The Landwehr Collection, Part 3: Bohemia and Moravia

Well, here we are already on the penultimate chapter of this little photo-treatise of the irregular troops of 1809, which will deal with he troops from Bohemia and Moravia (including Silesia). The unit above is Landwehr from the city of Brunn, near where the great battle of Austerlitz was fought in 1805. Officially, these troops from the Northern provinces of the Austrian Empire were to wear grey coats with light blue facings, which these chaps pretty much adhere to. The shield bears the Arms of Brunn, of course!  I chose a light blue field because it matched the facing color - no factual basis beyond that.

 Frontal view of the same troops from Brunn. For reasons unclear to me, more Landwehr were raised from these provinces (55 battalions) than any other.

 Despite the "official" regulation noted, quite a few units from this area, especially Bohemian ones, wore brown coats instead. So it is with this unit of  Prague Landwehr. It is also noted that many units took the facing colors of their local Line Regiments. I saw a reference somewhere to green facings, so I chose them for this unit. The crest once again is that of the city of Prague, and the justification for the green field is the same as for the troops from Brunn.

 Anyway, I like the bright green facings on dark brown coats. And remember, I am their Kaiser, after all!

 Frontal pic of the Prague Landwehr; they don't look at all tired after scaling that slope, do they?

OK, I'll fess up; these guys are my favorite of the whole collection... the 1st battalion, Erzherzog Karl Legion. The reverse of the flag, bearing the White Lion of Bohemia (the unit was raised in and around Prague) on a red field with white ":flames" around the edge of the flag is based on the description in Hollins' book. Once again probably a bit over bold, but I just love it! This one is completely free-hand painted.

Update May 21 2011:  From a thread on TMP today, Mr. Hollins comments: "a pic of the flag has surfaced recently – the lion is actually within a red shield against a white background with red flames on that side. The 2nd battalion [EHK Legion]  [flag] had yellow over blue 5 stripes with a black Doppeladler and I think it was the 4th, which had the red flag with the city arms [as depicted] in MAA299."

  9 battalions of the EHK Legion, all volunteers, were raised in all, but the First was composed of skilled weapons handlers, often hunters and gamekeepers, and was usually referred to as the Waltrich Jagers, after the Major commanding the unit. Employed as Light infantry, they were heavily engaged at Teugen-Hausen and Eggmuhl, and fought at Wagram as well, by then being down to only about 300 men (out of about 600 to start).

One last shot; note the green plumes, regulation for the EHK (Archduke Charles) Legion, and the red trouser stripe, also mentioned in Hollins for some units, and the Corsehuts, also probable for the First battalion (shakos were regulation for the others).

Although technically this unit should be the 8th battalion, EHK Legion, the last 3 battalions, raised in Moravia, were re-designated as Moravian Freikorps, this being the 2nd battalion of same. It was also raised from volunteer marksmen around Olmutz and Prerau. They still wear the grey trousers assigned to the Legion, but alas, no stripes. Like all units of the EHK Legion, their officers were permitted to wear the black and yellow sashes that were the hallmark of Austrian officers below field grade; no other volunteer or Landwehr units were allowed this distinction.

Rear view shows the equipment to be well worn, but the soldiers appear ready. The reverse of the flag, by the way, shows the arms of Moravia, a red and yellow Eagle on a blue field. One of my gaming buddies refers to this flag, obviously painted free-hand, as the "Checkered Chicken", LOL!

And a final view of the 2nd battalion, Moravian Freikorps. The black leather equipment was regulation for the Legion. Once again an old Ordinarfahne was used for the obverse of the standard (free download from Napflag.com).

So that's 12 units of 12 figures so far - 144 figures. They were made up from 5 different bags of 30 Landwehr figures each, all from Old Glory (28mm). Obtained with the 40% discount, the whole lot cost less than $100 (unpainted, of course) - can't beat that price! With coats in Grey, Green, and Brown, they certainly break up the occasional monotony of the "White Menace!"  So, add a few Landwehr units to your Napoleonic Austrian Army today!  :-)

Update May 21 2011:  From a thread on TMP today about another unit, the Lobkowitz Jagers:

"Raised in May (1809) from the Prague Garrison by the Bohemian magnate family, the Lokowitz Jager were kitted out as a volunteer formation under Major Germain. 430 men in four companies saw action at Wagram; their uniform details are unclear, but probably similar to the Legion."  From: Austrian Auxilluary Troops, 1792 -1816, Osprey, by Dave Hollins.

Mr Hollins added: "All that is definitely known is that the drum has survived in Prague Museum. However, there is a French account (from ? Hourtoulle), which is in the right sector and mentions a unit in hechtgrau trousers and brown jackets with orange facings."

The next and final chapter up will deal with the Hungarian Insurrectio. Thanks for reading!