilised for a short time in 1719. The second battalion (six companies) was also mobilised throughout 1713 and then contributed two or four companies each year until the end of the war.

An Ålborg battalion was transferred to Norway in the early summer of 1716 and another battalion was supposed to join in November, but their ship ran aground on the Swedish coast where they were captured. The Swedes refused to exchange them due to a dispute over the terms of surrender in Tönning in 1713. The Ålborg soldiers therefore remained in Swedish captivity for the rest of the war and these four companies were only replaced in 1718 by a new conscription. Meanwhile, the other Ålborg companies had been sent home in June 1717. One battalion was sent to Holstein in May 1718 for garrison duty and remained there for the rest of the war. The second battalion participated in the campaign in Bohuslän in the summer of 1719, which ended Denmark's participation in the war.

Århus
(Århusiske)

The Århus Regiment, with 12 companies, was recruited entirely in the Århus diocese. The first conscription was completed on 19 August 1701. However, out of 1,876 lægder, 407 were still vacant and had to be supplemented later with recruits from more populous lægder. The company size was first reduced to 120 men in 1711 and then to 100 men in 1717. Despite the reduction in the regiment's size in 1717, its recruiting district was expanded by taking over part of the Viborg diocese from the disbanded Viborg-Lolland regiment.

1701-1712	1714-1716	m/1716	1728
Light grey coat with brass buttons, and dark blue cuffs and lining.	Red coat with brass buttons, blue lining and striped cuffs (blue-black-red). Blue leg clothes since at least 1715.	Same as before but with red vest and red leg clothes.	Worgewits depicted the regiment with light blue cuffs and collar with two and one white stripe respectively. White buttons, buttonholes, hat lace and cockade.

Also for Århus, Skjold Petersen in his 2005 book stated that grey coats were worn until 1714 but that the striped m/1711 cuffs were introduced as early as 1712. In the 2014 book, he has removed this information about overlapping uniform models and thus has no information at all about what the uniform looked like in 1713.	Drawing by Worgewitz from 1728 depicting an Århus soldier.
Fabric sample for Århus's lapels and collar from 1713.

Great Northern War

At the outbreak of war in 1709, the entire Århus regiment was garrisoned in Holstein. From April 1711 onwards, half of the regiment was commanded to the navy. In the following years, these companies served either in the navy or in Zealand garrisons.

Of the other half, two companies continued to do garrison duty in Holstein, while the other four companies were part of the field army and participated in the autumn campaign in Mecklenburg and Pomerania in 1711. In August 1712 they took part in the capture of Bremen-Verden and in December they suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Gadebusch. Of a force of about 400 men, only 130 men remained after the battle. These were then garrisoned in Holstein. In May 1713, as part of a prisoner exchange, 113 soldiers returned from captivity in Wismar. The Holstein half of the regiment was sent home in the summer of 1714 but returned the following year and was transferred to Jutland in the spring of 1716.

A battalion was transferred to Norway in the early summer of 1716 and another battalion was shipped over at the end of the year. Both battalions returned home in June 1717. A battalion was sent to Holstein in May 1718 for garrison duty and remained there for the rest of the war. The second battalion participated in the campaign in Bohuslän in the summer of 1719 which ended Denmark's participation in the war.

Ribe
(Riberske)

The first conscription in the Ribe diocese was completed on 20 June 1701. However, the diocese could only be divided into 1,450 lægder, and 361 of them were vacant in September 1701. In order to achieve a full strength of 1,800 men, the regiment was also allowed to recruit in the counties of Stjernholm and Skanderborg in the diocese of Århus. The problem of the vacant lægder was solved by allowing them to recruit from more populous lægder. The size of the twelve companies was first reduced to 120 men in 1711 and then to 100 men in 1717. Despite the reduction in the size of the regiment in 1717, its recruiting district was expanded by taking over part of the Viborg diocese from the disbanded Viborg-Lolland regiment.

For Ribe, Skjold Petersen also stated in his 2005 book that grey coats were worn until 1714, but that the striped m/1711 cuffs were introduced as early as 1712. In the 2014 book, he removed this information about overlapping uniform models and thus has no information at all about what the uniform looked like in 1713.

As for the cuffs for the m/1716 uniform, I have followed the appearance in the plate from 1716. However, Daniel Schorr has a different order of the stripes. I have interpreted Skjold Petersen and Höglund as describing the order of the plate and not Schorr's. The plate also shows that the blue colour was a light shade.

