Swedish Jägar Units of the Seven Years War Part 1: Köhler's and Schwarter's companies

Swedish Jägar Units of the Seven Years War

Part 1: Köhler's and Schwarter's Companies

by Jeff Leach

On August 9th 1761 a so called 'capitulation', a recruiting contract, was issued for the raising of two new footjägare companies. One company was to be raised by captain Hans Fredrick von Köhler and the other by Karl Wilhem von Schwartzer. Both Companies were to have the same organization, uniforms and equipment. The only difference between the companies was that Köhler's company was to be recuited in Sweden and Schwartzer's company in Germany.

There is a fair amount of source material concerning these two companies preserved in the Krigsarkivet, the Swedish war arkives. Besides the capitualtion and general muster rolls for both units, there are a number documents relating to Köhler's company.

A capitulation was issued by the King or Commander-in-chef to a certain officer for the raising of a new unit. In the capitulation were listed the conditions under which the unit was to be raised. In it you could find instructions on the unit's size, uniforms, equipment, when it was to be ready for service, were it was to be recruited etc. The capitulation was considered complete when the officer in question reported that the unit was ready and a general muster was carried out to check that the conditions of the capitulation were fulfilled.

Muster

A general muster was held every third or fifth year. They were also usually held when a unit was newly raised and ready for service. During a general muster the recruits, equipment as well as the condition of the unit as a whole was inspected. Soldiers could be granted discharge from service or apply for a pension during a general muster.

The general muster was usually carried out by an officer in the unit called a 'mönsterskrivare', muster writer, whose duty it was to inspect recruits and issue reports on their condition. If there wasn't a muster writer present in the unit the general muster was carried out by an officer outside the unit.

In a general muster roll you can find information on every man within the unit. For example it would note a man's age, place of origin, how long he had been in service, if he was married etc. The muster roll also contained an inventory of all equipment in the unit and its condition. At the end of the muster roll, was an account of the unit's condition as a whole, problems that needed to be attended to and any complaints that the unit might have.

The capitulation of the 9th of August 1761, was divided into nine paragraphs and an introduction. The introduction gave the reason for raising the units and who the commanding officers would be. The following paragraphs described the conditions under which the companies were to be raised. The first three paragraphs detailed the units organization and the pay scale for the enlisted men and corporals. The fourth and tenth paragraphs listed the information that was to be given in the general muster roll. The fifth and sixth paragraphs described the company's uniforms and equipment. The seventh paragraph listed the advanced payment that the captain of each company was to receive for recruitment and equipment purchases and the last paragraph stated were recruitment for each company was to take place.

The capitulation stipulated that each company, whose total strenght was 112 men, was to consist of the following personal:

officers:

Non-commisssioned officers:

Rank and file:

The captain was the company's commander. The lieutenant was the second in command, who assumed the captain's responsibilities while he was away. The fänrik carried the company's flag while the unit was in combat. He was also responsible for conducting the company exercises and inspecting the sick. The capitulation stated that both the lieutenant and the fänrik had to be approved by the commander in chef before their appointment to the company.

The non-commissioned officers were further divided into upper, the fältväbel and sergeant, and lower, the förare, furir and rustmästare, non-commisssioned officiers. The fältväbel who was also called the quartermaster, was the highest non-commissioned officer. He was to be able to read and write. He was also responsible for dealing out minor punishment within the company. The sergeant was the next highest non-commissioned officer, who was responsible for discipline within the company. The förare was the fänrik's assistant. He was responsible for the company's flag when the company wasn't in combat.

The furir was responsible for the company's camp and the receiving and distribution of supplies. The rustmästare, the lowest grade of non-commissioned officers, was responsible for the company's ammunition and seeing to that the company's weapons were kept in good condition. The corporals were each responsible for one of the four divisions, each of 25 men, that the company was divided into.

The capitulation stated that the enlisted men were to be mature diligen and brave. Further information on each enblisted man is located in the general muster roll. The musicians in each company were young, the majority being 16 years old. The enlisted men were also fairly young. The ages of enlisted men in Schwartzer's company are given in the following table:

Ages of Enlisted Men in Schwartzer's Company

Age Percent

15-19 22 %

20-24 30 %

25-29 19 %

30-34 12.5%

35-39 12.5%

40-44 3 %

45-49 1 %

Wages and travel pay, given in riksdalers, were paid monthly. Portins, daily subsistence for a man, and rations, daily subsistence for a horse, were distributed daily. The subsistence pay for officers was for himself, his servant and his horse. The officers and non-commissioned officers received both monetary and subsistence pay while the enlisted men only received subsistence pay.

