Calpe Miniatures
25mm Napoleonic wargames figures, meticulously researched, finely sculpted

Prussian Line Uhlans

NB: Release date 1^st March 2006.

These figures are designed to represent the line Uhlans as they would have appeared on campaign. My primary reference for these figures is Peter Bunde's Brigade plate on the subject (plate no. 124). This remains the most reliable and readily available source of information on the Uhlans. Some of the other plates mentioned below are now very difficult to acquire. Other sources of information are the plates by both Richard and Herbert Knotel, the Brauer Uniformbogen plates, the LTR plates on the Prussian volunteer jaegers and the 'Sturm-Zigarettenbilder-album' cards.

The first thing I should point out is that the Uhlans have been sculpted wearing their dress coats, the Kollet, not the Litewka. Although the Litewka was issued, it is rare to see an illustration in which they wear this item of uniform. Peter Bunde finds a good explanation for this in his plate. He points out that they looked exactly like landwehr cavalry when they wore the Litewka. They thus avoided being confused for militia cavalry by wearing the Kollet even when on campaign.

The Kollet was Prussian blue with poppy red collar and cuffs. The cuffs came to a point and were adorned by a brass button just below the point. The turnbacks were the same blue as the jacket but were set off by a ribbon of poppy-red piping along the outer edge of the turnback. They also had a distinctive brass button at the 'join' of the turnback and one on the jacket beside the apex of the turnback and just below the sash. These are not shown on the Brigade plate (possibly the only omission) but they are shown clearly on the Knotel and Brauer plates. The distinctive Uhlan sash was the same colour as the jacket and was also piped, top and bottom, with the same red ribbon as on the turnbacks. There was a single centrally placed 'barrel' on the sash. It was also blue with red piping but with the pattern lines running vertically instead of horizontally as on the rest of the sash. The colour of the shoulder straps denoted the regiment � white/Westprusssian, red/Silesian, yellow/Brandenberg. No decorative cords were worn on either shako or Kollet when on campaign. Trumpeters had a line of gold piping along the upper edge of the cuff and the opening and lower edge of the collar. Their 'swallow nests' were red with gold piping. The trumpet cords were similarly coloured in red and gold.

On campaign the shako was always worn in its black oilskin cover and devoid of all ornamentation. The cavalry overalls were the usual grey with a thin strip of poppy red piping along the outer seam and black leather reinforcements along the inside and bottom of the leg. All leather equipment was black. There was no plate on the cartridge pouch with the exception of the officers who displayed a yellow metal 'Royal cipher' here. Officers also had yellow metal 'pickers and chains' on the front of their cartridge belts. Officers wore the appropriate rank epaulets not the men�s shoulder straps (see the brigade plates for further information). The sword hilt and scabbard were polished steel for all ranks and the sword knot was black for troopers and the usual silver for officers.

The shabraque was the Prussian light cavalry sheepskin with a red edging. The usual accoutrements were draped about the shabraque including the canteen in a grey cover the valise also in grey and the canvas forage bags.

The description I have given above is necessarily brief. For further information refer to Brigade plate no. 124.

Catching Points

The rubber moulds really do dislike the canteen on the left rear of the shabraque. Although I have tried several different solutions to this, the canteen continues to catch and to cause small tears in the mould. A certain amount of 'cleaning' of the casting may be necessary on the lower edge of the canteen.

Prussian Line Uhlans: Advancing

Below are pictures of PCU1 to PCU11. Note that figures are supplied unpainted and without lances. Horses are available separately. Perry Miniatures make excellent pikes that can be used as lances if cut down to a length of 5.5cm.

Prussian Line Uhlans: Charging

Below are pictures of PCU12, PCU13 and PCU19 to PCU23 (more to follow soon). Note that figures are supplied unpainted and without lances. Horses are available separately. Perry Miniatures make excellent pikes that can be used as lances if cut down to a length of 5.5cm.

Prussian Line Uhlans: Volunteer Jaegers

These figures caused me considerable research problems. Initially I was going to sculpt the jaegers wearing the uniform as shown in the Brigade plate with a litewka and no carbine. However, at about the time I was due to start sculpting the jaegers I managed to buy an original set of the Sturm Zigarettenbilder cards. While leafing through this new purchase I came across a card showing a Uhlan volunteer jaeger wearing not the Litweka but the Kollet and very clearly holding a carbine. It then struck me that a volunteer jaeger without a carbine is a contradiction in terms. I now also had to ascertain whether the volunteers did wear the kollet on campaign. This took a considerable while as information on these Uhlan volunteers is particularly scarce. Eventually the balance of evidence pointed to the kollet and confirmed that a carbine was carried. Like the regular Uhlans, the volunteers did have litewkas but did not wear them for similar reasons. Do not forget that the some landwehr cavalry regiments did have their own volunteer jaegers that would have looked identical to the Uhlan volunteers had these worn the litewka.

Points to note on these figures are the carbine I have already mentioned but also the scale epaulets. These are show in most of the reliable illustrations of these volunteers. The epaulets were more than decoration; as light cavalry the jaegers would have generally encountered enemy light cavalry carrying sabres. The sabre was a slashing weapon generally used in a downward action. The epaulets would have provided some protection to the upper body from these sabre slashes. The trumpeter is speculation as I have found no illustrations of a Uhlan volunteer jaeger trumpeter. The only evidence for the combination of scale epaulets with swallow�s nests comes form a picture showing a dragoon volunteer jaeger sporting this combination.

Please remember that all jaegers wore holly green coats. A customer recently sent me some pictures of beautifully painted Lieb Hussar jaegers in black Dolmans. All the figures in the pack below are in advancing poses. I decided this was best as these volunteers generally scouted or skirmished ahead of the regulars and would withdraw and reform behind the regiment they were attached to once the regulars went into action.