Color scheme of Prussian spontoons, drumsticks, etc?

[Bandit]

I can find some data on the coloration of Prussian staves but not the spontoons NCOs carried. In the Russian army drummer’s drumsticks and NCO’s spontoons matched the stave color.

Anyone know how it worked in the Prussian army?

I’m looking for early war initially but will want to know about the changes throughout the period eventually…

Help is appreciated.

Cheers,

The Bandit

[General Slade]

I don’t know anything definitive on this but Digby Smith’s ‘Encyclopedia of Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars’ shows an officer in 1806 with a spontoon with a natural wood haft.  The accompanying text mentions that by this time spontoons were only carried on parade and were not used on the battlefield. Similarly, Jouineau’s illustrations in the Hourtoulle’s ‘Jena-Auerstadt:The Triumph of the Eagle’, shows a Prussian musketeer officer and a grenadier NCO each with natural wood spontoons.  There is also an illustration of a musketeer drummer using black drumsticks.

 

[Jonathan Gingerich]

Well Kling is indeed in fraktur and from what I can tell, probably isn’t useful, so it’s on a back burner right now. (Where is Steve Smith when you need him?)   But I did look at Bleckwenn Die friderizianischen Uniformen and in a half dozen illustrations of pole arms they all consistently match the flag staff of the SYW regiment.

[Bandit]

Thanks! All the Napoleonic stuff I find has them as bare wood but it makes more sense to me that they’d still be following the SYW method… rolling with that until I find something definitively different. Thanks again.

Cheers,

The Bandit

[Jonathan Gingerich]

Here is what Oliver Schmidt had to say on the subject:

For the Prussian army’s woodwork, I had  a quick look into Kling, here what he writes: drum sticks: I found nothing about them NCOs’ “Kurzgewehr”: 1726: brown, this was cancelled in 1743, after that a lot of colors, by 1806: all black with a few exceptions (more details: Kling, p. 175 – Hans-Karl Weiß has got this book and can tell you more) officers’ “Sponton”: for most regiments probably black in 1806, Garde (No. 15) yellow or yellowish, Renouard (No. 3) probably light brown.

—

Let me note the Russians were going to black woodwork (although presumably only for new regiments) around 1806.  I’ll see if my Kling is the same as the one Oli is talking about and check page 175 when I have a chance…

J.

[Mick Sayce]

The only note I can find is in R. Mantle’s ‘Prussian Reserve Infantry 1813-15’ published by the Napoleonic Association waaaay back in the 1970’s. On p.17 he says that sticks were black and the black fifes were carried in a red case.

Blog at : http://thewordsofsubedai.blogspot.co.uk/

[Bandit]

Thanks to both of you!

Cheers,

The Bandit

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