Salzburg Infantry
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Origin and History
At the beginning of the Seven Years' War, the Electoral Palatinate had to provide a contingent for the Reichsarmee because the duchies of Neunburg and Sulzbach were part of the Bavarian District (Bayrischer Kreis).
This regiment book strength consisted of 2 battalions, including 1 grenadier company and 2 battalion guns (painted red from 1760) for an initial total of 1,170 men. There were contingents from the Bishopric of Salzburg, from Regensburg and Passau.
On February 14, 1757, an assembly at Mühldorf established the theoretical contribution of each principality as presented in the following table.
| Principality | Men | Money |
|---|---|---|
| Ecclesiastical Domains | ||
| Archdiocese of Salzburg | 780 men | 2,330 florins |
| Bishopric of Passau | 100 men | 300 florins |
| Provost of Berchtesgaden | 40 men | 120 florins |
| St. Emmeran Abbey | 18 men | 54 florins |
| Provost of Kaisheim | 216 men | 648 florins |
| Niedermünster Abbey | 8 men | 24 florins |
| Obermünster Abbey | 8 men | 24 florins |
| Sub-total | 1,170 men | 3,510 florins |
| Secular Domains | ||
| Duchy of Pfalzneuburg including Heydeck and Ehrenfels |
304 1/2 men | 913 1/2 florins |
| Duchy of Pfalzsulzbach | 43 1/2 men | 130 1/2 florins |
| Lobkowitz for his County of Sternstein | 40 men | 120 florins |
| County of Ortenburg | 6 men | 18 florins |
| Imperial City of Regensburg | 120 men | 360 florins |
| Sub-total | 514 men | 1,542 florins |
| Grand Total | 1,684 men | 5,052 florins |
During the Seven Years' War the regiment (1,468 men). We have two accounts of the organisation of this regiment and they do not entirely correspond.
Here is a first breakdown (established by the Bavarian District Council) totalling 1,468 men:
- 1 colonel, provided by the Archbishopric of Salzburg
- 1 lieutenant-colonel, provided by the Electorate of Palatinate as owner of Pfalz-Neuburg and Pfalz-Sulzbach
- 1 major, provided by the secular territory of the Bishopric of Passau
- rest of the staff provided by the Archbishopric of Salzburg
- 2 x 4-pdr guns provided by the Archbishopric of Salzburg
- 2 x 4-pdr guns provided by the Electorate of Palatinate as owner of Pfalz-Neuburg and Pfalz-Sulzbach
- 5 coys (1st to 5th) of 164 men each, including 780 men from the Archbishopric of Salzburg and 40 men from the Provost of Berchtesgaden
- 2 coys (6th and 7th) of 174 men each, including 348 men from the Electorate of Palatinate as owner of Pfalz-Neuburg and Pfalz-Sulzbach
- 1 coy (8th) of 174 men contributed by the secular territory of the Bishopric of Passau (100 men), by the County of Sternstein (40 men (*)), by the Imperial Abbey of St. Emmeran (18 men), by the Imperial Abbey of Niedermünster (8 men) and by the Imperial Abbey of Oberermünster (8 men)
- 1 coy (9th) of 126 men contributed by the Imperial City of Regensburg (120 men) and the County of Ortenburg (6 men)
(*) Prince Lobkowitz did not initially contributed troops for his County of Sternstein, pretending that his domains belonged to the Kingdom of Bohemia. The Bavarian District sent a company of the Bavarian Preysing Infantry to the County of Sternstein with instructions to bring back recruits.
