Hesse-Kassel Army

The Hesse-Kassel Army was the military of the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel within the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, the Kingdom of Westphalia (1807–1813 through annexation by Napoleon) and since 1803 the Electorate of Hesse (also known as Hesse-Kassel or Kurhessen) until 1866 within the German Confederation, when the electorate was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia and the armed forces incorporated into the Prussian Army.

History

The Jägerkorps of the Hesse-Kassel Army in New York and Pennsylvania, 1776–1777

The beginnings of the Hessian Army go back to the landgraves after the Thirty Years' War, when, after the initial demobilization of their mercenary army, the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, like most medium-sized and large territories in the Holy Roman Empire, took the path of becoming a standing army with the establishment of the first four infantry regiments of foot (zu Fuß) in the year 1600. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Hesse-Kassel no longer took part in the contingent obligations of the imperial districts (Reichskreise) for the position of the Imperial Army (Reichsarmee) and the landgraves consistently claimed the right of the sovereigns to have their own troops (“jus armorum et foederum”).

During the time of Landgrave Friedrich II (1720–1785), the army reached its peak with a field army of 12,000 men and an equally strong barracked militia. In Hesse-Kassel there was one soldier for every 15 civilians; in Prussia this ratio was 1:30. In the Seven Years' War, the regiments of the Hesse-Kassel Army took part on the side of the Allied army in the fight against France and the Habsburgs. The combat strength of the infantry alone in the Allied Army as of 1 December 1762 was 13,568 men, divided into 12 infantry regiments, six grenadier battalions and the garrison infantry. The Hessian cavalry had a combat strength of 2,493 men in four cavalry regiments and two dragoon regiments. The light troops (Jäger and hussars) had a target strength (higher than the combat strength) of 1091 men and the artillery had a target strength of 517 men. The target strength of the entire army was 23,364 men, but the actual number was significantly lower. There were constant losses of fallen soldiers, deserters, wounded, sick people and those who were regularly retired from service, which caused high fluctuation in the regiments. In 1762, there were a total of 2,623 departures, of which only 59 died, 323 died of wounds or illness but 2,236 deserted.

The soldier trade under Landgrave Friedrich II with Great Britain resulted in the deployment of thousands of men from the country on the British side in the American War of Independence from 1776 onwards. After the increase in rank of Landgrave Wilhelm IX of Hesse-Kassel to Elector Wilhelm I through the Reichsdeputationshauptleitung in 1803, he renamed the Hessian armed forces. The military activities of the Hessian Army after 1806 were concentrated in the fight against Napoleon in 1813/14 and in the war against Prussia in 1866 during the Brothers War of 1866.

Wars of Liberation

The Elector's refusal to join the French Confederation of the Rhine, his neutrality in the Prussian-French battles of the Coalition Wars and the mobilization of his army in the rear of the French army, which was victoriously advancing north after the Battle of Jena and Auerstädt (War of the Fourth Coalition), caused Napoleon Bonaparte to depose him in November 1806 and occupy Hesse-Kassel. Seven infantry and five cavalry regiments were dissolved in 1806, among them the elite guard cavalry regiment Gens d’Armes, which had been founded in 1684.

In 1807, most of it was incorporated into the newly created Kingdom of Westphalia. The fugitive elector had previously given his troops leave of absence, which were de facto (temporarily) sent home. After the defeat and flight of the French and the restoration of his “electorate” in 1813, the reinstated Wilhelm called those on leave back to his service.

From then on, Wilhelm pursued a policy of revision that reversed everything that had been installed during the despised Napoleonic occupation (Franzosenzeit). Although the function and thus the title of an elector became obsolete with the dissolution of the First German Empire, Wilhelm was the only prince in the German Confederation to retain it for himself and all state designations. He did not recognize government bonds that had been taken out in the meantime, returned all officials in his service to the ranks of 1807, and downgraded the pay of the officers who had been promoted in the previous seven years to the level of 1807. The external formal sign of this was that the pigtail was reintroduced into the military. On 23 November 1813, the order appeared:

“The regiments called up assemble in the garrisons they held on 1 November 1806. All the mounting pieces, fittings and leatherwork that they took with them at the time, whatever they still have, will be brought with them."

