There have been many disparaging remarks made upon the Prussians during the course of past wargames. Prior to 1806 and the defeat at Jena the Prussian Army was riddles with incompetence, corruption and a general lack of leadership. Possibly the most important was the lack of leadership. I myself maintain that unless there are good officers no matter how well trained the troops, you have nothing more than an army of robots. After the humiliation of 1806, serious steps were taken to improve conditions. First of all several thousands of officers were weeded out for incompetence, old age and so on. It was men like Lottum, Scharnhorst, Gneisnau who were responsible for creating what would become one of the best fighting machines in Europe. In September of 1808, a brigade system was set up, this was to consist of Infantry, Cavalry and artillery. The Brigades would be set up on a Provincial basis, East and Wet Prussia, Brandenburg, Lower and Upper Silesia and Pommarania. I have set up my Prussian Army on this basis. What I have is the Silesian and West Prussian Brigades. The setup is this, in each brigade there are two regiments, we will take the Silesian brigade for an example. There are the 11th and 12th regiments. Now the regiment is broken down this way. Each regiment has a battalion of Fusiliers who take on the role of Light Infantry, two battalions of Musketeers who are the normal line infantry; there are also two companies of Grenadiers. Further on this we have the second regiment set up in the same manner. The two companies of Grenadiers from the two regiments are combined into one battalion. So what we have here is a sizable force which operates as a whole. The companies themselves were quite large numbering between 160 and 200 men. Since at no time was a unit up to full strength we have settled at 160 man companies. Four companies made up a battalion so we have a strength of 640 men per battalion. The west Prussian Brigade was set up in the same manner. A bit about uniforms. It was in 1808 that a new uniform was adapted. A dark blue "Kollet" was worn along with dark grey breeches tucked into leggings. The overcoat was also grey. It was rolled and carried over the left shoulder. The left sleeve had a leather patch sewn on and this portion was placed on the left shoulder with the hope that it would deflect a blow from a sword. The musketeers carried cartridge boxes made of leather, pack, mess tins, water bottle. He also was issued a "Troddel" or short sword. I have not come across any evidence as to the troddel being used in action. I suppose that at one time or another in a pinch it was used. As to firearms there were any number. The most common was the .60 Nothardt musket rebored to .72. In 1809 the New Prussian musket was issued also in the .72. In addition to these there were any number of foreign weapons used, French Russian and there is indication that the British sold a number of the Brown Bess to the Prussian government. The fusiliers were uniformed the same as the musketeers. The exception was the webbing straps and belt on the fusiliers were black. The fusiliers also carried the belly box for cartridges. I indicated that there were two companies of Grenadiers in each regiment and that they were combined into one battalion. They again were attired in the same manner and carried the same weapons. One thing to note, the Grenadier wore on his sheko a large feather "Busch" which was quite distinctive. A word on facings which might be helpful to anyone using Prussian forces in the future. We have the Provincial colours. These colours were on the collars and cuffs. East Prussia Brick Red West Prussia Crimson Pommerania White Brandenburg Scarlet Silesia Lemon Yellow Magdeburg Light Blue Westphalia Rose Rhein Crab Red Some provinces were able to provide more than two regiments into the Brigades. So we have Seniority Colours. First Regiment White Second Regiment Scarlet Third Regiment Yellow Fourth Regiment Light Blue These colours were on the shoulder boards. There were still more sweeping changes made. Military schools were founded for the instruction of Artillery and Engineering. There was a better system for the instruction of Artillery and Engineering. There was a better system for selection of officers and noncommissioned officers, inter arm training, Cadet schools and the Posdam school for military orphans. One of the more welcome changes was the system of Military justice. Flogging was abolished, the ruling by fear was completely done away with. In its place was instilled a sense of patriotism and duty to the regiment to the province and to their officers. Changes came rapidly in 1808. The Prussian War Ministry was created. There were two departments, the General War department, and the Military Economics. This department dealt with personnel promotion, training, dismissal, mobilization and other technical aspects of the military. The system of supply was changed. Several depots were set up at various locations. All in all it was the beginning of a new idea that in time would create a marvelous war machine. I hope what I have done here will answer some questions. If anyone wants to know something, please let me know and I will make every possible effort to answer. Information was obtained from The Prussian Army by David Nash, Almark Publications and Bluchers Army 1813-1815, Men at Arms series. In the future, I will talk about various other aspects of the Prussian Army. Just an item of interest here. On July 29, 1809, the Black Horde attached the walled city of Halberstadt. The city at that time was defended by the 5th Westphalian Infantry Regiment. At the Kuhlinger gate, the gates themselves were shot in by a gun which was manned by officers. The Black Brunswickers, Otto Van Pivka, Men at Arms Series. Back to Empire, Eagles, & Lions Table of Contents Vol. 1 No. 7 Back to EEL List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1997 by Jean Lochet 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