M/1716 cuffs according to Daniel Schorr

Further information that Skjold Petersen had in his old book, but not the new one, is that the cuffs, collar and lining in 1728-1730 were "blommefarvet" (bleumerant?) with two light blue stripes on the cuffs and one on the collar. In addition, the coat was stated to have red buttonholes. I suspect that this is taken from a Worgewitz drawing that Skjold Petersen may have judged to be unreliable in retrospect.

Great Northern War

Already at the outbreak of war in 1709, part of Ribe Regiment was ordered to serve in the navy while the main part was sent to Holstein. In the following years, half of the regiment would serve in the navy or be garrisoned in Zealand while the other half was in Schleswig-Holstein and neighbouring areas. In 1711, however, as many as 10 companies served in the navy and only two were in Holstein.

In 1712, a Ribe battalion was part of the field army and participated in the conquest of Bremen-Verden during the summer. Since the battalion was in poor condition, it was subsequently left in Holstein and did not participate in the campaign against Stenbock's army. After the fall of Tönning, four Ribe companies were used as labour to demolish its fortifications in March-July 1714.

A Ribe battalion was transferred to Norway in the early summer of 1716 and another battalion was supposed to join in November. However, the ships carrying two of these companies ran aground on the Swedish coast and were captured. The Swedes refused to exchange them due to a dispute over the terms of the surrender in Tönning in 1713. They therefore remained prisoners of war until the peace of 1720 and the companies were not replaced until 1718 by a new conscription. In the meantime, the other Ribe companies had been sent home in June 1717. A battalion was sent to Holstein in May 1718 for garrison duty and remained there for the rest of the war.

Oldenburg
(Oldenborgske)

Oldenburg National Regiment was raised in 1704 and consisted of eight companies with a total of 1,222 men. At some point it was reduced to six companies, according to Tuxen as a result of the mortgage of Delmenhorst etc. (summer 1711?). But Tuxen also has information from the turn of the year 1712-1713 that it had eight companies. According to the admittedly unreliable Vaupell, the regiment was six companies strong from the beginning and became eight companies strong from 1710. From 1734, according to him, it consisted of twelve companies and from 1754 until the regiment's dissolution in 1764 it is said to have had six companies.

It is also unclear to me whether the regiment was affected by the reductions in company size that were implemented for the Danish regiments. Oldenburg was exempted from supplying recruits to the enlisted regiments in 1710 and does not seem to have been deployed outside its home province.

Great Northern War

Oldenburg National Regiment does not seem to have left its home province during the entire war. It was also only periodically ordered to perform garrison duty when no enlisted regiments were available. Vaupell relates that the soldiers in this regiment often obtained sick leave through bribes to avoid service, which was encouraged by their proprietors (landowners) who wanted them to remain in their home district the work the land. This abuse is said to have resulted in companies that were mobilised lacking three-quarters of their strength. To address this problem, a strict purge of the officer corps was carried out in 1717.

CAVALRY

Zealand-Funen
(Sjælland-Fynske)

Raised in 1704 as a nine-company national dragoon regiment (1,252 privates) formed into three squadrons. One recruited in western Zealand, the second in central and southern Zealand, the third squadron on Funen. In December 1709, the regiment had to give 221 men to the Hungarian Dragoon Regiment and was reorganised into a twelve-company regiment consisting of 1,010 combatants. It was converted into a cuirassier regiment on 9 March 1711 and, like the rest of the cavalry, it was reorganised in 1713 so that it consisted of only eight companies. The four redundant companies were then transferred to the First Zealand Cavalry Regiment ("1. Sjællandske"). The Zealand-Funen National Cuirassier Regiment was disbanded in 1721 when the army was reduced to a peacetime size.

1704	1707
		m/1711 & m/1716
Light grey "vadmal" coat with blue lining and cuffs. Leather waistcoat and leather trousers. Hat with lace. According to Snorrason, the shabraques seem to have been red.	The national dragoons were to have a blue coat with cuffs and collar in the regimental colour. Yellow buttons and edged buttonholes. Hat with lace and black cockade. White neckcloth, blue cloak and leather breeches. A Swedish spy report from 1709 states "blue coats and cloaks, as well as white cuffs and collars".	Red coat with light green lining and light green and red cuffs. Converted to a cuirassier regiment on 9 March 1711. The uniform regulation of 24 October 1711 states that the regiment already had the m/1711 uniform. It may therefore have been issued when the regiment was converted to cuirassiers. Known occasions when the regiment received new uniforms are 1704 and 1720.

