Horse - Grenadiers zu Pferd

Inhaber
1742 Breidenbach, 1747 Bock, 1756 Veltheim 1761 Wallmoden-Gimborn

Unit History
The regiment was formed in 1642. The unit amalgamated with the Garde du Corps in 1761 after acting primarily as the garrison force of the city of Hanover. It was engaged at Hastenbeck, Minden, Villinghausen and Wilhemsthal.
At Hastenbeck, the unit was part of the Cavalry right wing along with the Hammerstein Horse (2 squadrons), 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, trusting their firearms.
At Minden, August 1759, the single squadron formed, along with three squadrons of the Royal Horse Guards (The Blues), three squadrons of the 1st King's Dragoons Guards, and four squadrons of the Breidenbach Horse, a portion of the first line of cavalry commanded by Lord Sackville. Lord Sackville's deliberate inactivity kept the unit out of any serious action.
At Villinghausen, July 16, 1761, the regiment was part of the main cavalry corps which included both the 2nd Royal North British Dragoons and the Malachowski Hussars (No. 7). Later at Wilhelmsthal, June 1762, the regiment having amalgamated with the Garde du Corps, fought as part of the cavalry corps which included the Alt-Bremer (No. 2A), Hodenburg (No. 3B) and Veltheim Dragoons (No. 5C) regiments.
It performed as a regular unit. The Garde du Corps were disbanded in 1803.

Comments
Every army needs a unit like this – a parade ground unit that gets pulled into action. Actually, the reason that I have the unit is that when I purchased two of the Front Rank Allied Cavalry specials, I received enough to create one squadron of mounted grenadiers. Looking for a unit to paint, I stumbled across this one and smiled as now I had found the troops to match the capabilities of the Allied Cavalry commander – Lord Sackville, a political appointee. Unit painted in 2004.

Sources
Flag: Pengel & Hurt German States in the Seven Years War 1740 to 1762, Imperial Press
Text: Pengel & Hurt German States in the Seven Years War 1740 to 1762, Imperial Press J. Mollo, Uniforms of the Seven Years War 1756-63, Blandford Press, page 153.