The Politics of Military Recruitment in Eighteenth-Century Germany

English Historical Review

Volumn 117, Issue 472, 2002, Pages 536-568

  Wilson, Peter H ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF SUNDERLAND   (United Kingdom)

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EID: 70949103623     PISSN: 00138266     EISSN: 14774534     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/ehr/117.472.536     Document Type: Article

References (124)

1. P. H. Wilson, ‘The German ‘‘soldier trade’’ of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries: a reassessment’, International History Review, XIX (1996), 757–92.
2. Anon, List- und Lustige Begebenheiten derer Herren Officiers auf Werbungen (1741; reprint Osnabrück, 1971). For an interesting attempt to explain the king’s mania, see K. R. & K. Spillmann, ‘Friedrich Wilhelm I und die preussische Armee. Versuch einer psychohistorischen Deutung’, Historische Zeitschrift, CCXLVI (1988), 549–89. Height requirements in eighteenth-century Prussia are surveyed by W. Hanne, ‘Anmerkungen zur Körpergröße des altpreußischen Soldaten’, Zeitschrift für Heereskunde, CCCLIV (1991), 43–6. There are two recent studies of the giant grenadier regiment: K. Zeisler, Die ‘Langen Kerls’. Geschichte des Leib und Garderegiments Friedrich Wilhelm I (Frankfurt/Berlin, 1993), and V. Schobeß and E. Hohenstein, Die Potsdamer Wachtparade. Von den Langen Kerls des Soldatenkönigs zur Fußgarde Friedrichs des Großen (Potsdam, 1997).
3. U. Bräker, The life story and real adventures of the poor man of Toggenburg (trans. D. Bowman, Edinburgh, 1970). For a detailed and informative discussion of Bräker’s recruitment, service and subsequent desertion, see H. Eckert, ‘Ulrich Bräkers Soldatenzeit und die preußische Werbung in Schaffhausen’, Schaffhauser Beiträge zur vaterländischen Geschichte, LIII (1976), 122–90.
4. H. H. Gerth and C. Wright-Mills (ed.), From Max Weber. Essays in sociology (London, 1948); M. Mann, Sources of social power (2 vols, Cambridge, 1986–93).
5. J. E. Thomson, Mercenaries, Pirates and Sovereigns. State-building and extraterritorial violence in early modern Europe (Princeton, 1994); J. Burkhardt, ‘Die Friedlosigkeit der Frühen Neuzeit. Grundlegung einer Theorie der Bellizität Europas’, Zeitschrift für Historische Forschung, XXIV (1997), 509–74.
6. As argued by C. Küther, Räuber und Gauner in Deutschland (2nd. edn, Göttingen, 1987) and Menschen auf der Strasse. Vagierende Unterschichten in Bayern, Franken und Schwaben in der zweiten Hälfte des 18. Jahrhunderts (Göttingen, 1983). For further discussion see P. H. Wilson, Absolutism in central Europe (London, 2000), pp. 99–105.
7. The constitution of the old Reich and its place in international relations is analysed by P. H. Wilson, The Holy Roman Empire 1495–1806 (Basingstoke, 1999); H. Neuhaus, Das Reich in der Frühen Neuzeit (Munich, 1997); K. O. Frhr. v. Aretin, Das alte Reich 1648–1806 (3 vols, Stuttgart, 1993–7); H. Duchhardt, Altes Reich und europäische Staatenwelt 1648–1806 (Munich, 1990). For the Kreise see W. Dotzauer, Die deutschen Reichskreise in der Verfassung des alten Reiches und ihr Eigenleben (1500–1806) (Darmstadt, 1989).
8. More detail in P. H. Wilson, ‘Warfare in the old regime 1648–1789’, in European warfare 1453–1815, J. Black (ed.), (Basingstoke, 1999), pp. 69–95 esp. p. 80, and P. H. Wilson, German armies: war and German politics 1648–1806 (London, 1998) which also includes further references to the older regimental and army histories used for the data on the territorial forces in this article.
