Editor: the following article is from The Infantry Regiments of Frederick the Great, Schiffer Publishing, West Chester, PA, 1989.

After the taking of Neisse on October 31, 1741 -- focal point for the County of Glatz, northern Moravia and southern Upper Silesia -Major General von Walrave began to set up a ten company regiment of engineers whose first job was the construction of fortifications. The men were recruited mainly in Upper Silesia, later also in Moravia, but the regiment was filled only in November of 1742.

On January 8, 1742 most of its officers joined it from the Engineer Corps, and Walrave became its chief. Instead of grenadiers it was given two companies of miners. On November 25, 1741 the King gave Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau the job of recruiting Harz and Halberstadt miners. Assembled in Kroppenstedt, they left for Silesia via Berlin on April 17, 1742. On March 30 of that year the King commanded that pontoon crews, counted as part of the artillery, be funded with the miners. Until then there had been engineers only in wartime.

At right, Regiment and company standards for the Prussian Pioneer and Pontooniers, respectively. Original artwork by SYWA member Luke Mulder.

As of May 30, 1743 the construction of "Fort Prussia" in Neisse began; the "free watchmen" of the Silesian regiments were paid to serve there. The fortifications of Glogau, Brieg and Breslau were strengthened, as was Peitz, Glatz and Cosel were built up new.

On the Old Dessauer's recommendation, Walrave was taken from the service of The Netherlands as a captain on November 24, 1715, and proved to be not only an expert on sieges and fort construction but also intelligent and imaginative, as he proved to be in Magdeburg, Stettin and, in 1733, at Philippsburg. A Colonel since July 2, 1729 and a Major General since 1741, he wrote a large treatise in 1747. What with his high regard for engineering art and military genius, the King promoted his knowledge until 1756 through the instruction of officers, including writing and practice.

When personal dishonesty and "treason to the state" were discovered early in 1748, Walrave was sent to the "Sternschanze" in Magdeburg, where he was imprisoned until his death in 1773, The company of miners remained an independent corps. Only in 1787 was it given two companies of grenadiers from Garrison Regiment X. Neisse remained its garrison; from 1746 to 1750 part of it was stationed in Glatz. As of 1764 replacements came from the districts of Neustadt, Frankenstein and Grottkau (until 1797) and their cities, including Oberglogau, Zultz, Wartha and Steinau.

With the King's First Corps in 1744 it besieged Prague from September 12 to 16. Then it took Tabor in southern Bohemia and occupied it under Colonel von Kalnein. When the King turned back, it defended itself for days and cared for its wounded. On October 22 there was nothing to do but surrender. The regiment still had 661 men, plus 163 turncoats, most. of them Austrian. After negotiations at Prague in December of 1744, the regiment returned in January of 1745.

By now it was more fighting force than technical construction unit. Along with eight infantry regiments and the Silesian garrison regiments it secured forts in 1745, as well as in 1749 and 1753. In his 1752 report the King called it the "strong nail that holds the provinces together, the foundation of the army, nourishment of the troops, it protects the dwellings of great corps."

For that reason he built forts in Silesia: Schweidnitz 1747-1752, Glatz as of 1742, Neisse since 1743, and Cosel from 1744 on. From 1746 to 1756 he spent 1.5 million taler, excluding Silberberg from 1765. The sites in the old provinces were merely maintained as they were. He put special emphasis on establishing minefields and flooding perimeters. All forts were at once magazines and arsenals.

In 1755 the regiment exchanged their heavy swords for sabers; they stayed in Neisse through 1756. On January 9, 1757 it was on the 1320-man "middle foot" without being enlarged. After the defeat at Kolin the First Battalion was sent to defend the important magazine at Zittau, on the retreat route of Prince August Wilhelm's army. On July 23 it was captured in the burning city, with about 150 men under their commander, Colonel von Diericke.

In 1758 it joined the King's Army for the first time as a field regiment, used first in the siege and capture of Schweidnitz on April 16, then in the unsuccessful siege of Olmutz. On August 25 it stormed two enemy batteries at Zorndorf and captured two howitzers and six powder wagons. Then it stayed in camp at Blumberg with the Porneranian Corps under Dohna, opposite the Russians, while the King withdrew. On November 26 it was officially changed to a fusilier regiment when the miner companies were withdrawn, and Major General von Diericke became its chief. He came from an old military family, was well-educated and pious.

On June 12, 1757 it was on the Warthe with the Pomeranian Corps ready to take part in the planned advance to Thorn, which came to a stop at Obornik on July 5th. Under Wedell at Kay on July 23rd, it attacked the Palzig Heights for the fourth time in the second encounter and was beaten back, suffering severe losses. After the King and Finck arrived on August 9th, it went to Kunersdorf on September 11th, crossing the Oder at Gritz.

