Updated 5 December 2002Confederation of the Rhine Home Page
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Site designed by Roly Hermans, Paraparaumu, New Zealand. |
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Resplendant in their colourful green uniforms with rose-pink facings, the Anhalt contingent formed the 2nd battalion of the 5th Confederation Regiment under Colonel Hoppe.
This
battalion was made up of contingents from the three small states of Anhalt-Dessau,
Anhalt-Bernberg and Anhalt-Köthen. Anhalt-Dessau had already earned
a name for itself militarily, having provided several noted generals in
the previous century during the wars of King Frederick the Great of Prussia.
The 5th Regiment served in Prussia (1807), the Tyrol (1809), Spain (1809-11), Russia (1812) and Danzig (1813). In 1813 Anhalt changed sides and joined the Allies in the war of liberation against Napoleon.
I
painted my Anhalt battalion with dark green tunics and grey breeches.
Collar and cuffs are rose-pink, while the leather equipment is black.
My grenadiers and voltiguers wear the standard French red or green epaulettes
and plumes.
The drummer is pure guesswork, as I do not have any information about the musicians of this battalion. I have painted him in reversed colours, with a pink coat and green facings.
The
flag is a modified version of an image on the Warflag
website, and can also be seen in Keith Over's book of Napoleonic flags.
It was presented in 1811 to replace an earlier 1807 version, and in real-life
the first flag measured only 80cm by 70cm (I have made mine much bigger
for ther sake of appearance). The arms of Anhalt are depicted on both
sides of the flag.
Now, I have to make an admission: I do not own this unit anymore! I prefer 28mm figures by Front Rank and Foundry, and the old 25mm Hotspur French infantry figures I used for this unit were just a bit small compared to the former. So I have now sold my Anhalters!
Main
sources:
www.grosser-generalstab.de/index.html
Funken, L. & F., Arms and Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars, Wardlock Ltd., London, 1973.
Haythornthwaite, P.J., The Napoleonic Source Book, Arms and Armour Press, London, 1995.
Over, K., Standards and Flags of the Napoleonic Wars, Bivouac Books, London, 1976.
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