Army of Hessen Kassel 1650-1700 Part One: 1650-1688

Following the occupation of Luxemburg by the French in 1684 the army of Hessen-Kassel was tripled in size in the years up until the outbreak of war in 1688 The French had taken the chance to seize new territories while the Empire was fully engaged fighting the Turks in Eastern Europe and this, along with Louis XIV revoking the Edict of Nantes in 1685, forced the Protestant princes of Germany to join an alliance to counter the expansionist policies of the French kin& Ile League of Augsburg was formed in 1686 and comprised of most of the German Empire, Spain, Sweden and the United Provinces. The increase in the size of the army of Hessen-Kassel was due entirely to the threat posed by an aggressive France whose aggrandisement at the expense of the Empire had to be challenged. At the outbreak of war the establishment of the forces available to Landgrave Carl was as follows;

Cavalry

Garde du Corps 167 men in two companies. The first being commanded in 1688 by Oberst-Leutnant Heinrich von Baumbach and mounted on white horses and the second commanded by Major Franz Dietrich von Ditfurth and mounted on black horses.

Leibregiment zu Pferde (Gendarmes) Commanded in 1688 by Oberst Bernd Simon von Kaersenbruch. 360 men in six companies.

Regiment Herman Wilhelm von Spiegel zon Dessenberg von Dalheim 180 men in three companies.

Regiment Oberst Bernd Simon won Kaersenbruch. 720 men in ten companies.

Dragoner Regiment Graf August von der Lippe-Brake 424 men in six companies.

Dragoner Regiment Johan Ernst won Nassau-Weilburg 460 men in six companies.

Dragoner Regiment Alexander Herman von Wartensleben 460 men in six companies.

Jaeger zu Pferde Commanded by Oberfoerster Bauer. One company.

Infantry

Leibregiment zu Fuss Commanded in 1688 by Oberst-Leutnant Wolf Christoph von Schenck zu Schweinberg. 800 men in eight companies.

Regiment Oberst Alexander Hermes von Wartensleben 1,300 men in thirteen companies.

Regiment Oberst Dietrich von Hanstein 1,200 men in twelve companies.

Regiment Oberst Johan Ulm Keller 1,000 men in ten companies.

Regiment Priez: Karl von Hessen-Kassel

Regiment Erbprinz Friedrich von Hessen-Kassel Commanded by Oberst Anton Detlev von Schwerin. 1,248 men in twelve companies.

Oberrheinischer Kreis Regiment Commanded by Oberst Sittich Ludwig von Goertz. 400 men in four companies.

Bataillon von Battler Five companies.

Bataillon von Stockhausen Three companies.

Jaeger zu Fuss Commanded by Oberfoerster Oesterling. 98 men in one company.

Land Miliz Regiment Four batallions of three companies each.

The three companies of cavalry commanded by Oberst von Spiegel was the contribution made by Hessen-Kassel towards the cavalry regiment of the Upper Rhine circle. The 180 men who saw service in Hungary were, upon their return to Hessen-Kassel, reinforced by new recruits and the regimental strength was brought up to six companies.

The former cavalry regiment von Kaersenbruch was taken into the pay of the United Provinces during the latter part of 1688 and renamed Nassau-Weilburg. It was to remain in Dutch service until disbanded in 1697.

The Lippe-Brake dragoon regiment, known as the red dragoons, entered service with the United Provinces under the command of Major Hans Heinrich von Boyneburg and continued in Dutch pay until it was disbanded in 1697 and incorporated into the Hessen-Homberg dragoon regiment.

The infantry regiment Prinz Karl was serving under the Venetians in the Morca until 1689 when it returned to be reinforced by the battalion commanded by von Buttlar. This regiment was raised in Herzfeld in 1687 for the seven year old son of Landgraf Karl. Its initial strength was 1,000 men formed into ten companies. These were transferred from existing regiments, the Leibregiment providing 315 men, Hanstein 175 men, Keller 255 men and Wartensleben also 255 men. The regiment was transferred to the pay of the United Provinces in 1693. At this date it had a strength of twelve companies and was under the command of Oberst Johannn Eckebrecht von Stockhausen.

The infantry regiment Eebrprinz Friedrich was transferred to the pay of the Province of Utrecht in 1697.

The militia companies were formed into a regiment in 1684. In 1689 the regiment consisted of four battalions each of three companies. The first battalion was made up with companies from three districts of Kassel, these being Oudensberg, Treudeburg and Wolfhag. The second battalion consisted of companies from the towns of Hersfeld, Melsungen and Rothenberg. The third from the towns and of districts of Allendorf, Eschwege and Schmalkalden. The fourth from the companies raised in Marburg, Homberg and Frankenberg (a combined company) and Ziegenhain. As well as providing a full battalion for the militia regiment the town of Kassel also created a civil guard of two companies in 1690.

The Graf von Schaumburg raised two companies of infantry for Landgraf Karl during the period covered by this article.

As the regiments were named after their colonel-in-chief at this time and did not have a regimental number the designation of the regiments could, and in certain cases did, change frequently. Of the cavalry regiments the von Kaersesbruch regiment became the Nassau-Weilburg regiment in 1698 as we have already seen. The dragoon regiment Nassau-Weilburg become Kettler during 1689, Tettau in 1694 and Hessen-Homburg in 1696. The dragoon regiment Wartentleben became Graffendorf in 1690 and Erbprinz Friedrich in 1695. Of the infantry regiments Wartensleben became Rotarius in 1690 and Goetz in 1692 with a final change to Loewenstein in 1696. The regiment Keller become Sames. The regiment Hanstein became Prince Wilhelm in 1690.

