Prussian Garrison Regiment IV
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Origin and History
The first battalion was raised in 1740 from men of the Grenadier Garde (aka No. 6 Königsregiment or Lange Kerls) as Garnisonbataillon Adam von Wehyer to garrison the star shaped fort of Magdeburg. It counted only one battalion. It had no recruiting canton but was allowed to recruit within the cantons assigned to regiments no. 3, 5, 20, 21, 27 and 47.
For the campaign of 1757, this garrison battalion was transformed into a regiment, receiving an additional battalion. The recruits for this new battalion came from Saxony. The newly raised battalion had no grenadier company.
During the Seven Years' War, the regiment was under the command of:
- since January 4 1746: Jakob Heinrich von Grape
- from January 7 1759: Martin Eberhard Jungkenn Müntzer von Mohrenstamm
- from February 5 1760 to February 16 1763: Colonel Ewald Georg von Lettow
In 1763, at the end of the Seven Years War, one battalion was disbanded and the remaining battalion reinforced with five companies from Frei-Infanterie Courbières. The regiment garrisoned Aken (2 coys), Cönnern (2 coys), Löbejun (1 coy).
Service during the War
In 1756, at the outbreak of the war, the regiment was garrisoning Aken (2 coys), Cönnern (2 coys), Löbejun (1 coy) in the Duchy of Magdeburg while its grenadiers were stationed Treuenbrietzen in Brandenburg. On July 28, the regiment received orders to prepare itself to relieve regular field infantry regiments in Magdeburg.
On February 23 1757, the battalion marched from Magdeburg to Torgau to replace I./Wied as garrison. The newly raised battalion later garrisoned Torgau while the first battalion garrisoned the Fortress of Wittenberg.
In 1758, the regiment was part of the army of prince Henri who tried to stop the Austrian invasion of Saxony. By August 12, the regiment was guarding Pirna and the fortress of Sonnenstein. On September 5, Macquire captured the fortress of Sonnenstein without resistance. Colonel Grape surrendered with his regiment (1,442 men) which were taken as prisoners of war.
In 1759, the second battalion was taken prisoners at Torgau and was not re-established.
N.B.: During the war the grenadiers from the wing grenadier company were put together with the grenadiers of Garrison Regiment III and New Garrison Regiment, forming the Standing Grenadier Battalion Nr. I (G-NG/G-III/G-IV Kahlden) (please refer to this article for the details of the service of the grenadiers during the war).
Uniform
Exceptionally the musketeers and grenadiers of this regiment wore different uniforms. The present article describes the uniform of the musketeers. For the uniform of the grenadiers, please refer to the article dedicated to Standing Grenadier Battalion Nr. I (G-NG/G-III/G-IV Kahlden).
Privates
| Headgear |
| ||||||||||||
| Neck stock | black | ||||||||||||
| Coat | Prussian blue lined red with 6 brass buttons on both sides on the chest, 2 brass buttons at the waist on the right side and 3 brass buttons on each side to fasten the skirts forming the turnbacks
| ||||||||||||
| Waistcoat | Prussian blue | ||||||||||||
| Breeches | Prussian blue | ||||||||||||
| Gaiters | black | ||||||||||||
| Leather Equipment |
|
Privates were armed with a short musket and a bayonet.
NCOs
NCOs wore uniforms similar to those of the privates with the following distinctions:
- tricorne with wide gold lace and black and white pompoms
- no shoulder strap
- yellowish leather gloves
- black and white sabre tassel
NCOs were armed with a sabre and a white light half-pike measuring 7,5 Rhenish feet (2.37 m.).
NCOs also carried wooden canes (normally attached to a button at the top of the right front while carrying the half-pike).
Officers
Uniforms of officers were very similar to those of the privates with the following exceptions:
- black tricorne wearing a thin gold lace and 2 black and white quartered tassels: 1 in each side corne of the tricorne (officers always wore tricornes notwithstanding if they were commanding musketeers, fusiliers or grenadiers)
- black neck stock
- no trimming on the coat
- no shoulder strap on the coat
- no turnbacks on the coat
- black and silver sash around the waist
- a silver and gold gorget
Officers carried white spontoons measuring 7 ½ Rhenish feet (2.36 m.) and an officer stick.
Musicians
Drummers wore uniforms to those of the privates with the following differences:
- no shoulder strap
- each shoulder decorated with a white swallow nest (4 vertical and 1 horizontal braids)
Drummers carried a sidearm.
The drum pattern had ???.
Colours
Colonel flag (Leibfahne): White field with black corner wedges. Centre device consisting of a golden “FR” cipher surrounded by a golden laurel wreath and surmounted by a gold crown. Grenades in gold.
Regimental flags (Kompaniefahnen): Blue field with black corner wedges. Centre device consisting of a golden “FR” cipher surrounded by a golden laurel wreath and surmounted by a gold crown. Grenades in gold.
 Colonel Colour - Source: Digby Smith and Richard Couture from elements by Hannoverdidi |
 Regimental Colour - Source: Digby Smith and Richard Couture from elements by Hannoverdidi |
References
Bleckwenn, Hans: Die friderizianischen Uniformen 1756-1783, Bd. II., Infanterie II, Osnabrück 1984
Duffy, Christopher: Friedrich der Große und seine Armee, Stuttgart, 2. Auflage 1983
Engelmann, Joachim and Günter Dorn: Die Infanterie-Regimenter Friedrich des Grossen, Podzun-Pallas, 2000, pp. 146-147
Fuhrmann, Rolf: Die Langen Kerls, Berlin 2007
Grosser Generalstab Kriegsgeschichtliche Abteilung II: Die Kriege Friedrichs des Grossen, Part 3 Der siebenjährige Krieg 1756-1763, Vol. 1 Pirna und Lobositz, Berlin, 1901, p. 127, App. 1
Guddat, Martin: Die Infanterie Friedrichs des Großen, Herford 1986
Haythornthwaite, Philip: Frederick the Great (2), Men-at Arms-Series No. 240, Osprey
Hohrath, Daniel: The Uniforms of the Prussian Army under Frederick the Great from 1740 to 1786; Vol. 2; Verlag Militaria, Vienna: 2011, pp. 416-417
Horvath, Carl Christian: Friedrichs II. König von Preussen Armee-Montirungen, Potsdam 1789. Vierte Sammlung
Merta, Klaus-Peter: Das Heerwesen in Brandenburg und Preußen von 1640 bis 1806 - Die Uniformierung, Berlin 1991
N.B.: the section Service during the War is mostly derived from our articles depicting the various campaigns, battles and sieges.
Acknowledgments
Martina Hager for the initial version of this article.
