Phull Cuirassiers
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Origin and History
The regiment was raised on May 10, 1758 as the Kürassierregiment von Phull.
The regiment counted four squadrons for a total of 512 men.
In March 1761, the regiment was transformed into a regiment of dragoons.
During the Seven Years' War, the regiment was owned by:
- from 1758: Major-General Ludwig Wilhelm August von Phull
During the Seven Years' War, the regiment was under the effective command of:
- from 1758: Major Friedrich Ernst von Görlitz
- from 1761: Colonel Hartmann von Chumb-Neuberg
On December 31, 1766, the regiment was disbanded.
Service during the War
In 1759, the regiment served in Hessen under French subsidies. On November 3, the Duke of Württemberg was instructed by the Duc de Broglie to march to Gemünden with his contingent. On November 11, the Württemberger Contingent arrived at Gemünden. The duke then sent his hussars on the Kinzig River. On November 19 and 20, the Württemberger Contingent (about 10,000 men), led personally by the duke, arrived at Fulda and took up its winter-quarters to assist the French army. The duke sent the present unit forward, between Fulda, Lauterbach and Herbstein. On Friday November 30, an Allied force under the Hereditary Prince of Brunswick launched a surprise attack on Fulda, forcing the Würtemberger Contingent to retreat precipitously southwards on Bruckenau in the general direction of Frankenland and Württemberg. From December 19 to 23, the Württemberg Contingent (now only 7 bns) was at Steinberg. On December 25, the Duke of Württemberg marched to Schotten.
In 1760, the entire regiment initially took part in the campaign of Saxony against the Prussians. However, it came back to Württemberg in May and did not take part in any other campaign during the war.
Uniform
Uniform of the Cuirassier Regiment (1758)
Privates
| Headgear |
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| Neckstock | black | ||||||||||||
| Coat | white, Stadlinger is showing a yellow coat in 1758, Perhaps it was the Gala uniform (?)
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| Waistcoat | rosa trimmed with a lace (white edged by two red lines and with a zigzag red line in the middle) | ||||||||||||
| Breeches | white or buff | ||||||||||||
| Leather Equipment |
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| Horse Furniture |
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N.B.: in 1759 in his Etat des Trouppes de S.A.S. Monseigneur le Duc de Virtemberg et Theck sur pié en 1759, Jacques André Frederic mentions a white uniform with a grayish waistcoat and rose distinctives. However, the colours of the original have faded and it is difficult to establish the exact shades.
Troopers were armed with a sword, a musket and a blackened cuirass.
Officers
Until 1750, the officer’s sash was in the imperial colours: gold/black. At the beginning of the 1750´s, probably in 1752, when the Württemberg Army received the new dark blue uniforms, the sash was changed to the new Württemberg Knüpfmuster (knotted pattern): white (silver for staff officers and generals), yellow and red. Gold and red were the original Württemberg colours since 1593. So, during the Seven Years’ War, the Württemberg sash was white (resp. silver), yellow and red.
Musicians
no information available yet
Uniform of the Dragoon Regiment (1761)
Privates
| Headgear |
| ||||||||||||
| Neckstock | black | ||||||||||||
| Coat | white
| ||||||||||||
| Waistcoat | rosa trimmed with a lace (white edged by two red lines and with a zigzag red line in the middle). The lace will soon disappear | ||||||||||||
| Breeches | white or buff | ||||||||||||
| Leather Equipment |
| ||||||||||||
| Horse Furniture |
|
Troopers were armed with a sword and a musket.
Officers
Until 1750, the officer’s sash was in the imperial colours: gold/black. At the beginning of the 1750´s, probably in 1752, when the Württemberg Army received the new dark blue uniforms, the sash was changed to the new Württemberg Knüpfmuster (knotted pattern): white (silver for staff officers and generals), yellow and red. Gold and red were the original Württemberg colours since 1593. So, during the Seven Years’ War, the Württemberg sash was white (resp. silver), yellow and red.
