I think that was a standard practice well before SYW, maybe even before SWS.

Grenadiers were always teamed into battalions. As far as for brigades, I don't know.

As a rule companies from different regiments served in 'grenadier battalions'. Not only Prussian or Austrian - it was general practice.

Makes me wonder what happened with small states that had just one regiment...

Cheers!

Hi Malcolm!

I don't have full access to my references at the moment, but on page 23, of Digby Smith's book, Armies Of The Seven Years War, he states, "From 1748, each line regiment consisted of sixteen fusilier companies in four battalions, and two grenadier companies. The two grenadier companies operated away from their parent regiment; combined with two other grenadier companies into elite battalions. These elite battalions had, as yet, no permanent nature; it was not until 1769 that this step was taken."

At the time of the SYW, the Austrian Empire had 59 line infantry regiments. So...that would be 118 Grenadier companies. This results in 9 Elite battalions of 4 companies each, and one Elite battalion of two companies.

Now I'm wondering...were the grenadier battalions combined into elite regiments to form a reserve for the higher army formations, or were the battalions parceled out, on an as needed basis for the brigades? Or better yet, did it just depend on the tactical situation, or the whim of the commanding general?

All The Best,

Martin

The link in my post seems to indicate that this would be the correct answer.

The grenadiers also participated in skirmishes, serving as formed support for the irregular grenzer to fall back upon (I don't have any sources at hand right now, but I've definitely read accounts of this occurring). So now that we're getting our grenadiers, we definitely need a proper grenzer set for them to support (hint hint).

"The grenadiers often formed in ad hoc battalions of between 4 to 8 companies for special tasks. Often, the grenadiers of the entire armies 1st and 2nd line regiments were converged into a so called "Grenadier Corps" of elites only. Size and composition greatly varied throughout campaigns."

Source:
http://www.kronoskaf.com/syw/index.php?title=Austrian_Line_Infantry_Organisation

(This site is pretty much the holy grail of SYW enthusiasts, an incredible resource well worth a look for anyone with an interest in the period.)

It seems the practice was similar for most armies of the time, with those that closely followed the Prussians (e.g. Brunswick, Hesse-Cassel, Württemberg) also adopting the Prussian habit of creating semi-permanent formations.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that the Reichsarmee also occasionally formed ad-hoc grenadier battalions (I'm not 100% sure about this, though). Must have been a nightmare if they did, with each contingent having its own drill manual and the men having zero training manoeuvring in larger formations. Also, given that many of the contingents were somewhat lacklustre, I doubt the commanders were particularly eager to let go of the few men in their regiment who were properly trained and could actually put up a fight...

I thank you all for your input. Since it was on an ad hoc basis at least I won't have anybody telling me that I have wrongly paired the combined battalions. Now my final choice is of which regiments to represent. I must say that I am strongly drawn to the Dutch regiments since their musicians wore reversed colours, giving a nice splash of colour in a white uniformed Regiment?

Best regards,

Malcolm

Actually, quite a few German regiments still had turnbacks, waistcoats and breeches in facing colour during the first few years of the war, as well as drummers in reversed colours.

For example, IR 4 Deutschmeister with blue turnbacks (they also had blue waistcoats and breeches early on) and drummers in reversed colours:
https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47d9-9467-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Also, if it's colour you're after for your infantry, how about the Staff Regiment in blue or Loudon's Freikorps in Green?
https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47d9-9476-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99
https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47d9-952a-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

The one of the marvelous things about modelling the Austrian army is how many of their regiments used the same facing colour and identical standards. This means that a handful of colours will suffice for your whole army. My own uses mid-blue, red, green and yellow. Every time I paint up a field battalion of fusiliers I paint up a company of grenadiers in matching facing colours. This ensures that my unit mix will be approximately correct.

I also designate some of my units to be Hungarian and paint their breeches and gaiters as it they were trousers. Perhaps this is less than ideal from a modelling point of view, yet when they are massed on the gaming table players are hard pressed to notice the fudge.

I'm with hefay. I salivate at the prospect of decent grenzer figures. The two units I have are conversions, featuring Airfix British Hussar heads on Airfix British Hussar bodies, augmented with cigarette paper capes. These are less than ideal but I cannot bring myself to pay the asking price for the metal grenzers available in 1/72nd, pretty as they may be.

I'm with hefay. I salivate at the prospect of decent grenzer figures. The two units I have are conversions, featuring Airfix British Hussar heads on Airfix British Hussar bodies, augmented with cigarette paper capes. These are less than ideal but I cannot bring myself to pay the asking price for the metal grenzers available in 1/72nd, pretty as they may be.[/quote]

'Airfix Hussar heads on Airfix Hussar bodies'? Isn't that a bit redundant? Or is that a typo?

Bill

Oops! I meant Airfix Grenadiers.

In fact, some are the Hussars squatting behind their horses, with the horses removed, the pelisse reformed into a cape and the sabre replaced by the musket from the crawling figure from the Washington's Army set.