Armies and Enemies of Louis the XIV and the The French-Dutch War of 1672-1678

Armies and Enemies of Louis the XIV and the The French-Dutch War of 1672-1678

The Cavalry.

At last the latest installment to my armies of the French Dutch war are the cavalry. Each army will have 2 small regiments of horse and 4 regiments of infantry (covered in several earlier posts) based on the forces at the battle of Seneffe 1674. I was hoping to finish this project early this year, then gradually add extra regiments as I found the time to paint them.

French Cavalry Regiment Cuirassier du Roi.
This cavalry regiment was present at the battle of Seneffe 1974. A regiment in the Maison du Roi it was paid for directly by King Louis XIV of France.  A contingent of 400 men were present at the battle.

This cavalry regiment was the only French regiment at Seneffe to wear steel back and breast plate armour, that I know of, all the rest wore just coats or buff leather coats either over or under their uniform. Carrying a blue flag with silver design of a face surrounded by rays, the motto on the flag reads 'Nec Pluribus Impar'.

Uniforms are blue coats with red facings (cuffs), buff coloured breeches silver buttons and white sashes to denote service in the French army and buff hats, Louis XIV had a hatred of grey hats apparently.

French Cavalry Regiment La Reine
Also present at the battle was the cavalry regiment La Reine.

Uniforms are grey coats with red facings (cuffs), buff coloured breeches yellow buttons and white sashes to denote service in the French army with mainly black hats. One or two troopers wear buff coats for added protection. The horse furniture consisted of a red shabraque edged in blue with white lace detail. The trumpeter wears a uniform unique to the regiment.


Dutch Cavalry Regiment No.10 formed in 1672
This cavalry regiment would be Lodewijk Christiaan Graaf van Wittgenstein in 1674, possibly present at the battle of Seneffe 1674. In 1676 the colonel was Albert Ferdinand Graff van Berlo.

Uniform details & sources: Gerpines andd Wagner agree on the facing colours (red cuffs, red waistcoat, red breeches), Wagner and Belaubre say the coat was a dark grey colour. The shabraque was red laced white (silver lace for the officers). A white flag would be the Colonel's/Regiment's flag, a green flag for the squadron.

The officers jacket is red laced silver, the trumpeters jacket a brown colour (burnt sienna) with white hoops on the arms, the trooper's jackets are a darker grey. I have added a few with buff coats for protection. All wear the orange sash to denote service in the army of the the United Provices.

I haven't found the motto for the flag yet, I'll add the lettering if I do. I'm acquiring a copy of Wargames Illustrated #173 february 2002 with Mark Allens article on William III Dutch cavalry.

Just figured out Mark Allens handwriting the motto is 'PACEM ARMIS QUERO' loosely translated as: 'peace by force of arms'.

All the squadrons have 6 figures at the moment to aid completion of the project.

The Dutch Army so far:

The Dutch Army 1674

Regiment Schwarzenberg closeup.

I have one more Dutch regiment of Foot and one of Horse to add at a later date. Then next the siege artillery train and command vignettes.

Armies and Enemies of Louis the XIV and the The French-Dutch War of 1672-1678

The Dutch Regiments: I've continued to build the Dutch foot Regiments for my French-Dutch war, Regiment van Palm (sapherson regt.14) is complete (see previous blog), now it is the turn of Regiment Schwarzenberg (sapherson regt.35) 

WIP: Dutch Schwarzenberg Regiment op Friesland 1674 (sapherson regt.No.35), the command stand will comprise 2 ensigns with flags, 1 drummer and 1 sergeant.

The Drum has the Friesland state coat of arms on it, a two yellow lions passant on a blue shield. The Drummer wears a coat of reversed colours with white hoops on the arms.

Dutch pike block will consist of 4 pikemen. The sash is orange indicating that it is serving in the army of the United Provinces.

Basing finished and a final spray of Testors dullcote matt varnish flattens the paint effects. I have to add the Colonel's white flag when I finish it and shorten the flag poles. The flag is hand painted on metal foil, this will allow me to fold and warp it to give a windy effect to the flag when I have the time.

History. The regiment was founded in 1633, it fought at the battle of Seneffe (in the Spanish Netherlands) in 1674 fought between the French under the command of Louis Bourbon Prince de Conde and the Dutch-German-Spanish army under William of Orange.

colonels: 1688 Watzo van Burmania. 1691 Johann Wilhelm II herzog von Saxe-Eisenach

Uniform notes:
Ribbons were worn on the hats, sometimes on officers shoulders, holding up the stockings and also on the shoes. Specific colours denoted which provinces sponsored each regiment generally they are as follows:

Holland - red & white
Friesland - blue & yellow
Utrecht - black & yellow
Groningen - red & white
Overjissel - red
Gelderland - blue & red or black & red
Zealand - red & white

Reference: Colour plates from the archives of the Collectie Legermuseum Delft.

Apparently the flag on the left is regiment Aylva, the flag on the right is regiment Schwarzenberg, contrary to the regiment id on the print. (Les armees qui combattirent Loius XIV).

Armies and Enemies of Louis the XIV and the The French-Dutch War of 1672-1678

The Dutch Regiments: I've started to build the Dutch foot Regiments for my French-Dutch war, I think it'll consist of initially 5 Regiments comprising; Garde te Voet, van Palm(sapherson regt.14), Aylva(sapherson regt.34)  van Hegedoorn(sapherson regt.28 ) and van Theil(sapherson regt.31). This I reckon is a reasonable start, then I follow with 2 squadrons of Dutch Horse comprising: sapherson Regiments of Horse 1 and 10

WIP Dutch van Palm (Salisch 1688) Regiment op Holland 1673 (sapherson regt.No.14), note the flag is bright red following information gained from Dutch sources.

The Drum has the Holland state coat of arms on it, a red lion rampant on a yellow shield. The Drummer wears a coat of reversed colours with white hoops on the arms.

Dutch pike block. The sash is orange indicating that it is serving in the army of the United Provinces.

Basing finished and a final spray of Testors dullcote matt varnish flattens the paint effects.I have to add the Colonels colour when I finish it and shorten the flag poles.

History. The regiment fought at the battle of Seneffe (in the Spanish Netherlands) in 1674 fought between the French under the command of Louis Bourbon Prince de Conde and the Dutch-German-Spanish army under William of Orange.

Note. Dutch regiments were named after their colonels so I use saphersons numerical guide to identify individual regiments to reduce confusion. e.g saphersons regt.14 colonel was - Mariniers van Palm in 1674 & Ernst Wilhem van Salisch in 1688.

Reference: Colour plates from the archives of the Collectie Legermuseum Delft.

The French Regiments collection will comprise of Regiments of Foot; Garde Suisse, Picardie, Navarre and du Roi, all these regiments fought at the battle of Seneffe 1674. I have already finished 2 squadrons of French Horse; The Cuirassier du Roi and La Reine.

I'm hoping to create a mini campaign based on the French-Dutch war 0f 1672-78 using the 'The Perfect Captains' Battle Finder system, Tinker Fox campaign system and a la Hunguenotte availble for free from: http://perfectcaptain.50megs.com/bfinder.html

The a la Huguenotte addon has terrain cards specifically for the Low countries (Holland etc.)