...and a second one (from Steiner-Welz's book listed in our reference section):
- 1st coy (grenadiers) contributed by the Archbishopric of Salzburg under the direct command of Colonel Count von Orbea
- 2nd coy (taken from Effern Infantry) contributed by the Electorate of Palatinate as owner of the duchies of Pfalz-Neuburg and Pfalz-Sulzbach under direct command of Lieutenant-Colonel Baron von Jacquemin (from 1758, Lieutenant-Colonel Baron von Leoprechting)
- Captain L. Schell
- Lieutenant J. Schmidt
- Lieutenant J. Mann
- Lieutenant von Puck
- 3rd coy contributed by the Bishopric of Passau under the direct command of Major Baron Hennebrieth von Henneberg
- 4th coy contributed by the Archbishopric of Salzburg under the command of Captain Johann Ritter
- 5th coy contributed by the Archbishopric of Salzburg under Captain Johann Nepomuck Count von Wicka
- 6th coy contributed by the Archbishopric of Salzburg and the Provost of Berchtesgaden under Captain Count von Paradieß
- 7th coy (taken from Effern Infantry) contributed by the Electorate of Palatinate as owner of Pfalz-Neuburg and Pfalz-Sulzbach under Captain Bernhard Kleefuß (from 1762, Captain Leopold von Puck)
- Lieutenant L. Breitkopf
- Lieutenant F. von Stadlerhausen
- Ensign F. Count von Effern
- 8th coy contributed by the Imperial City of Regensburg and the County of Ortenburg under Captain Domeyer (Domeier) and Lieutenant Johann Wilhelm Boesner (Bösner)
- Artillery
- 2 x 3-pdr guns provided by the Archbishopric of Salzburg (painted red)
During the Seven Years' War the Inbaber of regiment was the Archbishop of Salzburg
During the Seven Years' War the regiment was under the effective command of:
- Commander and Colonel
- from 1757: Colonel Joseph Longinus Count von Orbea
- from 1759: Colonel Count von Pranckh
- from 1760: Lieutenant-colonel Anton Maximilian Baron von Leoprechting
- Lieutenant-Colonel
- from 1757: Baron von Jacquemin
- from 1758: Baron von Leoprechting
- Major Baron Hennebrieth von Henneberg
Service during the War
1757
In 1757, the regiment (by this time only 4 companies) was ordered to join the Reichsarmee which was conducting operations in Thuringia and Saxony.
By June, the regiment counted 1,170 men and 65 horses.
On July 29, the regiment arrived the camp of Reichsarmee near Fürth.
In the order of battle of August 23, the regiment is mentioned in the second line of the Reichsarmee. The army marched towards Thuringia. This army combined with a French contingent under the Prince de Soubise to form the Franco-Imperial Army. The regiment was assigned to the garrison of Nuremberg (it would remain there until January 1758).
| Late in the autumn of 1757, the Lieutenant-General Prince de Soubise reported in his "Mémoire raisonné sur l'armée de l'empire," that he rated this regiment as good.
Source: Brodrück, Karl: Quellenstücke und Studien über den Feldzug der Reichsarmee von 1757. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte im 18. Jahrhundert, Leipzig: Dyck, 1858 By 1858, the original French "mémoire" could be found in the "Paris War Archice" (Carton 3433, No. 17). |
On November 5, the regiment was posted at Nuremberg and did not take part in the battle of Rossbach.
In December, the regiment still counted 1,047 men and 82 horses.
1758
In mid-January 1758, the regiment marched from Nuremberg to Amberg.
On March 29, the regiment encamped in Neustadt an der Weinstraße and Pleystein.
By April 30, the regiment had 969 men, Jacquemin's Company had 157 men and Kleefuß' Company, 149.
By May, the regiment had been reinforced to a strength of 9 coys (1 grenadier coy, 2 battalion guns and 2 bns each of 4 coys). On May 15, the regiment marched with the main army to Eger (present-day Cheb(CZ).
On August 17, the Austro-Imperial army marched towards Saxony. The present regiment was posted in Peterswalde. On August 22, it was reviewed, the two Palatine companies respectively had 159 and 150 men.
On September 26, the regiment was assigned to corps of FML Hadik, in Kleefeld's Brigade, which was posted at Freiberg.
On November 15, the regiment took part in the combat of Eilenburg. On November 23, it was in Wiesen.
On December 7, the Palatine companies (Captain Jacquemin and Captain Kleefuß) took up their winter-quarter with their original regiment, Effern Infantry, in the barracks of Amberg.
1759
On March 12, 1559, the regiment, under the command of his new chef Colonel Count Pranckh marched to Eggolsheim, where it was assigned to the corps of Count Efferen.
On May 13, when the Reichsarmee marched to Bamberg, the regiment was part of the first line of the centre. On May 17, the regiment was part of a detachment (9 bns) under FZM St. André, which covered the transport of the magazine from Kitzingen to Würzburg.
On July 12, the regiment garrisoned Schmalkalden, where it remained until September 15.
On September 15, the regiment retreated to Königshofen, and a few days later, to Schwallungen, where Colonel Pranckh was captured by Prussian hussars. However, he was soon released for ransom.
On November 12, the regiment was to march to garrison Düsseldorf, but the order was changed and it was assigned to the Luszinsky's Corps at Neuburg an der Orla.
From December, the grenadier company and first battalion were stationed at Hof and the second battalion at Lichtenberg and Naila.
1760
In May 1760, the regiment was still assigned to Luszinsky's Corps which was posted around Gera. By that time, the two Palatine companies respectively numbered 145 and 153 men.
