In many stories on the invasion of England by the Prince of Orange in November 1688, and the ensuing campaign in Ireland, one will see ample reference to a Brandenburg regiment part of the Dutch forces. This regiment was not an auxiliary, or subsidy, regiment, as is sometimes thought, but a regiment of the Dutch standing army.
This regiment was raised in 1673 by Ahasverus von Lehndorff, a nobleman from eastern Prussia, for Dutch service. This regiment was probably composed of Poles. Lehndorff quitted Dutch service in 1676, and his regiment was afterwards commanded by a son of the Elector of Brandenburg. From which time we read about a Regiment Brandenburg in Dutch service. The employment of subsidy troops from Brandenburg during the Nine Years'
War and the War of the Spanish Succession may very well be confusing.
A biography on this Ahasverus von Lehndorff is found at Google Books: Der Oberburggraf Ahasverus von Lehndorff. Judging from the table of contents, he had a varied military career, serving the king of Poland, the king of Denmark, and, course, Brandenburg and the Dutch Republic.
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3 comments:
Great info!!
It is nice to see how much has been written!
Thanks for this! Awesome! I have the regiment in my Alliance army for the War of the Spanish Succession and it has led to some heated debate as to the nature of the regiment's origins! Thanks.
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