The Swedes had used light troops in earlier conflicts, raising hussars to face the Russians in 1741-43, but had disbanded them in 1744. In spite of this experience, they had no light troops in 1757 when they entered the war against Prussia. This lack caused problems because Pomerania, where the fighting took place, was full of forests, rivers, lakes and marshes which gave the Prussian free corps and hussars plenty of opportunities for the "petite guerre." Foraging and reconnaissance became difficult so the Swedes were forced to improvise new light formations.

1757

In December 1757, the Commander in Chief of the Swedish Army, Field Marshall von Ungern-Sternberg, contracted with two officers, Captain von Puttbus and Lt. Von Platen, to raise two squadrons of hussars totaling 200 men. These were the basis for the "Blue Hussars." After his experiences with hussars, von Platen wrote a treatise called Der Husar im Felde, oder kuntzgefasste Maximen des Husar-Metier, which appeared in 1761 and was published in German then French in several editions, although not until 1785 in Swedish. Its mixture of languages shows up some of the confusion underlying the story of Swedish light troops. By their very nature, light troops operated on the fringes of the regular forces in more than one respect and their story has to be pieced together. I have attempted to resolve one problem, ie. their titles, by putting them into English when I can or otherwise in German. The model for the Swedish hussars were the Prussians and German was the language of command.

Around the same time as the first hussars were raised, Lt. Von Schwartzer raised a squadron of Horse Jagers of 100 men, although Schirmer says 36, rising to 100 later. These wore a uniform of dragoon cut with green coat, breeches and vest, yellow cuffs, collar and turnbacks, green cloak and valise, green horse furniture with a yellow edging. It is not clear if they were genuine jagers with rifles. They were used for scouting and especially for courier work. In 1758, they were increased to two squadrons totaling 200 men.

These units proved very useful in countering Prussian light troops, and from then, on more and more troops were assigned to the petite guerre.

1758

General von Rosen replaced Ungern-Sternberg but continued his policy. Von Puttbus was reinforced by 50 hussars on foot. Although without horses, they were dressed as the "Blue Hussars." In practice, they were jagers armed with rifles. Another 50 were added in the autumn of 1758, and in 1759 they became a separate unit under von Rosenqvist. The mounted hussars had been increased to ten squadrons totaling 1000 men on 20 June.

In April, Boehmer's Free Corps had been raised in Danzig from prisoners of war in four companies of 75 men each. They wore a blue coat with yellow facings, red neck cloth, long white trousers, short boots, and dark yellow lace including the buttonholes. In 1759 they became eight companies totaling 600 men.

In 1758 grenadier battalions were formed from the line regiments' grenadiers, one from Swedish regiments under A. R. Wrangel, and one from German garrisons under J. A. Meijerfeldt, and they wore their regimental uniforms. Each consisted of 400 men. They were often used as light troops.

The light troops had high losses, as they were always in contact with the enemy and needed constant replacement. A return of 2 December 1760 gives 785 hussars, 145 jagers, and 300 hussars without horses.

1761

This year saw a considerable expansion in the number of light troops and changes in their employment. General Ehrensvard became C. 0. of the army in Pomerania. He created two hussar regiments - the "Blue" and the "Yellow," each of 800 men.

"Blue Hussar's" Uniform. These wore a yellow felt cap with a black wing with yellow lace, cap cords, and a small rosette on the front. The dolman and pelisse were both dark cornflower blue with yellow buttons. The dolman had yellow cuffs and trim and a white collar with a yellow edge. The pelisse was edged in black fur with yellow frogging. Black neck cloth. Boots were black with yellow trim. The barrel sash was yellow. Blue thigh length stockings with yellow trim around the tops were worn over straw (leatherO breeches. Belts were natural leather apart from the sabretache slings which were white. The sabretache itself was blue with a zigzag border, a royal cipher, A F, under a crown - all in yellow. The horse furniture was blue and the shabrack was edged with a yellow zigzag edged itself in white. The saber and scabbard were steel.

