Saxon Cavalry Uniforms
in the Great Northern War

A detail of Daniel Stawert's
battle painting from 1707 of the Battle of Düna that hangs inside
Drottningholm Palace. The
uniform information should be taken with a big grain of salt.
The uniforms of the Saxon army were probably very typical of European armies
at this time but unfortunately not much is known about it. The facts I have
about its cavalry uniforms I have compiled on this page (the infantry and
artillery are listed on a separate page). The information comes from two
publications that are not entirely consistent: Daniel Schorr's article "Notes
on the Saxon Army 1700-1716" which was previously published on his now
defunct website Northern Wars, and Lars-Eric Höglund's book "Stora nordiska kriget 1700-1721, III".
|
Rank and File |
Officers |
Cuirassiers |
Dragoons |
Hat: |
Black felt hat with the brim folded up in
different ways. . According to Daniel Schorr, the hat
lace would correspond to the button colour (brass = yellow, pewter =
white), but Höglund also states other colours but it appear as if he has
got them confused with the neckcloth colours mention by Schorr. A white cockade was
possibly on the left side of the hat. The tricorne hat was probably not
introduced until at least 1707 |
Hat with gold or silver lace. |
Neckcloth: |
White or black. |
Coat:
|
Saxon cuirassiers originally wore koller
(buff coats). These lacked buttons and were instead fastened with hooks
and eyes. At first there were no cuffs in the regimental colour on the
koller. But edging or small cuffs (without buttons) in the
regimental colour may have been introduced later. Even the coat skirt
may have been edged in the regimental colour.
In 1707, the red cloth coat with cuffs in the
regimental colour was officially introduced. But this was probably just
a confirmation of existing practice. The red coat could be worn without
a koller or on top of it. However, the koller would
continue to be worn on campaign throughout the reign of Augustus the
Strong. |
Red coat with horizontal pocket flaps (Oertzen's
regiment originally had blue coats). The pocket flaps and cuffs had
three buttons each.. The coat may have
had a collar in the later period. If so, it was probably the same colour
as the vest. |
Gold- or silver buttons. |
Cuirass: |
Of polished metal or blackened, with brass
fittings and lined in red or the regimental colour.
It is unknown if the privates only wore the front plate or full cuirass.
The cuirass, however, was to be worn on top of the koller (buff
coat) but under the red coat. |
Kamisol (Vest): |
According to Schorr, it was red if worn with the
koller and in the regimental colour if worn with the red coat.
Höglund states that they had leather vests. |
Red or in the regimental colour with small buttons
along its entire length. |
Breeches: |
Buff leather. |
Cuirassiers: Red or
possibly blue.
Dragoons: Leather or red cloth. |
Boots: |
Black leather. |
Cloak: |
Probably red. |
Shabraque and
pistol covers: |
Either completely red or edged with the button
colour. Generally the edge was white and had an inner stripe of a
different colour which varied from regiment to regiment. The inner
stripe was usually straight but could also be wavy. Only the
Leibregiment's shabraques are known. |
Usually in the regimental colour, but could be
red. Generally the edge was white and had an inner stripe of a different
colour which varied from regiment to regiment. The inner stripe was
usually straight but could also be wavy. |
Red with a edge in gold or silver with an inner
stripe of gold or silver. After 1707 the colour was changed to blue. |
Other equipment: |
Belt, gauntlets and cartridge box of buff leather.
Sword and scabbard of brown leather with fittings of white metal. |
Officers wore a silver waist sash with red/crimson
thread. |
There is no information on trumpeter uniforms. The dragoon regiments had
drummers whose uniforms and drums were of the same design as the infantry.
Each regiment would have a kettle-drummer but no uniform details are known
for them apart from an illustration from about 1716 depicting the
Brandenburg-Bayreuth regiment. That kettle-drummer has a simple uniform with
swallow's nests on his shoulders and a grenadier cap.
Leibgarde/Garde
du Corps
(Leib-Trabantengarde, Leib-Garde zu
Ross, Garde du Corps, Garde zu Pferd)
The Leibgarde zu Ross (Life Guard on Horse), or Garde du Corps as
it was also called, underwent several organisational changes during the
war. It was formed on 1 August 1701 through the amalgamation of four
different units: the Life Guard, the "Grands Mousquetaires", the
Carabiniers and the Horse Grenadiers. The first-mentioned unit had
already been given the name Garde du Corps at the beginning of the year.
The new merged unit consisted of four companies with 200 dragoons/guardsmen
each. But already in November 1702 it was disbanded and the men were
used to form four new cuirassier regiments. The Life Guard was
resurrected on 30 July 1703 and then consisted of four corps (drabants,
carabiniers, horse grenadiers and dragoons). Another reorganisation in
the autumn of 1707 resulted in the unit's four corps consisting solely
of drabants.
Kliszow 1702, Warsaw 1705, Fraustadt 1706, Kalisz 1706.
|