9. 2
10. W. Fann, ‘Peacetime attrition in the army of Frederick William I 1713–1740’, Central European History, XI (1978), 323–34. The data is incomplete as figures for 1716 are missing, but this affects wastage and recruitment equally. For a reappraisal of desertion see M. Sikora, Disziplin und Desertion. Strukturprobleme mlitärischer Organisation im 18. Jahrhundert (Berlin, 1996). For wartime losses see G. Roloff, ‘Der Menschenverbrauch in den Hauptschlachten der letzten Jahrhunderte’, Preußische Jahrbücher, LXXII (1893), 105–51; J. Luh, Ancien régime warfare and the military revolution – a study (Groningen, 2000), pp. 48–65; B. Z. Urlanis, Bilanz der Kriege. Die Menschenverluste Europeas vom 17. Jahrhundert bis zu Gegenwart (Berlin, 1965; 1st Moscow, 1960). Württemberg muster returns show annual peacetime losses of 9.3 to 14.3 per cent across 1717–33: Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart (hereafter HSAS), A5 Bü.72; A6 Bü.27, 28, 68, 69. Captain Walter calculated that the army needed to replace 10 per cent of its manpower each year and it seems safe to accept this estimate as applicable to the smaller territories in general: HSAS, A30a Bü.106 Dec. 1766.
11. Less than 1 per cent of the forces of the imperial city of Frankfurt were born outside the Reich: I. Kracauer, ‘Das Militärwesen der Reichsstadt Frankfurt am Main im 18. Jahrhundert’, Archiv für Frankfurts Geschichte und Kunst, 3rd series, XXII (1920), 1–180 at 27–30.
12. Wilson, German armies, pp. 229, 238; M. Hochedlinger, ‘Rekrutierung – Militarisierung – Modernisierung. Militär und ländliche Gesellschaft in der Habsburgermonarchie im Zeitalter des Aufgeklärten Absolutismus’, in Militär und ländliche Gesellschaft in der Frühen Neuzeit, S. Kroll and K. Krüger (ed.), (Hamburg, 2000), pp. 327–75 at 344. The latter article provides a good guide to the methods and scale of Habsburg recruitment and references to the older literature.
13. Details in C. Jany, Geschichte der preußischen Armee vom 15. Jahrhundert bis 1914 (4 vols, Osnabrück, 1967; 1st Berlin, 1928–9); R. Frhr. v. Schroetter, ‘Die Ergänzung des preußischen Heeres unter dem ersten Könige’, Forschungen zur Brandenburgischen und Preußischen Geschichte, XXIII (1910), 31–145; W. R. Fann, ‘Foreigners in the Prussian army 1713–1756’, Central European History, XXIII (1990), 76–85. For Prussian conscription and its impact see O. Büsch, Military system and social life in old regime Prussia 1713–1807 (Atlantic Highlands, 1997; 1st Berlin, 1962), and P. H. Wilson, ‘Social militarisation in eighteenth century Germany’, German History, 18 (2000), 1–39 and the sources cited there.
14. M. Winter, ‘Preußisches Kantonsystem und städtische Gesellschaft’, in Leben und Arbeiten auf märkischem Sand, R. Pröve and B. Kölling (ed.), (Bielefeld, 1999), pp. 243–65 at 262–5; Bauern, Bürger und Soldaten. Quellen zur Sozialisation des Militärsystems im preußischen Westfalen 1713–1803, J. Kloosterhuis (ed.), (2 vols, Münster, 1992), I 227.
15. Jany, Preußische Armee, II 240; III 186. According to Büsch, Military System, p. 61, 3–400,000 foreign soldiers settled in Prussia over the eighteenth century, which would indicate an annual average of at least 3,000. This appears too high when related to the other evidence.
16. Between 1765 and 1790 a total of 118,909 men were recruited for the infantry and another 3,294 for the cavalry: J. Zimmermann, Militärverwaltung und Heeresaufbringung in Österreich bis 1806 (Munich, 1983), p. 106.