The capitulation stipulated that the corporals were to receive the equivalent of 5.30 RD subsistence every month while the musicians and enlisted men received 5 RD subsisitence. The corporal and enlisted men also received a cash bonus of 25 RD for enlisting. The table clearly shows just how much better off the officers and non-commissioned officers were than the enlisted men in these companies, whom received nothing more than food to fight.

The Pay Scale within Schwartzer's Company

grade Cash Wage Travel Pay Portion Ration

kapten 20.7 10 4 3

löjtnant vacant during this time

fänrik 13.3 5.7 2 3

upper non-com 3.6 2 1 -

lower non-com 3.3 1.7 1 -

korporal - 1 -

musician - 1 -
enlisted man - 1 -

The capitulation stated that the enlisted men's uniform was to consist of the following items:

The prices for the various items of clothing and equipment were listed in an appendix to the capitulation and the total cost of all items was to be 58 RD.

The general muster roll listed the actual uniform and equipment items that were issued to the enlisted men, which was somewhat different than given in the capitulation. The cape, vest and pants were green. The coat was green with yellow facings and the stockings were white. Moreover the enlisted men received a black scarf. The items of equipment issued were a green provisions sack, a hand-axe with a black leather holder instead of the saber, a bayonet scabbard with belt, a cartridge box and a bayonet.

Uniform Details

The illustration gives further information on the enlisted men's uniform. The uniform is the 1756's years model, which is the most likely style they had. The uniform's color, which is the same as the Bohuslän's Dragoons, is taken from Bellander's book. The uniforms may have been similar in color to Prussian jägar uniforms, which is illustrated to the side, but I believe this to be less likely. The illustration gives an idea of how the enlisted men probably appeared but shouldn't be taken as any more.

The musicians had the fanciest uniforms within the company. Their uniforms consisted of: a hat with cockade (tofsar), a green vest with white string, a pair of green pants, a pair stockings, two shirts, a red scarf and a pair boots. They also had a green dresscoat with yellow facings, collar and lapels, white string and cockade. Köhler wrote that his musicians had yellow coats with green facings, but this is most likely a mistake. The musician's equipment consisted of: a green drum belt and a wooden drum for the drummers and a field flute for the piper, while both had a calf skin provisions sack, a scabbard and belt, and a hirshfängare.

The officers and non-commissioned officers had the same uniforms as the enlisted men with the exceptions that they didn't have a scarf and their hats had silver lacing. The non-commissioned officers had the following equipment: a scabbard and belt, a cartridge box and a pallasch, a kind of cavalry saber.

When given their commissions both captains were given an advance payment for recruitment and equipment purposes. The advance payment was 3140 RD, of which 1250 RD was intended for recuitment and 1950 RD for equipment. The payment was approximately 50% of the total amount needed for these purposes. Against this payment the captains were expected to have three quarters of their companies enlisted and ready for service before the end of October and the remainder was to be enlisted and ready before the end of December.

Dates of Desertion and Death In the general muster rolls are lists of all soldiers who deserted or died during the previous year. Usually a place and a date are given for each soldier (a very big help in tracing the movements of a unit) and in the case of deserters, what equipment they deserted with. From the information found in Kölher's and Schwartzer's general muster rolls some interesting observations can be made. In Schwartzer's company all deserters deserted within a month of their enlistment, a total of 6 or approximately 6%.

This would seem to indicate that those who enlisted for the money literally took the money and ran. There isn't any preserved letters from this company so it is difficult to say weather those who wanted to desert did it quickly or the unit was moved to a place were it was difficult to desert from. With Köhler's company all deserters, a total of 5 or approximately 5%, deserted within a few weeks after the company's arrival in Stralsund. This is easily explained because there was nowhere to desert to in Sweden so those who wanted to desert had to wait until the unit arrived in Pommeria.

Another interesting observation is that nine men, about 10% of the total strength, of Köhler's company died shortly after the units arrival in Pommeria while only one man in Schwartzer's company died of sickness. This is probably a reflexion that it was so difficult to recruit in Sweden that Köhler was forced to accept men in poorer health than he would have liked.