On August 20, the regiment was present at the Combat of Strehla, where it supposedly formed part of the Reserve Corps under the Prince Stolberg. However, our order of battle for this combat does not list this unit.
On September 25, one battalion of the regiment, along with some Grenzer light troops established two bridges over the Elbe River near Dommitzsch. On September 26, Luszinsky's Corps crossed the river on these bridges.
On October 2, the regiment took part in the Combat of Wittenberg, where it lost 7 men killed, 22 wounded and 25 missing.
On October 23, the regiment formed part of a detachment under Colonel von Zedtwitz, who was posted at Prattau to protect the line of communication with the main army.
On November 7, the regiment was billeted in Markersdorf, Stelzendorf and Neukirchen. By November 23, it was in Issigau.
In December, the entire regiment assembled at Hof before marching to Münchberg in mid December 15.
On December 22, the final instructions for the winter-quarters were given. One battalion of the regiment was assigned to the troops of Prince Stolberg, who secured the winter-quarters, while the other battalion was in quarters.
1761
On March 18, 1761, one battalion was send to Saalburg to reinforce the corps of General Kleefeld. At the end of March, the entire regiment was assigned to the detachment of the Bavarian General Baron Hegnenberg who was posted with one Bavarian regiment and 12 heavy guns and howitzers in the vicinities of Lichtenfels, Staffelstein and Burgkundstadt.
On June 4, the regiment encamped in Kulmbach. By June 25, desertions had reached an alarming level, during the review the two Palatine companies respectively numbered only 129 and 116 men.
On September 9, the regiment advanced to Zeitz but, on September 13, was forced to retreat to Gera.
On November 19, the regiment reached Naumburg.
On December 15, the regiment reinforced Luszinsky's Corps which was securing the winter-quarters in the area of Zeitz and Naumburg.
1762
For the campaign of 1762, the regiment was once more assigned to Luszinsky's Corps. On April 29, it was at Zeitz.
On May 21, Luszinsky‘s troops gathered at Chemnitz and, on July 15, reached Schneeberg.
On August 26, the regiment advanced by way of Asch, Eger, Tepel, and Luditz to Podersam (present-day Podbořany/CZ).
On October 29 1762, the regiment took part in the battle of Freiberg, where it lost 4 wounded, 76 men taken prisoners and 32 men missing.
At the end of December, the regiment took up its winter-quarters in Weismain and Burgkundstadt.
1763
On January 26, 1763, the commander of Palatine contingent, Count Efferen, told the Bavarian General Count La Rosée, that he should send the two Palatine companies of the regiment to Neuburg an der Donau on January 30. La Rosée refused the request on the grounds that he could not send the two companies back without a higher order. On the night of 28/29 January, Captain Puck quietly left the quarters at Weismain with the two Palatine companies, seized the two company guns and marched to join Efferen's Corps. On January 30, Count Efferen marched with his corps by way of Ebern, Eltmann, and Schüsslefeld and, February 1, reached Nordheim.
General Duke Stolberg tried to stop Count Efferen, but without success. Efferen proceeded by way of Baldersheim to Boxberg and Nekarelz. The two companies returned to their original regiment (Effern Infantry) and garrisoned Mannheim.
Uniform
Privates
| Headgear |
| ||||||||||||
| Neckstock | black | ||||||||||||
| Coat | Austrian style white coat with 3 yellow buttons under the right lapel, 3 white buttonlaces under the left lapel, 1 yellow button on each side in the small of the back
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| Waistcoat | red with small yellow buttons | ||||||||||||
| Breeches | white | ||||||||||||
| Gaiters | black fastened with small yellow buttons | ||||||||||||
| Leather Equipment |
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Colours
The colour carried by the Leib company of the regiment is not documented. However, we made a reconstruction of it based on a colour dating from 1709. This colour is often illustrated with a light brown field but it might simply have been white and faded to light brown through time. The arms constituting the centre device of this colour have been modified to reflect the arms as they were at the time of the Seven Years' War.
The companies from Salzburg proper probably carried the following colours: white field, centre device consisting of an allegory within a golden frame; 4 red inverted corner wedges; 4 light blue inverted flames (this colour dates from the reign of Sigismund III Christoph von Schrattenbach 1753-1771 who was was Prince-archbishop of Salzburg and, in this position, possibly Chef of the regiment)
The companies from Regensburg probably carried the following colour: field consisting of 5 alternating red and white horizontal bands
- obverse: centre device consisting of a red shield carrying the arms of the City of Regensburg (crossed silver keys) within an elaborate rococo-style golden frame
- reverse: centre device consisting of an Imperial Double-Eagle, armed with an orb (heraldic right) and a sword (heraldic left) carrying an oval shield on its breast with the arms of Regensburg; the double-eagle was surmounted by the Imperial Crown (red-lined imperial crown, with two blue ribbons)
The staff was painted red and had a brass ferrule. The finial was brass or gilt with the crossed keys of Regensburg.
