Osprey Men-at-Arms 162 : Prussian Cavalry of the Napoleonic Wars (1) 1792-1807

When Frederick II (later known as Frederick the Great) came to the throne in 1740, he had three advantages for which he owed thanks to his father, the three tools he was to use to fashion his small, poor, central European principality into a great power: a modern, well-organised state; full coffers; and a properly trained and equipped army. At Hohenfriedberg in 1745 the famous charge of the Ansbach-Bayreuth Dragoons smashed the Austrian army, taking hundreds of prisoners along with a forest of colours and a wealth of other trophies. Under a leader as renowned as Seydlitz, the Prussian cavalry achieved the nearest to a state of perfection that it was ever going to. So great was its reputation in the Seven Years' War that Napoleon made a special point of warning his men at the beginning of the 1806 campaign to beware of the Prussian cavalry. Peter Hofschröer profiles the organisation, uniform and equipment of the Prussian cavalry which fought in the Napoleonic Wars, accompanied by numerous illustrations including eight full page colour plates by Bryan Fosten.

Contents

• Introduction
• Organisation
• Tactics
• The Prussian Cavalry in 1806
• Cavalry in Action 1806
• Uniforms and Equipment
• The Plates