I have finished the first company of the Salzburg Ladwehr battallion that is my latest project. I have tried to research the history of this unit to no avail; so if anyone that has detailed information about them that they can share with me, I would appreciate it.
I do thank Peter for the information on Austrian Landwehr in his blog here:
https://blundersonthedanube.blogspot.com/search/label/Landwehr
My only reason for shoosing to paint this unit is their uniform. I do wonder if there might was confusion if they faced the Irish Legion or Nassau troops.
A big thank you to James Fisher for his advice below in the comments. I have followed his advice and found this information about the Salzburg Landwehr online:
"... eine bloss zur Vertheidigung des Vaterländischen
Bodens abzweckende..."
"To be aimed only on the defence of the Fatherland"
On June 9th, 1808 an <above> Imperial Patent for the people did the
organizing of the Landwehr institute. The Emperor Franz said in it:
“We have opened, in our Patent, Our beloved matter with the
intention of an institution connected to the reserve establishment, namely for
the defence of the Monarchy with such means which grant the possibility to Us
to facilitate the finances of the State by decreasing those of the active Army.
In just this intention We think for good to organize a
territorial Force (Landwehr) aimed only on the defence of the Fatherland....
For its execution We have appointed authorized persons, already known for their
proficiency, their zeal and their devotion to Us and to the government, namely
for Styria, Carinthia, Krain, Trieste and Salzburg: our esteemed Brother
Imperial Highness Archduke John; our Court Commissioner Count Saurau: for
Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia... ”.
Archduke John did come on June 22, 1808, at Salzburg with
Count Franz von Saurau in order to start the organizatione of the Landwehr. At
the time they had to raise 4 battalions, the Staff Officers of which could have
been retired military officers of the former Bishopric or Electoral Principate
(of Salzburg), who had decided to be a volunteer in the new project. Only 4
officers and 1 Corporal for each Landwehr company had to come from the K.K.
regular Army.
Spring 1809
Austrian Resident Units in Austria - Salzburg
Salzburg Brigade GM Baron von Legisfeld
Salzburg – 1st Landwehr Battalion Salzburg
Salzburg – 2nd Landwehr Battalion Salzburg
Salzburg –3rd Landwehr Battalion Salzburg
Salzburg – 4th Landwehr Battalion Salzburg
Salzburg – Depot De Vaux – 1 company
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| Almost finished, pre-basing |
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| Finished and mounted |
Lovely work Chris, and they will certainly stand out amongst all that white. They are very characterful figures.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lawrence, getting figures painted in our summer with no air-con is a trial but I am happy with this result. I went for the 'on campaign' look to try and give them more character.
DeleteThey look great Chris. It is a lovely, vibrant green.
ReplyDeleteI doubt that they came into contact with the Irish Legion or Nassau troops as these were in Spain in 1809. I had a quick check and the Salzburg landwehr were in the Tyrol in April 1809, then went to Archduke John's Army of Inner Austria. They were present at Raab. May have been at other battles/actions too; I did not go any further. Hopefully that gives you some places to start. Not many landwehr were involved in 1813-14 and, from a cursory check, I don't think that they were amongst the few who were.
Regards, James
Hi James, thank you so much for the information and the compliment, I will certainly follow the leads up.
ReplyDeleteNice work Chris, I cheated and followed the painting guide from the Perry's Austrian set, I don't think anyone was that bothered by coat colours, although the white coated Saxons on the French side were the victims of friendly fire as they were mistaken for Austrians! The Swiss fighting for the French wore a red uniform much like the British who in turn fought alongside the Portuguese in dark blue, don't let's start with the Spanish! These are great though, how big a unit are you planning?
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thanks Iain, due to the recent cyclone here all model work has been on hold so I won't be finishing this unit for a while as there is a lot of cleaning up to do.
DeleteI can imagine the battlefield with smoke everywhere trying to identify friend from foe could be a challenge. I recall when the British light dragoons changed from the helmet to a Shako they were often mistaken for French chasseurs in Spain.
Oh and the unit (was it a regiment?) will be around 30 figures. I haven't made a final decision as I have two Landwehr units to paint.
DeleteSounds bad, hope the clear up is going well, yes blackpowder means lots of swirling smoke and I think Wellington complained about the shako making his light dragoons look like French Chasseurs!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thanks Iain, slow but steady progress cleaning up. With Napoleonic uniforms, I wonder how the armies went in melees. Looking at some of the the Confederation of the Rhine uniforms (Westphalia, Wurtzburg, Lippe etc) they would be hard to distinguish from Austrians, and other members from Russians or Prussians.
Delete