"Yellow Hussar's" Uniform. These wore a brown fur busby with yellow bag, laced white with white metal death's head on the front. The dolman was black and the pelisse yellow, both with white trim and buttons. The dolman had yellow cuffs and collar with white edging. The pelisse was edged in black fur and had white frogging. A black neck cloth. Boots were black with white trim. The barrel sash was yellow. Black thigh length stockings with white trim around the tops were worn over straw (leather) breeches. Belts were natural leather apart from the sword belt and sabretache slings which were white. The sabretache itself was black with a zigzag border, a royal cipher, A F or possibly G, under a crown - all in yellow. The horse furniture was black and the shabrack was edged with a yellow zigzag edged itself in white. The saber and scabbard were steel.

Officers had finer quality uniforms with gold or silver replacing yellow or white. NCO's had gold or silver lace on their cuffs. Trumpeters had the same with yellow or white swallows nests, brass trumpets, and either gold worked or silver worked trumpet cords.

Two new battalions of grenadiers were created. Again, one was from Swedish regiments under J. M. Sprengporten and the other from the German Pomeranian garrisons under G. Wetterhof. In the autumn, two more were raised. This time one was Finnish and the other German. Ehrensvard used them as light troops.

In August 1761, Captain C. W. Schwartzer and Lt. H. von Kohler were given authority to raise two companies of foot jagers in Sweden and Germany respectively. Each company was of 112 men all ranks. These companies proved difficult to recruit and were not ready until early 1762 and probably did not see active service (see SYWA Journal Vol. 10, No. 1). These wore a green coat and yellow facings.

Other small units were raised. A small free corps was recruited from the regiments of Abo, Ostrogothic (Ostgotha?) and Helsinge by Captain Bengt Lillie.

Schirmer also refers to a French free corps raised in Hamburg in 1761 of French deserters consisting of a grenadier and jager company, each of 50 men, and a hussar squadron of 100, probably wearing their old French uniforms. These troops did not see action.

Much more important was the establishment in the summer of 1761 by General Ehrensvard of a corps of light troops to exploit mobility. It consisted of both infantry and cavalry under Major, later Lt. Colonel, J. M. Sprengporten. The basis of this corps was the cavalry, raised by taking 60 volunteers from cavalry regiments. This gave eight squadrons totaling 480 men later increased to 600 under Captain G. V. Foch. These men were provided with sabers instead of straight swords. The regiments providing men were one squadron each from the Leib, Vastgota, Ostgota, and Smalands regiments and two each from Norraskansa and Sodraskansa. To this were added 100 hussars probably drawn from the existing regiments and 50 horse jagers.

The infantry was made up of four free companies of 100 men each coming from different infantry regiments wearing their original uniforms. Each company had two 3-pdr. Light guns. The train and supporting equipment was as light as possible.

To Sprengporten's corps were assigned two battalions of Swedish grenadiers and a battalion of the Skaraborg Regiment.

These units, around 2000 men, were collected together in August 1761 near Spantekow. They were exercised according to special instructions written by Sprengporten himself.

This corps went into the field in September 1761 and proved themselves against the Prussians, giving them a hard time, although the fighting was inconclusive.

However, at the end of the war, all the light troops, except for the "Blue Hussars," were disbanded.

Return of Light Troops, February 1762
Unit	Effectives		CO's
	Official	Actual
Light Cavalry	600	566	G. V. Foch
Yellow Hussars	800	477	G. G. Wrangel
Blue Hussars	800	505	U. von Puttbus
Horse Jagers	200	192	J. von Schwartzer
Free Company	100	347 (all 5 co)	Bengt Lillie
Free Company	100		Eric Lundeberg
Free Company	100		Sebastian v. Otto
Free Company	100		J. Ehrenheim
Free Company	100		G. M. Sprengporten
Free Company	50	---	De La Lieux
Free Battalion	600	264	Johan v. Bohnen
Foot Jagers	100	58	Johan Rosenqvist
1st Swedish Grenadier Btn	400	319	Claes Cedestrom
2nd Swedish Grenadier Btn.	384	337	J. M. Sprengporten
1st German Grenadier Btn.	400	362	J. A. Meijerfeldt
2nd German Grenadier Btn.	400	359	K. D. Ancharstrom
1st: Finnish Grenadier Btn.	300	159	Georg Wetterhof
Totals	5534	3945	-

References

Nikula, O. Article in "Revue Internationale d'Histoire Militaire". 1961, No. 5.
Schircher, F. Die Heere der Kriegfuhrenden Staaten, Schweden. Pengel and Hurt publications.
Sapherson, A. Basic Guide No. 5: The Swedish.

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