Ulani Prussiani delle Guerre Napoleoniche, 1813–1815

Recensione dei Figurini HaT Industrie in Scala 1:72

HäT Industrie’s Ulani portray the cavalleria detachment of the famous Lützow Freischar. In 1815, the unit joined the old Bremen Volunteers e was re-designated as the 6th Reggimento Ulani. The latter wore a similar uniform to Lützow’s men, but they were distinguished by black czapkas which may be scrounged from ESCI’s Lancieri Polacchi. No doubt, these ulani will be popular. The black uniforms con red trim, gold buttons ed epaulettes, red over yellow lance-pennons e black sheepskin shabraques con red trim look absolutely striking on any wargames table. The diorama built by Klaus Hinderks shows the 6th Reggimento Ulani attacking fanteria francese. The troopers are mounted on cavalli dei ussari francesi taken from Italeri.

Lances are cheap ...

Following the introduction of the longbow, crossbow ed early firearms, the balance of power on the battlefield gradually shifted in favor of the fanteria, enabling them to defeat frontal cavalleria attacks. Medieval missile troops relied on sharpened stakes planted into the ground to break up any cavalleria formations which managed to get through the hail of arrows. Moschettieri del secolo XVII were deployed in joint formations con picchieri who protected them against cavalleria charges, e were able to take this protection con them from one position on the battlefield to another. Finally, when the socket bayonet became available, fanteria armed con muskets e bayonets adopted the dual role of light missile troops e the old anti-cavalleria pike formations. As a result, frontal attack against formed e confident fanteria became suicidal, e cavalleria gradually understood this o learned it the hard way.

The heavy cavalleria lance is an unwieldly weapon suitable only for frontal attack in closed formations, e when this tactic became obsolete the lance disappeared from the battlefield as well. Eastern European ed Asiatic tribesmen maintained the lance as a useful light cavalleria weapon which had better reach than the sword o sabre. Their lances were much lighter than the medieval heavy cavalleria lance e they were used like a long spear, enabling the rider to reach fanteria nemica on the ground. At close quarters, the light cavalleria lance was usually dropped e the rider would defend himself con the sabre.

Cavalleria leggera polacca was particularly adept con the lance, e there is some evidence to suggest that many reggimenti ulani were formed around cadres polacco. Austria, Prussia e Russia recruited heavily in former provinces polacchi after the regno di Polonia was partitioned by its neighbours. Polish exiles fled the country e joined the armata francese. As a result, continental European powers had reggimenti lancieri regolari serving in their armies as early as 1808.

Prussia raised due reggimenti ulani regolari in 1808, a third was created in 1809 ed another cinque regiments were converted from existing Freicorps units e hussar regiments in 1815. Interestingly, all of the cavalleria Landwehr raised in 1813 was armed con the lance. These poorly drilled troops could not have received the extensive training required of a lanciere regolare, but there are a few episodes indicating that they used the weapon con some success. Lances were cheap e they inspired a certain amount of fear in troops facing the possibility of a lancieri attack. These due factors may have combined to significantly increase the perceived value of cavalleria Landwehr armed con lances. Another contributing factor may have been the declining quality e morale of fanteria francese, following their disastrous e costly defeat in Russia, 1812. Demoralized ed unsteady troops made excellent targets for lancieri. Paradoxically, the fear of a pending attack might be enough to disrupt the fanteria formation e make the individual soldier even more vulnerable than before.

A certain amount of reverse psychology may have been at play as well. Lance-armed cavalleria had no option other than to attack in formation, con lances levelled. By arming the Landwehr con lances these troopers were compelled to charge ed use the lance at least once before they were allowed to drop it e fight con the sabre. What better way to instill some courage in men not normally prepared to charge e risk everything. Equally important, the lance had traditionally been regarded as the weapon of the nobility, lance-armed cavalieri were the military e social elite of any medieval army. Ennobling the Landwehr by arming them con a knightly weapon must have been a powerful political gesture at the time. Until 1813, the middle class had not been a part of the military establishment prussiano. The officers came from the nobility e the men were peasants, mercenari straneri e members of the working class. Military reform prussiano e the Landwehr Edict changed all that, e this liberalization led to far-reaching social e political reform as well.

