Prussian Army Soldiers and the Seven Years' War

The Psychology of Honour

Katrin Möbius, Sascha Möbius

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781350245075
• eBook ISBN: 9781350081598
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Early Modern History
• Index: History

The army of Frederick the Great of Prussia is generally known as an efficient fighting machine based on brutal and strict drill procedures that led to broken but fearless soldiers as well as glorious battle victories. In analysing the mentalities of the men who established Prussia's great power status, Prussian Army Soldiers and the Seven Years' War fundamentally challenges this interpretation. Drawing on a vast array of primary sources (including the writing of regimental chaplain Küster, who could probably be called the first modern military psychologist) and presenting the first English translation of 12 letters of common Prussian soldiers from the Seven Years' War, this book shows that the soldiers were feeling individuals. They were loving husbands, vulnerable little brothers, deeply religious preachers, and sometimes even bold adventurers. All these individuals, however, were united by one idea which made them fight efficiently: honour. In Prussian Army Soldiers and the Seven Years' War, the different elements of the Prussian soldiers' concept of such honour are expertly analysed. The result is a nuanced, sophisticated, and much-needed psychological history of Frederick the Great's army.

1

Drilling on the Job

About a Soldier’s Brain

This chapter contains three parts. The first one will deal with the basic features of the eighteenth-century Prussian army, and we will discuss its structures, social composition and general mentalities. The second will deal with linear tactics and early modern European combat in general, while the third analyses the Prussian army’s elementary tactics and training. A special focus will be on the psychological aspects of the new tactics developed in the years before the Seven Years’ War.

‘The men’: Origin, recruitment, beliefs and expectations for the future

The Prussian Reglement uses the German term Kerls for the ordinary soldiers. Unlike today, Kerl normally had no pejorative meaning in the first half of the eighteenth century. It could be used in a derogatory sense, but this had to be clarified by corresponding adjectives. Kerl encompassed meanings ranging from ‘man of peasant origin’ to ‘tough and manly guy’ and even ‘hero’.¹ Thus, a noble officer could not be called a Kerl, but for a private it was no insult but could actually stress his military ability, and his peasant or artisan origins. The term captures a good proportion of what the king wanted his soldiers to be and how they saw themselves: as humble, yet brave and honourable men. There is no real equivalent to the Early Modern German Kerl in modern English. ‘Man’ is the nearest.²

The organizational framework

Numbers and organization of troops

The Prussian army numbered 153,700 men at the beginning of the Seven Years’ War. It lost 180,000 altogether in the course of the conflict.³ Indeed, in some regiments, only around fifty soldiers survived the war.⁴ Taking into account that a standard-sized infantry regiment had a complement of just under 1,850 men, it was nearly impossible to make it through alive.

The basic types of soldiers in all European ancien régime armies were the infantry (foot soldiers), cavalry (mounted troops) and artillery (gunners). Infantry and cavalry were divided into organizational as well as tactical units. The basic organizational unit was a regiment comprising 1,832 infantrymen of all ranks or 984 cavalry in 1756.⁵ The men wore the same uniform and the owner⁶ of the regiment and its commanding officer⁷ were decisive for the handling and the working atmosphere of the regiment. The latter could vary to a high degree. While some units were ruled by fear and bullying, others were characterized by a humane treatment of the men. An infantry regiment consisted of ten companies of musketeers or fusiliers and two of grenadiers.⁸ The companies were the basic organizational units, commanded by captains, who were responsible for all organizational matters ranging from recruitment to uniforms and equipment. In combat situations, the structure changed. Every five musketeer / fusilier companies formed one battalion, which was the basic tactical unit of European infantry in the eighteenth century. The two grenadier companies of the regiment formed a battalion together with the grenadier companies of another regiment. Every battalion was broken down into eight, later⁹ ten platoons, which were the essential subdivisions of the battalion for moving and firing. The soldiers were organized in small units, known as ‘tent comradeships’. Men from these units used to eat, march and sleep together.¹⁰ The soldiers were assigned to the tent comradeships according to their place in the line of battle and were thus also fighting together.¹¹ Yet the letters indicate, that the soldiers’ social frame of reference was not the tent comradeship but either the other Kantonisten from his home village or other mercenaries from the same country or region as they themselves.¹² A standardized drill and training assured every soldier that any comrade next to him was a professional who had the same understanding of honour, and who would help survive. All of this was also true for the cavalry, the only difference being that its regiments consisted of ten companies, two of which formed a tactical unit, a squadron.¹³

Table 1.1 Organizational and tactical units of the Prussian army. Note that brigades, divisions and corps are not permanent institutions but grouped together for one campaign or even immediately prior to battle

Organizational unit	Tactical unit
Infantry	Infantry
Army	Army
	Corps (several divisions)
	Division (normally two brigades)
	Brigade (normally four battalions)
Regiment (12 companies = 10 musketeer and 2 grenadier companies)
	Battalion (8-10 platoons)^14
Company
	Platoon
Tent comradeship
Cavalry	Cavalry
Army	Army
	Division (normally two brigades)
	Brigade (normally 10 squadrons)
Regiment (10 companies)
	Squadron^15
Company
Tent comradeship

Different types of troops

Most Prussian soldiers were infantrymen. On the eve of the Seven Years’ War, the Prussian infantry amounted to 84,284 men in ninety-nine battalions.¹⁶ They had to march thousands of miles when on campaign, carry their own baggage and weapons and it was they who also bore the brunt of fighting and who suffered the most casualties. Unlike other European armies, the Prussian army granted the infantry th...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title Page
• Title Page
• Contents
• List of Illustrations and Table
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1 Drilling on the Job: About a Soldier’s Brain
• 2 Between ‘Emasculating Fear’ and ‘Heat’: Emotions and Psychology in Combat
• 3 The Components of Prussian Honour: What Made the Men Fight?
• 4 Summary
• Appendix I Sources: Regulations, military history and theory, journals
• Appendix II Twelve Prussian Soldiers’ Letters from the Seven Years’ War
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Index
• Copyright