Prussia sent into battle 2 Guard and 8 Line Regiments of cuirassiers. All wore white tunics. Breastplates were of beaten iron, copper plated for the guards and noncoms and above in the 2nd (Queen's) and 6th (Czar Nicholas von Russland) regiments. Helmets were of yellow metal in the Guards and 6th Regiments, white in others. Pattern is similar to pickelhaube except for long "lobster" scales down the back of the neck. Overalls were dark grey with scarlet piping except for the 2nd, 5th, and 7th, piped in facing color. Pantaloons might be worn in place of overalls and were white. Trumpeters wore no cuirass, and wore a plume instead of eagle in the guards. Shabraques were in facing color trimmed button color, except that the space between the inner and outer trim is blue in the guard du corps and scarlet in the Guard Cuirassiers, scarlet for main field, with guard "star" in corners. REGIMENTS FACINGS BUTTON Guard du Corps Scarlet White Guard Cuirassier Light Blue White 1st (Leib Cuirassier) Black Yellow 2nd (Queen's) Crimson White 3rd Light Blue White 4th Scarlet White 5th Light Red Yellow 6th Dark Blue Yellow 7th Yellow White 8th Light Green Yellow Horse furniture and the tops of pistol holders were of brown leather. The equipment consisted of white or off white saddle bags on right of saddle, straight cavalry saber about 37.5" long, worn on left, and pistols holstered on saddle front. After 1887 the pistols and breastplate were abandoned and replaced by lance and carbine. After 1871 some troopers of each unit were given carbines at various times to act as scouts, fight on foot, etc. More Prussian Cavalry 1870 Introduction Hussars Cuirassiers Dragoons Uhlans Part II: French Army: Line and Light Infantry Part II: French Army: Chasseurs a Pied Infantry Part II: French Army: Zouave Infantry Part II: French Army: Turco Infantry Part II: French Army: Cavalry Back to Table of Contents -- Courier Vol. VII #1 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1986 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com