Drabants 1701 |

Drabants 1707 |

Drabants ca 1710 |
According to Schorr, the Drabants in 1693 had a red coat richly
decorated with gold. In 1701, the coat was red with leather-coloured
(buff) facings and lining. The shabraque had the same colours. Initially
in 1707, the coat was carmoisen-red with leather-coloured cuffs, and a
moose-skin koller. In addition, they had a carmoisen-red cloak.
The shabraque was blue with aurora-white edge. Later, the cuffs and
collar were paille-coloured (straw-coloured) and the leather vest was
replaced with a paille-coloured cloth vest. The shabraques became
carmoisen-red and the coat was decorated with black velvet mixed with
silver and silver-plated buttons and buckles. The trumpeters had yellow
coats with bleumourant (light blue) cuffs and lace in bleumourant and
silver. In 1715, new uniforms were issued. The coat was then still
carmoisen-red but all the silver had been replaced with gold.
Höglund, on the other hand, writes that the drabants had pale yellow
coats with silver buttons as well as cuffs, lining, vest, breeches and
neckcloth in red. Even the cartridge box belt were red with silver lace.
The hats had white lace with a blue-yellow feather bush. Could Höglund's
uniform be a buff coat (koller) that could be worn instead of the
cloth coat? |

Carabiniers |

Horse Grenadiers 1703 |

Dragoons 1703 |
Schorr states that there is no information about the carabiniers'
uniform, but he guesses that it was the same as that of the drabants.
Höglund, on the other hand, states that it is the dragoons' uniform that
is unknown, while his description of the carabiniers' uniform is similar
to Schorr's description of the dragoons. It appears that someone has got
the corps mixed up. Höglund mentions that the carabiniers had a
hat with gold lace, a crimson coat with brass buttons, pale blue lining
and cuffs, a pale yellow vest with pale blue lace, and pale yellow
breeches. The shabraque was pale blue with one wide and one narrow edge,
monogram and crown in gold.
According to Schorr, the dragoons in 1703 had a red coat with cuffs,
lining and collar in bleumourant. The buttons were yellow (brass or gold),
the vest red and the breeches made of leather. The hat was a tricorne
with white and silver lace and a white cockade. The shabraque and pistol
covers were medium blue with white and silver trim.
According to Schorr, the horse grenadiers had red coats with dark green
facings, lining and collar, as well as a red vest, leather breeches and
a white neckcloth. The grenadier cap was stiff and red with dark green
trim and fitted with a brass plate (which, according to Höglund,
contained the coat of arms of Saxony and the text "GUARDE"). The
shabraques were dark green with a white trim.. According to Höglund, the
white trim of the shabraque and the pistol covers had a wavy line. He
also deviates from Schorr by stating that the breeches were red. |
 |
Cuirassiers
Cuirassiers wore both cloth
coats and buff coats (koller) throughout the Great Northern War. In
the battles, they probably wore buff coats and not cloth coats, although
Swedish battle paintings only depict Saxons with cloth coats (the Swedes
left their buff coats at home when the war broke out in 1700).
Details of the
individual regiments' buff coats are unknown except for the
Leibregiment. Therefore, see the general description above for how the
buff coats may have looked like in the various regiments. |
 |

Fraustadt 1706, Kalisz 1706. |
Chevaliergarde
This unit, which was formed on 30 July 1703, was inspired by Charles
XII's Drabant Corps. It consisted of 180 men, all officers.
Daniel Schorr describes the uniform as follows (without specifying the
year):
The coat was red with blue lining and gold buttons and edged with gold
lace. The pocket flaps were horizontal with three buttons and they too
were edged with gold. The cuffs were red over blue and edged with gold
lace.
Red vest, leather breeches and white neckcloth, The carbine belt was
made of buff leather but covered with blue cloth and edged with gold
lace. Tricorne hat with gold lace and white feathers and a white cockade
on the left side. The sword scabbard was black with gold fittings.
The shabraque was red trimmed with gold-blue-gold and the king's crowned
monogram in gold in the outer corners. The pistol covers were red with
the same trim as the shabraque and a white Maltese cross.
Lars-Eric Höglund specifies the blue colour of the lining to be dark blue
(Schorr has depicted it as light blue) and the monogram to the letters
AR under a crown. He deviates from Schorr by stating that the vest was
made of leather and decorated with gold and violet lace. However, Schorr
contradicts himself by depicting the Chevalier Guard with a leather vest
(with the same type of lace as the shabraque).
|