The companies from Passau probably carried the following colour from 1723 to 1761:
- obverse: white field with inner red frame with gold border and gold corner decorations; on top of the frame I.D.D.G.E.P.S.R.I.P.E.C.D.L., on bottom ANNO DNI. MDCCXXIII, each in gold characters; centre device consisting of an unarmed Imperial Eagle with halos, surmounted by a red-lined Imperial Crown with two red ribbons; on the eagle's breast, the coat of arms of Joseph I Dominicus, Count of Lamberg:
- fields one and four: arms of the Lamberg Family (left: two blue bars on silver, right: plain red)
- fields two and three: arms of the Barony of Pottwein (a jumping black dog with a red tongue and a gold collar on a gold field)
- two heart shields:
- left: Prince-bishopric of Passau (a red wolf on silver)
- right: Arms of the della Scala Family (a silver ladder held by two silver dogs on a red field)
- on top of the heart shields: a silver bishop's mitre with gold decorations
- behind the coat of arms: crosier and sword, the whole was surmounted by an elector's hat and a cross.
- reverse: identical
Then, in 1762 and 1763, the companies from Passau probably carried colours carrying the arms of Joseph II Maria, Count of Thun and Hohenstein, who was prince-bishop of Passau from 1761-1763. The staff was painted white and had a brass ferrule; the finial was brass or gilt with the engraved arms of Passau:
- obverse: horizontally striped red-white-red-white-red field
- top red stripe carrying the letters I.M.D.G.E.P.S.R.I.P.E.C.D.T. in gold
- centre device within an octagonal gold border consisting
- the arms of the Count of Thun and Hohenstein within a golden frame
- Fields 1 and 4: the arms of Thun (a diagonal golden bar on a blue field)
- Fields 2 and 3: the arms of Hohenstein (left side a halved eagle, red on silver; right side a silver bar on a black field)
- central heart shield: the arms of Austria (a silver bar on red)
- a small cartouche with the Red Wolf of Passau on a silver field surmounting the arms of the count
- an Electoral Hat surmounting the arms of Passau
- the arms of the Count of Thun and Hohenstein within a golden frame
- behind the coat of arms: crosier and sword
- bottom red stripe carrying "ANNO DONI MDCCLXII" in gold characters
- reverse: identical
References
Bezzel, O.: Geschichte des Kurpfälzischen Heeres, Bayrisches Kriegsarchiv, IV. File, part 1 and 2, Munich 1925
Brodrück, Carl: Quellenstücke und Studien über den Feldzug der Reichsarmee von 1757: Ein Beitrag zur deutschen Geschichte im 18 Jahr, Dyk, 1858, p. 41
Büsching, Anton Friedrich: Neue Erdbeschreibung: Welcher den schwäbischen, bayerischen, fränkischen und obersächsischen Kreis enthält, vol. 3, Ausgabe 2, 1761
Hochfürstlich Paßauischer Kirchen- und Hofkalender : auf d. Jahr ... mit beigefügtem Schematismus ; 1787
Hochfürstlich-Salzburgischer Kirchen- und Hof-Kalender ; 1746, 1764, 1765
Hübner, Lorenz: Beschreibung der hochfürstlich-erzbischöflichen Haupt- und Residenzstadt Salzburg und ihrer Gegenden verbunden mit ihrer ältesten Geschichte, 1792
Kühlmann, Herrmann: Geschichte der bayerischen Fahnen und Standarten, München
Lori, Johann Georg von: Sammlung des baierischen Kreisrechts, 1764
Miniatures.de - Bavarian Infanterie-Regiment Salzburg
Mitterecker, Thomas Josef, Die Soldatesca des Erzstiftes Salzburg : (unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Entwicklung seit der Einführung des "miles perpetuus" im 17. Jahrhundert), Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, 2010
Schmidt, Wolfgang and Jürgen Kraus: Regensburg, Zeitschrift für Heereskunde, Nr. 353, Jahr 1991
Steiner-Welz, Sonja: Mannheim als Festungsstadt, vol. 2, Reinhard Welz Vermittler Verlag e.K. - 175 pages
Vial J. L., Nec Pluribus Impar
Acknowledgements
Volker Scholz for the research on the colours carried by this regiment
Harald Skala for a major update of the sections on the origin, history and services of the regiment
