Horse No. 2B - Hammerstein

Inhaber
1742 Hammerstein, 1760 Jungermann, 1761 Alt-Sprehgel

Unit History
The regiment was formed in 1648. The unit was present at Hastenbeck, Krefeld, Bergen, and Minden.
At Hastenbeck, the unit was part of the cavalry right wing along with the Grenadiers zu Pferde (1 squadron), Dachenhausen Dragoons (2 squadrons), and Prinz Wilhelm Horse (Hessian, 2 squadrons). The cavalry was not really tested in the battle. They were superbly mounted, but drilled in the old German style tactics that meant that they were steady, but slow. They would have charged at a trot and quite likely would have received an enemy charge at the halt placing their trust in their firearms.
At Krefeld, June 1758, the regiment was located in the left wing along with the cavalry regiments Grothaus (No. 3A), Dachenhausen Dragoons (No. 5C), Ruesch Hussars (No. 5), and Luckner Hussars as part of the brigade under Lt.-Gen. Spörcken.
At Bergen, April 1759, the regiment was part of the left brigade under Prinz Isenburg. The two squadrons, along with two squadrons of the Prinz Wilhelm Horse and Dachenhausen Dragoons, covered the flank of the attempted Hanoverian infantry advances into Bergen. Saw very little action other than the occasional skirmish.
At Minden, August 1759, the regiment was on the left flank under the command of the Duke of Holstein near Maulbeerkamp. Other cavalry units included the brigade were the Prinz Wilhelm Horse, Holstein Dragoons, and the Finckenstein Dragoons. Charged and helped pursue the retreating French troops once the French units had broken.
A regular unit disbanded in 1803.

Comments
This is one of my ‘Bergen’ units. The dark green lapels make the unit easy to distinguish from their sister regiment 2A – Alt-Bremer which has a much lighter green. As usual, the saddle work for the Hanoverian cavalry was a challenge. Unit painted in the fall of 2005.

Sources
Text & Flag: Pengel & Hurt, German States in the Seven Years War 1740 to 1762, Imperial Press

No comments: