This page is a work in progress, which is the reason why the history for the Danish army organisation only cover the period 1699-1709 and the Norwegian army only cover 1716-1718. The latter is a remnant of a previous version of this page. It is my intention that the entire page will cover both armies during the entire reign of Christian V and Frederik IV (that is the period 1670-1730). The plan is to accomplish that in early 2025.

(1699-1709)

When Frederik IV became king in August 1699, he inherited 11 infantry regiments of varying size as well as two free companies and a militia on Bornholm that included 429 infantrymen. Except for the militia, which was mostly made up of conscripts, the infantry consisted entirely of enlisted soldiers. All in all, the infantry's strength was just over 16,000 men.

However, war was imminent and when the bulk of the army was ordered to march to Schleswig-Holstein in October, a decision was also made to increase its strength. But the original organisation was as follows:

Danish Infantry Organisation 1699

The Oldenburg battalion had a smaller staff that lacked an adjutant, an assistant to the regimental surgeon and a oboist, and had one and the same person as judge-advocate and regimental quartermaster.

There were also several ensigns which, like the number of companies, varied for each regiment:

The regiments which had partly been part of the auxiliary corps in the service of the Maritime Powers in 1689-1697 had at the outbreak of war in 1700 still an excess of staff officers (colonel, lieutenant colonel and major) because the battalions in foreign service had had their own set of such. However, the excess officers are not included above.

Mobilisation 1699-1700

When most of the Danish army was ordered to march to Schleswig-Holstein in October 1699, a decision was also made to increase its strength. A regular infantry company would be expanded from a strength of 70 men to 80 men strong (that is, as strong as a Guard company). But this was not enough because on 13 January 1700 it was decided that each musketeer company would get another 10 men so that they would have 90 privates. A regiment with 18 musketeer companies thus received a total of 360 men. Further changes were made later so that each company received an extra furér and two extra pioneers, but these do not appear to have been retained after the end of the war. In addition, the Free Company in the Hitler redoubt was to be expanded so that it became as strong as a regular company, and the Marine Regiment was increased by five companies (two in January and three in April) while the old ones were strengthened to 125 men strong (this figure included 10 pioneers).

On 6 March, 1700, it was decided that the regiments that had 19 companies would get one more grenadier company and that the Oldenborg battalion that had 6 companies would get a musketeer company, so that together with Schack's regiment ("Copenhagen Garrison Regiment"), it would be 20 companies strong (of which 2 were grenadier companies).

In April, a 500-strong levy consisting of conscripted peasants had been formed in northern Jutland because of fear of a Swedish landing there. On 8 May, it was decided to expand the levy so that it covered the entire country. However, the military value of these hastily recruited and untrained peasants was very limited. The only time the levy was used in battle was during the Swedish landing at Humlebæk.

On 17 May, it was decided that each company that did not have an ensign would receive one. But if these were recruited, they were in any case not left in 1701 when the number of ensigns was back at the pre-war level. The exception was the Marine Regiment, which even before the war had had an ensign in each company, but in 1701 only had one ensign per battalion, like all other regiments except the Guard.

The reinforcements that had been ordered during the autumn were quickly recruited, but thereafter the supply of recruits became progressively worse. When war broke out, many regiments had not reached the strength that had been ordered in January. The extra companies that were to be raised after 6 March also did not have time to become fit for battle before the peace of Traventhal was concluded in August. If the regular infantry ever came up to the planned strength, it should have been reinforced by just over 6,000 men.

The Interwar Period 1700-1709

Similar to what had happened in 1689, no demobilisation was carried out after the Peace of Traventhal. (the free company in Hitler's redoubt, however, returned to its pre-war strength). The enlarged army was maintained and supplied by sending parts of it as auxiliaries to other states. This already happened in October 1700 when Saxony received an auxiliary corps whose infantry consisted of eight battalions separated from eight parent regiment. A year later, seven of these battalions were transferred to a new auxiliary corps in the Emperor’s service . A reorganisation of this corps in 1703 then resulted in that they came to form three new regiments and were thus permanently separated from their parent regiments. A further nine battalions were part of an auxiliary corps in the service of the Maritime Powers from the autumn of 1701 and would not return to Denmark until 1713-1714. The effect of all this was that the infantry regiments that remained in Denmark consisted of no more than two battalions.

The Marine Regiment was increased by two companies in April 1701 which resulted in a total strength of 18 companies. But five of its companies then formed part of the Saxon and later the Emperor’s Auxiliary Corps and were disbanded in 1703. The strength of 125 men per company ordered during the mobilisation does not appear to have been maintained. The companies of the auxiliary corps had only 90 musketeers and the same applied to the home companies in 1709.

