BADEN AND HESSE INFANTRY AT THE CAMPAIGN OF LEIPZIG. 1813
 |
| The full 39th Division |
ACTUAL FORCES AND
STRENGHTS
The Baden and Hessian troops formed, respectively, the first and
second brigades of the Marchand's 39th Division.
They don't were present at the four main battles of the autumn campaign
(Kulm, Gross Beeren, Katzbach and Dennewitz) but they taken part in
the
final battle at Leipzig. The Hessian
Chevaux-Legers Regiment was brigaded with the
Westphalian Garde Chevauleger Regiment in the 29th Light cavalry Brigade
(attached to the Oudinot's XII Corps) and fought in
Gross-Beeren and Dennewitz. The
4th Regiment of Baden
Infantry fought in the Peninsular War, in the battle of Vitoria.
The strenghts of units have been estimated from the numbers given by Nafziger. Some rounding up and down was necessary to acomplish the
requeriments of Napoleon's Battles and, at last, I arrived to the following numbers
(items
between parenthesis are Napoleon's Battles figures):
BADEN
Line Infantry (1/,2/1st and 1/,2/3rd Regiments)
2,280 (20)
Foot batteries (5 6 lbs and 1 how.) 1 (Not necessary)
HESSE
Line Infantry (1/2/Fusilier Guards, 1/,2/2 Leib, 1/,2/Leibgarde)
2,900 (24)
Foot batteries (5 6 lbs and 1 how.) 1 (Not necessary)
UNIFORMS AND MINIATURES
There
are not specifically designed Baden nor Hesse 1813 figures, so it becomes
necessary to find similar ones amongst the existent. At that time, both
countries followed the French style for military uniforms, with black
shakos, so any post-1812 French infantry figure can be used.
1) The basic color of Baden Line Infantry was the blue.
They wore a blue short-tailed coat very similar to the Bardin 1812 French habit
with red turnbacks and red-piped shoulder straps,
white breeches and black under-knees gaiters with two white crossbelts. The regimental facings were shown
in collar and cuffs. The 1813 facings were, respectively, white
for the 1st and yellow for the 3rd Regiments.
2) The Baden Foot Artillery had a blue uniform similar to
Bavarian artillery with red turnbacks and black collar, cuffs and lapels,
black
Raupenhelm helmet with black plume.
3) The Hessian Line Infantry wore a blue short-tailed coat like the Bardin 1812 French habit
(although lapels were rounded) with red turnbacks and red-pipid
shoulder straps,
white breeches and black under-knees gaiters with two white (black for
the Fusilier Guards) crossbelts. The regimental facings were shown in
lapel, collar, cuffs and piping. The 1813 facings were,
respectively, scarlet for the Fusilier Guard, red for the Leibgarde and
light blue for the Leib Regiments. r
4) The Hessian Foot Artillery had a blue uniform similar to
French artillery with blue turnbacks and black (piped red) collar, cuffs
and lapels, black
shako with black plume.
The guns were from
Newline
Designs (and borrowed from other armies!) and the flags from
Warflag.
For the Hessian cavalry contingent, fighting with the Bertrand's IV
Corps, see at The rest page.
See a scheme of the uniforms, as seen in
HISTOFIG and
Preussische Militärgeschichte - Historischer Service sites, as well
as my painted miniatures
| UNIT | FIGURES | COLOR SCHEME | PICTURES | |
| Baden Line Infantry |
HAT 8042 or ITALERI 6066 |
 |
 |
|
| Baden Foot Artillery | HAT 8028 Bavarian Infantry |
 |
 |
 |
| Hesse Line Infantry |
HAT 8042 or ITALERI 6066 |
 |
 |
|
| Hesse Foot Artillery | ZVEZDA French Foot Artillery |
 |
 |
 |
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Napoleon at Leipzig
George Nafziger
The Emperor Press , Chicago, 1998