Dutch Army 1793 Part I: ARMY

 

 Regiment artillerie

by Bouko J. de Groot

Shortly after the French declaration of war (Feb, '93), the Dutch infantry was enlarged to 42 regiments (each of 2 battalions of 7 companies) plus 2 independent battalions and 3 independent companies. Of these, 27 regiments had grenadiers: 1 company in each battalion (so per battalion 1 grenadier company and 6 musketeer companies). Some troops were "subsidised", foreign regiments hired by the Dutch (not to be confused with those actually in Dutch service, like the Swiss). These were:
- from Brandenburg 3 battalions (1.400 men)
- from Brunswick 2 regiments, 1 battalion and 1 company (3.000 men)
- from Mecklenburg 1 regiment and 1 battalion (1.000 men)
- from Muenster 2 regiments (2.000 men). During 1793 French refugees formed 2 "Legions" (of 4 and 6 companies) and in 1794 another 4 refugee Legions were formed, 1 French (4 companies), 2 German (7 and 9 companies) and 1 Walloon (3 companies). In June 1794 the Brandenburg, Brunswick and Muenster troops left the Netherlands.

At most half of the army was used for the field army. Due to a severe shortage of men, this was re-organised in order to field full strength units. The grenadier companies were combined per 3 regiments to form 9 new grenadier battalions (of 6 companies each). The musketeers of a regiment were combined into 1 battalion (of 6 companies each) with 2 guns, so "regiments" became battalions instead. The same was done with the cavalry: regiments originally consisted of 4 squadrons of 2 companies each (Garde was 3 squadrons and Gardes du Corps 1 company), but they were re-organised into regiments of 2 squadrons.

For the campaign of 1794 the field army looked like this:

Infantry: 1 bat. Dutch guards, 1 bat. Swiss guards, 9 bat. grenadiers, 14 bat. musketeers, 10 bat. Swiss, some light units. One battalion was approximately 500-600 men.

Cavalry: 14 sq. cavalry, 6 sq. dragoons, 4 sq. hussars, 4 independendt companies of dragoons. One squadron was approximately 110 men.

Artillery: apart from the battalion pieces there was an artilley reserve of 104 guns, 10 howitzers and 4 mortars, with roundshot, canister, shell, incendiary and flares.

Engineers: 116 pontooners with 40 metal pontoons and 1 company of pioneers (100 men).

Health Service etc.: with the army a mobile field hospital for 200 men; 20-25 km behind the army a field hospital for 400 men and 50-60 km behind the army a big hospital for 600 men. Also included was a field bakery that produced 24.000 loafs of bread a day.

In 1792 (before the war) the complete Dutch military (incl. navy) was 58.000 men. On a population of 2.07 million that's 2.8%.

In July 1794, after the retreat from Belgium - the campaign had cost 26% in men and 15% in horses - the army counted 33.500 men, about equal to the combined forces of the British and Hessian troops after they received their reinforcements in August. Again half of these were garrison or depot and many of the others (incl. the allies) were spread over fortified towns. Against these, the French Army of the North had 72.000 men, among them also Dutch troops under Daendels: refugees from the civil war of the 1780's.

Dutch Army 1793 Part II: QUALITY

Regiment Gardes te Paard

Like most other countries of l'Ancien Regime, the Dutch had an international army (and navy). This kind of borderless culture was normal throughout Europe: diplomats, professors but also craftsmen would work for foreign states (famous examples: Jules Mazarin and John Churchill). Depending on the economic situation in The Netherlands, 40-60% of the soldiers and NCO's and about 25% of the officers were foreign. Many of those came from regions that had some connection with The Netherlands such as the Austrian Netherlands and Nassau.

Even so, in 1793 it was a real DUTCH army. For example, all commands were in Dutch and 94% of the foreign officers could speak Dutch. Even in the real foreign regiments 20% of the officers were Dutch-born (only exception were the Swiss).

In many other armies, the officers-class was mostly the domain of the upper-class of society. To a lesser extent this was also the case in the Dutch army, but as much as 30% of the officers were real career officers, climbing the ranks and - in sharp contrast to many other armies - less than 10% of the subalterns were "high born". The intellectual level of the officers was at least average (well above that of the ordinary enlisted men), judging by their "hobbies" and the number of languages many could speak. The interaction of the officers with their men was frequent and good. The Dutch noted that the opposite was the case in the British army, were it was not unusual for officers to see and meet their men only on the field of battle.