Great Northern War

Participated in the Scanian campaign from December 1709, and with their blue coats they confused the Swedes on more than one occasion. In the Battle of Helsingborg, about 200 men were killed or wounded. The colonel was among the killed. 4 men were taken prisoner and the Swedes also captured the regiment's colonel's standard.

In 1711, five squadrons marched to Ålborg from where they were to be transported to Norway. But the transport was cancelled and they returned to Zealand where they remained until 1715. During the campaign in Germany 1715-1716 it was part of the force that besieged Wismar. It was then stationed on Zealand for the rest of the war.

Jutland
(Jyske)

Raised in 1704 as a nine-company national dragoon regiment (1,135 privates). In December 1709, the regiment had to give 135 men to the Hungarian Dragoon Regiment and was reorganised into a twelve-company regiment consisting of 1,010 combatants. It was converted to a cuirassier regiment on 15 December 1710 and, like the rest of the cavalry, was reorganised in 1713 so that it consisted of only eight companies. The surplus men were then transferred to other cavalry regiments. Jutland National Cuirassier Regiment was disbanded in 1721 when the army was reduced to a peacetime size.

1704	1707
		m/1711 & m/1716
Light grey "vadmal" coat with red cuffs. Leather waistcoat and leather trousers. Hat with lace. According to Snorrason, the shabraques seems to have been blue.	The national dragoons were to have a blue coat with cuffs and collar in the regimental colour. Yellow buttons and edged buttonholes. Hat with lace and black cockade. White neckcloth, blue cloak and leather breeches.	Red coat with light blue lining and light blue and black cuffs. Received new hats with silver lace when it was converted to a cuirassier regiment on 15 December 1710. Known occasions when the regiment received new uniforms are 1704 and 1719.

Great Northern War

Shortly before the outbreak of war in 1709, the Jutland National Dragoons were transferred to Holstein to defend Denmark's southern border. They were later ordered to reinforce the main army in Scania but did not get further than Zealand before the campaign was over. They remained in Zealand and were used in June 1711 to blockade plague-infected Helingør, where one of the squadrons then became infected itself. The five healthy squadrons were sent to Holstein to participate in the autumn campaign of 1711. In connection with the blockade of Wismar, they won a major victory over the Swedish garrison that had tried to attack them. The entire regiment participated in the following year's campaign in Bremen-Verden and fought in the Battle of Gadebusch. It was also part of the siege corps at Tönning in 1713. Later, the regiment participated in the Pomeranian campaign of 1715 and was part of the force that conquered Rügen in November. However, they had not had time to land before the Battle of Stresow was fought. They were then stationed in Zealand and were to be part of the Russian-Danish army that was supposed to invade Scania in the autumn of 1716, but the operation was cancelled. They were then transferred to Norway and took part in the campaign against Charles XII in 1718 and the invasion of Bohuslän in 1719 before returning home.

The regiment had fewer casualties compared to the infantry. Of the 1,045 private Jutland dragoons that went on campaign in 1709, 600 men were still serving in 1717.

National Dragoons Raised in 1717

Three national dragoon regiments that were not mounted until 1723 and each consisted of eight companies of 100 men (reduced to 75 privates in 1719 and increased to 88 privates not later than 1722). Four companies in the West Zealand regiment were recruited on Lolland-Falster and two companies in the Jutland-Funen regiment were recruited on Funen.

Unless otherwise stated, the uniform information comes from Karsten Skjold Petersen's book from 2014. Höglund's information is identical to that found in Otto Vaupell's book (although no year is given).

According to a regulation from January 1718, the dragoons would henceforth only wear single-breasted coats. They would also replace the leather waistcoat by sewing the old coat into a waistcoat from then on. The newly raised national dragoons, however, seem to have received leather waistcoats when the first uniform was issued. Because just a month after the regulation was established, it was decided that East Zealand would wear leather waistcoats. A new regulation from 1721 only mentions the lace and not the cockade on the hat, which may indicate that it had been abolished.

Depictions of the national dragoons' coats from 1730 reveal that they had shoulder cords similar to the life dragoons. One of these images is visible on the right and it should also be the one that Skjold Petersen described in the 2005 book when he stated that the cuffs had black and white stripes. In the 2014 book, only the black is mentioned as a stripe while the white is described as a "sleif". My image above follows the appearance that the "sleifs" on Danish cuffs had in plate from 1716. Skjold Petersen has also mentioned in his books that the uniform images from 1728-1730 do not always correspond to how they looked in reality.