17. In Nov. 1724, for instance, Emperor Charles VI approached the Upper Rhenish territories for 1,725 men to bring the garrison of his Italian possessions up to strength, while another request for a further 4,114 infantry was made to the Reich as a whole in Nov. 1729: Staatsarchiv Darmstadt (hereafter StAD), E8 B 10/26 5 Nov. 1724; E8 B 10/29 9 Nov. 1729.
18. Jany, Preußische Armee, III 5–6, 55–7, 185–7. The 1787 rules are printed in E. v. Frauenholz, Das Heerwesen in der Zeit des Absolutismus (Munich, 1940), pp. 301–8. For the company economy, see F. Redlich, The German military enterprizer and his workforce (2 vols, Wiesbaden, 1964–5), II.
19. Jany, Preußische Armee, II 435–8; W. O. Shanahan, Prussian military reforms 1786–1813 (New York, 1945), pp. 56–8.
20. Recruitment methods are detailed in W. Schüssler, ‘Das Werbewesen in der Reichsstadt Heilbronn, vornehmlich im 18. Jahrhundert’, (PhD, Tübingen, 1951). There are scattered references to the role of women in HSAS, A202 Bü.2299. See also n. 23 below. For civil debauching see C. Simon, ‘Labour relations at manufactures in the eighteenth century’, International Review of Social History, supplement II (1994), 115–44 at 142.
21. F. Schwarz, ‘Werbung, Organisation, Sold und Ausrüstung des ‘‘Militär Contingents der Kay. F. R. Stadt Cöln’’’, Jahrbuch des Kölnischen Geschichtsvereins, XLIX (1978), 259–76 at 259.
22. K. Rübel, ‘Kriegs- und Werbewesen in Dortmund in der ersten Hälfte des 18. Jahrhunderts’, Beiträge zur Geschichte Dortmunds und der Grafschaft Mark, VII (1896), 106–58; From material in HSAS, it is clear that the Prussians were active in at least fourteen of the thirty-seven Swabian imperial cities: Heilbronn, Esslingen, Ulm, Rottweil, Weil der Stadt, Reutlingen, Schwäbisch-Hall, Schwäbisch-Gmünd, Nördlingen, Lindau, Isny, Kempten, Augsburg, Biberach. They also made use of the Swiss town of Schaffhausen to recruit in southwest Germany and it is no coincidence that the party that enlisted Ulrich Bräker there subsequently went to Rottweil: see n. 3 above.
23. HSAS, C14 Bü.597: the wife of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen Kammerdirektor Kolb was accused of maintaining an illegal Prussian recruiting post at Haigerloch in 1738. It is clear from even a cursory look at the surviving correspondence of Frederick William I that requests for recruits dominated his contacts with the lesser German princely houses: Geheimes Staatsarchiv der Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz in Berlin-Dahlem (hereafter GStA PK), I HA Rep. 96. For Prussian recruiting in Franconia see B. Sicken, ‘Die preußische Werbung in Franken’, in Friedrich der Große, Franken und das Reich, H. Duchhardt (ed.), (Cologne/Vienna, 1986), pp. 121–56. There is a detailed study for activities in Switzerland that indicates the significance of the Prussian enclave of Neuchâtel: R. Gugger, Preußische Werbungen in der Eidgenossenschaft im 18. Jahrhundert (Berlin, 1997).
24. H. v. Glümer, ‘Preußische Werber in Essen im 18. Jahrhundert’, Beiträge zur Geschichte von Stadt und Stift Essen, XXXII (1910), 177–91; K. Hüsgen, ‘Die militärische Vertretung des Stiftes Essen durch Brandenburg-Preußen im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert’, ibid, XXX (1909), 1–92; W. Grevel, ‘Die Militärorganisation im Stift Essen’, ibid, VII (1884), 1–50; W. v. Schultz, Die preußischen Werbungen unter Friedrich Wilhelm I und Friedrich dem Großen bis zum Beginn des Siebenjährigen Krieges, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung Mecklenburg-Schwerins (Schwerin, 1887).