Men enlisted for 6 years or a lifetime. Most of the Dutch born military were born in garrison towns, so it was probably a trade passed on from father to son and there existed many "military families".

The Dutch military system was well organised. Payment of the men was done under tight government control and with a lot of paper work. Making a mess of things resulted in punishment for the responsible (regimental) leader. The necessary financial system for public finances was much more advanced than for example the British one. Apart from all of this, the Dutch spent a lot of money on their military machine: per capita 50% more than the British (9.10 guilders compared to 6.60).

The Dutch compared their allies of the campaign to themselves as follows: the Hessians were all right but the British had some real drawbacks: they were badly led by York, whose preferred tactic was to retreat; they were poorly trained and had no stamina; they had no uniformity in their training, so each regiment exercised according to its own rules; discipline - harsh on paper - was hardly maintained which resulted in a lot of drunkenness and in frequent plundering of Dutch civilians; care for the sick was bad (which resulted in many soldiers falling ill: no learning curve here, as the same happened in Holland in 1799 and in Walcheren in 1809); contact between officers and men was almost non-existent.

Questionable loyalties - as are sometimes mentioned - did not play a role within the Dutch army itself. It is unthinkable that units during a battle would perform less, because "they sympathised with the enemy" or such. They were professional soldiers, not political militias. Besides, there was no general pro-French feeling in 1793-94 in Holland. The only situations where a change of loyalties could be an issue was where high ranking officers could decide important affairs during non-combat periods, like prior to a siege or the changing of sides (from French to British by the way) of the Dutch fleet in 1799 or the retreat of the British from Holland in 1799 (where York probably bribed Brune - a Frenchman - to get away safely).

A final remark: the armies of the Batavian Republic and the Kingdom of Holland were built from the prior Dutch army and also used lots of foreigners. These armies performed well in Holland, Germany and Spain and later on, as part of the French army, in Spain and Russia.

So, one has to conclude that the Dutch army of 1793-94 was at least as good as any other of the time. It was a professional army with professional men. Rating it below average is not historic.

Dutch Army 1793 Part III: UNIFORMS

Garde du Corps

Below details of the Dutch troops.

All coats were knee length with the waistcoat visible (i. e. the upside down V-shaped lapels), all except hussars and grenadiers wore bicornes with red-white tassels and short slack white plumes with black tips, cockades were orange. The grenadier bearskin looks very much like the Napeolonic Austrian one, but without a front plate and with a real bag, which hangs over the right edge (with the tassel approx. next to the ear) in the facing colour with white piping and (wavey) line through the middle. A similar hat (maybe a bit less tall) was worn by the lijfcompagnie of the Garde Dragonders (bag red and tassel and piping white). Some foreign regiments did have a front plate (Walen, Saksen-Gotha). Hair dress was as other armies: tail (possibly tucked away under the hat) with either horizontal curles or the vertical curl in front of the ear (pattes de chien).

INFANTRY Regiment 11 was split up and divided between other units in 1793. Not all of those mentioned below were "in the field". Except for the Hollandse Gardes, Oranje-Friesland and Oranje-Gelderland, the Dutch grenadiers were taken from their parent units and made into 9 new grenadier battalions. Those grenadiers that stayed with their unit formed 1/7th of its strength. The regiments were battalion sized. Dark blue coats, white waistcoat, trousers and belts. Gaiters were white in summer and black in winter. Some units had laced button holes. Regimental facing colours (plus "LB" if they had laced button holes) were: BLACK: 16. CRIMSON: 22. GREEN, LB: 3. LIGHT BLUE, LB: 24. ORANGE: 14. ORANGE, LB: 6. RED: 2, 5 and 18; 3rd Swiss; Baden and Saksen-Gotha. RED, LB: Hollandse Gardes, Oranje-Friesland, Oranje-Gelderland, Oranje-Stad en Lande, 1st, 2nd and 3rd Oranje-Nassau; 8, 15 and 17. RED, no lapels (but red piping): 4th Swiss. RED, LB, no lapels (but red piping): 4, 9, 12 and 20; Zwitserse Gardes
(Swiss Guards) and 1st, 2nd and 5th Swiss. WHITE: 1; regiment Walen and battalion Garde-Walen (Walloons). YELLOW: 7, 10, 13, 19, 21 and 23; 1st and 2nd regiment and 5th bat. Waldeck.

