Scanian War Swedes and Danes?

Conflict between the Swedes and their various neighbours between 1670s and 1721. Including topics on Danes, Saxons, Saxon-Polish, Russians and anyone else the boys in blue were mixing it with!
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Clibinarium
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Scanian War Swedes and Danes?

Post by Clibinarium » Wed Aug 02, 2017 10:17 pm

Hi all,

Wanted to ask people's opinion on Swedish uniforms during the Scanian war.
Before anyone gets excited this is not for Warfare Miniatures' purposes.

Anyway on the subject of equipment, matchlock armed men probably had cross belts and apostles. Flintlock armed men with cartridge boxes. Hoglund's book says during the war flintlocks replaced matchlocks.. However its not clear to me that cartridge boxes can't simply be worn in crossbelt arrangement, though they seem to go hand in hand with waistbelt worn swords; perhaps that's a bit like the pre and post 1700 tricorn distinction.

There are images of Danish foot which show crossbelts for some and waistbelts for others, and probably it reflects the matchlock being superseded. But it struck me that its hard to find any images for Swedish foot from the period. So any opinions on this issue, or any other aspect of infantry uniforms would be welcome in this thread.

Clibinarium
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Re: Scanian War Swedes and Danes?

Post by Dfogleman2 » Thu Aug 03, 2017 7:01 pm

Attached is a link to a PDF which includes a painting by Lemke of the Battle of Halmstad on 17 August 1676. In the foreground there are two Swedish musketeers in blue coats, which probably are from the Garde. The sword belt is over the right shoulder and another belt is over the left. This belt does not appear to be an apostles belt, but in neither figure can I see a cartridge box, because of the positions of the figures. The firearms appear to be flintlocks. I opened this in iBooks and the picture can be enlarged a great deal without losing resolution.

http://www.lansstyrelsen.se/halland/Sit ... llebro.pdf
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Re: Scanian War Swedes and Danes?

Post by TheRightfulKing2013 » Wed Jan 03, 2018 4:58 pm

My understanding is that the Danes abolished the pike between 1676-87. The flintlock replaced the Danish matchlocks during the Scanian War, but the Swedes didn't completely phase out the flintlock until around 1698, and kept the pike (officially at least) until around 1721. I suspect Danish grenadiers would have used flintlocks muskets as they were elite units. I dont believe Sweden had grenadiers (officially at least) during this war. Also I don't believe they used the bayonet (except for grenadiers) until the GNW. I read somewhere the melee weapon in the Carolean army in the late 1600s was the axe rather than the bayonet.

Picture of Danish marines in 1677 landing on Rugen here.

Hogglunds book does say the apostle belt was "beginning to become a thing of the past". In the Williamite War in Ireland, the Danish infantry had flintlocks and bayonets, not matchlocks and pikes.

In general the Finnish infantry wore blue coats with yellow cuffs. However grey coats were the most common for the Swedish armies as a whole, with various cuff colours. Also the Swedish infantry tended to have a fringe along the edge of the coat known as "kant" in the cuff colour. Examples (my source is Lars Eric Hogglund's book which I have bought):

Jonkoping regt (1678): Grey coat, red cuffs.
Halsinge regt (1675): Grey coat, green cuffs.
Vasterbotten regt (1679): Grey coat, white cuffs. But in 1676 it had been blue coat with yellow cuffs. In 1677 they wore a black hat.
Vastgotadals regt (1676): Grey coat, yellow cuffs. However in 1674 they wore brown coats with red facings.
Dalregiment (1679): Blue coat, yellow cuffs. White stockings. black hat. But in 1674 they were variously dressed in black, brown and grey. But in 1676 they had wore blue coats wuth red facings.
Skaraborg regiment (1676): Yellow coat - black cuffs. But in 1675 it had been blue coat with yellow cuffs. In 1678 it reverted to yellow coat with black cuffs and wore a black broad brimmed hat.
Kronoborg regiment (1676): Yellow coat - red cuffs. NCOs: Grey coat with yellow cuffs.
Marineregiment : Blue coat perhaps without cuffs. Officers: blue coats with red cuffs. Musician: Blue coat with decorations
Sodermanland regt (1675): Yellow coat, blue cuffs. But companies committed to fleet (1678)wore grey coats, and companies sent to garrison in Goteburg wore grey coats with blue cuffs. (1678)
Upplands regiment (1675): Red coat, yellow cuffs, black hat. NCOs wore grey coats.
Narke-Varmland regt (1675): Red coat, green cuffs. In 1676 was changed to red coats with white cuffs,, but the garrison of Eda wore grey coats with black karpus, grey coat and black facings (cuffs). In 1679 the uniform again changed to red coats with white facings, plus red breeches. The NCO uniform also changed. In 1675 it was grey coats with green facings, changed in 1679 to grey coats with white facings and grey breeches.

Artillery (1675): Grey coats and blue cuffs. Grey hats.

Apart from the marines, little is known of the Swedish officers uniforms except that for the "De Knollys Varvade regiment" there was an order for a reverse-coloured uniform, and that in some "Varvade" (I think meaning "enlisted") regiments theres evidence of sergeants dressing like musicians.

For Danish infantry, most infantry wore either blue or red coats. Princes regiments wore blue coats, some with red, yellow or white cuffs. The king and queens regiments both wore red coats with yellow cuffs. Grenadiers wore grey coats and red or sometimes blue cuffs. For headwear, some grenadiers wore caps in the facing colour (red or blue), while others wore broad brimmed hats. Some may have worne a cloak called a cassock over their coat, sometimes in the coat colour and with King Christian V's monogram on it (a C5 inside a laurel wreath).
turrabear
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Re: Scanian War Swedes and Danes?

Post by turrabear » Tue Feb 13, 2018 10:23 am

There was 3 articals on the battle of lund in miniature wargames in the 90,the articals cover uniforms ,equipment ,flags and orders of battle. Can,t remember the issue numbers of my head.
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Re: Scanian War Swedes and Danes?

Post by Glorfindel » Tue Feb 13, 2018 7:24 pm

>>There was 3 articals on the battle of lund in miniature wargames in the 90

By a strange coincidence, I have recently scanned these. MW issues 170 (Jul 97), 171 (Aug 97) & 180 (May 98).

Please PM me if you want a copy. Phil(hyphen)Carrington(at)virginmedia(dot)com


Phil
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