Kurfürstin Leib-Dragoner
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Contents
Origin and History
The regiment was raised 1687 as the Kurprinz-Leibregiment-Dragoner. In 1690, it was renamed Leibregiment-Dragoner. In 1742, the regiment became the property of Count Edmund Florens von Hatzfeld.
In 1744, the regiment became the Kurfürstin-Leibregiment-Dragoner.
By the time of the Seven Years War, the regiment counted 3 squadrons, each consisting of 3 companies for a total of 468 men.
In 1756, the regiment garrisoned Mannheim.
In 1758, the regiment was augmented to 5 squadrons or 10 companies for a total of 800 men organised as follows:
- staff
- 1 colonel
- 1 lieutenant-colonel
- 1 Oberwachtmeister
- 1 quartermaster
- 1 auditor
- 1 regimental surgeon
- 1 Proviantmeister
- 1 Wagenmeister
- 1 provost
- 10 companies, each consisting of:
- 1 captain
- 1 Wachtmeister
- 1 quartemaster
- 4 corporals
- 1 surgeon
- 1 blacksmith
- 1 saddler
- 1 drummer
- 1 cadet
- 65 troopers
From 1744 to 1794, the colonel-in-chef of the regiment was the Kurfürstin (Electoral Princess) but the regiment continued to be associated with the Electoral Princess until 1801.
During the Seven Years' War, its commanders were:
- since ????: Major-general von Murua
- from 1757: Colonel Baron von Winkelhausen
In 1778, the regiment became known as “Kurfürstin”.
In 1790, the regiment changed nam once more to become “1. Dragonerregiment Kurfürstin”.
Service during the War
In 1758, when Pfalzgraf Friedrich Michael von Zweibrücken assumed overall command of the Reichsarmee, he brought the regiment with him.
On May 11 1759, during the Prussian incursion in Franconia, the regiment was part of Riedesel's rearguard during the retreat of the Austro-Imperial army towards Kulmbach. In the afternoon, this rearguard was attacked by a Prussian detachment under the command of general Platen, 522 men of the regiment were taken prisoner during this engagement.
To do: details of the campaigns from 1760 to 1762
Uniform
Privates

Headgear |
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Neckstock | black | ||||||||||||
Coat | dark red coat lined red with 3 brass buttons under the lapels and 1 in the small of the back
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Waistcoat | straw without buttons | ||||||||||||
Breeches | straw | ||||||||||||
Leather Equipment |
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Horse Furniture |
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Troopers were armed with a straight bladed sabre (brass hilt), a musket and 2 pistols.
Officers
The officers wore the same uniform with the following exceptions:
- gold laced tricorne
- brick red coat lined bright red
- no collar on the coat
- golden buttons, laces and epaulets
- white and blue striped sash (silver and blue for staff officers)
- white and blue sword frog (silver and blue for staff officers)
- black cane
Musicians
no information available yet
Guidons
Cavalry guidons were not affected by the unification of Palatinate and Bavaria in 1777 nor by the issuance of standardized colours in 1788. Both guidons retained a Palatine heraldry, so even though the guidons illustrated hereafter date from 1784, they should have been quite similar at the time of the Seven Years' War, to the exception of course of the year 1784 appearing on the scrolls.
Leib Guidon (Colonel Guidon):
- obverse: swallow-tailed white field guidon with gold embroideries in the form of laurel branches and fringed in gold; in corners one and four the "CT" monogram for Carl Theodor surrounded by golden palm branches and surmounted by an elector's hat; in corners two and three the "AE" monogram for Augusta Elisabeth, the Electoral Princess, surrounded by golden palm branches and surmounted by an elector's hat; centre device consisting of crest of Pfalz-Sulzbach, surrounded by a red mantle and various trophies of arms, this crest consisted of.
- top from left to right:
- Duchy of Kleve: a golden 8-pointed star on a red ground with a silver heart shield
- Duchy of Jülich: a black rampant lion on gold
- Duchy of Berg: a red rampant lion with blue crown and claws on a silver field
- middle from left to right:
- County of Moers: a black horizontal bar on gold
- Margraviate of Bergen op Zoom: three silver St. Andrew crosses on red above three green hills
- bottom from left to right:
- County of Mark: a silver-red checkered bar on gold
- County of Veldenz: a blue rampant lion with gold claws and crown on silver
- Upper County of Sponheim: a silver-red checkered field
- County of Ravensberg: three red chevrons on a silver ground
- central shield:
- fields 1 and 4: Palatinate, a golden rampant lion, with red crown, tongue and claws
- fields 2 and 3: Bavaria, white and light blue lozenges
- heart shield: Arch-Steward of the Holy Roman Empire, a golden orb on red.
- top from left to right:
- below the crest, the collars of four orders, from top to bottom:
- Order of the Golden Fleece
- Order of Saint Hubertus
- Order of Saint George
- Order of the Lion of the Palatinate
- reverse: same design as obverse; centre device depicting the Holy Virgin, dressed in red and blue; she is standing on a globe and crescent, crushing a snake under her feet; blue-grey clouds around the globe; the Virgin's head is surrounded by gold rays and she is holding a pilgrim's staff in her right hand. The whole is surmounted by a golden scroll with the motto “17/TE DUCE/84” in black characters
Eskadronguidon (Squadron Guidon): light blue staff with steel ferrule; brass or gilt finial
- obverse: same design as the obverse of the Leibguidon
- reverse: swallow-tailed red field guidon with golden embroideries in the form of laurel branches and fringed in gold; in corners one and four the "CT" monogram for Carl Theodor surrounded by golden palm branches and surmounted by an elector's hat; in corners two and three the "AE" monogram for Augusta Elisabeth, the Electoral Princess, surrounded by golden palm branches and surmounted by an elector's hat; centre device consisting of a golden lion rampant with a red tongue on a green ground, surmounted by a golden scroll with the motto “17/CEDERE NESCIT/84” in black characters
References
Bavarian Army Museum, Ingolstadt
Bezel, Oskar: Geschichte des Kurpfälzischen Heeres ..., Bayrisches Kriegsarchiv, München, 1925
Kraus, Jürgen: Bayerische Fahnen, Die Fahnen und Standarten des bayerischen Heeres vom 16. Jahrhundert bis 1918, Verlag Militaria, Vienna, Austria, 2017
Kühlmann/Papst: Geschichte der bayerischen Fahnen und Standarten mit den Feldzeichen der in Bayern aufgegangenen Staaten, Vol. 1, München 1959
Pengel, R.D. And G. R. Hurt: Bavaria, Saxony & the Palatinate Supplement: Uniforms and Flags of the Senen Years War, Hopewell: On Military Matters, 1981, pp. 51-52
Wikipedia (German) – Liste der kurpfalzbayerischen Regimenter der Frühen Neuzeit
N.B.: the section Service during the War is mostly derived from our articles depicting the various campaigns, battles and sieges.
Acknowledgments
rf-figuren for the initial version of this article and Volker Scholz for the information on the guidons of the regiment