There is a tendency for us to take what is known and draw conclusions. One of the better known battles of the Seven Years War was fought at Leuthen and was a great victory for the Prussians. During this battle the Prussian "oblique" attack worked perfectly, Prussian artillery was effectively used on the attack and moved and used again, and the Bavarian contingent on which the brunt of the attack fell failed to distinguish themselves in battle. There is, therefore, a tendency to consider the Bavarians lousy troops.

Perhaps the Bavarian troops were always as ineffective as they were that day, perhaps not. We do know that the "oblique" attack never worked this well again and artilley was never able to be used so effectively on the attack again during the Seven Years War.

Bavaria was part of the Army of the Empire or Reicharmee. This army was composed of ten Reichkreis or Imperial Circles that, in theory, would defend one another. Circles were more or less geographic and national. The theoretical strength of this army was about 84,000 infantry and 56,000 cavalry. Of these the Austrian circle comprised about 19% of the total by allocating 16,500 infantry and 7,500 cavalry. The second largest circle was Spain, which was supposed to supply 8,100 infantry and almost 10,000 cavalry. Bavaria's allotment was 4,482 infantry and 2,400 cavalry. [1]

These allotments were filled in various ways and not at all. Spain entered the Seven Years War very late and managed to lose some of her Caribbean holdings. Austria assigned units to the army, as did Bavaria. The Saxon circles were overwhelmed at the beginning of the war and that part of the Saxon army that escaped spent the remainder of the war fighting with France in the West. Some rulers were not keen on the idea of taking the field against Frederick and drug their feet on recruiting and other areas had become Protestant and were not interested in joining Catholic countries in fighting Protestants. 

The Bavarian Army

Three Bavarian battalions were committed to the Reicharmee: two battalions of Pechmann and one battalion of Holstein. Each battalion had an establishment of 101 fusiliers per company and four companies per battalion. Both Pechmann and Holstein supplied one grenadier company of 100 men. Officers, musicians, etc. brought the total strength of the fusilier companies to 130 total.

The remainder of the army was comprised of two-battalion regiments, except for Kurprinz and Preysing, which were combined to form a regiment. Fusilier battalions had an establishment of 520 men (including officers) and a grenadier company of 100. [2]

It seems reasonable to assume that the Bavarian army had a cavalry wing, but I have yet to find anything that says as much. Jim Purky provided me with a collection of Sturm Zigaretten cards that picture three Bavarian units: Cuirassier R. Prinz Taxis, Dragoon R. Biojasque, and Dragoon R. Hohenzollern. These will be described below and their presence during the Seven Years War is conjectural as far as I know.

The Bavarian Army of the Seven Years War

Army Organization
Uniforms