The Bavarian army is the eternal second
Bavaria is a very specific part of Germany. The indigenous population of these lands are Celts, with whom the Germans who came here mixed. That is why the stereotypical Bavarian is a short, dark-haired man. They speak a dialect of German in Bavaria that is so different from the normal language that other Germans do not always understand the local Swabians or Franconians. Of course, if they do not switch to Hochdeutsch out of politeness. And another stereotype about Bavarians is their pugnacity! Of course, with such characteristics, they could not help but win the fame of good fighters...
Bavarian recruit musketeer, late 17th century
The Elector of Bavaria acquired a regular army at the same time as Saxony - in 1682. This is not a coincidence, it is just that in 1681 the next "Imperial Military Constitution" (Reichsheeresverfassung - the German language itself weapon mass destruction!) - a set of laws that served as the basis for the creation of the army of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. It described which of the imperial princes were obliged to supply how many fighters to the imperial army.
Well, where are the Turks here?
On October 12, 1682, the first recruits were accepted into military service at the field camp in Schwabing. They formed seven infantry regiments, two dragoon regiments and two cuirassiers, and some of the recruits were also sent to artillery Corps. The infantry was given light blue uniforms, the artillerymen and cuirassiers were given light grey uniforms, and the dragoons were given red or blue uniforms. Already in 1684, the Bavarian army received its baptism of fire during the siege of Belgrade by the Turks (as part of the War of the Holy League, during which Peter I took Azov).
Herr Hauptmann, how far is it to Blindheim?
The Bavarians were lucky near Belgrade - the victory was on the side of the Holy League, but soon the War of the Spanish Succession began, in which Bavaria "entered the wrong door" by betting on an alliance with France (in fact, France was the strongest of the European powers at that time, who knew that it would be so unlucky?). At first, luck was on the side of the French and their allies, but... On August 13, 1704, the Franco-Bavarian army and the army of the allied Austrians, Prussians, English and Dutch met near the village of Blindheim (Blenheim in English pronunciation). The allies were commanded by the well-known Eugene of Savoy and the Duke of Marlborough, the Bavarians and the French - by Elector Maximilian II Emmanuel and Marshal of France Camille d'Osten de la Baume, Duke de Tallard. The battle began at one o'clock in the afternoon, and by nine o'clock in the evening it was all over - the French marshal was captured, and the Bavarian Elector fled to the Netherlands. The Bavarian army practically ceased to exist (although small detachments fought here and there, it was no longer a decisive force), the principality itself was occupied by the Austrians.
Bavarian grenadiers are a determined people!
People sometimes learn from their own mistakes, but rarely draw conclusions from the mistakes of others. Elector Charles Albert clearly did not take into account the Pope's mistakes, because during another war of succession, this time the Austrian, he tried to achieve the imperial crown, but it ended... once again - with the occupation of Bavaria by the Austrians. Nevertheless, having lost his own principality, he received the crown, becoming an emperor in exile. Some even recognized him... The hapless emperor was helped by his friend, Frederick the Great: during the Second Silesian War, he defeated the Austrians, who were forced to leave Bavaria for Bohemia, and Charles Albert returned to Munich, from where he tried to intrigue, seeking a balance between Vienna and Paris, but died in 1745.
Bavarian hussar on the eve of the Seven Years' War
By the beginning of the Seven Years' War, the Bavarian army consisted of eight infantry, two dragoon, three cuirassier regiments and an artillery brigade. The infantry regiments consisted of two battalions of four fusiliers and one infantry company, as well as two four-pounder guns. According to the organization chart, the regiment was supposed to have 1800 men, but they almost never had the authorized strength. Maximilian III Joseph sent ten battalions to help the Austrians in accordance with Bavaria's military obligations.
In 1777, due to a dynastic collision, Bavaria united with the Palatinate, which led to the last "war of the old type" - for the Bavarian Succession, and the Bavarian army was replenished with eight more infantry regiments. However, the old type of wars was coming to an end: a revolution had occurred in France, and the professional, well-armed, well-trained and dressed in the latest fashion small armies of the German principalities became an atavism. The time of the "large battalions" had come...
