Horse No. 3B - Hodenburg

Inhaber
1742 Bülow, 1744 d'Acerre, 1745 Hardenburg, 1747 Breidenbach, 1748 Wintzer, 1756 Schlütter, 1757 Hodenburg

Unit History
The regiment was formed in 1645. It was known as the Cell'sches Reiterregiment and was the oldest regiment of the army. Had a reputation as a 'fated' unit as no fewer than three Inhabers were killed in action in the War of the Spanish Succession (Bülow, d'Acerre, and Hardenburg) . A later Inhaber, Schlütter, was killed in the opening actions of the Seven Years War. During the Seven Year War, the unit was present at Hastenbeck, Krefeld, Minden, and Wilhemstal.
At Hastenbeck, two squadrons were detached from the main army and were located near Afferde along with two squadrons from the Dachenhausen Dragoons. During the battle, the squadrons were posted in a defile between Afferde and Diedersen to cover the extreme left rear of the Hanoverian position. Ordered to counter attack the French in Obensburg, the brigade was wildly successful as the French, in their confusion, fired on their Swiss allies thinking they were advancing Hanoverians. The recapture of Obensburg was short-lived as the French cavalry soon arrived and the Hanoverian cavalry withdrew covering the retreat of the rest of Cumberland's force.
At Krefeld, June 1758, the regiment was located in the center along with the cavalry regiment Alt-Bremer (No. 2A) as part of the brigade under Lt.-Gen. Oberg.
At Minden, August 1759, the unit, along with the Grothaus Horse, was in Wangenheim's corps that contested the area around Totenhausen. The unit was in the second line and acted as a reserve.
At Wilhelmsthal, June 1762, the regiment fought as part of the cavalry corps which included the Garde du Corps, Alt-Bremer (No. 2A) and Veltheim Dragoons (No. 5C) regiments.
A regular unit disbanded in 1803.

Comments
Quite difficult to distinguish this unit from its sister regiment, 3A – Grothaus, as both have red facings and red flags. The only differences are the white buttons and white lace work compared to yellow buttons and lace. Unit painted in the fall of 2005.

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