Prussian Infantry Blankets from the Paintings of Hyacinth de La Pegna

Detail from La Pegna, Maxen, HGM

Dear Reader,

Today, we are going to look at examples of Prussian infantry enlisted-men's blankets as drawn in the paintings of artist Hyacinth de La Pegna. La Pegna is famous for his many excellent eighteenth century battle scenes, ranging from the Battle of Assietta to fighting in the Austrian Netherlands, to his most famous painting in the English-speaking world: The Ambush at Hochkirch.

La Pegna's Surrender at Maxen, HGM

The subject of Prussian soldiers' blankets is mentioned in contemporary sources A special thanks to Christoph Koester for sending me Musketier Dominicus' comment on blankets: "Then the Prince of Zweibruecken stopped by, and said that since the men had on an old clothing issue, it was getting cold, they should take the tent blankets. We were happy, and they issued them to us. Those who had no blankets carved up old tents, and took pieces of them."[1] An anonymous letter from an Unteroffizier in Regiment Nr. 3 (Anhalt) described the situation on the night of September 30th, 1756: "Our Tornisters were our pillows, the earth was our bed, and the heavens were our blanket." He had failed to retrieve blankets from the supply train for his Leutnant, as a result of a skirmish between the outposts of the army and enemy Grenzer. [2] We know that at least according to the infantry regulations, each Prussian tent squad was supposed to be issued with two blankets.[3]

La Pegna's Battle of Hochkirch, HGM

I had the opportunity to examine two of La Pegna's paintings up close  at the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum in Vienna a few weeks ago. In that museum, there are two paintings, both by La Pegna, which depict Prussian blankets. Both of these paintings, the Attack at Hochkirch, and the Surrender at Maxen, were completed during the later years of the Seven Years War. The first painting, rather well known, is the detail below from La Pegna's depiction of the Battle of Hochkirch. The detail shows an Austrian grenadier and two fusiliers chasing a woman from a Prussian tent, with a camp bed and blanket prominently depicted in the tent itself.

Detail from La Pegna, Hochkirch, 

The remaining images, as well as the image at the topic of the post, come from a second painting by La Pegna: the surrender of Finck at Maxen. Here, Prussian troops are shown grounding their weapons and surrendering to Austrian forces, in cold weather. The temperature is apparent from a number of factors including the fact that many Prussian soldiers have their hands thrust inside their coats. I'll continue the textual narrative below, after having allowed you to examine the images.

Detail from La Pegna, Maxen, HGM

Detail from La Pegna, Maxen, HGM

Detail from La Pegna's Maxen, HGM

Detail from La Pegna, Maxen, HGM

With the following images, I believe that it might be proper to conclude the following: La Pegna believed that in Prussian camps, and on surrender marches, the Prussian army was equipped with rectangular blankets, white or off white in color, surrounded by two blue stripes (one blanket appears to have three, but that it is an isolated example.) The images above seem to indicated that the blankets were available to Prussian soldiers, not just officers, as the officer in the first of the four images does not have a blanket. It does not appear, at least to me, as though the soldiers depict in this image have formally turned their blankets into blanket coats, but I am open to those with contrary evidence on that point. However, the blankets have been made to a size where it was quite easy to wear them while walking in cold weather.

Obviously, this has been a rather cursory investigation of blankets in the Prussian army during the Seven Years War-era. If you have more information regarding Prussian army blankets in the middle of the eighteenth century, please let us know via the comments below, or via email, found on the about the author page.

If you enjoyed this post, or any of our other posts, please consider liking us on facebook,  or following us on twitter. Finally, we are dedicated to keeping Kabinettskriege ad-free. In order to assist with this, please consider supporting us via the donate button in the upper right-hand corner of the page. As always:

Thanks for Reading,

Alex Burns

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[1] Tagebuch von Musketier Dominicus, s. 77

[1]Curt Jany, Urkundliche Beitraege und Forschungen zur Geschichte des Preussischen Heeres, section 2, pg. 2. 1901.
[2] Reglement vor die königl. preussische Infanterie, 1750, pg. 297. 

