Mecklenburg troops in Russia, 1719-1725

In April of 1719 the remains of the Duke Carl Leopold's army left Mecklenburg (read more about them here: link) & marched to Russia, where they entered Russian service & were garrisoned in Ukraine. These troops were called "Mecklenburg Corps". On 25 April of 1719 it numbered 1.819 men (129 officers, 198 NCOs, 1492 other ranks). It consisted of 3 mounted & 3 foot regiments:
- Leibregiment zu Pferde, disb. by 07/1719
- Obrist Lilienstreng Dragouner
- Mecklenburg Dragouner (ex-Vietinghoff), by 08/1721 vacant, in 1725 - Gen. Major v. Vietinghoff
- Gen. Major v. Flohren Infanterie, 08/1721 Obrist Ferdinand von Zülow, 
- Brig. Philipp Detloff von Kahlden Infanterie, by 10/1719 reduced to 2 coys & combined with remains of Zulow Infanterie Battalion
- Obrist Kraft Infanterie, since 07/1719 vacant (under command of Obrist-Lieut. v. Schack)    
Source: Егоров В.И. Мекленбургский корпус в 1719 г. О составе и наименованиях полков (link)

Мекленбургский корпус в 1719-25 гг. 

В дополнение к ранее приведенным сведениям о мекленбургских войсках и их судьбе в 1719 г. (см подробнее: ссылка) необходимо также упомянуть о материале В.И. Егорова "Мекленбургский корпус в 1719 г. О составе и наименованиях полков" (ссылка). Собственно краткий пересказ приведен в англоязычной части поста, а детали табелей вы сами можете посмотреть по ссылке. 

Hanoverian invasion in Mecklenburg. Action at Walsmuhlen on 5-6 March of 1719

Map of Walsmuhlen area & actions on the 5-6 of March, 1719
(1) - Mecklenburg troops pushed Wendt Dragoon from Parum
(2) - Tilly Foot attacked & destroyed de Lauer Foot at Walsmuhlen
(3) - Wendt Dragoons attacked Leibregiment zu Pferd at the crossing of Sude
(4) - Hanoverin cavalry under Bulow attacked Mecklenburg line at Walsmuhlen

Now is a next part about the campaign in Mecklenburg in 1719 (link). The location of the Mecklenburg troops in the end of February of 1719 was the following:

• Leibregiment zu Pferde took posts at Hannover frontier
• Russian foot regiments Tilly & Valinsky were at Crivitz & Hagenaw
• Domitz – 2 coys of Kahlden & Landmiliz battalion Buggenhagen
• To the north from Domitz - Zulow Foot (4 coys), Lilienstreng Dragoons & field artillery under overst Vick
• Schwerin - 3 coys of Kahlden
• Butzow - Landmiliz battalion Kohlans (4 coys)
• Rostock - Flohr & Kraft Foot (each of 10 coys) & Vietinghoff Dragoons.

Hanoverians under General of cavalry Cuno Josua von Bulow (link) crossed Elba on 25 of February on the ice. On 3rd of March they came to Hagenaw & then turned north to cut Mecklenburg troops in the western part of Mecklenburg from Schwerin fortress. On 5^th of March de Lauer Foot took Walsmuhlen on the right bank of the river Sude between Wittenburg & Schwerin. Wendt Dragoons were at Parum on the road between Wittenburg & Walsmuhlen. A company of captain Schulenburg from Belling Foot took a bridge at Rodemuhlen to the south from Walsmuhlen. Bulow’s head-quarter was at Gammelin. Schlutter & St. Laurent Cavalry were between Wittenburg & Rodemuhlen.

Meanwhile Mecklenburg general-major Curt Christoph von Schwerin gathered his troops at Wittenburg (Tilly & Valinsky Foot, Buggenhagen Landmiliz, 2 coys of Kahlden, Leibregiment zu Pferde, Lilienstreng Dragoons). He got an order from Hertzog Carl Leopold not to open the fire & show the resistance only in a case of a direct Hanoverian attack. In the evening of 5th of March Schwerin decided to march to Schwerin. Soon Mecklenburg troops arrived in Parum, where Wendt Dragoons stayed. The most of the regiment escaped but some officers were captured. Schwerin soon ordered to release them. He wrote in his relation that he could easily destroy & capture the whole Wendt’s regiment, but he had the order from his duke to avoid any hostilities with Hanoverians.

List of Hanoverian losses at Walsmuhlen
(source: Sichart's Geschichte... B. 2)

Then Mecklenburg troops continued its night march to Walsmuhlen. The Tilly’s regiment (Russian Jaroslaw Foot) was in vanguard. When it came to Walsmuhlen, it realized that the bridge was broken & de Lauer Foot took positions on the other bank of Sude river. Schwerin wrote that Hanoverians first opened the fire & killed one NCO & 4 soldiers of Tilly’s regiment. He decided to attack the enemy to open the road to Schwerin fortress. Russian grenadiers crossed the river on the ice under cover of two regimental pieces. Their attack was successful, de Lauer regiment lost about 120 men (incl. colonel, lieutenant-colonel & major – see details at the left) & 2 colours. Its remnants retreated to Rodemuhlen. Russians lost one captain & 25 other ranks killed. Number of wounded is unknown. But later 15 wounded soldiers died.

Mecklenburg troops quickly repaired the bridge & started the crossing. First was infantry, then Leibregiment zu Pferde, then a train. Lilienstreng Dragoon covered the march. When Leibregiment crossed the bridge, it was attacked by Wendt Dragoons. Colonel Welling company suffered the most, some troopers were captured. Schwerin himself led the counter-attack & repelled Hanoverians.