CAVALRY The Lijfregement Oranje Friesland orginally consisted of 2 squadrons Oranje Friesland and 2 squadrons Oranje Karabinier, so after the re-organisation this regiment had 1 squadron left of both. Like the other regiments, the Gardes te Paard were also reduced to 2 squadrons. The Gardes te Paard had dark blue coats, others white; trousers, waistcoat, gloves and belts pale yellow. Cross-belts: the one over the left shoulder was much wider than the other. Shoulder straps same colour as coat. Buttons white metal. Boots were knee high. Regimental colours were: BLACK: Hessen-Philipstal (turnback red). DARK BLUE: Oranje Friesland (dark blue waistcoat; no lapels, but all edges of coat, including belts and bags, black-white chequered). GREEN: Van Tuyll (turnback red). LIGHT BLUE: Oranje Karabinier. PINK: Hoeufft (laced buttonholes and vertical lace bands on cuffs). RED: Bentinck; Van der Duijn; Gardes te Paard (with white piping on collar, cuffs and lapels).

DRAGOONS: Coats dark blue; trousers, waistcoat, gloves and belts pale yellow,
(except for the Hessen-Kassel dragoons, who had white trousers, waistcoat and belts). Cross-belts: the one over the left shoulder was much wider than the other. Shoulder straps same colour as coat. Buttons white metal. Boots were knee high. Regimental colours were: PINK: Hessen-Kassel. RED: Van Bijlandt (Walloons); Garde Dragonders (lapels not red but dark blue with white laced button holes, vertical lace bands on cuffs; separate lijfcompagnie had grenadier hats).

HUSSARS These had the traditional hussar clothing (mirliton,  pelisse, dolman, boots). The white plume was tall and had a black top. Officers wore a bicorne. Van Heeckeren: black pelisse with white fur, braiding and buttons, black dolman with light blue collar and cuffs, white braiding, piping and buttons. Light blue trousers with white piping. Mirliton black with blue flamme, white cords. Belts and gloves pale yellow. Timmerman: blue pelisse with black fur and yellow braiding and buttons. Red dolman with blue collar and cuffs and yellow braiding, piping and buttons. Red trousers with yellow piping. Mirliton black with red flamme, yellow cords. Belts and gloves pale yellow.

ARTILLERY HORSE: dark blue coat with red collar, cuffs and turn backs. Lapels also dark blue, but with red piping. White epaulettes with red shoulder straps with white piping. Dark blue waistcoat with red piping. Trousers pale yellow. Buttons yellow metal. Knee high cavalry boots. FOOT: dark blue coat with red collar, cuffs and turn backs. Lapels also dark blue, but with red piping. Dark blue shoulder straps. Dark blue waistcoat with red piping. Trousers dark blue. Buttons yellow metal. Gaiters as infantry (summer white, winter black).

OTHERS Infantry drummers and fifers: as unit, but with wings, cords and posibly horizontal lace bands on sleeves. Cavalry buglers and kettledrummers: as unit, but with wings and heavily laced false sleeves tucked in at the waist (Gardes te Paard had an extra red stripe running along it). Engineers: light blue coat with black facings (but red turnbacks), light blue waistcoat and trousers, buttons white metal, belts black, gaiters as infantry. Officers: orange sash; possibly white piping; buttons and cords etc. silver or gold (when their men had white or yellow resp.); silver or gold tassels and epaulettes; no laced button holes except for the Gardes who had extensive silver lace and piping. Of course no cross belts or guns, but probably a fashionable walking stick to go with their sabre. Infantry officers would probably wear some kind of fashionable boot like the high, turned back type (so the brown leather inside becomes visible). High officers and generals in general: dark blue coats without lapels, closed  at or just above the waist; cords, lace, epaulettes etc. gold; trousers, waistcoat white; knee high cavalry boots.

When Holland was taken over the troops retired into Hanover with the British troops and entered British army Detailed information can be found in Émigré and Foreign troops in British service (I) 1793 - 1802 From the Osprey men at arms series   (328) ISB 1 85532 766 X

Autichamp : French Émigré white cockade raised in Holland 1794 only 189 men Uniform: Red coatee , sky blue collar , cuffs and turnbacks white piping Black brown hat with bearskin crest red turban ,white cockade

Beon: raised in Dutch service 1793 six companies of chasseurs , 2 companies of hussars fusiliers skyblue coat ,orange collar ,cuffs and lapels black halfgaiters hat with white plume chasseurs the same but facing edged yellow round hat with brim turned up hussars skyblue dolman pelisse and breeches black fur trim on pilesse

Bethisy French émigré , white cockade 104 men only

Brogile French émigré  white cockade raised in Holland in1794 red coatee , purple collar , cuffs and turnbacks Blackround hat with bearskin crest red turban white plume black half gaiters 230 men

