KINGDOM OF PRUSSIA

SAXON REGIMENTS IN PRUSSIAN SERVICE  •  1756-63

In the autumn of 1756 Frederic took Prussia into the Seven Years War by invading the Electorate of Saxony, an Austrian ally. The Saxon Army was quickly forced to capitulate and in a move that provoked widespread protest ten Saxon infantry regiments were forcibly incorporated into the Prussian Army. They received Prussian commanders, uniforms and colors, being styled as fusilier regiments ranked 50-59 in seniority. Their grenadier companies were detached to form five composite grenadier battalions, each four companies strong. As might have been expected the former Saxon regiments proved unreliable. Both battalions of the Herzog von Braunschweig-Bevern Fusilier Regiment (Nr. 57) mutinied in early 1757, most of their troops crossing the border into neutral Poland. The other regiments and battalions had a high desertion rate and by the end of 1757 all but three (two fusilier regiments, one grenadier battalion) had been disbanded.