Smith, D. The Prussian Army - to 1815

This book is a comprehensive study of the Prussian army from its inception in the first standing troops, raised as his personal guards by the Elector Johann Georg of Brandenburg in 1571, to the dramatic defeat of the Emperor Napoleon I at Waterloo in 1815. It was an army whose character and capabilities were formed by the Prussian kings Frederick William I and, crucially, by Frederick the Great. The history of each regiment is presented with details of the uniforms worn, down to the regimental lace decorations and the many grenadier cap plates, the various colonels in chief who owned the regiment and the battles and clashes in which each took part. Not only uniform and saddlery details are to be found here; there is also comprehensive information on the colours and standards carried by each regiment, and their fate if lost in battle. The book is copiously illustrated with over a hundred colour and black and white plates, the majority now published for the first time since they were first executed over two hundred years ago. Photographs of contemporary items have been included, many of them from the Military Museum in Rastatt, Germany. Only the best and most reliable German language sources have been used in putting this work together.