Regiment Brandenburg / Lehndorff

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.

Glorious Revolution

Today, some 323 years ago England was invaded by a sizable Dutch Army. Within several weeks the English army had dissolved itself and the Dutch troops under William III of Orange entered London by late December. It can be argued that by this event England lost its innocence as bystander and was forced to enter the European arena of dynastic struggle. Instead of putting forward theories and humble thoughts, let a nice plate mark this occasion (found at the digital archive at Marburg)

Rampjaar 1672 Symposium

Tomorrow, Thursday 28 October, a symposium is held at Utrecht University on the Rampjaar 1672. For the non-Dutch readers, in this year the Dutch Republic was under attack from most of its neighbours: France, England, Munster and Cologne. Allies were scarce, or at least hesitant, and only through great pains and sufferings, the Dutch Republic managed to survive. Eventually, this conflict with France ended in the Peace of Nijmegen in 1678. A good blog on this subject is Anno Domini 1672.

The rising star in 1672 was, I guess of course, William III of Orange. He became stadholder and Captain-General of the Dutch Army, thus holding important positions in the republic. Under his supervision the Dutch Army was re-formed and re-organised, and re-gained some of the prestige it had during the early part of the century. By 1700 Dutch infantry was considered the best in Europe. All in all, William III became the personification of resistance against French aggression.

It is of course pure conjecture and speculation, but without the events of 1672 it may be doubtful there would have been a Glorious Revolution in 1688.

Hair fashion in the army

Because of the holiday season an easy to digest subject: hair fashion in the army.

In issue 23 from 1988 of Armentaria, the magazine (actually yearbook) of the Dutch Army museum a rather nice article is found on Haar- en baarddracht (hair and beard styles) in the Dutch army during the last 300 years. The article is unfortunately in Dutch only, and the pdf lacks the images in the paper article, so I made a few scans.

A (very) short summary: In the late 17th century there were no strict regulations: top-left image in above image. This changed during the 18th century and tended to become quite strict and hair was wrapped up in tails with colorful ribbons. Apparently the example of the Prussian army was followed in the second half of the century. Arranging hair in horizontal or vertical (pattes de chien) rolls and powdering it with flour become part of the soldiers morning routine. For grenadiers and sappers different styled were adopted. In the bottom-left figure of the above image we see a grenadier with cadenettes, a sort of braids that were fixed upwards. This, in combination with the moustache, was intended to impress friend and foe.

Roughly speaking the army followed what was fashionable in society. At the same time soldiers had to look as tidy/martial/impressive as possible via these hair regulations. When the rolls and powdering were dropped in early 19th century, we see the appearance of massive sideburns and moustaches, and beards for the pioneers. Again, trends in society were copied in the army, and since the former changed regularly, the army followed suit.

That brings us to the image below, showing Dutch soldiers in the early 1970s clearly depicting civilian influences and closely matching the (absence of) style in the 17th century.

Happy holidays!

Dutch regiments in English service after 1714

On 29 January 1713 as treaty was concluded between the queen of Great Britain and the States General of the United Netherlands to guarantee the protestant succession to the crown of Great Britain, and the barrier of the States General. The treaty was signed at Utrecht.

Article 14 is of particular interest as it details aspects of mutual defense. If the States General would require so, Great Britain would send 10,000 men to their assistance. Vice versa, the States General would furnish 6,000 men (well provided with arms) to assist the her royal majesty and successors. The treaty is, e.g., found in A Complete Collection of Treaties From 1688 to 1771, available from Google Books.

The treaty would soon become useful. During the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715, Great Britain had virtually no (trained) army and 6,000 men (in probably 11 battalions) arrived from the Republic to assist. Mostly to relieve British troops in garrisons. The same would happen in 1719, when Dutch troops would even participate in the battle of Glen Shiel.

During the War of the Austrian Succession, and Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, Dutch troops would again be shipped to England. A first batch of 6,000 would arrive already somewhere during 1743 and 1744, in lieu of the danger of French attempts to invade England. This danger lapsed by 1744.

In 1745, following outbreak of the '45' rebellion, Dutch troops would again serve on British soil. This time part of the troops originated from the Dutch garrison of Tounai (Doornik). The city had capitulated to the French in May 1745, and the troops were paroled under the condition that they would not fight the French. However, their employment in Scotland was rendered incompatible with this parole, as French troops entered Scotland in December 1745. Hence the Dutch were withdrawn again.

Marlborough and the Field Deputies

In 1702, the first year of the War of the Spanish Succession, Allied and French forces were maneuvering in the modern day province of North Brabant in the Netherlands during July and August. The Allies under Marlborough, and the French under Boufflers. Mid July the Allied army was encamped near Nijmegen, the French were lying near Gennep on the Maas. The Allies crossed the Maas river at Grave, in an attempt to block the lines of communications for the French army. As a consequence, the French broke up and headed south via Goch, Cevelaer, Venlo, and reaching Roermond in the last days of July. The Allies had marched via de line Zeeland, Lieshout, Mierlo-Geldrop, and were at Achel - Lille St Hubert on 31 July.

On 2 August, the Allied and French armies passed each other so closely the Marlborough was tempted to engage the French. The Allied army was a bit larger than the French. However, the earl of Athlone (and probably several subordinate generals) was against this plan, and hence a chance to defeat the French was lost.

In his book Marlborough as military commander, David Chandler, the propagandist of Marlborough, states that it was the fault of the Field Deputies of the States-General that frustrated the attempted battle. This, however, it not correct (see for example van Nimwegen in his De subsistentie van het leger p. 108, or Wijn in Het Staatsche Leger, deel VIII p. 125). Only the Duke of Berwick wrote in his memoirs that the field deputies did not allow Marlborough to start the battle, but he has to be misinformed (Wijn).

However, because Chandler is accusing the field deputies of obstructing Marlborough, they have got a very bad treatment in English literature on the War of the Spanish Succession. In reality the contrary was ofter the case (see also the blog Rampjaar), and these field deputies were capable men well versed in the art of war, and how to run an army.