The Rumfordhelm will remain the hallmark of the Bavarian army for a long time
On the eve of the great upheavals, a military reform was carried out in Bavaria. It is associated with the name of the Minister of War, Count Rumford. The Count was an extraordinary man: an American born in Massachusetts, he supported the loyalists during the war for independence, commanded the Royal American Dragoons and, after Washington's victory, went to live in London. There he made several inventions concerning the design of warships (he invented many things, including baking powder, a special fireplace design, a lime slaking furnace...), after which he moved to Bavaria. It is to Rumford that the Bavarian army owes its distinctive feature: a leather helmet with a horsehair caterpillar comb. However, under him, the color of the uniforms was changed from blue to white. Not for long...
Bavarian dragoon from the Napoleonic wars
In 1799, dissatisfied with Rumford's reforms, Elector Maximilian IV Joseph carried out his own reform. The number of line infantry regiments was reduced to ten, but they were fully staffed. Two Jaeger regiments were divided into four light infantry battalions, the white uniform was abolished, returning to light blue. The reforms were carried out according to the French model, and soon the Bavarian army became the most modern in Germany. And, yes, the Bavarians were the first to abolish corporal punishment! Conscription was introduced. Conscripts were divided into 1st, 2nd and 3rd classes. From the 1st, reserve battalions of line regiments were formed, from the second - territorial defense, from the third - the militia.
The Bavarians are on the attack...
In 1800, the Bavarians fought on the side of the Austrians in the War of the Second Coalition. They did so reluctantly: the Bavarians traditionally oriented themselves towards France. Therefore, in 1805, they fought on the side of Napoleon. The Ulm campaign brought victory to the French and the Bavarians, commanded by the Knight of the Legion of Honor, Lieutenant General Bernhard Erasmus von Deroy. Deroy liked the French, and he willingly fought with them. In 1806, the 1st Bavarian Division under his command besieged the Prussian fortress of Glogau, then participated in the siege of Brzeg - successful, and Kozle - unsuccessful. As part of Vandamme's corps, it participated in the storming and capture of Glatz. In 1809, it was the Bavarians who made the main contribution to the French victory at Wagram. In 1812, yodeling enthusiasts set out with the Grand Army to Russia...
Bavarians at the Battle of Polotsk
We must give credit to Deroy: despite all his love for Napoleon, he immediately understood that this would not end well. On June 22, 1812, he sent a letter to the former Elector and now King of Bavaria Maximilian Joseph, in which he admitted that he could not imagine how they would be able to survive in this enterprise. And he was right! And not only in terms of himself, but also of all his subordinates. Already in the first battle of Polotsk, the 30st Russian Corps of Peter Wittgenstein showed the Swabians that they would not have an easy walk through Russia. The Bavarians were well prepared, they carried out an exemplary attack on the village of Spas under fire from 155 guns, captured a Russian battery, but came under attack from the flank by Russian cavalry. At the very beginning of the battle, Deroy was wounded by a bullet in the stomach. Given the level of medical development at that time, such wounds were fatal... In addition to the general, 1807 officers and XNUMX soldiers were killed or wounded in the corps. However, many more Bavarians died from disease and food shortages.
Bavarian Cuirassiers. From Russia with Love
By October, Wittgenstein had received reinforcements and on October 18, he attacked the Bavarians. For two days, the positions of Saint-Cyr's corps (which included beer and white sausage lovers) were attacked by Russian troops. The Bavarians held out, but on October 19, reinforcements from General Steingel stormed Polotsk at midnight, and Saint-Cyr ordered an urgent retreat. The Russians captured 22 Bavarian battalion flags,
And then there was the Second Battle of Polotsk. After which, out of 25 thousand bayonets and sabres, only 6 thousand remained in the 4th Bavarian Corps. Since the French had already left Moscow, the Bavarians also decided not to linger in inhospitable Russia. True, the retreat was hungry and cold, on November 6, 1937 people reached the town of Dokshitsy in the Minsk province. Here the "corps" (it is impossible to write about this unit without quotation marks) received reinforcements - 3,5 thousand people. Now the number of Bavarians with Napoleon was almost 5 thousand!
