Grand duchy of Frankfurt Hussars

During the mid nineties my good friend Dean organised a Napoleonic campaign in Sydney. I had quite a large French minifig and old glory army at the time and I had just started to collect Confederation of the Rhine coalition troops. Eventually the campaign got underway and I found that I required Gendarmes to protect my rear and supply lines, so I built a number of Confederation cavalry units to meet the threat. I eventually built five hussar and light dragoon units to fulfil the role, Anhalt chasseurs, Frankfurt Hussars, Saxe-Ducal Hussars, Baden Hussars and Duchy de Berg chasseurs. This year I will be refurbishing my older miniatures bringing them up to current painting style and basing, so all of these units will be on the table at some stage.

In 1806 Frankfurt lost its status as a free imperial city with the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire. Napoleon granted Karl Theodore Anton Maria von Dalberg, Prince Primate and Chairman of the Confederation Council, the former archbishop of Mainz;  received the titles of Prince Primate of Frankfurt, Aschaffenburg,  Regensburg, the possessions of the princes and counts of Lowenstein-Wertheim, Earl of Reineck and Count of Wetzlar. He also remained the Bishop of Worms, Konstanz and Regensburg.

  In 1810 Dalberg relinquished the Principality of Regensburg to the Kingdom of Bavaria, but gained the territories of Hanau and Fulda, raising the principality to the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt. In 1813 the grand duchy temporal offices were passed onto Eugene de Beauharnais, Dalberg passed away in 1817 in Regensburg.

Grand Duchy of Frankfurt Hussars 1809
The actual unit never reached more than 60 strong and we're used as Gendarmes and messengers primarily between the cities of the Duchy. There is only one print of them in existence published in the Herzberg in Augsburg (K.K priv. Kunsthandlung) and is not noted in the Weiland Collection!

 The Frankfurt Hussars had a blue hussar styled Dolman trimmed with yellow braid and buttons. The Pelisse was blue with black lambswool and yellow lace and buttons. the Breeches were also blue, black hussar style boots laced in red. The barrel sash was red and yellow cord, white belts and black cartridge pouch. The horse harness was black with white sheepskin with yellow wolf-teeth edging. The Trumpeter is entirely fictional, but possibly should of been in red as the Ducal colours were red and white.

Duchy of Frankfurt Hussars

Grand Duchy of Frankfurt Hussars

References 

Duchy de Frankfurt

Uniform of the Duchy of Frankfurt

HERZBERG. -- True portraits of all the military costumes of the monarchs of Europe. -- Herzberg, K. K. Akademische Kunsthandlung. Augsburg, 1800-1814. -- Collection of 97 plates in-4, colored with the greatest care, and appearing in parts of 5 sheets. The single plate concerning the troops of Frankfurt is part of the 18th part (Allied troops of France). It gives the following types: Infantry Officer. -- Grenadier. -- Fusilier. -- Hussar.

Carnet de la Sabretache (novembre 1889). -- Reproduction of the plates from Herzberg, discussed above

Sarthe, août 1944 Histoire d’un Libération

Sarthe, août 1944, Histoire d’un Libération, Fabrice Avoie

 email the author to order favoieauteur@hotmail.fr

Sarthe, Août 1944, Histoire d'un Libération, Fabrice Avoie 2009

Recently researching fighting around my house and the closure of the Falaise pocket from the south in August 1944 , and reference to this book kept coming up. This book fully covers the breakout from Normandy, through Brittany and Pays de Loire and the push east through, Mayenne and Sarthe to Chartres, then north to close the Falaise pocket. The author spent 15 years attending unit reunions in Germany, France and America, to discover first hand accounts and rare never seen before photographs.

Day to day strength reports for german units in the fighting retreat and trying to hold the Mayenne then Sarthe river lines,.

German units include 

• 7th Army HQ units
• 17th SS Division
• 9th Panzer Division
• Panzer Lehr division
• 352nd infantry division
•  708th infantry division
•  91st infantry division
•  77th Infantry division
• 5th fallschirmjager division
•  Sicherungs regiment 1, 194, 195 and 196
• flak elements defending the radar stations at Domfront, Madre, oisseau, 
• Luftwaffe and Flak elements at Laval and Chartres air bases, 
• plus scratch kamfgruppes from retreating SS, Wehrmacht, Fallschirmjager and Luftwaffe units

Allied units include

• US 2nd Armoured Division
•  5th armoured Division
• 79th Infantry division
• 90th infantry division
• 80th infantry division
• 106th cavalry division
•  la 2nd division Blindés Francaise. 
• Plus air support and ground support units and air communication units.

The hardback book has 440 pages and is well worth the €38 price tag.

Recommend for those interested in the southern flank of the Falaise pocket actions, lots of photos, small unit actions and after battle reports to wade through. Probably the best I have seen in English or French on the southern flank of the German army.

Cheers

Matt