Hesse-Darmstadt IR

Inhaber
1746 Graf v. Hesse-Darmstadt

Unit History
Formed from a small, well-equipped army organized and trained on Prussian lines. The Inhaber was originally Louis VIII, Landgraf of Hesse-Darmstadt, who was loyal to Austria. His successor, Louis IX, served under Frederick the Great. The unit was commanded by Oberst Stutzer from 1753 to 1766. It used primarily Protestant recruits and was considered one of the best units of the Reichsarmee although still only a regular unit. The unit was considered to be of good quality by the French general Soubise.
Mobilized in 1757 and assigned to the corps commanded by von Hildburghausen. It was brigaded in the corps with the Varell regiment under von Stolberg in August 1757. At Rossbach, November 1757, it was brigaded with Blaue-Würzburg under Hollenstein and distinguished itself by covering the flight of the Imperial Army. It was stationed in Leipzig in the summer of 1759. At Maxen, November 1759, the unit was brigaded under von Stolberg and blocked the Prussian route of retreat from Maxen. From 1758 to 1762, the regiment served in Prinz von Zweibrücken's corps in Saxony.
The regiment later formed part of the 15th Reichswehr Infantry regiment.

Comments
This is my favourite Reichsarmee unit. I used to visit Darmstadt regularly when meeting a friend and somehow thinking that many of the men would have been pulled off the streets of the old city left an impression. I also like the colours of the unit that seem much more 19th century from its pattern. These troops occasionally masquerade as Hessians serving along with the Anglo-Prussian forces and look very much like the Hessian Mansbach regiment. Unit painted in 2003.

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