25. E. Lukinich, ‘Preußische Werbung in Ungarn 1722–1740’, Ungarische Jahrbucher, VI (1927), 20–38.
26. For example, the Kreis contingent of the Swabian Hohenzollerns in 1741 consisted largely of men born in the lands of neighbouring counties, imperial cities and the estates of the Swabian imperial knights: HSAS, C14 Bü.338.
27. Examples include Sachsen-Meiningen, Hohenlohe-Öhringen, the Teutonic Order and Mecklenburg, which though more populous, also tried to raise a disproportionately large army in the early eighteenth century: for more detail see Wilson, German armies.
28. M. Nell, Die Landsknechte. Entstehung der ersten deutschen Infanterie (Berlin, 1914), p. 242; Vollständige, historische und kritisch bearbeitete Sammlung der württembergischen Gesetze, A. L. Reyscher (ed.), (29 vols, Stuttgart and Tübingen, 1828–51), XIX 11.
29. Württembergische Gesetze, Reyscher (ed.), XIX 17; Politische Correspondenz der Stadt Strassburg, H. Virck et al (ed.), (4 vols, Strasbourg and Heidelberg, 1882–1933), I nos. 532, 540, 568, 573, 576; II no. 359.
30. Reichsabscheid 1541 Art. 68–9, printed in Neue und vollständige Sammlung der Reichsabschiede, J. J. Schmauss and H. C. v. Senckenberg (ed.), (4 vols, Frankfurt, 1747; reprint Osnabrück, 1967), II 339–40. For Vergardung see H.A. Schmidt, ‘Landsknechtswesen und Kriegführung in Niedersachsen 1538–1545’, Niedersächsisches Jahrbuch, VI (1929), 167–223, and R. Baumann, Landsknechte (Munich, 1994), pp. 131–45.
31. For example, Württemberg issued fifty-six decrees between 1514 and 1784: HSAS, A6 Bü.55 3 Jan. 1724; Württembergische Gesetze, Reyscher (ed.), XIX. For other examples, see Corpus juris militaris des Heiligen Römischen Reiches . . . J. C. Lünig (ed.), (Leipzig, 1723; reprint Osnabrück, 1968), pp. 746, 882, 1073–4.
32. Reichsabschied 1570 Art. 4–16, printed in Reichsabschiede, Schmauss and Senckenberg (ed.), III 286–314. For the context, see M. Lanzinner, ‘Friedenssicherung und Zentralisierung der Reichsgewalt. Ein Reformversuch auf dem Reichstag zu Speyer 1570’, Zeitschrift für Historische Forschung, XII (1985), 287–310; A. P. Luttenberger, Kurfürsten, Kaiser und Reich. Politische Führung und Friedenssicherung unter Ferdinand I. und Maximilian II (Mainz, 1994).
33. Reichsabschiede 1576, 1582, 1594, 1654; Wahlkapitulation 1658. Relevant extracts printed in Corpus juris militaris, Lünig (ed.), pp. 337–53, 381, 384. See Reichsabschiede, Schmauss and Senckenberg (ed.), for the full texts. The first formal connection between desertion and foreign recruiters in a Württemberg decree dates from 1622. Twenty-three of the fifty-six decrees were issued between 1689 and 1737.
34. HSAS, C14 Bü.586 7 Dec. 1789. Württemberg seems to have accepted Sweden’s request and allowed recruitment to go ahead. On Sweden’s relationship with the Reich, see K. R. Böhme, ‘Die Krone Schweden als Reichsstand 1648 bis 1720’, in Europas Mitte, H. Duchhardt (ed.), (Bonn, 1988), pp. 33–9; W. Buchholz, ‘Schwedisch-Pommern als Territorium des deutschen Reiches 1648–1806’, Zeitschrift für neuere Rechtsgeschichte, XII (1990), 14–33.
35. See for example the Swabian Kreis decree of 1695, printed in Corpus juris militaris, Lünig (ed.), pp. 534–5. See also HSAS, C14 Bü.586a 20 July 1742.
36. HSAS, C14 Bü.586a.
37. Schüssler, ‘Werbewesen’, pp. 48–50.
38. For example, Hessen-Darmstadt followed Mainz’s example in Aug. 1790 and banned Austrian recruitment after the death of Joseph II: StAD, E8 B 12/23.
