The main Austrian light force was the Grenzer regiments from the Military Frontier, which occupied what is now northern Croatia, northern Serbia and central Romania. After devastating losses in the 1788-91 Turkish war and a series of failed harvests, the Frontier regiments had only put a few composite battalions into the field during the First Coalition and were also in need of reform. The whole area was still suffering with dire poverty and neglect.

The basic subject was covered in AoNs 11-13 plus errata in 14, but in brief, from 1769, the Grenzer Regiments had been designated as Line troops holding the titles from IR60-76. In 1798, the Grenzers were removed from the Line and designated as 17 National Border (Nationalgrenz) Infantry regiments. As before, the Frontier and its units were organised into 6 Districts (Generalcies). Heavy losses during the campaigns would force the authorities to find reinforcements from Hungary, Civil Croatia and even Moravia.

For the Second Coalition, the western regiments of the Karlstadt, Warasdin and Banal Districts (Regiments 1-6 and 10/11) fielded their regulation two battalions each together. In addition, in 1797, the Ungarisches Banal Erstes Feld Bataillon - the First Field Battalion - was raised from the Banal District, comprising three companies each from the two Banal District regiments. The Slavonian District (Nos. 7-9) also fielded their two battalions per regiment, together with additional field battalions from each regiment. The 9th (Peterwardein) Regiment provided two extra battalions (3rd and 4th), while the Brod and Gradiska Regiments added a 3rd Battalion each, a total of 10 battalions in all, the additional troops being raised in 1799.

The eastern regiments of the Banat (12 & 13) and Siebenburgen (14-17) Districts continued to field composite battalions drawing on all their Regiments, as they tried to organise their units properly on the regulation footing.

The Banat had a mixed population of Germanic settlers and assorted Slavs (Serbs and Wallach, a mixture of Romanians and Bulgars), officially forming the 12th and 13th Regiments respectively. The former 1st and 3rd Banat battalions had been disbanded in 1797 to form the 1st Battalion of the Wallach- Illyrian (13th) Regiment. The 2nd and 4th Banat were formed in May 1796, both comprising three companies from each Regiment, the 4th becoming the 2. Feld Bataillon of the (12th) Deutsch-Banat Regiment in 1798. The 5th Banat Battalion, raised also from three companies from each Regiment in September 1796, became the 1. Feld Bataillon of the (12th) Deutsch-Banat Regiment in 1797. Raised in the same way, the 6th Banat Battalion, raised in 1797 became the 2. Feld Bataillon of the (13th) Wallach-Illyrian Regiment in the same year. Thus in all, the Banat raised five battalions. These ethnically mixed battalions were disbanded after the War and the separate nationalities reformed into the regulation battalions.

The Siebenburgen District managed to retain ethnically separate units, the Szeckels and Hungarians forming units from the 14th and 15th (Szeckler) Regiments, while the Wallach (or Vlach) provided units from the 16th and 17th (Wallach) Regiments. Survivors from the First Coalition, the 2nd Szeckler Battalion comprised three companies from each Regiment. In 1799, the 4th and 5th Szeckler battalions were raised wholly from the 1st Szeckler (14th) and 2nd Szeckler (15th) Regiments respectively, together with a small 6th Szeckler Battalion formed from two companies from each Regiment.

The Wallach fielded three composite battalions, raised originally during the First Coalition. The 1. Wallach Bataillon had been formed in 1793 from 4 companies each from the two Regiments. The 2. Wallach Bataillon had been raised in 1796 with an initial strength of three companies from each Regiment. Reduced to just two companies by June 1799, hasty recruitment raised its complement back to six companies again by October that year (two companies from 16th Regiment and four from the 17th). During the Autumn 1800 armistice, these battalions were broken down and reformed as the two battalions of the 16th Regiment. At the same time, the former 3rd Wallach Battalion, raised in September 1796 with three companies from the 16th Regiment and one from the 17th was likewise mixed and matched into the 1. Feld Bataillon of the 17th Regiment.

Austrian Light Infantry 1799-1801 by Dave Hollins

Background
Grenz and Other Regiments
FreiKorps, Jagers, and Balkan Units
Illustrations (slow: 121K)
Chart of Battalions