The revived military consisted of old holidaymakers, people who had fought gloriously for the [[Vaterland<fatherland]] in Spain and Russia and volunteers. However, Napoleon's military campaigns also left their mark here. All able-bodied men in the Hessian Army had been forcibly drafted into the armed forces of the Kingdom of Westphalia and had paid their toll in blood. For this reason it was not possible to easily bring the army up to 1807 levels.

In November 1813, the 'war of liberation' allowed Wilhelm I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, to return to his capital where he set about raising a new army for service with the Allies. The Infantry consisted of a Leib Grenadier Garde battalion, a Guard Grenadier regiment, 4 Line Infantry regiments, 3 Landwehr regiments and a Jäger battalion. Each of the infantry regiments contained two battalions. New standards were issued to all regiments in Kassel on 1st March 1814. Each line regiment had (at least) two colours, a white Liebfahne and one or more crimson Regimentsfahnen. The landwehr battalions also carried standards but of a different design to those of the regular troops.

Some of the former units, which only consisted of remnants, were merged with others. Some of the reestablished associations changed their names and sometimes also their branches of arms several times until 1866. After the withdrawal of the French and the escape of King Jerome of Westphalia from Kassel, the reorganization of the regiments began immediately after the Elector's return and the Electoral Hesse Army was formed with a strength of: 21,182 infantrymen, 1,764 cavalrymen and 1,047 artillerymen, 23,993 men in total, were incorporated into the recruited into the allied German troops as “4th German Federal Corps of the Electoral Hesse troops according to the order of 10 January 1814".

Prussia

When the federal execution (Bundesexekution) of the German Confederation against Prussia was ordered in 1866, the Elector, who was very unwilling to go to war, was reluctantly forced to mobilize his armed forces. The desired neutrality could only have been achieved by accepting Otto von Bismarck's (unacceptable) ultimatum, which, among other things, provided for the abdication of the Elector and the handover of official duties to the presumptive heir to the Prussian throne. However, the Elector did not want to agree to this. Nevertheless, mobilization got off to an extremely slow start and was carried out without much emphasis. Since almost the entire Electoral Hessian Army in the German Federal Army was assigned to occupy the Mainz fortress and was therefore not affected by the important events, there were only a few bloodless shootouts between Prussian hussars and Electoral Hessian regional gendarmes.

The Electoral Hesse units gathered in Hanau, where they were not complete until 22 June, two days after the Elector was captured by Prussian troops. The commander of the Hessian corps, Karl Wilhelm Jeremias von Loßberg, was only second choice after the Elector had withdrawn command from the actual commander-in-chief, the heir to the throne, after just one day out of mistrust. Von Loßberg was extremely unwilling to go to war. He saw the Electoral Hessian army as hopelessly inferior to the Prussian one and considered resistance to be pointless and pointless, especially since the Elector had already been taken to Stettin as a prisoner and the general mood in the country was very pro-Prussian. Large parts of the officer corps would have preferred it if, for example, to fight on the Prussian side as did Saxon duchies.

On 29 June 1866, the Hessian troops were ordered to the federal fortress of Mainz as planned to provide the garrison there. Von Loßdorf rejected an initial call to surrender by the Prussian parliamentarian Major Preuß with the words “I therefore reject with indignation... a request that... tramples on loyalty and honor.” In Mainz, there was now increasing unrest among the troops. The officer corps was in favor of an immediate handover to the Prussians, while the enlisted men were still on the elector's side. The peace agreements of 26 July and 2 August 1866 and the associated dissolution of the German Federal Army fell into this dilemma in which the commander-in-chief found himself. The Hessian troops initially remained in Mainz to await a decision from the Elector. However, this matter resolved itself when the Prussian state parliament decided to annex Electoral Hesse on 17 August 1866.