1701 |
Leibregiment zu Pferde

1707 |

1707 |
Both Höglund and Schorr
state that they had white facings. But the
former mentions pewter buttons while Schorr (referring to the year
1707 for his information) writes that they were to have brass buttons. Schorr also mentions that this regiment traditionally had buff coats
with red facings, although in his colour plates it is only the buff coat
from 1707 that have red edges while the one from 1701 has none. The
shabraque was red with a white edge and inside
that edge there were a blue stripe. No one mentions the colour of the
neckcloth, but Schorr has depicted them with a black neckcloth together
with the buff coats and a white neckcloth with the cloth coat.
Düna 1701, Kliszow 1702, In Austrian service November 1702 to May 1704, Posen 1704,
Warsaw 1705, Kalisz 1706, Tönningen 1713, Stralsund
1715. |

1707
Before 1700 it was called "La Forêt" (La Forest).
It changed its name to "Crown Prince's Regiment" in 1713 according to
Höglund. According to Schorr, it changed its name to "Königl. Prinz" in
1717 |
Kurprinz
Schorr states that they had yellow facings, pewter buttons and black neckcloths in
1707. Höglund also mentions that they had black lace on their hats (probably
a confusion with the neckcloth which he does not mention). .
Düna 1701, Kliszow 1702, In Austrian service November 1702 to May
1704, Posen 1704, Warsaw 1705, Kalisz 1706, Gadebusch 1712, Tönningen
1713, Stralsund 1715. |

1707 |
Königin
(Queen's Regiment)
Straw yellow facings and pewter buttons. Schorr mentions that the neckcloth was red in 1707 and Höglund mentions that the hats had red
lace (probably a confusion with the neckcloth which Höglund does not
mention).
Düna 1701, Kliszow 1702, Pultusk 1703, Warsaw 1705, Kalisz 1706, Gadebusch 1712, Tönningen 1713, Sandomir 1715.
|

Disbanded 1704
Kliszow 1702, In Austrian service November 1702 to
May 1704. |
Uniform unknown. The colours and their standards do not give any
clues to what their uniforms might have looked like since they in 1704
were issued three older standards with different colours (yellow, red
and green)
|

1707
Kliszow 1702, Pultusk 1703 (?), Warsaw 1705, Gadebusch 1712,
Tönningen 1713, Sandomir 1715. |
Steinau
Damitz
Johnston
Zühlen
Criegern |
1699
1706
1713
1715
1717 |
Bleumerount (pale blue) facings and pewter buttons. Schorr mentions
that the neckcloth was black in 1707 and Höglund mentions that the hats
had black lace (probably a confusion with the neckcloth which Höglund
does not mention).
|

1707
Kliszow 1702, In Austrian service November 1702 to May 1704, Posen
1704, Warsaw 1705, Kalisz 1706, Tönningen 1713, Stralsund 1715. |
Reichenau
Eichstädt
Wolffersdorf |
1700
1702
1716 |
Höglund writes that the facings were coffee brown, the buttons were of
pewter and the hats hade white lace. Schorr also mentions that they had
coffee brown facings in 1707 and that the neckcloth was white.
Höglund states that the standards were cinnamon brown and that they
received eight new grey standards in 1709. The latter could be a sign of
a change of the uniform colour.
|

1707
Pultusk 1703, Punitz 1704, Fraustadt 1706, Kalisz 1706, Sandomir
1715. |
Beust
von Reitzenstein
Moritz von Sachsen |
1702
1706
1712 |
Black facings. Höglund mentions that they had pewter buttons and white
lace on the hats. Schorr mentions that they had white neckcloths in 1707.
|

1707
Pultusk 1703, Posen 1704, Warsaw
1705, Kalisz 1706, In the Maritime Powers' service 1707-1713, Sandomir 1715. |
Tiesenhausen
Gersdorff
Winckel
Althahn
Kyau
Arnstädt |
1702
1704
1706
1713
1714
1715 |
Höglund states that they had cinnamon brown facings. Schorr notes
that they in
1707 grey facings but with cinnamon in parenthesis. Schorr also mentions
that they had pewter buttons. |