During the retreat from Dokshitsy to Vileika, the "corps" was attacked by the Cossacks, who took away the convoy with the sick and wounded. In Vileika, the Bavarians were surrounded again, from December 4 to 6, the "corps" fought off Russian attacks, after which it broke through to Slobodka. A whole thousand fighters reached the town! On December 9-10, after resting a little, the Bavarians broke through to Vilnius. Successfully. Successfully? There were 1 people left in the 170st division, 150 in the second! On December 13, the Bavarian Corps gave up the ghost, the last 40 Bavarians were captured by the Russians - they were lucky, the rest did not return to Bavaria... Of the 33 thousand Bavarians who took part in the Russian campaign, no more than 4 thousand remained alive - those who were captured or spent time in hospitals.
Bavarian National Guard of 1814 - after all, someone has to make up for the losses?
At that moment, King Maximilian Joseph realized that he was left without an army. At all - with only one guard grenadier regiment. An urgent call-up was announced, and by the end of spring Bavaria had a new army. Well, as it was... Neither the king nor his generals had any doubts about the combat readiness of the new recruits. Therefore, the king immediately broke the alliance with France and just as hastily joined the anti-Napoleonic coalition. In general, after the end of Corsican, the allies at least left something of Bavaria. The Bavarians fought well against Napoleon: the defeat at Hanau was compensated for by victories at Arcis-sur-Aube and Bar-sur-Aube. 1814 regiments of line infantry, two battalions of rangers, seven regiments of light cavalry, one regiment of lancers, two regiments of hussars and a horse guard regiment took part in the campaign of 16. The "God of War" was represented by two regiments of foot artillery and a regiment of horse artillery.
Bavarian Jaeger and Carabinier, 1829
After the Napoleonic Wars, the Bavarian army was again subject to reform. The light cavalry regiment was divided into two cuirassier regiments, the hussars and lancers were disbanded, and one of the infantry regiments was reformed into two jaeger battalions. The Guard Grenadier Regiment became the Life Guard Infantry Regiment, the Garde du Corps became the 1st Cuirassier Regiment, and the former 1st Cuirassier Regiment became the 2nd.
Adventures of the Bavarians in France, 1870
The period between the Napoleonic Wars and the Austro-Prussian War was the most difficult for the Bavarian army: the Landtag cut expenses and reduced the military budget. However, at this point the Bavarians no longer dared to dream of fighting the Prussians on equal terms. During the Austro-Prussian War the Bavarians fought stubbornly, but retreated in all directions: not a single Bavarian general had experience in commanding even a division. But most importantly, the Bavarians, despite their notorious pugnacity, did not seek to fight. A war between Germans and Germans was not popular in society. After the war, the army was governed in an imperial manner.
Unlike the Prussians, the Pickelhaube made no impression on the Bavarians...
The "Mad King" Ludwig II was more interested in music and German fairy tales, but it was for the best - he appointed the experienced general Sigmund von Prankh as Minister of War, who carried out a major reorganization of the army. That the reorganization was carried out in the right direction was shown by the Franco-Prussian War. The Bavarian corps fought the French as part of the Third Army under the command of Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm. The Prussian Crown Prince...
But the unification of uniforms took its toll - the Bavarians wore pickelhaubes, albeit with their own lion instead of the Prussian eagle.
After the proclamation of the German Empire, Bavaria retained a large degree of autonomy. Including the Bavarian army. As part of Germany, the Bavarian troops retained their light blue uniform, helmets with horsehair crests, and other ethnographic features. And not for long: when the field uniform of the "feldgrau" color was introduced, the only distinguishing features of the Bavarians were the white-and-blue cockade and stripes on the collar. The most famous of the soldiers of the Bavarian army was Corporal Adolf Hitler: this Austrian did not want to serve with the Slavs in the army of the "Danube Monarchy" and submitted a petition to King Ludwig III to be accepted into his army. Ludwig supported the petition, and Adolf Aloisovich joined the 2nd Infantry Regiment - the Great War was beginning, and there were no extra soldiers in any participating country...
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