Prussian Landwehr and Landsturn
1813-15

Book

Reviewed by Jim Womer

By Peter Hoschroer, Napoleonic Association, London, 1980, 130 pages, softcover, $3.50 plus postage.

Since first becoming interested in Napoleonics, my attention has gravitated to the armies of Central Europe. In those first dark days more than a decade ago useful "hard" information was difficult to come by for the wargamer interested in the period. The Russians tended to be enigmatic, the Austrians unintelligible and unrecorded; but the Prussians, bring simply obscure, were a logical choice, A frustrating choice at times, since they apparently missed Waterloo altogether according to some popular English authors of the time; eventually I realized that the Prussians, Russians and Austrians just had to have a very bad press agent in London who simply wasn't getting the word out to the publishers.

This particular work has a great deal of hard information packed between the soft covers. If, at times, it reads a little like a graduate student's doctoral thesis and does not convey too much of the feeling of the outbreak of Prussian-German Nationalism in the Befreiungskrieg (War of National Liberation), this is understandable as the work places a heavy emphasis on manpower mobilization and unit organization. Although the information of a few provinces remains obscure, most get a short but thorough treatment describing the units raised, some subsequent modifications, and some notes on unit service.

Three detailed returns of strength for the landwehr are presented for August, 1813; December, 1813 and January, 1815; while somewhat incomplete, it is unlikely that we will see better or more detailed returns short of the Prussian archives. Complementing these unit returns is a detailed Order of Battle of the Prussian army circa August, 1813, with a number of returns at the battalion level and even some detail as to the composition of the Prussian artillery batteries. Not only are the field forces detailed, but so are the landwehr units in garrison and blockading French fortresses in Prussia. This Order of Battle is slightly misleading as it does not indicate that the Prussian field forces were serving separately in the various allied armies, but the criticism is minor.

And there's still more; after a summary of the Landwehr's contribution to the War of National Liberation and a shorter section on the Landsturm, the author moves into a tremendous amount of uniform detail; while much of this relies heavily on German plates, a few are reproduced as half-tone illustrations at the end on the work. The author cautiously but correctly points out that he cannot verify independently much of the information presented in his 1815 source and goes on to describe in detail some very interesting variations on the basic Landwehr theme (Anyone for Neumark Landwehr infantry in Light Blue (?!) Litewkas?).

I do have some reservations about the potential for abuse of this work and, in this connection, the reader is referred to Richard K. Riehn's thoughtful critique in CAMPAIGNS No. 32 titled "The Prussian Landwehr and the Numbers Game".

For all that, this is a valuable book which advances our knowledge of a difficult subject. Being the most comprehensive treatment currently available, I would recommend it with qualification to the wargamer with a strong interest in the Prussian army of 1812-15, particularly if you've held off on tackling the Landwehr until now. Unfortunately, we are still waiting for a good, definitive study of the Prussian Army as a whole circa 1808-15 including the 1815 reorganization.

Available from Helen Lawley, Publications section, the Napoleonic Association, 40 Tucker st., Watford Fields, Watford, Hertfordshire, England for $3.50 plus $.45 for surface mail or plus $1.90 for airmail. Incidentally, the Napoleonic Association is a British based organization devoted to the study of the period 1792-1815; a sample copy of their quarterly journal can be obtained for $1.00 plus membership details from Howard Giles, Secretary, Napoleonic Association, 3 Chevoit Way, Banbury, Oxon OX16 74B, England, U.K.

Correction

In Volume III, No. 3, the price of Peter Hofschroer's Prussian Landwehr and Landsturm 1813-1815, published by the Napoleonic Association, London, 1980 was incorrectly given as three dollars and fifty cents. THIS IS WRONG - the correct price is three and a half pounds English money! Note also that the postage rates should be given in English pounds as well and NOT U.S. dollars.

The reason for this type of error in the Reviewing Stand from time to time is simply this: I live and write in Philadelphia. The column is typed and typeset in Massachusetts (with variable skill). Before reaching the printer, I don't get a chance to proofread the column, Hence, I generally spot the errors only when they're already in print and in your hands, a fact of which other contributors to this column should take note.

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