Köhler's company

Köhler's company was to be recruited in Sweden but this proved so difficult that he was forced to also recruit foreigners in Germany. The general muster roll from the 19th of May 1762 lists 75 Swedes, 17 Germans, 4 Frenchmen, 2 Saxons and a Dane being with the company. The Saxons and a portion of the Germans, whom must have come from the Prussian army, and the Frenchmen were most likely deserters from their respective armies. All officers and non-commissioned officers in the company came from Sweden and her provinces.

It is doubtful that the enlisted men had any earlier experience as jägars. A few could have been foresters or game keepers, which was good experience for an aspiring jägare, but they would have been far too few to make a difference. The quality of the enlisted men was probably fairly poor because Köhler had so much difficulty enlisting the required number of men that he probably took whoever he could towards the end. The company could have possibly been better trained than Schwartzer's company because Köhler had been an officer in the Husarskyttekår, another Swedish jägar company, for several years.

Köhler reported that the company was combat ready on the 19th of May 1762, four months later than the stipulated date. The company couldn't have taken part in any combat because a cease fire had been signed with the Prussians at the end of April.

Material

Here is a short summation of the material relating Köhler's company. On the 15th of August 1761 Köhler requested that sergeant Mobeck be allowed to travel to Sweden to so he could begin recruiting. Somewhat later Köhler also traveled to Sweden. Köhler wrote to headquarters on the 6th of October that the money he had recieved was spent and he needed some more. He requested 1000 RD for recruitment and the paying of wages but was only granted 500 RD.

On the 23rd of December, Köhler asked that fänrik Magnus Ljungfelt of Jönköping's regiment be appointed lieutenant of his company. His request went unanswered but headquarters wrote that he had better be in Jönköping on offical business. The tone of the letter gives the impression that headquarters was irritated with the slow progress of Köhler's recruiting effort.

An expense account from the end of December reported that Köhler had managed to recruit only 61 men. On the 8th of February 1762 Köhler reported that he had enlisted 80 men and ordered them to assemble for transport to Ystad, a disembarking port for Swedish Pommeria. In the same report he requested that free transport from Ystad to Stralsund be arranged for his company and that lodging be made available because some of his men had been very sick recently.

When Köhler arrived in Ystad he discovered that transport hadn't been arranged and the postmaster there wanted 3.60 RD for every man to transport them. Köhler communicated this at once to headquarters, whom replied that they would pay the cost and for Kölher to hurry his butt up. It appears that housing wasn't made available to his company after their arrival in Stralsund, because seven enlisted men died of sickness shortly afterwards. A number of men also deserted at this time. On the 8th April we find Köhler again requesting that Magnus Ljungfelt be appointed to his company, which was finally granted. This short history is by no means exciting but it does give an insight into the process of raising a company.

Schwartzer's company

Schwartzer's company was recruited in Germany. It was a motely crew of Germans, Prussians, Saxons, Poles, Frenchment, a Dutchman, a Dane and an Austrian. At one point there was also a Swede with the company but he later deserted. The majority of the company was from the German minor states but there were a surprising number of Prussians and Saxons. The greater part of the enlisted men in the company were probably deserters from other armies. It was common at this time for a deserter from one army to enlist with another army, be it an ally's or the enemy's. All officers and non-commissioned officers in the company came from Swedish Pommeria.

A general muster was held on the 17th of December 1761 and the company was found to have fulfilled the requirements of the capitulation. Schwartzer wrote that while his company was at full strength it still wasn't combat ready. Schwartzer also wrote that the company would need an ammunition wagon before it could take to the field.

I have not found any indication that this company took part in active operations. It is possible that it took part in the 1761-1762 winter campaign or in later fighting, but this is unlikely considering Schwartzer's statement concerning his unit's combat readiness.

Even if the company took part in combat, I would question its effectivness. The motivation among the enlisted men must have been pretty low after they had received their enlistment bonus, which was probably the only reason they enlisted. Besides it is unlikely that any men in the unit had previous experience as a jägar. if the unit did participate in combat it probably didn't perform well.