Meanwhile Bulow with 4 squadrons (Schlutter & St. Laurent Cavalry) marched to Rodemuhlen, where he met Wendt Dragoons. Then they crossed Sude river & marched north to Walsmuhlen. By that moment Mecklenburg troops had completed the crossing & took positions in the field to S-E from Walsmuhlen. Hanoverian attack was repelled by Valinsky Foot’s fire. It shoot 5 valleys, incl. 2 of case-shot. Two Valinsky’s regimental pieces also made 10 shots. Then Hanoverian cavalry had a charge with Lilienstreng Dragoon & Leibregiment & heavily suffered them. Bulow decided not to repeat an attack of Mecklenburg infantry & retreated to the south. Mecklenburg troops continued their march to Schwerin & arrived there the same day.   

Hanoverian losses in the actions at Walsmuhlen were about 220-230 killed & wounded & 2 colours. Mecklenburg troops lost about 100 men, half of them were Russians. Evidently there were also some minor skirmishes in Sude river area, because losses of Hanoverian Bulow Cavalry & Belling Foot & Mecklenburg Zulow Foot are mentioned, but they didn’t participate in the actions at Walsmuhlen.

P.S. Many thanks to Oleg Sholin for his assistance in the preparation of the post. 

Бой при Вальсмухлене, 22 февраля/6 марта 1719

Продолжу о кампании в Мекленбурге в феврале-марте 1719 г. (ссылка) В конце февраля дислокация мекленбуржских войск была следующая:

• Вдаль ганноверской границы посты занял Leibregiment zu Pferde

Hannover's Reichs Execution Corps in Mecklenburg, February-March 1719

I mentioned in the previous post that Reichshofrat's verdict about re-establishment in Mecklenburg was issued in October of 1717. The right of execution was given to the two old garants of Low Saxon Circle, Brunswick-Calenberg (Hannover) & Brunswick-Wolthenbuttel. That time there were about 30,000 of Russian soldiers in Pomerania, so nobody insisted on the implementation of the Reich's verdict. In winter of 1718-19 Russian troops left Pomerania & Poland, & it was a very bad news for Carl Leopold of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Brunswick-Calenberg & Brunswick-Wolthenbuttel immediately raised a so-called "Reichs-Execution-Corps" of 7,000 of foot & 2,000 of cavalry with 6 cannons. The commander was Brunswick-Calenberg's General der Cavallerie Cuno Josua von Bulow.

Mecklenburg army in March 1719

Carl Leopold of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

In March of 1719 Mecklenburg was involved in a short military conflict with Hannover. I found a couple of interesting materials about it, & will place them here in the blog. I will start from a list of Mecklenburg troops.

Carl Leopold of Mecklenburg-Schwerin succeeded his brother Frederick William in 1713. He tried to establish absolutism in his dukedom, but it resulted in a conflict with local estates. Duke repressed them by force & even executed some of the leaders of resistance. His opponents asked Emperor to protect their rights & imperial legislation. In October of 1717 Reichshofrat (Court Council of the Holy Roman Empire) issued a verdict that the Duke would submit to all imperial decrees, return property confiscated from the nobles, re-established old rights of the estates & cancel new taxes. The right of execution was given to the Hannover & Brunswick-Wolthenbuttel.

Carl Leopold disagreed with the court decision hoping on Russian support & his own military forces. By the beginning of 1719 Mecklenburg army consisted of 3 Mecklenburg cavalry regiments (15 coys), 4 Mecklenburg foot regiments (6 batts), 2 Russian foot regiments on Mecklenburg service (4 batts) & 2 battalions of Land-Miliz.

The story with Russian regiments is very interesting. Duke Carl Leopold was married in 1716 to Catherine, a niece of the Peter the Great. Next year Russian Tzar agreed to provide 3,000 of Russian soldiers in Mecklenburg army to support his new relative in the internal conflict with local estates. They were Viatskiy & Yaroslavskiy Foot regiments. That time Russian foot regiments were of 8 fusilier coys only, their grenadier coys since 1708 were detached to form converged grenadier regiments. Grenadiers of Viatskiy & Yaroslavskiy regiments were in Campenhausen Grenadiers, which was in Baltic provinces in 1717. So, two grenadier companies were taken from Lacy Grenadiers which was in Pomerania that time. Finally Viatskiy & Yaroslavskiy regiments entered Mecklenburg service in April 1717 of one grenadier & 8 fusilier coys each (ab. 1,500 each). Russian officers were mostly from gentry. That time they kept lifelong military service to the Tzar. But when they entered Mecklenburg service, they realized that they could easily get retirement & officially return home in their estates. So, many Russian officers asked Karl Leopold to retire in 1717-19 & were replaced by German officers.  

Mecklenburg army, March 1719.

Troops & uniforms (from Hall R. Mecklenburg’s Military from 1650 to 1719. CD-room. 2003. P. 26-27).

Mecklenburg infantry uniforms, 1717-19
(From Hall R. Mecklenburg's Military from 1650 to 1719. 2003)

Generals: general-majors Curt Christoph von Schwerin & Detloff von Flohr, brigadiers Philipp Detloff von Kahlden & Waldow.

Cavalry:

·        Leibregiment zu Pferde under Brig. Waldow [1702/01], 5 companies, 400 men. Uniform: blue with blue facings.