The twelve grenadier companies that were not part of any auxiliary corps abroad were permanently separated from their parent regiments in the autumn of 1701 and formed the Grenadier Corps. This regiment was equal in rank to the Guard and had the same composition of its regimental staff. At first, the Grenadier Corps had no colours and thus no ensigns, but at the request of the colonel, they received two of each in 1709.

In 1704, grenadiers were reintroduced in the regular regiments (except the Marine Regiment) when the number of lance corporals ("gefreiter") in each company was reduced from 10 to 2, adding 8 grenadiers instead. The company size of the enlisted infantry regiments (except for the Guard, Grenadier Corps & Marine Regiment) was also increased in the same year so that each company would have 100 enlisted soldiers. Finally, a third free company was formed in Korsør in 1706.

The National Militia

Already during the mobilisation in 1699-1700, there was a proposal to support the regular army by forming a national militia. This would be recruited through conscription and then used as garrisons in the fortresses so that the enlisted regiments could instead serve in the field army. The king resisted this reform for a long time because he believed that the country's economy would suffer if its agriculture was deprived of labour. But the need for manpower for a possible new war against Sweden was great and eventually the king agreed. On 22 February 1701, he issued a decree on the establishment of a national militia in Denmark. This was then recruited during the spring, when six regiments were formed with 12 companies each, which were distributed among three battalions (Fynske national militia, however, had 13 companies). Each company was to consist of at least 150 privates, but they could be up to 200 strong depending on the availability of manpower in the recruiting districts.

Some farms had been exempted from conscription of national militia soldiers because it was intended that they would later raise land dragoons. But because so many tried to avoid the conscription by moving to these farms, the conscription of dragoons was brought forward to 1702. These were included in the infantry regiments of the national militia until they formed their own regiments in 1704 (two of nine companies each which were distributed to three squadrons).

In 1704, each national militia company was to equip two men as pioneers and eight men as grenadiers. In the same year, the conscription was finally carried out also in Oldenburg, whose national militia regiment came to consist of only eight companies with a total of 1,222 privates plus 109 men "prima plana" (= staff personnel).

According to the regulation, the national militia was only to be used for the defence of the homeland and not to be sent outside the country's borders. But when war broke out again in 1709, a land dragoon regiment and four infantry battalions became part of the field army that invaded Skåne (Scania). After the Battle of Helsingborg, national militia soldiers were also used to replace losses in the enlisted regiments which then would wage war in Sweden's German provinces.

Danish Infantry Organisation 1709
(excluding the national militia described above)

The home army which had the above organisation consisted of eight infantry regiments. There were also four infantry regiments from the auxiliary corps in the Emperor’s services which returned to Denmark in September 1709. However, these were in poor condition and needed to be reconstructed (their combined strength in November was only 2,000 men).

There were also pure garrison units in the form of three free companies in the Hitle redoubt, Fladstrand & Hals and Korsør as well as three infantry companies on Bornholm. They had the same organisation as in 1699 except for Korsør's free company which had 45 privates instead of 40:

(1699-1709)

At the time of Frederik IV's accession to the throne in August 1699, the Danish army had fifteen mounted regiments. These consisted of the Horse Guards, two enlisted cavalry regiments, ten national cavalry regiments and two dragoon regiments, as well as a company in the Bornholm militia. All regiments had six companies except the Fourth Jyske National Regiment which had been temporarily reduced to four companies in the summer of 1699 when it returned to Denmark after serving in first the Emperor’s and then a Saxon auxiliary corps. Already in October, however, a decision was made to restore it to its former strength. All in all, the Danish cavalry consisted of almost 5,400 men.

Danish Cavalry Organisation 1699

Mobilisation 1699-1700

When most of the Danish army was ordered to march to Schleswig-Holstein in October 1699, a decision was also made to increase its strength. The dragoon companies' strength increased from 60 privates to 75 (to a total of 450 privates per regiment) and the First Jyske Regiment received two more companies so that it would have the same size as the other cavalry regiments.

In the spring of 1700, a decision was made that the companies that did not have an ensign/cornet would get one. But if these were recruited, they were in any case not left in 1701 when the number of ensigns was back at the pre-war level. However, the Horse Guards then had two majors.