Austrian and Prussian Items at Burg Forchtenstein

Officers Austrian Infantry Regiment 33 (Note the chaplain in the upper left)

Dear Reader,

Over the weekend, I had the distinct pleasure of being able to visit Burg Forchtenstein, just south of Vienna, near the border with Hungary. While there, I took the standard tour, and then as a result of the kindness of my guide, Zoltán Kacsmarik, was able to return to the eighteenth-century rooms for some additional photos.

Burg Forchtenstein from the Southwest

Prussian Enlisted Tent, with officers of Austrian Hussar Regiment Nr. 24 (Esterhazy)

Prussian Officer's Tent, captured 1758, front

Prussian Officer's Tent, captured 1758, interior

Plug Bayonet, late-17th/early 18th Century

More officers of Regiment 33, Austrian (Grenadier) Cartridge Pouches

Sword Belts, Late 18th Century/Napoleonic

Drum, Austrian, mid-to-late 18th Century

Sabertaches, Hussar Regiment 24 (?) Austrian, 18th Century

Artillery Train Wagon, late 18th century, likely Austrian

Various Prussian items, captured at Hochkirch, 1758

Austrian camp kettles and cartridge pouches, 1797 (?)

Like my recent post regarding the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, this is very much the highlight reel of my visit, I took over 260 photographs of mainly eighteenth-century items. I'll attempt to give a more full accounting when I return from Europe at the end of the summer.

If you enjoyed this post, or any of our other posts, please consider liking us on facebook,  or following us on twitter. Finally, we are dedicated to keeping Kabinettskriege ad-free. In order to assist with this, please consider supporting us via the donate button in the upper right-hand corner of the page. As always:

Thanks for Reading,

Alex Burns

Hochkirch: 260th Anniversary

Dear Reader,

260 years ago this Sunday, October 14th, 1758 the Prussian and Austrian armies fought the famous Battle of Hochkirch during the Seven Years War. We have focused on Hochkirch before on Kabinettskriege, so I am not going to dwell long on the specifics of the battle, but rather share some photographs which I took during a weekend of my research trip to Europe this summer. I have included an image of a map below, it comes from Christopher Duffy's excellent Army of Frederick the Great, and may be helpful as a reference while viewing the images.[1] 

As you can see from the map above, the Austrian attack at Hochkirch employed new operational ideas. The Austrians approached in multiple columns via different roads and avenues of approach. Frederick II of Prussia was taken completely by surprise.  

In the early stages of the battle, the Austrians approached in the early morning from multiple directions. Directly above, the image shows the view towards Loudon's approaching column, looking southwest from near the Prussian positions. 

Above we see the view east from the same position, looking towards the approach of O'Donnell's brigade, a command which largely consisted of cavalry forces. 

Above, as we look to the northeast, the church spire at Hochkirch peeks over a ridgeline. This view shows the perspective that the Loudon and Forgach's Austrians would have gained after taking the first Prussian defenses southwest of Hochkirch. Below, a set of images show the modern village of Hochkirch. 

The view south from the north part of the village.This road was the
avenue taken by the Itzenplitz Regiment during their bloody counterattack.

Looking south, the church is directly out of frame to the right. 

The view south from directly north of the church, the church tower is under construction

The view north/east from the same location

Below, we see the view southeast from north of the village of Hochkirch. In the foreground, the Prussians made an initial stand after being pushed from the village, in the background, Austrian columns under Colloredo would have approached from the east.

Below, the image looks west towards high ground that the Prussians used to make another stand near the village of Pommritz. 

The final two images show fighting positions later in the battle, as the Prussian army broke away from the battlefield. 

Looking north from the border of the Drehsaer-Grund. Prinz von Wuerttemberg's
cavalry charged across the image from right to left, checking O'Donnel's Austrians. 

Finally, we see the position of Saldern's Prussian rearguard, west of Wuerschen

The battle of Hochkirch provided yet more evidence that the Austrian army was increasing its military proficiency, and that the Prussians would continue to fight, even if in a disadvantageous position. The battlefield, and how the combatant's used it, has many lessons for understanding eighteenth-century warfare today. 

If you enjoyed this post, or any of our other posts, please consider liking us on facebook,  or following us on twitter. Finally, we are dedicated to keeping Kabinettskriege ad-free. In order to assist with this, please consider supporting us via the donate button in the upper right-hand corner of the page. As always:

Thanks for Reading,

Alex Burns

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[1]Duffy, Army of Frederick the Great, (2nd Edition), 283.