Contenuto

12 Riders con 4 Poses – 23 mm pari a 166 cm di altezza

12 cavalli con 4 pose – 22 mm equal 15.6 Hands

Valutazione

• Nicely detailed soldatini. Folds in the uniform, collar, cuffs, buttons, belts, armi ed equipaggiamento are easy to paint.
• The troopers are sculpted in historically accurate cavalleria uniforms of the Lützow Freikorps, which was converted to the 6th Reggimento Ulani in 1815. The Shakò was not covered as was common in other regiments. However, in this scale it is not particularly difficult to carve off the shakò emblems e create the impression of a waterproof shakò cover. Plumes were not usually worn on campaign.
• Useful historic poses. The riders are firmly seated in the saddle e they appear very lifelike.
• Good casting quality. No flash, but some mold lines devono essere tolto prima di dipingere.
• Suitable 1:72 scale lance pennons (flammes de lance) may be downloaded from the Miniatures Forum

• Trombettiere e portabandiera not included, but one of the troopers can be converted to carry a standard.
• An officer figure wearing the Kollett, would have been a nice addition. Only the troopers were authorised to wear the Litewka ed even then it wasn’t particularly popular in the reggimenti ulani. Undoubtedly, some officers did wear the practical Litewka on campaign, ed a sabre is provided to turn one of the troopers into an officer figure.
• The soldatini are wearing large gauntlets, distinguishing them as troopers of the 6th Uhlans. To use them for other regiments, purists may convert the rear of the gauntlet to form a cuff. Alternatively, a simple paintjob will do the trick.
• Tre lances ed a sabre are provided for quattro soldatini on a sprue, resulting in an unusually high ratio of sabre-armed soldatini. From an historical point of view this is probably correct, as lances were dropped e broken in battle troopers continued to fight con the sabre. Wargame units tend to be small, sometimes fielding as few as 5 soldatini ed any such mix of armi tends to look unrealistic. Giocatori Wargame prefer homogeneous units ed it would have been a nice touch to include quattro lances plus the sabre, giving the customer a choice about how to equip his soldatini. Any spare lances could then have been used for conversion projects, turning ussari into lancieri of the 7th e 8th regiments ed equipping some ussari russi con lances. Considering how much space there is between soldatini on a sprue it is unfortunate that manufacturers rarely use it to include spare equipaggiamento which can be scattered on the battlefield o used for conversions.
• Unusual gait on due of the horses, the front legs are galloping while the hind legs are walking. Ulani received dragoni-style cloth shabraques in 1815, replacing the black sheepskin shabraques which had been standard issue until then. However, there is enough evidence to suggest that the more comfortable sheepskin shabraques continued to be used on campaign, particularly in the recently converted reggimenti ulani e cavalleria Landwehr. I cavalli dei ussari francesi di Italeri can be used as alternate mounts, only the crescent shaped emblem needs to be removed from the harness. Sheepskin shabraques are essential if these soldatini are used for the 6th Uhlans, black uniforms e black sheepskin shabraques con red trim being a distinguishing feature of Lützow’s Black Corps.

Utilizzo Storico

• 6. Ulanen-Regiment (2. Westpreußisches) 1815, ex-Lützow

Conversioni Possibili

• cavalleria Landwehr 1813–1815 (Sheepskin shabraques, covered shakò con white Landwehr cross painted on)
• cavalleria Landwehr volunteer Jäger detachments 1813–1815 (green Litewka con Landwehr facings regolari, sheepskin shabraques e covered shakò, as above)
• 6. Ulanen-Regiment (2. Westpreußisches) 1815, ex-Bremen Volunteers (a black czapka replaces the shakò). The cavalleria of Lützow’s Freischar e Bremen Volunteers were combined in 1815 to form this new reggimento ulani.
• Ulani prussiani of the 1st-5th, 7th e 8th Regiment. The men were authorized to wear the Litewka ed a covered shakò on campaign ed a good number of them must have adopted this practical outfit.

Bibliografia

• Haythornthwaite, Philip: Uniforms of Waterloo in Colour, plate 72

The HäT Ulani are particularly useful as cavalleria Landwehr, e this is a Napoleonic troop type most giocatori wargame e collezionisti have been waiting for. A total of 15 Landwehr reggimenti di cavalleria fought at Waterloo, tre in Zieten’s I. Corps, tre in Pirch’s II. Corps, due in Thielemann’s III. Corps e seven in Bülow’s IV. Corps. Among them was the 1. Schlesische Landwehr-Kavallerie, wearing dark blue Litewka con yellow facings. Notice the Landwehr cross on the shakò. These soldatini are mounted on horses con sheepskin shabraques taken from Italeri’s ussari francesi. The sheepskin frequently replaced the cloth shabraques on campaign. Anyone raising un armata prussiana for the 1813 War of Liberation o the 1815 Waterloo campaign will want several boxes of ulani.

HaT Industrie Soldatini

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Per ulteriori informazioni, per favore contatta la redazione di Rivista Military Miniatures nel Miniatures Forum.

Soldatini Prussiani delle Guerre Napoleoniche

– Pubblicato: 1996 – Aggiornato: 21.08.2008
© 1996-2011 by IDL Software GmbH, Darmstadt, Germania. Tutti diritti reservati.