Prussian Landwehr, 1813 - 1815

The Prussian Landwehr, which saw extensive service from 1813 - 1815, was first established in East Prussia, which was occupied by General Yorck's former Prussian Auxiliary Corps and declared to be at war with France, on February 7, 1813. King Frederick Wilhelm II decreed the establishment of a militia or Landwehr throughout Prussia barely a month later, on March 17, 1813. Theoretically, the Landwehr were organized into Brigades (regiments) of 4 battalions each, each of four companies. The theoretical establishment of a Landwehr company was 150 - 200 men, including a Captain, 4 Lieutenants, 1 Sergeant Major and 2 drummers. Needless to say, few units achieved these theoretical goals, and there was severe wastage of men from disease, straggling, and enemy action over the course of the long 1813 Befreiungskreig. By the end of that year, though, the Landwehr that remained were considered virtually equal to the Line units.

The Landwehr uniform was to consist of a long, dark blue or black Litewka coat. the collar (and sometimes the cuffs or cuff piping) of which was in the Provincial color (see table below). The color metal of the buttons varied by province as well, and the jacket could be either single or double breasted. Many units had colored shoulder straps by battalion (see below) Pants were officially to be dark blue or white, but grey or brown were not uncommon either. .

A Schirmuetze cap was worn in dark blue or clack, with a band of the provincial color. Later (May 1814), piping around the top of the crown and chevrons on the sides (Stegen) were added to the regulations for the cap. The front of the cap was decorated with a white Landwehr Cross, bearing the inscription "mit Gott für König und Vaterland 1813"

The initial uniforms issued were very poor, and variations were widespread including Litewkas in brown or grey, grey or brown pants, and use of British and /or captured French equipment.

ADD 8/21/14:  Dr Stephen Summerfeld (who is the author of what iare now perhaps the definitive works on the subject, "Prussian Napoleonic Landwehr Infantry and Cavalry 1813-15: Landsturm, Volunteer Cavalry and Streifkorps" available through Partizan Press) kindly pointed out that the 1814 regulation for the Landwher called for a single breasted Kollet jacket to replace the Litweka. Doubtkless that transition was incomplete even by Waterloo, but likely many units would have made t\he transition by that time.

Prussian Landwehr Distinctions, 1813 - 1815

Province	Facings	Buttons	Regts Raised
East Prussia	Orange Red	White	5
West Prussia	Black #	White	3
Brandenburg	Brick Red	Yellow	10
Pomerania	White	Yellow	3
Silesia	Yellow	White	17
Elbe*	Light Blue	Yellow	4
Westphalia*	Green	White	8
Rhein*	Crab Red	Yellow	8

* Additional Provinces added 1814 - 1815

# The black facings didn't show well on the dark blue coats,. so it seems some units may have used the crimson facing color of the West Prussian Line units instead.
The exact shade for the East Prussians is unclear, probably somewhat redder than that shown above. 

Shoulder Strap Seniority Colors

Battalion #	Shoulder Straps
1	White
2	Red
3	Yellow
4	Light Blue

As I was painting other troops this winter, I discovered that I had enough leftovers to make a new Prussian Landwehr unit. It languished partially completed until after Historicon. I finished it off last week while on vacation. It is painted as the Erstes Westpreussisches Landwehr Regiment.  Flag is a free download from Warflag for the Landwehr of the Saganer Kreis (district). Technically that was a Silesian outfit, so purists will have to cringe a bit, but I wanted another, different design for the flag of this unit!

I find it a bit odd that the authorities chose Black as a facing color with dark blue uniforms; the Crimson used by the West Prussian Line regiments would have been both more logical and shown up much better. Maybe there was a shortage of red cloth?

To make the black facings more evident, I highlighted the outer edges of the collars with Hippo (dark) Grey, as well as the inner sleeve edge of the cuffs. I think that worked. The NCO (pointing in front rank) has Prussian rank indicator of white/black piping on the collar and cuff edges. 

The Drittes Ostpreussisches Landwehr Regiment (3rd East Prussian). I've used a fairly bright only faintly orange shade of red for the provincial color. the flag is more proper as a speculative variant for that carried by a Brandenburg unit (Kurmark and Neumark were both parts of the territory of the original Margravate of Brandenburg).

Aside from the Schirmuetze cap, the uniform of the officers of the Landwwehr was officially the same as that for Line officers, including the silver-mixed-with-black sash.  This outfit has dark blue pants. 

The cloth haversacks were characteristic of the Landwehr. For some reason these OG sculpts have short jackets more proper to the early Reserve regiments than the long, tail less Litewka usually worn  by the Landwehr. Eh, was kann man trun? Thankfully, Landwehr uniforms seldom conformed to the regs, and often varied even in the same battalion!

This is the Viertes Schlesisches Landwehr Regiment (4th Silesian). The Silesian Landwehr regiments in particular seem to have usually worn white pants.

The drummers (officially) had red (rather than provincially colored) wings with white lace ornamenting their jackets. Drums were more often wooden than brass, and usually had red rims with or without white triangle decorations. 

This time a correct (speculative) flag is in use appropriate to a Silesian regiment!

The Viertes Westpreussisches Landwher Regiment. Their district has substituted Crimson for the official regulation Black facings seen on the 1st Regiment.

I gave some of the officers and men grey hair, as the State was scraping the bottom of the barrel for troops and especially, officers!

The regiment carries what was probably one of the most common variants of the (officially prohibited) Landwehr flags, patterned on the Landwehr Cross. 

The Drittes Pommersches Landwehr Regiment (3rd Pomeranian).  The Pomeranians in particular often seemed to have dark grey or black coats, as seen here. I used Payne's Grey as the base paint color for their coats. 

Te white facings look good with the dark coats, and the combination also echoes the white/black colors of Prussia itself. 

They carry a "Landwehr Cross" inspired flag as well, but with the colors reversed from the earlier example.

All five Landwehr Regiments together.

Group shot!

Sources

Nash, David, The Prussian Army, 1808-1815 Almark publications, London, 1972.

(my copy is literally falling apart after heavy use for the past 40 years, but I wouldn't give it up for anything!)

HOfshroer, Peter, Prussian Reserve, Militia, & Irregular Troops 1806-1815. Osprey Publishing, london, 1987.

The Prussian section of the Uniform Evolution Site (an amazing online reference): LINK.

Our one year old Golden Retriever, Zoe, out for a boat ride on Bantam Lake this weekend. The yellow facing color on her life preserver suggests she is serving in a Silesian regiment.  :-)

Annie, my younger daughter's 8 month old "English Cream" Golden, was not intimidated by the boat or the lake at all. She jumped off the boat to swim along with us when we we did!

Zoe, Annie, the Empress and myself - group photo!