Later during the summer all cavalry regiments except the Horse Guards were increased so that each company went from 50 to 60 privates while the dragoon regiments were increased so that they came to consist of 500 privates. In addition, new units were to be raised with the same strength: two dragoon regiments (led by Duke Philip Ernst of Glücksburg and Christian Rodsteen) and a cuirassier regiment (led by Cay Burchard Count Ahlefeldt-Eskildsmark). However, these did not have time to be fully recruited before the war ended and the two new dragoon regiments were then merged with the two older ones so that these received 12 companies each. Its organisation is reported in the page about the auxiliary corps in Saxony 1700-1701, which it was part of after the end of the war

The Interwar Period 1700-1709

The two above-mentioned dragoon regiments were reorganised in 1701 when they were in Saxony. This happened so that they were first split and then joined again, but this time they were paired in a different way. The two older halves returned home to Denmark where they merged under the name Livregiment Dragoons. The two younger halves were combined into a dragoon regiment which formed part of the auxiliary corps sent to the Emperor. On its return to Denmark in 1709, this regiment had the informal name "Hungarian Dragoon Regiment” but was actually named after its colonels. The same was true of the auxiliary corps’ cuirassier regiment which had been raised in 1703 to form part of it and which was named "Hungarian Cuirassier Regiment" on its return.

In addition, eight cavalry regiments were included in the auxiliary corps that was sent to the Maritime Powers in 1701 and that did not return to Denmark until 1713-1714. Thus, there were only six enlisted cavalry regiments and one dragoon regiment left in Denmark, which had a combined strength of 3,400 men. To increase the strength of the cavalry in Denmark, a conscription of 2,195 land dragoons was therefore carried out in 1702. At first, they were organised as part of the corresponding infantry regiments in the national militia. But in 1704 they formed two separate land dragoon regiments each consisting of nine companies of irregular size.

Danish Cavalry Organisation 1709

Including the cavalry company on Bornholm (163 men), the cavalry in Denmark consisted of just under 6000 men in August 1709. The following month it also received reinforcements from the two "Hungarian" regiments that had served in the Emperor’s Auxiliary Corps. These were on paper larger units than the regiments at home, but were in a greatly weakened condition, and therefore numbered not more than 800 men together.

In 1670 it consisted of one enlisted and two national infantry companies, one national cavalry company and artillery and fortification personnel. A total of around 700 people.

In 1680, the militia consisted of 664 men who were distributed among a staff (3 men), Artillery (14 men), an enlisted infantry company (56 men), three national infantry companies (each 143 men) and a national cavalry company (162 men).

In 1699 the militia consisted of 613 men as well as an unknown number of artillery men "taken from the country". The militia was commanded by lieutenant colonel Andreas Burgenhagen who was also the captain of the cavalry company and the first infantry company. North of Bornholm was also the fortified island of Christiansø whose garrison consisted of a free company belonging to the navy.

In 1709, the militia was led by a brigadier general (Valdemar Reedtz) instead of a lieutenant colonel. The staff had a deputy commander and a gun maker ("bøssemager"), but no judge-advocate. Otherwise, the staff was the same as in 1699. The infantry and cavalry also had the same organisation. However, it seems that the artillery personnel had been strengthened as it now consisted of 9 gunners ("konstabler") and 206 crewmen ("håndlangere"). The militia thus had a total strength of 820 men.

The militia's uniforms seem to be almost completely unknown. The only information is from Karsten Skjold Petersen who mentions that its infantry from 1716 had red leg clothes and a red vest.

(1716)

I have collected the information about the Norwegian army's organisation from Daniel Schorr's article on the now defunct website www.northernwars.com. Schorr describe in detail all the numerous changes that occurred during the Great Northern War. I have however chosen to only show the organisation that was in effect during the Norwegian campaign of 1716. It is for the most part also valid for the campaign in Bohuslän 1711 and the first half of the 1718 Norwegian campaign. In the middle of the latter campaign a large reorganisation occurred which resulted in all Norwegian national regiments being split into two regiments each (the two Trondhjemske regiments were reorganised into three regiments).

References

Hasselager, Olaf – Snorrason, Torstein. Danish Uniforms, Colours and Standards 1675-1679. (2000) *
Rockstroh, K. C. Udviklingen af den nationale Hær i Danmar i det 17. og 18. Aarhundrade. Copenhagen(1909-1926)
Schorr, Daniel. Notes on the Norwegian Army 1700-1720 (2008) *
Skjold Petersen, Karsten. Kongens klæder. Copenhagen (2014)
Tuxen, A. P. – With-Seidelin C. L. Bidrag til den store nordiske krigs historie. Copenhagen (1899-1934)

* = articles published on the now defunct website www.northernwars.com