A grenadier battalion was raised in 1697 consisting of six companies. The first was formed from the Liebregiment and the others, shown in numerical order, from the Prinz Wilhelm, Prinz Karl, Obereheinisher Sames and Loewenstein regiments.

I have little or no information as to the campaign histories of the individual regiments during the War of the League of Augsburg but a brief description of the actions of the army in general may be of interest. The outbreak of war saw the army of Hessen-Kassel combined with those of other German states under the command of HerzogKarl von Lothrinten. In 1689 the army was concentrated around Frankfurt am Main and at the beginning of the summer was moved forward to participate in the siege of Mainz. Hessian troops were later involved in the actions at Bonn and Cologne. For the next four years the army spent the winter quartered around Mainz. It was in action at Namur, Luxemburg and on the Mass and Sambre rivers.

In 1693 the Hessians were serving on the Upper Rhine under the command of Markgraf Ludwig von Baden. In 1695 Landgraf Karl sent ten infantry battalions and eighteen cavalry squadrons to serve with the English army which was then in the Netherlands. This force participated in the campaign that resulted in the recapture of Namur. The next year saw Hessian forces in action in the Palatinate, these spending the winter quartered around Frankfurt on Main and Hanau. The war ended in 1697 with the Peace of Ryswick and at this date the army was in the vicinity of Brussels.

The recruitment for the Hessen-Kassel regiments was primarily from the state itself although a small number of foreigners were to be found serving at any given time. An example is from the infantry regiment Prinz Karl in which there were thirty two men who were not born in Hessen-Kassel on the regimental strength in 1696. Of these three were French, three were Polish, two Hungarian, one Greek and one Spanish. The remainder were from other German states, the Principality of Waldeck providing a large number of these German troops.

As for as the actual composition of the regiments is concerned there would appear to be conflicting information. Goldberg and Belaubre state that the infantry regiments consisted of two battalions of six companies and that this was was reduced to five companies in 1690. Each company had a maximum strength of around one hundred men. According to von Lettow-Vorbeck the battalion was comprised of four 'divisions' each of two companies. These companies were of around eighty men. The same author gives us the following information on the Liebregiment. In 1689 the regiment consisted of eleven companies, the first being a Grenader Kompanie and the second being the Leibkompanie. By 1697 the regiment had only nine companies. It may be presumed that the infantry regiments had a similar establishment and that they included a company of grenadiers.

Regiment Staff

The regimental staff comprised of the Colonel (Oberst) Lieutenant-Colonel (0berstleutnant) Major (Oberstwachtmeister) Adjutant and Regimental Quartermaster, Auditor, Regimental Surgeon, Drum Major and four or eight musicians, one wagon master a provost and two sides.

The company consisted of a Captain (Captaen) Lieutenant (Leutnant), Ensign (Faehnrch), two Sergeants, a Lance Sergeant, Farrier, Surgeon, Secretary, two Corporals, two drummers and seventy-four soldiers.

The cavalry regiments were of varying strengths, as has been noted previously, although the individual companies seem to have a complement of between sixty and seventy men.

The regimental staff comprised of the Colonel (Oberst)j the Lieutenant-Colonel (Oberstleutnant), Major (Oberstwachtmeister), Adjutant and Regimental Quartermaster, Auditor and Regimental Surgeon, a Kettledrummer, a Trumpeter, one waggon master and a provost and two sides. Fourteen drought horses and seven riders were provided for the carriage of equipment and belongings.

The company consisted of a Captain (Rittmeister), Lieutenant (Leutnant), Cornet (Cornett), a Sergeant, a Quartermaster, three Corporals, Trumpeter, Secretary, Surgeon, Saddler, a Smith and fifty troopers.

The Dragoons had a very similar organisation although the companies had two Drummers in place of the Trumpeter.

There is very little information available on the artillery arm. It would appear that the latter half of the seventeenth century may have seen the beginnings of the regimental artillery but previous to this the artillery pieces were concentrated in the fortresses and it is probable that few cannons were used in the field. In 1690 a field battery consisted of three Officers, two Corporals, sixteen Master Gunners and thirty-two Gunners plus two Drummers and thirteen Matrosses. In 1696 the field artillery consisted of three officers, twelve master Gunners and twenty-four Gunners with eleven Matrosseg. The fortress of Kassel had three Officers, one Chief Artificer, eleven Master Gunners and twenty Matrosses. At Rheinfels there was one Officer, three Junior Officers, some twenty-three Master Gunners and eleven Matrooses.

Marburg had one Junior Officer, ten Master Gunners and two Matrosset. Zeigenhoin had a Junior Officer and three Master Gunners. The artillery therefore, in 1696, totalled some seven Officers, fourteen Artificers and other specialists, nine Junior Officers, fifty-nine master Gunners and fifty-seven others

The artillery train in 1690 consisted of one master of horse, one wagon matter, three master drivers and one hundred and twenty-five drivers. In 1696 the establishment was one master of horse, two junior officers, three master drivers and one hundred and nineteen drivers. There was a total of two hundred and fifty horses.

Army of Hessen Kassel 1650-1700 Part Two: 1688-1700

Organisation
Uniforms

Army of Hessen Kassel 1650-1700 Part One: 1650-1688