The Lead Pile (...Well Mainly a Plastic Pile in Reality) Restored

A group of Bavarian soldiers in 1866

With the release of the Perry plastic FPW Bavarian infantry I ordered enough figures to create a brigade - my first purchase of figures since November. A second brigade, to complete a division will be ordered later. Artillery and cavalry will follow at some point.

While the Royal Bavarian Army was reformed along Prussian lines after 1868, there were structural differences between the two armies. The infantry of Bavarian Army in 1870 consisted of two corps, each of two infantry divisions, each of two brigades, each of six battalions mainly drawn from two regiments. The regimental structure was like that of the Prussians: three battalions each of four companies, each of around 250 men. Where the differences came in was with the allocation of the jägers, which were far more numerous than among the Prussian formations. Whereas the Prussians assigned one jäger battalion to each corps, the Bavarians assigned a jäger battalion to each brigade and one to each division. To retain the balance of six battalions to the brigade line battalions were taken from three infantry brigades and those battalions combined into the fourth brigade.

I have decided to build the 4th Division for two reasons. First, it contained that combined brigade which gives the opportunity to create an interesting mix of facing colours in the battalions. Second, it was a part of the  Bavarian 2nd Corps commanded by Jakob Hartmann, who is an interesting character. 

Born at Maikammer, in the Palatinate, on the 4th of May, 1795, Hartmann was a posthumous birth. Adopted by his maternal uncle French General Geither he received the best military education at the French military schools of Bonn and Saint Cyr. At the age of eleven Geither entered Hartmann as volunteer on the muster-roll of the 1st Regiment of the Grand Duchy of Berg where promotion through the non-commissioned ranks to sous-lieutenant came quickly. In 1811 at the age of sixteen, while he was still at Bonn and St. Cyr, he joined the regiment in active service as first lieutenant. When the Confederation of the Rhine was broken up, Hartmann continued in French service until 1815, largely with the 27th Infantry Regiment. At Planchenoit, during the Battle of Waterloo, he saved the regimental eagle from capture by the Prussians. Resigning his commission in the French Army in 1816 he transferred to Bavarian service and joined the 10th Infantry Regiment. He transferred to the Topographic Bureau in 1818 and then six years later to the general staff. In 1827 he was made captain and was attached to the War Ministry. Promotion in the peacetime Bavarian Army was slow, but in 1842 he was promoted to major and made adjutant to the Bavarian Crown Prince. Under this royal patronage his rise through the ranks was accelerated and by 1848 was a major-general. His suggestions for the reform of the Bavarian military systems gained acceptance, but were only partly enacted. Made lieutenant-general in 1861 he commanded the 4th Infantry Division in the campaign of 1866, fighting at Rossdorf, Kissingen and Wurzburg. For his loyal service the proprietorship of the 14th Bavarian Regiment was bestowed on him. In 1869 he was raised to the rank of general of infantry and given command of Bavarian II Corps in the restructured army. He led the at Corps Wissembourg, Wörth, Sedan, then during the Siege of Paris in the engagements of Corbeil, Bourg-la-Reine, Petit-Bicètre, Moulin de la Tour and Sceaux.  He died in 1873, still in command of II Corps.

The 4th Division was led by sixty-five year old Lieutenant General Friedrich Graf von Bothmer. Having entered the army from the Cadet College in 1827 as an ensign, he was in line service two years later and was made lieutenant in 1833. He resigned later that year to take up service under King Otto I of Greece, where he rose to the rank of captain. Returning to the Bavarian service he made captain in 1847 and the following year became adjutant to Prince Karl of Bavaria. Like Hartmann his royal patronage saw rapid promotion being made major general in 1866 and given command of the Bavarian artillery reserve in the campaign against Prussia, which he led at Kaltennordheim and Bad Kissingen. The 4th Division was roughly handled at the opening actions of Wissembourg and Wörth, but fought well throughout the rest of the campaign of 1870. Bothmer died in 1886.

So here is the stack that will become the 8th Infantry Brigade.

I did consider building third brigade and putting them all in fatigue cap for use in 1866, but the Bavarian personal equipment was different in 1866.

Also in this batch of figures are some for conversion into French and Prussian commanders, mounted and foot.