Castries French émigré white cockade 350 men raised in Holland 1794 in 1797 751 men uniform as above but purple=green white trousers

Damas raised in Dutch service 1793 660 men in two hussar companies to foot chasseurs and 4 fusilier company's Hussars ; skyblue dolman and breeches ,black collar and cuffs ash-grey pillesse

Dutch emigrant artillery raised in Hanover 1795 200 man strong

Dutch emigrant brigade 4000 man strong , 4 batallions of line and 2 light batallions blue British style coatee red collar and cuffs white turnbacks grey breeches black bicorne hat ( 1801 stove pipe shako) light batallions green coatee black collar and cuffs

Loewenstein chasseurs raised in Germany for Dutch service 1794 two battalions of 600 man each blue grey coatee ,round ha one site turned up with a green plume collar cuffs facing and turnback are darkgreen

Luninck light regiment raised for Dutch service in 1794 green coatee collar cuffs and lapels red turnbacks round hat with brim turned up

Mortemart French émigré white cockade raised in Holland in 1794 400 men when they retreated in to Hanover Red coatee black collar cuffs and turnbacks black round hat with bearskin crest red turban and white plume

Pflaffenhoven raise in Germany for Dutch service 1200 infantry and 800 hussars

Wittegenstein infantry regiment raised in Dutch pay 900men

These units were raised for the Dutch and went in to British pay Many many others were raised for the British and fought in Holland as well Like 2 regiments of Rohan's Hussars .Slam-Kirschburg hussars ,infantry and artillery The Uhlans Britanique many Swiss French and German units

1) Foot artillery and pioneers etc. never wore the white gaiters in the field. SO for waraming puropes they always wear black gaiters.

2) Marine inf. regiments (yellow facings) had red musket belts and red collars.

3) The elite companies of the ordinary dragoon regiments may also have worn the bearskin, just as the Lijfcompagnie Garde Dragonders.

4) The company Gardes du Corpse (cavalry) had 2 uniforms: red coat with light blue facings, no lapels and gold laced buttons holes and for field service blue coat with red facings, no lapels, yellow piping, buttons and turn backs. However, they could never appear on the field with other cavalry. Toursers, gloves and belts pale yellow.

5) Cavalry regiments Bentinck and Oranje Friesland had yellow buttons instead of white.

6) Bentinck had white cuff flaps with red piping.

7) Epaulette in facing colour on right shoulder for part of: Van Thuyll, Bentinck, Van der Duijn, Hessen-Kassel (white epaulette) and (all of) Gardes Dragonders.

8) Some sources say cavalry plumes were all-white instead of white with black tip. Hussar troopers had an all-black plume.

9) Horse furniture: saddle brown leather, belts black leather with white metal buckles and diamond shaped white metal plate on chest belt. Pistol holsters and half-shabraque slantwise to the rear. Most had upside-down L in rear corner of the shabraque to form a small square with the edge band. Base colour + edges: Hessen-Philipstal: red + white. Oranje Friesland: light blue + yellow; small square is separated from shabraque edge. Van Tuyll: yellow + white. Oranje Karabinier: yellow + white. Hoeufft: yellow + white. Bentinck: red + green. Van der Duijn: red + yellow; the upside-down L's point is "pulled" upwards. Gardes te Paard: red + white-red-white band, no upside-down L. Hessen-Kassel: red + white. Van Bijlandt: red + white-red-white band, no upside-down L. Gardes Dragonders: red + white. Gardes du Corps: blue + yellow-blue-yellow band, no upside-down L.

10)Hussars: Part III described the Van Heeckeren uniform of 1794. But in 1793 it was: light blue pelisse with white fur, braiding and buttons, light blue dolman with orange collar and cuffs, white braiding, piping and buttons. Pale yellow trousers. Mirliton black with black, white (officer: gold) edged flamme, white cords. Belts and gloves pale yellow. For Timmerman some sources mention a slightly different uniform from the one in part III, the differences being: red pelisse with white fur, blue trousers, orange flamme. It's also possible that only the officers wore the pelisse. Both had the typical hussar shabraque with rounded front corner and long pointed rear corner, with a shark-toothed edge. The colours are for cloth - tooth edge - tooth - outer cloth edge: Timmerman red - white - blue - white; Van Heeckeren 1793 light blue - white - black - white; Van Heeckeren 1794 black - white - light blue - white. All had a black sabre-tache with thick yellow edge and yellow lion in the middle.