No. 7 - Batthyányi Dragoons

Inhaber
1731 Carl Joseph Fürst Batthyányi, 1773 Kinsky

Unit History
The regiment was raised in 1631. It was the second oldest of the cavalry regiments and oldest of the Dragoons. In 1756, the unit was part of Piccolomini's corps in Böhmen and took part in skirmishes at Jassena and Reichenau. The grenadier company under Hptm. Graf Erdödy took part in the battle of Lobositz. In 1757 the regiment was heavily engaged; four companies fought at Reichenberg, then the regiment suffered heavily at Prague and Breslau before covering the retreat of the left wing at Leuthen. In 1758, the regiment was present at Hochkirch and the siege of Breslau. In 1760, the grenadiers skirmished at Kunzendorf and the entire regiment participated at Torgau. During 1761, the regiment assisted in cordoning off the Erzgebirge. At war's end, in 1762, the regiment skirmished at Teplitz and fought at Freiburg.
At Leuthen, it was part of the Nadasdy's corps that was swept away before the final assault on the town. The unit was often placed on the far right flank which was an indication of its status in the Austrian army. The regiment converted to Chevau-légers in 1775.

Comments
The squadron has never performed well on my gaming table. Unlike Frederick, I will not say anything about my ‘poor’ troops but place them out of harms way (can you say rearguard). The unit was originally a twenty-four man unit but I have reduced the squadron size to eight. The unit was originally painted in the late 1980’s.

Sources
Flag: Warflag at http://www.warflag.com/
Image: Knötel cards at http://www.grosser-generalstab.de
Text: Osprey’s The Austrian Army 1740-80 (1) Cavalry (Men-at-Arms 271)
Austrian regimental information at http://www.kuk-wehrmacht.de/regiment/index.html