Jyske Infantry
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Origin and History
The regiment was raised on 20 August 1675.
From 1689 to 1697, one battalion (six companies) was in English pay.
By the time of the War of the Spanish Succession, the regiment counted three battalions totalling 18 musketeer companies and 1 grenadier comapny.
During the War of the Spanish Succession, the successive commanders were:
- from 1695: Herman Fredrik Boyneburg
- from 12 July 1701: Thomas Weinigel
- from 17 October 1702: Lorenz Blücher
- from 6 June 1710 to 1717: Johan Peter Ingenhoven
The battalion in Austrian pay was under the command of:
- from 1700 to 1 March 1703: Herman Fredrik Boyneburg
Service during the War
In 1700, one battalion (6 fusilier coys and 1 grenadier coy) of the regiment was sent to Saxony.
In 1701, this battalion was attached to the Danish Contingent taken in Austrian pay. In March, this contingent was in Saxony but had already been ordered to join the Imperial army assembling in Tyrol for the planned invasion of Northern Italy. By mid-November, the contingent had reached Bolzano. The regiment took its winter-quarters along the left bank of the Mincio in front of Goito and Mantua.
In 1702, the battalion in Austrian pay took part in the Campaign in Northern Italy. On 15 August, it fought at the Battle of Luzzara.
On 1 March 1703, the remaining troops of the battalion were incorporated with the rest of the III./Sjællandske Infantry and a third of the battalion of the Marine Regiment into the newly formed 3rd Danske Infanterieregiment under Herman Fredrik Boyneburg.
Uniform
Privates
| Headgear |
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| Neck stock | black | ||||||||||||
| Coat | double-breasted grey-white coat with red lining; 22 pewter buttons (11 on each side) and 1 pewter button on each side in the small of the back. In the first years of the war, all buttonholes were usually trimmed in the distinctive colour of the regiment.
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| Waistcoat | red with pewter buttons | ||||||||||||
| Breeches | red during the early years of the war and gradually standardized to red | ||||||||||||
| Stockings | red fastened under the knee with a natural leather strap | ||||||||||||
| Gaiters | the use of gaiters generalized much later but they were already used in 1700 where red gaiters are reported | ||||||||||||
| Overcoat | grey-white with red lining and a red collar | ||||||||||||
| Leather Equipment |
|
N.B.: the regulations of 1711 and 1716 mention brass buttons
Soldiers were armed with a flintlock musket, a small bayonet and a sword (fusiliers) or a sabre (grenadiers). Grenadiers were also armed with hand grenades and with a small axe.
NCOs
NCOs were probably distinguished from privates by a silver lace on the hat and by silver edging on the cuffs.
NCOs carried a cane whose characteristics indicated the precise rank of each NCO.
NCOs also carried a halberd and a sword. They had no musket, to the exception of grenadier NCOs who were armed as the privates.
Officers
Uniforms of officers differed from those of the privates and NCOs by the finer material used. They were not standardized across the entire army but seems to have been similar within a regiment. Buttons were silver-plated and silver embroideries decorated the coat, cuffs and pocket flaps. Their coat could be single or double-breasted.
The hats of officers were often edged with a red or white plumetis.
Officers usually wore a wig.
Officers wore a gorget and a silken sash of the distinctive colour of their regiment. Those serving in Dutch pay wore an orange sash across the shoulder.
Officers carried a cane whose characteristics indicated the precise rank of each officer; a pike and a sword. Officers of the grenadier companies carried a musket instead of a pike.
In the field, pistols of various forms were carried by officers who often carried two of them when dismounted.
Musicians
Drummers wore coats similar to those of privates but richly decorated with red-white braids on the sleeves and body (without swallow nests). Braids were usually of the metal colour of the regiment. The uniforms of the drummers of this particular regiment had a red pointed collar The shell of the drum was of painted woods and decorated with the regimental arms or the King's double monogram.
Colours
Colonel Colour: no information found
Ordonnance Colour: red field; a black lion passant in the first canton (upper left); a white Saltire with the crowned cipher of King Christian V in its centre (last description of the colour dates from 1695 so it is possible that by 1701 the cipher might have been replaced by the one of Frederick IV); three white stars in each canton
 Ordonnance Colour - Copyright: Kronoskaf |
References
Martinsson, Örjan: Danish Infantry Uniforms 1700-1730 in Tacitus.nu
Snorasson, Torstein and Søren Henriksen: Danish Uniforms 1699-1712, in Chakoten, translated and published by Dan Schorr in 2008
Vaupell, O. F.: Den Danske Haers Historie, Copenhagen 1876, pp. 623, 639, 652, 655, 703
N.B.: the section Service during the War is mostly derived from our articles depicting the various campaigns, battles and sieges.
Acknowledgements
Wienand Drenth and Jörg Meier for additional information on this regiment.