Great Northern War

The regiments never left their home districts and therefore did not participate in the Great Northern War.

Colonels

Colours and Standards

Although it was normal in the Danish army for each battalion to have its own colour, the national militia infantry only received one colour per regiment. This was to save money because the national militia was not intended to be used in battle and therefore only needed colours for the soldiers to swear their oath of allegiance. The exception was the Viborg-Lolland regiment, which received two colours because it was recruited in two different parts of the country. The English envoy Vrigny, who witnessed a muster of the Funen National Regiment in 1702, wrote that it had one colour per battalion, but this was probably a misunderstanding.

Virtually nothing is known about the appearance of the national militia infantry colours. The only information that Höglund has is that the Oldenburg regiment was to have colours with the king's monogram. He also describes two drawings of colours that lack regimental affiliation. One has an angel in a cloud blowing a trumpet with the motto "Forfecter Land og Cronen, Saa blaeses i Basunen". The other has an angel in a cloud, armed with a helmet and sword with the motto "Uden Schold og Waaben intet Land, Bestandig Fred erholde Kand".

Vaupell claims that the national militia's colours consisted of the "Dannebrogen" (= flag of Denmark), but this is a claim that, according to Höglund, has been questioned by later historians. The Danish national militia that was formed in 1801 did indeed have Dannebrogen colours, but judging from the better-known colours and standards of the mounted national militia units, it seems more likely that Frederik IV's national militia had provincial symbols as motifs. However, the colours below, which is in the Swedish Army Museum's collections, may have been carried by a national militia battalion.

Drawing by Jonas Jonsson depicting AM.080078

The colour above is white and the motif depicts the Norwegian national coat of arms, an axe-bearing lion which in this case also holds three hammers and a pair of pliers. The lion is surrounded by a silver-coloured laurel wreath with a brown outline and red berries. Below the lion is a motto that originally had the text "EX DURIS GLORIA". What makes this a possible colour for a Danish national militia regiment is that its pole has a paper label from the 19th century that contains the text "Nr 2 ...Stenbock vid H...1710". Since no Norwegian regiment participated in the Battle of Helsingborg, this should have been a repurposed colour carried by a Danish regiment, if the label is correct. The most likely candidate would then be the East Zealand Regiment which participated in the battle with two battalions, but which only had one regular colour. They possibly received a repurposed Norwegian flag colour from a storage when they were sent across the strait in February 1710 to reinforce the army in Scania. But if the national militia received old colours already when it was raised in 1701, it may also have been carried by the West Zealand or Lolland regiments that contributed a battalion each to the battle.

Colonel's colour of Zealand-Funen National Dragoons that was in use 1704-1710 – AM.080245

One national militia unit that definitely lost a colour in the Battle of Helsingborg was the Zealand-Funen National Dragoons. Their colonel's colour that can be seen in the photo above, is preserved in the Swedish Army Museum's collections. According to Höglund/Sallnäs, the company colours would have been red but with the same motif. However, in both the text and the image, they have indicated a silver-coloured wyvern under the shield. The preserved flag, however, has a green dragon under the shield (wyverns are depicted with two legs and dragons with four legs). The text reads at the top "PRO REGE ET PATRIA" (For King and Fatherland) and at the bottom "ANNO. VINCERE AUT MORI. 1704" (Year. Win or die. 1704).

When the national dragoon regiments were formed in 1704, they only had three ensigns each, so they should only have been assigned three colours each. Shortly before the outbreak of war in 1709, all companies were to have ensigns and in December the national dragoon regiments were reorganised from nine companies to twelve companies. Whether all companies had been issued colours before the Scanian campaign ended is, however, something that I do not know. In any case, all the colours must have been replaced when both regiments were reorganised into national cuirassiers in the winter of 1710-1711, and instead received the following cavalry standards.

The company standards of the national cuirassiers interpreted by Höglund/Sallnäs

Note that Höglund/Sallnäs has once again depicted the Zealand-Funen cavalry standards with a silver-coloured wyvern, and I do not know if it is correct this time. The fact that the lions are silver instead of blue is an odd detail that is not mentioned in the text (the dragoon colour was, however, depicted with blue lions in Höglund/Sallnäs' book). The text of the company standard is identical to the previous colonel's standard except that the year is not stated. It was normal for each standard/colour to have its own motto.