A violent disarmament of the Hessian armed forces was initially considered, but then rejected. The Electoral Hessian Corps was subordinated to the Prussian Main Army and the Mainz fortress was handed over to Prussia on 26 August 1866. There were then riots and fights between the deployed Prussians and the soldiers of the Electoral Hessian Corps, so efforts were made to get rid of the Hessians as soon as possible. The Electoral Hessian Army then left the fortress without formally surrendering and returned to their home garrisons. After the Elector took the oath to the King of Prussia announced on 16 September 1866, the regiments were demobilized and the majority of the soldiers were sent home. The proud Electoral Hesse regiments were not dissolved, but only taken over as a core; The missing staff were primarily hired from other parts of Prussia. The Hesse units were now:

• Husaren-Regiment „König Humbert von Italien“ (1. Kurhessisches) Nr. 13
• Husaren-Regiment „Landgraf Friedrich II. von Hessen-Homburg“ (2. Kurhessisches) Nr. 14
• Kurhessisches Jäger-Bataillon Nr. 11
• Füsilier-Regiment „von Gersdorff“ (Kurhessisches) Nr. 80
• 1. Kurhessisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 81
• 2. Kurhessisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 82
• Infanterie-Regiment „von Wittich“ (3. Kurhessisches) Nr. 83
• 1. Kurhessisches Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 11
• Kurhessisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 11
• Kurhessisches Train-Bataillon Nr. 11
• The Swiss Guard was incorporated into the Berlin Schloß-Garde-Kompanie.
• The Landgendarmerie was retained.

Hesse-Darmstadt Army / Grand Ducal Hessian Army

The smaller Hesse-Darmstadt Army was the army of the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt (1567–1806) and its successor, the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt (1806–1918), from the army's beginnings as a standing army from the early 17th century until its incorporation into the Prussian army. As an imperial estate of the Holy Roman Empire, Hesse-Darmstadt had the right to its own troops (“jus armorum et foederum”) since the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. Like the neighboring Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, the Landgraves of Hesse-Darmstadt built up their own army. The beginning of the army was the foundation of a regiment by Landgrave Ludwig V on 11 March 1621, with which the later so-called Life Guard Infantry Regiment (1st Grand Ducal Hessian) No. 115 was set up as a simple infantry regiment. In 1914 it was the oldest active regiment in Germany.

Through the military convention between the Grand Duchy of Hesse and the Kingdom of Prussia of 13 June 1871, the troops were included in the Prussian Army on 1 January 1872. The regiments and their names remained, but the legal status as a state army disappeared.

Grand Ducal Hessian Order of Philip the Magnanimous, Knight's Cross with Swords

• Großherzoglich Hessische (25.) Division
  • 49. Infanterie-Brigade (1. Großherzoglich Hessische)
    • Leibgarde-Infanterie-Regiment (1. Großherzoglich Hessisches) Nr. 115
    • Infanterie-Regiment „Kaiser Wilhelm“ (2. Großherzoglich Hessisches) Nr. 116
  • 50. Infanterie-Brigade (2. Großherzoglich Hessische)
    • Infanterie-Leib-Regiment „Großherzogin“ (3. Großherzoglich Hessisches) Nr. 117
    • Infanterie-Regiment „Prinz Carl“ (4. Großherzoglich Hessisches) Nr. 118
  • 25. Kavallerie-Brigade (Großherzoglich Hessische)
    • Garde-Dragoner-Regiment (1. Großherzoglich Hessisches) Nr. 23
    • Leib-Dragoner-Regiment (2. Großherzoglich Hessisches) Nr. 24
  • Großherzogliches Artillerie-Korps

Further reading

• Kurfürstlich Hessisches Hof und Staatshandbuch, 1865
• Hochfürstlich Hessen-Darmstädtischer Militair-Staat, 1865
• Stamm- und Rang-Liste des Kurfürstlich Hessischen Armee-Corps vom 16ten Jahrhundert bis 1866, Francke und Ponnaz, 1866
• Hans-Enno Korn: Fahnen und Uniformen der Landgräflich Hessen-Kassel'schen Truppen im Amerikanischen Unabhängigkeitskrieg 1776–1783, Vogt Verlag, Hessisch Lichtenau 1977

External links

• Hessens Militär
• Hesse-Kassel Army
• Hesse-Kassel Line Infantry Colours