Disband

Both companies were ordered to disband in July of 1762. The Swedes from Köhler's company were transferred to the Svea Livgardet and the foreigners from both units were transferred to Hessenstein's regiment, the Garisonregementet i Göteborg. Some of the enlisted men were also discharged from service at this time. The officers from both companies were transferred to a number of different regiments, among others: Björneborg's, Hessenstein's and Jönköping's.

von Kölher Bio

Hans Fredrick von Kölher was born in 1726. He entered Swedish military service in 1740 when he transferred to Posse's regiment in 1748, at that time one of Sweden's garrison regiments i Pommeria. During his transfered he was promoted to fältväbel. Köhler served with Posse's regiment until 1759 when he transfered to the Husarskyttekår, being promoted to lieutenant in the process. He seems to have been a competent but not outstanding officer while serving with this unit. Köhler served with the Husarskyttekår until 1761 when he was given a commission to raise a footjägare company.

He was promoted to captian at this time. After the war he was transferred back to the Garisonregementet i Göteborg were he served for a few years before moving to the Dalregementet. He stayed with this unit until his discharge in October of 1770 by whcih time he had reached the rank of second major. My impression of Köhler is that he was a competent but somewhat slow moving officer. Most of the preserved material concerning him are reminders from headquaters to hurry up and do what he was told. Köhler received the Köngliga Svärds Orden, an award given for long and faithful service to the King, which implies that someone was impressed with him because not all officers received this award.

Schwartzer Bio

Carl Wilhelm von Schwartzer was born in 1728 in Stralsund. He entered Swedish service in 1744 as a volunteer. The same year he was given permission to serve with the Saxon army. He took part in the campaigns of 1744 and 1745, seeing action at Leipzig, Meisten, Stridgau and Kesseldorf were he was wounded. He also served with the French army between 1756 and 1758, in the Royal Svedios regiment.

During this time he took part in the siege of Mastrich and the 1758 campaign against the British, when he took part in the battle of Hessekassel. Schwartzer returned to Swedish service in 1758 and the same year was captured by the Prussians. The next year he paid for his pardon and joined the 1st Tyska Grenadier battlion, were he served until 1761. That year he received a commission to raise a footjägare company. After the war he was transferred to the Drottningens Liv regemente till fot were he attained the rank of major in 1775.

The officers in each company were:

Rank Köhler's Schwartzer's

kapten Hans Fredrick von Kölher Karl Wilhelm von Schwartzer

löjtnant Magnus Ljungfelt Karl Fredrik Gedda

fänrik Paul Henrik Mobeck Karl Kalmberg

This is only a rough outline of the various duties of the officers and non-commssioned officers. I hope to have a better explaination of the various grades and their duties in part two of this essay.

The monetary unit used in the source material is something called a 'riksdaler Pommern kurant'. So far I haven't been able to find any information explaining what relationship this currency had with the Swedish riksdaler. Riksdaler is abbreviated in the text RD.

It is likely that the enlisted men should also have received a monetary wage because both companies were enlisted units and an enlisted unit was one were the troops recieved a monetary wage. The only reason I can think of that the troops didn't receive a wage was that Sweden's financial position was so bad by this time that she couldn't afford to pay her troops any longer.

When officers had silver lacing on their hats the enlisted men had white lacing.

Teofron Säve, in his history of the war in Pommeria, says that some foot jägars took part in this campaign. These troops most likely came from the Husarskyttekår, the third Swedish footjägar company, which was raised in 1759. It is possible that some of Schwartzer's men took part because Säve didn't mention which unit the jägars came from.

Bibliogaphy:

Literature:

Dräkt och Uniform. Erik Bellander. Stockholm 1973
Sveriges Deltagande i Sjuåriga Kriget Åren 1757-1762. Teofron Säve. Stockholm 1915
Karoliner. Alf Åberg och Göte Göransson. 1989

Unpublished material:

Sveriges Krig: Pommerska Kriget 1757-1762
vol.250 utgångna skrivelser från högkvarteret juli-augusti 1761.
vol.301 utgångna skrivelser från högkvarteret maj-sept 1761
vol.311 befordringar och prejudice mål
Utländska Värvade infanteriregementen (Ba)
Ba 300 GMR kapt. v Schwartzers Jägarkompani 1762
Tillfälliga Regementen till Fot (Ca)
Ca 58 GMR kapt. v. Köhlers Jägarkompani 1762
Ca 58 diverse handlingar kapt. v. Köhlers Jägarkompani

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