39. The draft 1673 Reichsexekutionsordung is printed in Corpus juris militaris, Lünig (ed.), pp. 131–4. For the context see B. Wunder, ‘Die Erneuerung der Reichsexekutionsordnung und die Kreisassoziationen 1654–1674’, Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins, CXXXIX (1991), 494–502.
40. Reichsabschied 1603 Art. 12, printed in Reichsabschiede, Schmauss and Senckenberg (ed.), III 498–520.
41. D. Götschmann, ‘Das Jus Armorum. Ausformung und politische Bedeutung der reichsständischen Militärhoheit bis zu ihrer definitiven Anerkennung im Westfälischen Frieden’, Blätter für Deutsche Landesgeschichte, 129 (1993), 257–76; J. J. Moser, Von der Landeshoheit in Militärsachen (Neues teutsches Staatsrecht, vol.xvi/iii; Frankfurt and Leipzig, 1773; reprint Osnabrück, 1967).
42. K. Müller, ‘Zur Reichskriegserklärung im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert’, Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte, GA, XC (1973), 246–59; C. Kampmann, ‘Reichstag und Reichskriegserklärung im Zeitalter Ludwigs XIV’, Historisches Jahrbuch, CXIII (1993), 41–59.
43. K. S. Baron v. Galéra, Vom Reich zum Rheinbund (Neustadt/Aisch, 1961), p. 108.
44. Spanish activity helped prompt the Emigration Patent of 1768. On the Spanish colony, see P. J. Hauben, ‘The first decade of an agrarian experiment in Bourbon Spain. The ‘‘new town’’ of Sierra Morena and Andalusia 1766–75’, Agricultural History, XXXIX (1965), 34–40, and the reports of the Austrian ambassador printed in Berichte der diplomatischen Vertreter des Wiener Hofes aus Spanien in der Regierungszeit Karsl III. (1759–1788) H. Jüretschke (ed.), (14 vols, Madrid, 1970–87), IV 22–9, 146–7, 234–9. For the tricks of the colonial subcontractors see P. Kapff, ‘Schwaben in Amerika seit der Entdeckung des Weltteils’, Württembergische Neujahrsblätter, X (1893) [article takes up the entire issue]. Swabia refused permission to Sachsen-Hildburghausen recruiting for the Spanish army in 1768.
45. Küther, Räuber und Gauner, pp. 124–5; E. Schubert, Arme Leute, Bettler und Gauner in Franken des 18. Jahrhunderts (2nd ed., Neustadt and Aisch, 1990), pp. 138–50.
46. E. Städtler, Die Ansbach-Bayreuther Truppen im amerikanischen Unabhängigkeitskrieg 1777–1783 (Nuremberg, 1956), pp. 30–1. Further examples in F. Mürmann, ‘Das Militärwesen des ehemaligen Hochstiftes Paderborn’, Westfälische Zeitschrift, XCV (1939), 3–78 at 35–6; S. Kroll, ‘Kursächsisches Militär und ländliche Randgruppen im 18. Jahrhundert’, in Militär und ländliche Gesellschaft, Kroll and Krüger (ed.), pp. 275–95; B. Sicken, ‘Die Streitkräfte des Hochstifts Würzburg gegen Ende des Ancien Régime’, Zeitschrift für Bayerische Landesgeschichte, XLVII (1984), 691–744 at 728–9, and his ‘Müßiggänger und liederliche Burschen. Beobachtungen zur militärischen Aushebung ländlicher Außenseiter im Hochstift Würzburg Mitte des 18. Jahrhunderts’, in Geschichte und Geschichtsbewußtsein, P. Leidinger and D. Metzler (ed.), (Münster, 1990), pp. 269–307. The practice was not restricted to German armed forces: S. R. Conway, ‘The recruitment of criminals into the British army’, Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research, LVIII (1985), 46–58; N. Rogers, ‘Vagrancy, impressment and the regulation of labour in eighteenth-century Britain’, Slavery and Abolition, XV (1994), 102–13.
