1866 Austrian Gun Teams

[Hertsblue]

Here is a sample of the brand new Austrian gun-team for 1866. This one's painted as horse-artillery. If you want yourshttp://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd448/Hertsblue/DSCN1029.jpg as foot artillery you will have to file the plumes off the shakos. -  although I did hear a rumour that Leon was going to do both variants.

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Superb work sir, do I detect the hand of Phil?

[Techno]

Might have been me......Who wants to know ? 
Like those lots Ray !!
Cheers - Phil.

[Steve J]

They do look impressive!

[nikharwood]

Nicely done Ray 

[fateeore]

Lovely paint job.

[mollinary]

Sorry to resurrect this thread guys, but where does this idea come from that the plume is a horse artillery only thing?   I cannot recall seeing it in any of my sources.


Mollinary

[fsn]

According to my "Fighting Troops of the Austro-Hungarian Army 1968-1914", by James Lucas, "the Horse Artillery was the only branch of the Artillery to wear the horse-hair plume on active service."

Trumpeters wore red, others black.

Does that help?

[fsn]

Sorry 1868, not 1968.

[Hertsblue]

Yes, that's where I got it too. I'm no relation to the author either.

Ray Lucas.

[mollinary]

Hmm vvvery interesting!     1868?  Many thanks, had not come across that before. I think I shall go scurrying to my Teuber and Ottenfeldt.

Mollinary

[mollinary]

Some of you may have seen the thread I started on this on TMP.  An interesting alternate variant has emerged, from Rudi the German, one which I confess I find more plausible.  A statement like "only the horse Artillery wore the shako with plume on campaign" does not appear to mean that only the HA wore the plume, but that only the HA wore the shako!  The FA wore the rather unflattering field cap. If this is indeed the meaning of the regulation, then no-one would wear a shako without a plume.  For foot artillery to wear the shako at all would be a breach of regulations,  something which is by no means impossible.   Hmm, will see if the thread turns up anything more.

Mollinary

[Hertsblue]

The actual wording of the quote from Lucas's book (which occurs in a caption to a drawing of horse artillery on the move) reads "The horse artillery was the only branch of the Artillery to wear the horse-hair plume on active service". Admittedly it is a secondary source, and there is no way of knowing what the original source was, but in no illustration of the various actions I've seen do the Austrian artillery wear anything but the kepi. 

[mollinary]

I hear you HB, but you know what the illustrations are like for this period!    Curiously I have been unable to find any illustrations, engravings, paintings or photographs which show Austrian artillerymen wearing anything other than the shako with plume. No field cap, no shako without plume.  Anyway, it merits further investigation, and I am going to try and get someone with a better grasp of German than me to translate the relevant section from Teuber and Ottenfeld.  In the meantime , let us keep looking for sources!  I am off to look out all the Czech booklets produced for the battle sites, and see if there is anything more there in the way of contemporary photographs.


Best,

Mollinary

[vitrier]

Part of the problem here may be that the Austrian gunners in 1866 who were much the favourite subjects for artists were the men of Hauptmann von der Gröben's  Kavallerie Batterie Nr.7 - the so-called "Battery of the Dead." As its name suggests, this was indeed a horse artillery unit. See http://www.erstes-garderegiment.de/Bilder/Bild%2014.htm for various representations of these unfortunates being overrun by the Prussian Guard at Chlum.

Vitrier