1707
Kalisz 1706, Gadebusch 1712, Tönningen 1713, Sandomir 1715. |
Flemming
Prinz Alexander |
1703
1706 |
Green facings. Höglund says that they had pewter buttons and white lace
on the hats. Schorr says they had brass buttons and white neckcloths in 1707.
|
 |
Sachsen-Meiningen
(in Saxon service 1711- 1717)
Schorr has no information about this regiment but Höglund
have them with red coats and probably green lining and cuffs. Sandomir 1715. |
 |
Wiedemann
(existed 1704)
This regiments was issued four old standards in 1704 but is not
mentioned by Schorr. Its uniform is unknown and Höglund thinks it was a temporary
unit consisting of recruits. Three of the standards were blue and the
fourth was green.
|
Dragoons
|
 |
Leibregiment Dragoner
White facings. Schorr mentions that they had brass buttons and depicts
them with red shabraque and pistol covers edged with white.
Düna 1701, Kliszow 1702, Pultusk 1703 (?), Warsaw 1705, Kalisz
1706, In the Maritime Powers' service 1707-1713, Stralsund 1715.
Disbanded 1717, the men transferred to
DR 4.
|

1701 |
Kurprinz
Lemon yellow facings.
Kliszow 1702.
Disbanded 1702,
the men transferred to
Garde
du Corps. |

1700 |
Wolffenbüttel
Milchau |
1700
1701 |
Höglund notes that the facings were black and that they had pewter
buttons and hats with white lace. Schorr also mentions that they had
pewter buttons and that the facing colour was black in 1700. But
according to him the facing colour was changed to yellow in 1701. For
the latter uniform, Schorr has depicted the shabraque and pistol covers
yellow with a white edge.
Düna 1701, Kliszow 1702, Pultusk 1703, Warsaw 1705, Kalisz 1706,
In the Maritime Powers' service 1707-1713, Sockel 1716. |

1701 |

? |
Goltz
Flemming
Bielke |
1699
1712
1715 |
According to Höglund, the regiment had parrot green facings, white neckcloths and white hat lace. According to Schorr, they had in 1707
black facings, brass buttons and white neckcloths.
It is curious that Höglund and Schorr have such conflicting
information about this regiment. But if the regimental colour was
changed at some point then both could be correct. The question is then
which point in time Höglund's
undated information refer to. Was it before or after 1707? Düna
1701, Kliszow 1702, Pultusk 1703, Warsaw 1705, Fraustadt 1706, Kalisz
1706, Prosna 1716. |

1707 |
 |
Stammer
(raised and disbanded in 1701,
the men were transferred to Garde du Corps)
Unknown uniform.
|

1707 |
According to Höglund, the regiment had yellow facings and vest, pewter
buttons, white neckcloth and white hat lace. Schorr specifies the colour
to lemon yellow and he too mention that the neckcloth was white.
Shabraque and pistol covers are depicted by Schorr as yellow with white
edge.
Thorn 1703, Warsaw 1705, Kalisz 1706, Gadebusch 1712, Tönningen
1713, Sockel 1716.
|

1707
Disbanded 1717, the men transferred to DR 3.
Pultusk 1703,
Warsaw 1705, Kalisz 1706, Tönningen 1713, Sockel 1716. |
Schulenburg
Saint-Paul |
1702
1710 |
Schorr writes that the facings were straw yellow in 1707 and that the neckcloth was black. Höglund tells that the facings and vest were pale
yellow, the buttons were of pewter and that both neckcloth and hat lace
were black. |

1707
Disbanded1717,
the men transferred to DR 9.
Posen 1704, Punitz 1704, Fraustadt 1706, Gadebusch 1712, Tönningen
1713. |
Brandenburg-Bayreuth
Schorr mentions that the facings were bleumerount in 1707 and that they
had pewter buttons and white or black neckcloths. Höglund describes the
facing colour as light blue and notes that the vest was also of that
colour.
Apart from pewter buttons he also mentions that the hat had black and
white lace (yet again the same colours as Schorr's neckcloths so likely a
mix-up with these).
Schorr has depicted the regiment's saddle cloth and pistol covers in
blue with a white edge containing an inner red stripe.
|

1704 |
Oertzen
Dünewald
Weissenfels |
1703
1705
1712 |
Höglund states that the regiment had blue facings in 1703
but Schorr writes that it was first in 1704 that they received red coats
with blue facings. The year before, the coat was blue with an unknown
colour on the facings. Also of interest is information from Rehnsköld in
1704 that Augustus the Strong had uniforms made "in the Swedish
manner " whereby Saxons are said to have appeared with blue coats
with small cuffs and white lace on their hats (Bellander p. 224). This
could be referring to Oertzen.
Both Höglund and Schorr agree that the regiment had pewter
buttons, white neckcloths and that the facings colour was changed to
green in 1707. Höglund specifies the colour to light green and notes that the vest was
also of that colour and that the hat lace was black.
Schorr has depicts the shabraque and pistol covers
as green with a white edge in 1707. This could then have been changed in 1712 so
that an inner red stripe was added to the white edge.
Posen 1704, Punitz 1704, Fraustadt 1706, Gadebusch 1712, Tönningen
1713, Sockel 1716. |