47. HSAS, A6 Bü.63 22 June 1734. Other examples in Stetten-Buchenbach, ‘Rekrutenwerbungen in reichsritterschaftlichem Gebiet im 18. Jahrhundert’, Beiheft zum Militärwochenblatt, (1903), 451–66; G. Benecke, Society and politics in Germany 1500–1750 (London, 1974), p. 136.
48. StAD, E8 B 11/1 11 Mar. 1734. Three poachers were also handed over from Gießen prison in Jan. 1747: E8 B 11/7.
49. For example, Hessen-Darmstadt demanded the return of two of its subjects arrested by Mainz for illegally cutting wood and handed over to Austrian recruiting officers in 1773: StAD, E8 B 12/5.
50. 2 in 1700 with a population that rose from 340,000 to 610,000.
51. Strengths calculated from HSAS, A8 Bü.51, 54, 391; A30a Bü.57–59, 61, 63, 66, 67, 119. For Württemberg generally, see J. A. Vann, The making of a state. Württemberg 1593–1793 (Ithaca and London, 1984).
52. A. F. Büsching, Erdbeschreibung (9 vols, 9th ed., Hamburg, 1789–90) VII 387. The population of the bishopric numbered only 10,800 in mid-century: E. Meissner, ‘Die süddeutschen Reichsstände im Siebenjährigen Krieg’, Ellwanger Jahrbuch, XXIII (1971), 117–58.
53. For example, Schwäbisch-Hall burghers were permitted to enter its service without automatic loss of citizenship: K. Ulshöfer, ‘Bürgerrechte und Bürgerpflichten in der Reichsstadt Hall’, Der Haalquell, XXVIII (1976), 1–3.
54. HSAS, Bü.2299 covering 1715–54.
55. See J. A. Vann, The Swabian Kreis. Institutional growth in the Holy Roman Empire 1648–1715 (Brussels, 1975); R. Gebauer, Die Außenpolitik der schwäbischen Reichskreises vor Ausbruch des Spanischen Erbfolgekrieges (1697–1702) (Marburg, 1969); R. Graf v. Neipperg, Kaiser und schwäbischer Kreis (1714–1733) (Stuttgart, 1991); M. Fimpel, Reichsjustiz und Territorialstaat. Württemberg als Kommissar von Kaiser und Reich im schwäbischen Kreis (1648–1806) (Tübingen, 1999); H. Gerspacher, Die badische Politik im Siebenjährigen Krieg (Heidelberg, 1934).
56. W. Scherb, Die politischen Beziehungen der Grafschaft Mömpelgard zu Württemberg von 1723 bis zur Französischen Revolution (Tübingen, 1981); B. Wunder, Frankreich, Württemberg und der schwäbische Kreis während der Auseinandersetzungen über die Reunionen (1679–97) (Stuttgart, 1971); D. Münch, ‘Die Beziehungen zwischen Württemberg und Österreich bzw dem Kaiser 1713–1740’, (PhD, Innsbrück, 1961).
57. Austrian and imperial requests accounted for 211 out of a total of 614 made to Heilbronn between 1700 and 1800: Schüssler, ‘Werbewesen’, appendix. See also HSAS, A6 Bü.55.
58. HSAS, A5 Bü.56, 62, 65; A202 Bü.2282. Württemberg had supplied 4,554 auxiliaries to Venice in 1687–9: R. v. Andler, ‘Die württembergischen Regimenter in Griechenland, 1687–89’, Württembergische Vierteljahrshefte für Landesgeschichte, NF XXXI (1922–24), 217–79. Another 500 men were recruited for the German Inf. Regt. Rehbinder in the Savoyard army in 1711.
59. HSAS, A6 Bü.55 16 Jan. 1733. The duke continued to permit recruitment for his own Austrian regiment and those commanded by his relations: A6 Bü.50, 52. Duke Carl Alexander was colonel of a foot regiment between 1703 and 1737, while the reigning duke commanded a dragoon regiment between 1713 and 1806. Junior princes were colonels of another foot regiment between 1715 and 1734.
