NOTES ON ORGANISATION, TACTICS AND WEAPONRY These notes are intended to act as a guide when painting our range of 25mm Prussian Line Infantry. The Prussian Line Infantry performed extremely well during the campaign, surprising contemporary commentators with their elan and skill. The intensive peacetime training all recruits received, with an emphasis on shooting practise and advanced tactical manouevres had a beneficial effect on their battlefield performance. The army was recruited by universal conscription, which caused the rank-and-file to possess above average levels of literacy and initiative. The infantry regiment consisted of 3 battalions, although on the battlefield the half-battalion would often be the tactical unit. Each battalion consisted of 18 officers, 2 surgeons, I paymaster, I quartermaster and 1,002 NCO's and privates. The standard battlefield formation was the half-battalion, manoeuvring in two 10-deep company columns. Strong screens of skirmishers were pushed out ahead of the main body of he unit. During 1866 the company columns were often used to feed troops into the skirmish line. The formation was notable for its flexibility and rapidity across the battlefield, although it could become entangled with neighbouring formations. The men were armed with the famous Dreyse breechloading "needle gun". This had a devastating rapidity of fire - 5 aimed or 8 unaimed rounds per minute. Its drawback was a low muzzle velocity, which caused it to have a relatively short range of about 500 yards. It was lethal at between 135 and 250 yards. At distances beyond 450 yards men could be hit several times and be unfortunate to sustain more than a bruise. UNIFORMS Boots - black Trousers - dark grey with thin red seam Coat - dark blue with red piping down front of coat and on coat tail. Brass buttons (except for Fasilier Regiment Nr.40, who had silver). Cuffs - red. Upright section of the cuff was piped in corps colour, where appropriate. Regiments in I, III, V and VII corps had white piping. Regiments from all other corps had no piping on the cuff. Collar - dark blue with large red flashes. Shoulder straps - Varied according to which corps the regiment belonged to. Brass buttons. Corps distinctions as follows:- I & II corps - white ; III & IV corps - red; V & VI corps - yellow; VII & VIII corps - sky blue. Drummer's wings - red and white stripes. Officers distinctions - Sash - silver with dark blue strands/flecks. Shoulder straps - silver piped gold. Horse furniture - dark blue shabraque edged in gold or silver, depending on the regiment's button colour. Reins and pistol holsters were mid-brown with brass accoutrements. HEADGEAR Pickelhaube - black leather with brass fittings, including chinscales. Fusilier Regiment Nr.40 had a silver eagle plate. The national cockade (white-black) was worn on the right-hand side. This is visible in the picture overleaf. Feldmutz (forage cap) - dark blue crown with red piping and cap ban&. The national cockade (black-white black) was worn on the front of the cap. The officers cap was identical save that it had a black leather peak. PERSONAL EQUIPMENT & WEAPONS Rifle - wooden stock stained light brown. Highly polished gunmetal barrel, breech etc. Brass bands and trigger/trigger guard. Sling light brown. Officers' sword & scabbard - polished steel blade with brass guard and brass/black grip. Scabbard was black with brass fittings. Sword knot was silver. Officers' equipment - black waistbelt and pistol holster. Black, dark or mid-brown binoculars case. Black leather backpack. Ensign's equipment / flagpoles etc. - black oilskin cover wrapped over right shoulder in the form of a belt. Just below waist a brass plate bearing an iron cross (black-edged-silver). Flagpole was black (infantry regiments) or white (grenadier regiments) with a brass or gold finial, which bore an iron cross, again black-edged-silver. Drum - brass centre shell. Red upper and lower bands, with white triangles. On the upper band these were point-upwards ; on the lower band, point downwards. White skin. Black drumsticks tipped with brass at non-playing end. Drum attached to waistbelt by brass holder. Bugle - Brass with red and white cords. Fife case (right hip) black leather with brass fittings. Canteen - black felt or leather with black strap. Bung could be dull silver or dark brown. Sword bayonet - brass grip. Carried in a black leather scabbard tipped in brass. A belt crossing just below the crossbar attached the scabbard to the waistbelt. This was of the same colour as the rest of the harness belts (see below). Wrapped around the grip and hanging down was a white sword knot. At the end of this hung a "troddel" or coloured bar. This was used to distinguish the battalions and companies within a regiment. It was coloured as follows: Battalion Company "Kranz " "Eichel" "Schieber" I 1 White White White I 2 Red White Red I 3 Yellow White Yellow I 4 Sky blue White Sky blue II 5 White Red White II 6 Red Red Red II 7 Yellow Red Yellow II 8 Sky blue Red Sky blue Fus. (III) 9 White Yellow White Fus. (III) 10 Red Yellow Red Fus. (III) 11 Yellow Yellow Yellow Fus. (III) 12 Sky blue Yellow Sky blue Backpack - mid-brown fur. Bread bag and belt - worn on the right hip, this was of white canvas with two white metal buttons. Harness belts - this harness consisted of the waistbelt and under- and overarm straps holding the backpack in place. Figures in light kit will only be wearing the waistbelt. Belt buckle was brass. Belts coloured as follows: Black - Fusilier (or 3rd) battalions of all infantry regiments, and all battalions of regiments nr.33-40 (these were Fasilier regiments). White - 1st and 2nd battalions of all infantry regiments, except for regiments nr.33-40. Cartridge boxes - black, attached to the waistbelt by a brass clip. Blanket - dark grey. Tied by a piece of leather of the same colour as the harness belts. Mess tin - polished white metal attached by black leather straps to either backpack or blanket roll. Contents of this guide © Helion & Company 1999. All rights reserved. No part of this guide may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the express written consent of Helion & Company. Guide written by Duncan Rogers. Austrian "German" Infantry 1866 A Painting Guide Back to MWAN #102 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1999 Hal Thinglum This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. 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