Henri de Schomberg (2)

Trust but verify: The image used to illustrate our first post on Schomberg was taken from Wikimedia Commons, which in turn attributes it to a book by F. de Vaux de Foletier titled Le Siège de La Rochelle (Paris, 1931). After I uploaded the image, I noticed that the label “Dvc d’Allvyn” was on the pedestal supporting the bust of Henri de Schomberg, and having completed the biographical sketch, I knew that the subject was never a duke. In fact, the duc d’Hallwin (or Halluin) alluded to in the image, was Henri de Schomberg’s son, Charles. So, whoever created the image conflated the two.

Henri de Schomberg

Schomberg [Schonberg], Henri de, comte de Nanteuil-le-Haudouin (1575-1632). French grandmaster of the artillery; mdF; superintendent of finances.

Known in his youth as the Count of Nanteuil, he was the son of Gaspard de Schomberg, a distinguished German officer who had served King Henry III as a captain of reiters and had risen to the grade of colonel general of the German cavalry in the king’s service. (These were the bandes noires or “black bands,” so called from their practice of painting their armor black and, some say, blackening their faces in a diabolical manner.) His first military service was under King Henry IV at the Siege of Amiens (1597). In 1599, he was appointed governor of La Marche, and in 1601, he performed distinguished service against the Turks while serving as a volunteer with the Duke of Mercoeur in Hungary.

He subsequently held a number of important civil and military positions. These included: councilor of State (1607); lieutenant-general of Limousin (1608); mestre de camp of IR Piedmont and captain of 100 gendarmes (1614); special ambassador to England (1615); maréchal de camp and maréchal de camp général of German troops (1616); special ambassador to Germany (1617); superintendent of finances and chevalier des ordres du Roi (1619). In 1625, he was created a marshal of France. To be continued ...

Russian Pandours, Seven Years' War

These figures are old Minifigs 25mm depicting grenadiers of Russian Pandour regiments of the Seven Years’ War period. There were two such regiments, each consisting of 20 companies, 15 of musketeers and 5 of grenadiers. They were formed from Serbian refugees who had been displaced by the Turks from the Austrian-Turkish frontier and settled in a region of Ukraine designated as “New Serbia.” The yellow boots were worn only on parade. There were also light cavalry (hussar) regiments. The uniform is depicted in Kannik’s Military Uniforms of the World in Colour and Mollo and McGregor’s Uniforms of the Seven Years War, 1756-63.

There is a full description of the Pandours in this excellent article by Vlad Gromoboy on Jean-Louis Vial‘s splendid NPI site:

http://vial.jean.free.fr/new_npi/revues_npi/17_2000/npi_1700/17_russ_pan1.htm

Breitenfeld I (September 17, 1631)

Recently, Stephane at "De Rohan a Turenne" http://rohanturenne.blogspot.com/ posted a couple maps of the Thirty Years' War Battle of Breitenfeld I (1631) from Grimoard's Essai theorique ... (1775). My attempt to comment on the maps was effectively trashed by Google for some reason, but Stephane's post prompted me to pull my file on the battle and revisit the musings of contemporaries and others on the orders of battle of the opposing armies in this great battle -- a triumph of the Swedes (and, I suppose, their Saxon allies) over the combined armies of Imperial Austria and the Catholic League. Look for more on this in coming days or weeks.

Thirty Years' War Musketeers

Mikes Models 15mm Thirty Years' War period musketeers. I really like these guys and seem to have enough to form a few regiments for my French army.

Heath's Armies of the Sixteenth Century (1)

As you can see from the title page, this is volume 2 of Ian Heath's excellent work. This volume deals with the armed forces present in the New World, both European and indigenous. I cannot think of any comparable work and recommend it for anyone interested in the topic. It was published in 1997 and has not been superseded to my knowledge.

The book is divided into five (geographic) sections, not including the Bibliography. This last, incidentally, is quite useful, despite its seeming brevity (It is just four pages long but is set in small type and is quite comprehensive.).

Of course, my interest is with La Florida, and this is covered in the section titled "North America 1497-1608," which provides most of what I'm looking for. Specifically, sub-sections for "Florida" (pp. 123-130) and "Virginia" (pp. 130-134) are useful. "Florida" is a typical treatment. It gives a historical overview of the Spanish and French expeditions (1513-1581) and the Indian cultures of the region. This is followed by a section on warfare, including weapons and forts. Finally, Heath presents his characteristic, detailed line drawings of warriors and soldiers.

Russian Line Infantry, Seven Years' War (3)

Here is some information on the organization of the musketeer regiments:

Regimental Staff
1 colonel
1 lieutenant colonel
1 first major
1 second major

The first three officers were battalion commanders.

Musketeer Company
The authorized strength of the musketeer company was 162 officers and enlisted personnel, as follows:
5 officers
7 NCOs
4 bandsmen
144 musketeers
2 non-combatants

Musketeer Battalion
The authorized strength of musketeer battalions was:
20 officers
628 musketeers
8 non-combatants