60. HSAS, A202 Bü.1157, 1358. P.H. Wilson, War, state and society in Württemberg, 1677–1793 (Cambridge, 1995), pp. 172–5, 183, 190–5; Wilson, German armies, p. 229.
61. Tornaco had served Württemberg since 1733 and had been a witness to Carl Alexander’s will. He was subsequently made a Habsburg lieutenant general and commandant of Rheinfelden. He was the negotiator of the 1745 cartel with Swabia: HSAS, A30a Bd.7 fol.348b for his career. For Charles VI’s reasons for choosing him as plenipotentiary, see his letter of 15 May 1740 in A202 Bü.1161. For his intercession in the Freiburg case see v. Kolb, ‘Feldprediger in Altwürttemberg’, Blätter für württembergische Kirchengeschichte, IX (1905), 70–85, 97–124 at 106.
62. HSAS, A202 Bü.1161, 2255; C14 Bü.307, 586a; Wilson, German armies, pp. 234–41.
63. Stetten-Buchenbach, ‘Rekrutenwerbung’, pp. 452–4. Johann Abraham David Augé (1698–1784) was an important figure in the Württemberg army, became a key advisor to Duke Carl Eugen and rose to the rank of Generalfeldzeugmeister: HSAS, A30a Bd.6 fol.22; Seubert, ‘Ein württembergischer General des vorigen Jahrhunderts’, Württembergische Vierteljahrshefte für Landesgeschichte, I (1878), 150–2.
64. HSAS, A202 Bü.1206, 1996; E. Boepple, Friedrich des Großen Verhältnis zu Württemberg (Munich, 1915).
65. HSAS, A5 Bü.64; A6 Bü.54, 55; A202 Bü.2226. For Württemberg internal politics at this point, see Wilson, War, state and society, pp. 125–62; L. T. Frhr. v. Spittler, ‘Herzog Eberhard und Wilhelmine von Grävenitz’, in Sämmtliche Werke (ed. K. Wächter, 15 vols, Stuttgart and Tübingen, 1827–37), XII 318–50. Examples of giant recruits as diplomatic presents can be found in F. L. Carsten, ‘British diplomacy and the giant grenadiers of Frederick William I’, in his Essays in German history (London, 1985), pp. 171–6; B. Diestelkamp, Rechtsfälle aus dem Alten Reich. Denkwürdige Prozesse vor dem Reichskammergericht (Munich, 1995), pp. 264–70.
66. GStA PK, I HA Rep. 11 Nr.305 Fasz.92; HSAS, A6 Bü.54, 63; A202 Bü.2226. Friedrich Wilhem von Grävenitz was made a Prussian major general.
67. HSAS, A202 Bü.2296 esp. 10 Sept. 1737; C14 Bü.597 esp. 23 Feb. 1737; Württembergische Gesetze, Reyscher (ed.), XIX nos. 380, 393, 396, 401, p. 601.
68. H. Schnee, Die Hoffinanz und der moderne Staat (6 vols, Berlin, 1953–67), IV 128–9. The most recent biography of Süss is H. G. Haasis, Joseph Süß Oppenheimer, genannt Jud Süß (Hamburg, 1998).
69. HSAS, A202 Bü.2278 31 Oct. 1737; Bü.2296 10 Sept. 1737; Bü.2299 20 Sept. 1739; C14 Bü.597.
70. Swabia also had responsibility for garrisoning the imperial fortress of Philippsburg which Bavaria used to maintain communications with France; P. C. Hartmann, Karl Albrecht, Karl VII. Glücklicher Kurfürst, unglücklicher Kaiser (Regensburg, 1985). Papers relating to the Kreis mobilization are in HSAS, A202 Bü.2274.
71. HSAS, A202 Bü.1206, 1208, 2112–14, 2254; Wilson, War, state and society, pp. 195–8.
72. HSAS, A202, Bü.1207, 1210, 2299; C14 Bü.68, 69, 597. For Prussia’ complaints and the arrest of its officer, see also GStA PK, I HA Rep. 11 Nr.305 Fazs.149. For other arrested Prussians see HSAS, A32 Bde 1–37 (under the rubric Arrestkosten), and A202 Bü.2299 Nov. 1748. At least six NCOs were held between 1752 and 1754, along with Lt. zu Puttlitz who was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment, including the first year at his own expense: A202 Bü.2299 18 June 1753, 13 Feb. 1754. Five of the NCOs were subsequently released after Frederick the Great’s personal intercession.