1712 |

1707 |
Wrangel
Baudissin |
1704
1710 |
Schorr mentions that the
facings were coffee brown in 1707 and that the neckcloth was black. Höglund
adds that the uniform in 1707 had pewter buttons, coffee brown vest and
black hat lace (the hat lace colour is probably a mix-up with the
neckcloth mentioned by Schorr).
Fraustadt 1706, Gadebusch 1712,
Tönningen 1713. |
 |
Flemming
(existed 1704-1707)
Unknown uniform and standard.
Warsaw 1705, Fraustadt 1706. |

|
Fürstenberg
(existed 1704-1707)
Unknown uniform and standard.
Fraustadt 1706.
|
 |
Jordan
(existed 1704-1707)
Unknown uniform and standard.
Fraustadt 1706.
|

Disbanded 1706
Fraustadt 1706. |
Winckel
This was a temporary unit created in 1705 by recruits intended for the
main army's regiments. It participated in the Battle of
Fraustadt 1706 and was disbanded afterwards.
According to Höglund it had probably not been issued regular uniforms and was
instead likely dressed in grey fatigues.
|

1717
Tönningen 1713, Stralsund 1715, Stresow 1715, Prosna 1716. |
Ansbach-Feilitzen
Ansbach-Flemming
Baudissin's Carabiniers |
1709
1717
1718 |
This was a regiment hired from Ansbach in 1709.
According to Höglund, it had blue coats with red facings and pewter
buttons. Schorr also mentions pewter buttons but he describes a red coat with
blue facings for Flemming's Regiment (maybe a later uniform?) Schorr has
also depicted this uniform with red shabraque and pistol covers. |
Ansbach-Schmettau
(Regiment from Ansbach in
Saxon service 1713- 1717)
According to Höglund, its uniform was a blue coat with pewter buttons and
carmine red cuffs, lining and vest as well as leather breeches and a carmine
red shabraque with white edge. This uniform appears to be identical with the one Höglund described for the preceding Ansbach
regiment.
Schorr deviates by writing that the coat was light grey and that the
shabraque was crimson or possibly blue. He also adds that the neckcloth was black and the hat lace was white.
The NCOs were to have silver lace on their cuffs and the drummers
crimson coats with light grey cuffs and lining with crimson breeches.
The officers also had grey coats with crimson cuffs and lining. But
buttons, buttonholes and seams were decorated with gold. Furthermore
they had a black sash mixed with silver threads. The neckcloth was white.
Stralsund 1715, Prosna 1716. |
 |
Battle Paintings

A detail of Daniel Stawert's
battle painting from 1707 of the Battle of Düna that hangs inside
Drottningholm Palace.
Daniel Schorr also mentions a battle painting from 1707 depicting the Battle
of Düna which he believes depicts the Queen's cuirassier regiment (Königin)
in red coats with turnbacks and the regimental colour on the cuffs and
lining. However, it is not entirely clear which battle painting he is
referring to as it was Daniel Stawert who in 1707 painted the most famous
battle painting of this battle, but the uniforms in this do not match
Schorr's description. I can only find one Saxon cavalryman with turnbacks,
and he is wearing a grey coat, and no one match the Queen's colour
combination. In addition, the cuirassiers have cuirasses over the coat which
they would not have according to Schorr.

Detail from Henrik Schildt's painting of the Battle of
Düna.
The second battle painting was made by Henrik Schildt (1678-1732) but the
year when it was made is as far as I know unknown. There we do have Saxon
cavalrymen with the Queen's colour combination and what appears to be
cuirasses under the cloaks as well as turnbacks. But it also shows tricornes,
which probably means that the whole painting can be considered anachronistic.
It is not known which sources Henrik Schildt used, but we know that Daniel
Stawert used Johan Lithén's drawings. Lithén did take part in the Battle of
Düna, but his drawings were black and white and the details are very small.
Better information about Saxon uniforms than the excerpt below cannot be
obtained from Lithén's drawing. Therefore, the battle paintings cannot be
used as proof that Saxon cuirassiers had red cloth coats instead of buff
coats during the Battle of Düna.

Detail from Johan Lithén's drawing of the Battle of Düna.
Read also: Campaigns of the Saxon Army,
Saxon army organisation,
Infantry uniforms, Artillery
uniforms. |