According to Höglund/Sallnäs, the Jutland dragoon colours are unknown, but it is quite reasonable that they resembled the cuirassier standard in the same way that the Zealand-Funen dragoon colours and cavalry standards resembled each other. The text on the white colonel's standard of Jutland was "FOR KONGENS ÆRE OG HANS LAND FEGT RÆDELIGT DU DANSKE MAND". The company standard had the following known mottos "FOR DANNERKONGEN GØD JEG WOFVER LIF OG BLØD" and "TAPPER OG RETFÆRDIG WÆRE GIFWER SEYER OG FØR TIL Æ". I have reproduced the mottos in Danish letters, but in Höglund/Sallnäs's text and picture they have written AE and OE instead of Æ and Ø.

Regarding the national dragoon regiments that were formed in 1717, Höglund/Sallnäs states that only the colours of the West Zealand national dragoons are known. The colonel's colour and at least one company colour are said to have been handed over to the Norwegian Nordenfjeldske Dragoon Regiment as early as 1718/19. However, I have not been able to find these colours in the Norwegian Digitalt museum. However, I have found a colonel's colour and a company colour that originally belonged to the East Zealand National Dragoons and which, after the abolition of the National Militia, were issued to the Second Søndenfjeldske Dragoon Regiment in 1731. A similar company colour that is supposed to have been issued to the First Søndenfjeldske Dragoon Regiment also appears to be from the same set (the text on its page in Digital Museum, however, contains very little information). Daniel Schorr states that the Nordenfjeldske Dragoon Regiment received surplus colours from the Second Søndenfjeldske in 1719 when the number of colours was reduced from one per company to one per squadron. I suspect that Höglund/Sallnäs has confused the regiments and two separate events where dragoon colours changed hands. It is not reasonable that Nordenfjeldske received repurposed colours from two different regiments in 1719. Höglund/Sallnäs' descriptions of West Zealand's colour are, however, not identical to the photographs of East Zealand's former colours.

Black and white photos of a white colonel's colour (FMU.006094) and a red company colour (FMU.006092) carried by East Zealand National Dragoon Regiment 1718-1730 and then by Second Søndenfjeldske Dragoon Regiment

The colours have Christian VI's monogram in the swallow tails instead of Frederik IV's, so they were obviously modified when they were transferred to Norway in 1731. The motif is the same on both the colours above and on the colour below that was issued to the First Søndenfjeldske Dragoon Regiment. The only difference is the motto and the small symbol above the motto. The colonel's colour has the text "Jeg Er Veiviseren" under a twelve-pointed star. The company colour above has the text "Frimodighet og styrke" under an elephant. The company colour below has not been described as clearly by Digitalt museum and I have not been able to decipher either the text or the symbols above it. All colours have silver fringes.

Black and white photo of a red company colour (FMU.000047) that I assume was carried by the East Zealand National Dragoons 1718-1730 before they were issued to the First Søndenfjeldske Dragoon Regiment.

Correct West Zealand or misidentified East Zealand colours interpreted by Höglund/Sallnäs?

The mottos that Höglund/Sallnäs describes for their West Zealand colours are completely different from that of the East Zealand colours. The colonel's colour has the text "D'ETRE FIDELLE A MON DIEU ET MON ROY" while the company colour has "PLUS TOUT MOURIR QUE MANQUER A MON DEVOIR".

Höglund, Lars-Eric – Sallnäs, Åke. Stora nordiska kriget 1700-1721, II. Karlstad (2003)
Rockstroh, K. C. Udviklingen af den nationale Hær i Danmark i det 17. og 18. Aarhundrade. Copenhagen (1909-1926)
Schorr, Daniel. Danish-Norwegian uniforms 1709-1720. *
Schorr, Daniel. Notes on the Norwegian Army 1700-1720. *
Skjold Petersen, Karsten. Den danske hærs uniformer i 1700-tallet. Copenhagen (2005)
Skjold Petersen, Karsten. Det ulykkelige slag – Helsingborg 1710. Copenhagen (2017)
Skjold Petersen, Karsten. Faner og Estandarter i Den Danske Hær. Næstved (2016)
Skjold Petersen, Karsten. Kongens klæder. Copenhagen (2014)
Snorrason, Torstein. Danish Uniforms 1699-1712. *
Snorrason, Torstein. Tilføjelser til tidligere artikler om danske uniformer 1700-1712. (article in Chakoten 2002, No. 4)
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 in 2008 on the now defunct website www.northernwars.com