Hohenzollern Cuirassiers

Inhaber
Unknown

Unit History
The Cuirassier regiment was recruited from Catholics and had sixty different contingents in its command. Clearly, the poor quality reflected the diverse mix of troopers. According to the French general Soubise, the cavalry was barely able to follow simple orders and contributed to the disaster at Rossbach.
During the early mobilization, the unit was part of the second corps under Markgraf von Baden-Durlach. Later at Rossbach, November 1757, the unit was on the right flank along with the Kurpfalz Cuirassiers and the Austrian Bretlach Cuirassiers (No. 29). These units formed the advance guard which took the initial charge from Seydlitz’s cavalry corps and quickly fled.
From 1758 to 1760, the unit was in the corps commanded by GFM Prince von Zweibrücken and did not see significant action.
As with many Reichsarmee units, this regiment dissolved at the end of the 18th century.

Comments
With the Austrians suffering from a lack of heavy cavalry and the surprise gift of a few Prussian cuirassier figures from a good war-gaming friend, Robert Swan, I decided to give the Reichsarmee a bit of additional support and stiffening. Not that the quality of the cuirassiers is overwhelming but the two Reichsarmee cuirassiers squadrons (Kurplafz and Hohenzollern) bearing down on ones troops does inspire just a little bit of respect. This is the last cavalry unit painted for my SYW collection and was done in March 2006.

Sources
Flag: Warflag at http://www.warflag.com/
Text: Pengel & Hurt, The Reichsarmee: Organization, Flags & Uniforms 1756 to 1762, Imperial Press