On August 12, it protected the artillery there, holding out until the end when the enemy took the guns. The regiment was surrounded and most of it was captured after brave opposition. Those who escaped joined Manteuffel to push the Swedes back across the Peene in November and take Anklam and Demmin. [Editor: refer to Volume X Issue #1] At the end of April 1760 it held its position on the Triebisch under Prince Henry. At Breslau on August 6 and with the King in Saxony in mid-October, it attacked the Suptitz Heights at Torgau on November 3 and took several hundred prisoners.

In 1761 it stood fast through hard times with Prince Henry in minor actions in Saxony. In 1762 it held the Pretzschendorf fon there as well as the area between Wilder Weisseritz and the Elbe.

In 1763 it received great favor, but in 1764 the King critcized it: "It doesn't amount to much either!"

In 1806 it was disbanded in the capitulation of Magdeburg on November 11, the Third Battalion in that of Neisse on June 16, 1807. The remaining men joined the First Silesian Infantry Regiment, later Grenadier Regiment No. 10.

Uniform Information

IR49 wore a standard Prussian fusilier regiment uniform consisting of a dark blue coat, no collar or lapels. Cuffs were dark blue. Coat turnbacks were red. Waist coat and breeches were reddish-orange (tending more toward the orange color than the red). Belting was white, cartridge box was black with the royal cypher in silver. Buttons were also silver in color. The unit wore a fusilier mitre with a silver front plate, blue mitre bag, and red-orange head band decorated with silver grenades. Officers and NCO's wore tricorn hats edged in silver.

IR 49 Standards

The Regimentsfahne was reddish-brown in color. It had a circular wreath in each of the four corners of the flag. In lieu of flames, the royal cypher, FR, was placed in the center of these wreaths. The central device on the flag was circular with a white background. Here was found the Prussian eagle with the scroll "Pro Gloria Patria" over its head. There was a crown on top of the central device. All of the wreath coloring was silver. The Liebfahne would be the reverse of the Regimentsfahne, i.e. a white field with the central device in reddish-brown. All other aspects of the two flags were the same.

Pioneer Color

The standard depicted on page 8 is the regimental flag circa 1742. The field is medium brown, the grenades and flames in each corner are silver, the scroll is red with silver lettering, the cross in the central device is white. The eagle has a black body with gold crown, sword hilt, thunderbolts, beak and claws. The chain is silver. Links that intercept the tool handles are gold/silver striped. The tools have silver heads and dark brown handles. The flag finial is gold and carries the royal cypher. The cravats hanging from the finial are silver.

Duffy notes that when IR49 was converted to a fusilier regiment, its two companies of pioneers remained as a separate organization. A third company was added in 1761.

Pontoonier Color

This color has a grey field, the royal cypher is gold, the crown is gold with a red interior. The three pontoons are brown The flag finial is gold and is orb-shaped rather than pointed. The flag stave is blue with white stripes. The ponttonier-corps was allached to the Prussian artillery and marched and camped with the heavy batteries, according to Duffy. He cites a peacetime establishment of 27 or 28 officers, increased to 53 during the Seven Years War. The pontoons were made of thin sheets of copper and were stored in the fortresses of Berlin, Magdebourg and Neisse.

The Fate of Walrave According to Duffy

[Editor: the following is an excerpt from Christopher Duffy's The Fortress in the Age of Vauban and Frederick the Great.]

Frederick liked an element of eccentricity in his companions, and he was certainly willing to tolerate a good deal in Walrave -- the string of mistresses, the fitting out of his palace [Schloss] Liliput with plundered goods, and a bizarre character which permitted Walrave to extort money from monasteries, while prompting him to send wax candles to the church of Czestochowa, and repair war-damaged religious pictures at his own expense. The king was finally forced to move when Walrave opened suspicious relations with foreign envoys [Editor: specifically, the Russians and Saxons with respect to purchasing paintings for his collection at Schloss Liliput.].

On February 10, 1748 Frederick entertained Walrave and others to lunch, and chatted and joked with him over table:

When lunch was finished Walrave, like the other guests, asked leave to return home. In the royal anteroom, however, a general requested him to hand over his sword. Walrave took it for a prank, but when the general assured him in all seriousness that he was carrying out the royal intention, Walrave returned in haste to the king's chamber to discover from the monarch in person whether he had really ordered his arrest. Frederick's only reply was: "The general must have received an order to this effect," whereupon he ducked into a side room without listening to a word that Walrave had to say. Count Haake then placed Walrave under arrest.