Musicians
no information available yet
Colours
According to the Militaerplan of 1758: there were four Cornets (one per squadron) in this regiment.
Colonel Standard (Leibstandarte): white field fringed in gold with a golden finials and a natural wood flagpole
- obverse: centre device consisting of the arms of Württemberg surrounded by a necklace partly covered with golden oak leaves and surmounted by 5 golden helmets; the whole surrounded with trophies; corner monograms consisting of the duke's cipher (a mirrored C). Details of the arms of Württemberg:
- Upper left canton: yellow and black checkerboard pattern (Teck arms)
- Upper right canton: yellow flags on a blue field (Reichssturm)
- Lower right canton: brown head with a red bonnet on a yellow field (Heidenheim arms)
- Lower left canton: two gold fish on a red field (Monbéliard arms)
- Central escutcheon: 3 black stag antlers on a yellow field
- reverse: centre device depicting two goddesses on a cloud surmounted by a white scroll carrying the golden motto "17 - Provide et constanter - 58"; the whole surrounded with trophies; corner monograms consisting of the duke's cipher (a mirrored C).
Regimental Standard in 1758 (Regimentsstandarte): red field fringed in gold with a golden finials and a natural wood flagpole
- obverse: centre device consisting of the arms of Württemberg surrounded by a necklace partly covered with golden oak leaves and surmounted by 5 golden helmets; the whole surrounded with trophies; corner monograms consisting of the duke's cipher (a mirrored C). Details of the arms of Württemberg:
- Upper left canton: yellow and black checkerboard pattern (Teck arms)
- Upper right canton: yellow flags on a blue field (Reichssturm)
- Lower right canton: brown head with a red bonnet on a yellow field (Heidenheim arms)
- Lower left canton: two gold fish on a red field (Monbéliard arms)
- Central escutcheon: 3 black stag antlers on a yellow field
- reverse: centre device depicting two goddesses on a cloud surmounted by a white scroll carrying the golden motto "17 - Provide et constanter - 58"; the whole surrounded with trophies; corner monograms consisting of the duke's cipher (a mirrored C).
Standard reproduced with the kind authorisation of Peter Schlegel and Der Rundbrief - Mitgliedermagazin der KLIO Baden-Württemberg
Copyright: Peter Schlegel
Note: a museum exhibit shows the top of this vexillum nailed to the lance. If the vexillum was indeed carried like that during campaign, it means that its reverse and obverse should be rotated 90° relative to the flagpole.
References
- Becher, Johann Christian: Wahrhaftige Nachricht derer Begebenheiten, so sich in dem Herzogthum Weimar by dem gewaltigen Kriege Friedrichs II., Königs von Preußen, mit der Königin von Ungarn, Marien Theresen, samt ihren Bundesgenossen zugetragen, Weimar, ca. 1757-1760
- Deutsche Uniformen, Vol. 1, Das Zeitalter Friedrich des Großen, 240 images from Herbert Knötel d. J., text and explanations from dr. Martin Letzius, published by Sturm-Zigaretten GmbH, Dresden, 1932
- Frederic, Jacques André, Etat des Trouppes de S.A.S. Monseigneur le Duc de Virtemberg et Theck sur pié en 1759, Augsburg, 1759
- Knötel, R., Uniformkunde, Lose Blätter zur Geschichte der Entwicklung der militärischen Tracht, Rathenow 1890-1921, Vol II, Plate 41
- Stadlinger, L., J. von, Geschichte des Württembergischen Kriegswesens – von der frühesten bis zur neuesten Zeit, Stuttgart, 1856
- Zahn, Michael, Die Herzoglich Württembergische Armee im Siebenjährigen Krieg, Manuskript, Stuttgart: January 2008
N.B.: the section Service during the War is mostly derived from our articles depicting the various campaigns, battles and sieges.
Acknowledgement
Volker Scholz for the information on the sash of the officers
