More questions- Prussian reserves

[Basementboy]

Just a small discrepancy I’ve noticed in terms of Prussian reserve uniforms- some online sources say that the collar of the standard grey uniform would be coloured to indicate the region that the reserve came from, while the Osprey book I just purchased seems to say that this was only done by the landwehr and the reserves should have plain collars.
Any input on this? Thanks in advance!

[Jemima Fawr]

Just a small discrepancy I’ve noticed in terms of Prussian reserve uniforms- some online sources say that the collar of the standard grey uniform would be coloured to indicate the region that the reserve came from, while the Osprey book I just purchased seems to say that this was only done by the landwehr and the reserves should have plain collars.
Any input on this? Thanks in advance!

It varied by regiment.  Instead of a fully-coloured collar, those battalions wearing the light grey, dark grey or dark blue 'ersatz' (or 'slop') uniforms usually had a regionally-coloured patch at the front of each side of the collar, plus a hat-band in the same colour (if they were wearing caps, that is - some units had shakos).  Those battalions wearing 'foreign' uniforms just wore whatever was supplied.  Remember that each battalion in a Reserve Infantry Regiment could be wearing a completely different uniform or could have battalions from different regions.  By 1815 they had all become numbered line infantry regiments and many started to receive their new uniforms, producing a mix of uniforms within battalions (anecdotally grouping the new uniforms in the centre of the line).

I would THOROUGHLY recommend getting Stephen Summerfield's book on the subject before buying or painting figures!

Alternatively, if you have particular regiments in mind, I could look it up for you when I get home.

The Mont St Jean site shows the state of play in 1815 (Infantry Regiments 13 to 24 equate to the former Reserve Infantry Regiments 1 to 12):

https://centjours.mont-saint-jean.com/unitesPR.php#

[Jemima Fawr]

Aha!  I was hoping it was still available, but Robert Mantle's superb article on the subject is still available online.  There is a drop-down menu at the bottom, with links to uniforms, etc, including all the regimental and battalion variations:

https://www.napoleon-series.org/military-info/organization/c_resinf.html

[Basementboy]

It varied by regiment.  Instead of a fully-coloured collar, those battalions wearing the light grey, dark grey or dark blue 'ersatz' (or 'slop') uniforms usually had a regionally-coloured patch at the front of each side of the collar, plus a hat-band in the same colour (if they were wearing caps, that is - some units had shakos).  Those battalions wearing 'foreign' uniforms just wore whatever was supplied.

This is unbelievably useful! Thank you very much indeed! Have followed the link as well, this looks extremely helpful

[Jemima Fawr]

This is unbelievably useful! Thank you very much indeed! Have followed the link as well, this looks extremely helpful

You're most welcome!  Something I forgot to mention is that the 'cadre' (i.e. officers and some NCOs and musicians) usually wore the regulation uniform of the 'stamm' (parent) regiment, regardless of what the rank-and-file were wearing. 

Something else worth mentioning is that the Brandenburg Infantry Regiment of the Line (numbered 12 after the mid-1813 re-numbering) also wore a reservist-style 'ersatz' uniform in dark grey (with shako), with poppy red collar patches.  The cadre wore regulation uniforms with poppy red facings and shoulder-straps (red straps as it was actually the 2nd regiment from Brandenburg - the Leib Regiment being the 1st).

No Reserve Regiments carried flags and nor did the Brandenburg Regiment.

[Basementboy]

Well thank you once again! This is all super useful info. Looks like I have a lot of repainting to do

[Jemima Fawr]

Well thank you once again! This is all super useful info. Looks like I have a lot of repainting to do

The key word is 'usually'...   You've just painted the exceptions to the rule (which in any case, were more 'guidelines')...