Austrian cuirassiers for the WPS

The proportion of heavy cavalry in the Austrian army in Italy was very high. This can be seen, for example, in the very detailed breakdown at Gerba [1]. That's why I decided to set up at least one new regiment. What is significant about the Austrian cuirassiers is that all regiments have practically the same uniforms. Red cuffs and skirts on white coats.

The figures originaly are Dutch cuirassiers of the War of the Spanish Succession by Strelets. (photo: André Hanselmann, 2024)

 

I chose the Young Savoy Regiment because of its easy-to-paint symbolism. It is characterized by the white crosses on a red background. Hans Bleckwenn runs it as the K2 Cuirassier Regiment [2]. In 1734/35 it served on the Rhine and was depicted by Gudenus in 1734. Philipp Franz von Gudenus (1710-1783) only represented the elite soldiers of the army regiments under Prince Eugene of Savoy. So the cuirassiers, as Bleckwenn called them, were actually carabiniers. A little over a decade later, David Morier (1705-1770) painted the Austrian carabiniers without the trim on their hats [3]. Both Morier and Gudenus have oak leaves on the brim of their hats. Just like with my infantry, I decided to paint a few more heavy riders to recreate larger battles of the War of the Polish Succession.

The cuffs are different from the Austrian style of the 1730s as it is depicted by Gudenus. (photo: André Hanselmann, 2024)

 

Unfortunately, I don't know of any standards of the regiment from that period. That's why I simply chose a standard that David Morfitt from Not by Appointment [4] drew and which cannot be assigned to a specific cavalry regiment.

Text: André Hanselmann

Photo: André Hanselmann

Notes:

1) The army was 58.000 men strong. 11.750 of them were cavalry, 1.100 of them were Carabiniers and horse grenadiers. Raimund Gerba: "Feldzüge des Prinzen Eugen" Verlag des K. u. K. Kriegsarchivs, Wien, 1891, p. 309-310

2) For Gudenus picture of the carabiniers look here: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/K.u.k._Dragonerregiment_%E2%80%9EGraf_Montecuccoli%E2%80%9C_Nr._8

3) For example Hohenzollern-Hechingen cuirassiers, check the Royal Collection: https://www.rct.uk/collection/404242/private-1st-regiment-of-cuirassiers-hohenzollern-hechingen

4) Excellent standards and flags! See here: https://nba-sywtemplates.blogspot.com/