The Ducal Brunswick Hussar Regiment, Number 17

The Ducal Brunswick troops had a unique place in the Prussian army of 1870, being the only units to wear their battle honours.

In 1809 Frederich-Wilhelm of Brunswick (the Black Duke) was none to pleased when Napoleon seized his duchy and amalgamated it into the Kingdom of Westphalia. In response the Duke sought Austrian assistance and raised a Frei  Korps of mixed arms. But when the Austrians were defeated at Wagram Frederich-Wilhelm was unwilling to be subservient to Napoleon and fled, pursued across Germany to the mouth of the Weser River where his whole force was evacuated by the Royal Navy. So began the service of the Black Brunswickers in British service. 

While his troops continued in British service, serving in the Peninsular and in Sicily, the Duke returned to the Duchy when Germany rose up against Napoleon in 1813. During the Hundred Days the he expanded his force to eight battalions along with a new hussar regiment and led them famously at Quatre Bras and Waterloo.

The Hussars were deployed to Denmark in 1849 during the First Schlegwig-Holstein War, but were not engaged. Brunswick was reluctantly allied to Prussia in 1866, but the hussars saw only slight action in the conflict.

Incorporated into the Prussian Army in 1867 as the 17th Hussars retained their black uniform, and their banderole bore the battle honours  “Peninsular, Sicily, Waterloo”. Along with the other Brunswick units they were the only troops in Prussian service to wear their honours as a part of their uniform. 

In 1870 they formed a part of von Redern’s brigade. They were engaged at Spicheren where in an act of folly they were ordered to support the infantry on top of the Rotherberg. The slope, at 30 degrees, quickly proved impossible for cavalry and the troopers rode around to the eastern side of the hill and attempted the climb up the narrow road, but as they reached the top they found it impossible to deploy from their column of twos under intense French fire. They then sought shelter on the roadway, drawn in tight to the slope, where they constricted the road and made awkward the passage of two batteries making for the crest. Ten days later, in the evening of 16 August, they participated in the great cavalry battle at Mars-la-Tour and in 1873 the regiment was permitted to bear that additional honour of “Mars-La-Tour” on their banderole and to wear the death head cap badge.

Parts of the regiment sailed with the regiment’s colonel to China as a part of the German contingent in the Boxer Rebellion, but arrived after the rebellion had ended.

Assigned to X Corps in 1914 the regiment served first on the Western Front before transferring East. The regiment, like many German cavalry regiments, was disbanded in 1916 and most of its remaining troopers were posted either on occupation duties or to the trenches as Kavallerie-Schutzen.

I like this regiment. The black, yellow and red really makes them stand out. It is the first of three hussar regiments that make up von Redern’s 13th Cavalry Brigade, in the 5th Cavalry Division.

The regimental standard is created from a rather vague description in the  Osprey book “German Armies 1870-71 (2)”.