Brunswick Dragoons

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Origin and History

By 1714, the army of Brunswick included a dragoon regiment named Prinz Ludwig Rudolph, consisting of 3 companies. In 1726, the regiment was renamed Prinz Carl von Bevern. By then, it consisted of 4 companies stationed at Königslutter, Schöningen, Schöppenstedt, Seesen, Gandersheim and Holzminden.

By 1749, the regiment was known as Prinz Ludwig Ernst.

At the outbreak of the Seven Years' War, each of the 4 companies consisted of 3 officers and 66 men.

In 1759, the dragoons were converted into a regiment of carabiniers. It consisted of 6 companies, each of 4 officers and 74 men; with a regimental staff of 35 men. The 6 companies were organised into 3 squadrons.

From 1760 on, the unit served with the Allied army.

The regimental Inhaber were:

• no information found yet

After the Seven Years' War, each company of the regiment was reduced to only 12 men.

Service during the War

Participated extensively in the Kleinkrieg.

Uniform

Dragoon Uniform until 1759

Privates

Uniform Details

Headgear	Trooper black tricorne with white-yellow tuft and red small bobs Grenadier n/a
Neckstock	black
Coat	red with yellow buttonholes Collar yellow Shoulderknot none Lapels none Buttons pewter Cuffs yellow Turnbacks none
Waistcoat	yellow
Breeches	yellow
Leather Equipment	Crossbelt white Waistbelt white Cartridge Box black Scabbard black Footgear black
Horse Furniture	Saddlecloth red with double white border and a monogram of the Herzog Sabretache see saddlecloth Blanket roll red

Troopers rode dark horses and carried carbines.

Other interpretations

Schirmer mentions green distinctives and green waistcoat.

Officers

Uniform Source: Ibrahim90 from a template by Hannoverdidi

Officers wore uniforms similar to those of troopers with golden laces on cuffs and waistcoat.

Musicians

n/a

Carabinier Uniform from 1759

Privates

Uniform Details

Headgear	black tricorne without lace with a yellow and white Stutz (stiff plume of feathers) and red pompoms
Neckstock	black
Coat	straw Kollett Collar red Shoulderknot none Lapels red Buttons n/a Cuffs red (Swedish style) Turnbacks straw edged red
Waistcoat	red
Breeches	straw
Leather Equipment	Crossbelt white Waistbelt white Cartridge Box n/a Scabbard black Footgear black boots
Horse Furniture	Saddlecloth red with double white border, carrying the crowned ducal cypher Sabretache red with double white border, carrying the crowned ducal cypher Blanket roll red

Troopers wore black breast plate edged red with brass ornaments (crowned ducal cypher). They were armed with a Pallasch, a carbine and a 2 pistols, and rode dark horses.

Other interpretations

Some sources mention medium blue facings and a medium blue waistcoat (cf, Ortenburg, "Braunschweigisches Militär", p. 33).

Officers

Officers wore uniforms similar to those of troopers with sliver lace on Kollett, cuffs and waistcoat. They also had a white and yellow plume on the tricorne; golden embroideries on sabretache and saddlecloth; silver and yellow sash.

NCOs

NCOs wore uniforms similar to those of troopers with sliver lace on cuffs and waistcoat.

Musicians

n/a

Standards

A standard from the Seven Years War is unknown.

In 1759, when the regiment was converted into a regiment of carabiniers, Schirmer conjectures that it may have carried a Leibstandarte and Compagniestandarten. He suggests that the Leibstandarte was white with either the ducal monogram or coat of arms, and the company standard was red with either the ducal monogram or the white horse. It is plausible that the standards followed the Prussian cuirassiers' model.

Tentative reconstructions of the standards of the Carabiniers based on Schirmer's hypothesis.

Colonel Standard – Source: Dinos Antoniadis from elements contributed by Hannoverdidi

Squadron Standard – Source: Dinos Antoniadis from elements contributed by Hannoverdidi

A later American War of Independence guidon (the regiment had been converted back to dragoons) is described as light blue fringed in gold with one side having the Brunswick coat of arms and the other a white springing horse on a red field within a gold wreath, cyphers in wreaths in the corner. Reconstructions of the guidon follow the British pattern for dragoon or light dragoon guidons, with a shallow swallowtail and rounded trailing corners.

References

Deutsche Uniformen, Bd. 1, Das Zeitalter Friedrich des Großen, 240 illustrations by Herbert Knötel d. J., with text and explanations by Dr. Martin Letzius, Sturm-Zigaretten GmbH, Dresden 1932

Ortenburg, Georg von, Braunschweigisches Militär, Elm Verlag, Cremlingen, 1987

Pengel & Hurt, German States in the Seven Years War 1740 to 1762, Imperial Press

Schirmer; Friedrich, Die Heere der kriegführenden Staaten 1756 - 1763. Edited and published by KLIO-Landesgruppe Baden-Württemberg e.V., Magstadt, 1989