73. HSAS, C14 Bü.586. It is significant that Württemberg continued to refuse Austrian requests: A202 Bü.1161 30 Dec. 1743, 4 Feb. 1744.
74. HSAS, A202 Bü.2298; C14 Bü.586. Dutch recruitment and hire of auxiliaries is covered by Wilson, German armies, pp. 237–60. Baden-Durlach continued to recruit for the German regiments in Sardinian service until 1767: F. Schülin, ‘Die Werbeplätze für fremde Heeren in der Grenzecke des Markgräflerlandes in der 2. Hälfte des 18. Jahrhunderts’, Das Markgräflerland, NF IV (1973), 196–201.
75. HSAS, A202 Bü.1161; Bü.2248 5 May 1746.
76. HSAS, A202 Bü.2230, 2237, 2239; StAD, E8 B 107/118 27 Nov. 1718. For the confiscation of deserters’ property see also E8 B 108/2 concerning the 214 native soldiers who deserted from the Hessen-Darmstadt army 1718–36. For Bavaria, see K. Staudinger, Geschichte des kurbayerischen Heeres (5 vols, Munich, 1901–9), III 245–6; for Prussia see Winter, ‘Preußisches Kantonsystem’, pp. 251–5.
77. HSAS, A202 Bü.2237. The impact of Wittelsbach imperial rule is explored in Wilson, German armies, pp. 247–60.
78. HSAS, A202 Bü.2237 31 Aug. 1764. See also ibid Bü.2238.
79. HSAS, A202 Bü.2300; C14 Bü.586. Hans Adolf von Spitznas (1699–1758) entered Württemberg service in 1723 and rose to Generalfeldmarschallleutnant and commander of the auxiliary corps with the Austrians in 1757: HSAS, A30a Bd.6 fol.264; Bd.7 fol.324; Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, XXXV (1893), 223–4.
80. For the French alliance, see HSAS, A202 Bü.2218 and Wilson, War, state and society, pp. 203–7. Austria wanted the Swabians to look for men who had fled its new militia system, but Württemberg refused on the technicality that militiamen were not covered by the terms of the 1745 cartel: C14 Bü.68.
81. HSAS, A202 Bü.2298; C14 Bü.587 both covering French recruiting in 1758. This appears to be the only occasion when France recruited in Swabia, though the Kreis did permit the transit of Bavarian recruits intended for one of its German regiments in the 1770s.
82. HSAS, C14 Bü.68, 586, 590.
83. Prussian intercessions to Württemberg are in GStA PK, I HA Rep. 305 Fazs.154, 163, 184, 193, 198, 203, 205, 211,212, 212, 214, 215, 218–22, 225, 227, 228, 231, 233, 235, 238–44 usually covering no more than two or three individuals each year. See also HSAS, A202 Bü.2298 24 Jan. 1777. Jany, Preußische Armee, III 56–7 notes a decline in complaints after 1763.
84. Colonel Felix Frederick (1725–97) was the illegitimate son of the ‘king’ of Corsica, Theodor Baron Neuhaus: HSAS, A8 Bü.59; British Library, Add. Mss. 23680; A. N. Gilbert, ‘Military recruitment and career advancement in the eighteenth century: two case studies’, Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, LVII (1979), 34–44.
85. Public Record Office, London, SP81/186; A202 Bü.2196 14 Mar. 1776.
86. HSAS, C14 Bü.588 31 Mar. 1778; C14 Bü.595 esp. 2 Mar. 1782. See also Schüssler, ‘Werbewesen’, pp. 85–7. Hanoverian recruitment was coordinated by Prince Carl von Mecklenburg and was for 2,000 infantry intended for service with the East India Company. Württemberg recruited a regiment for the rival Dutch East India Company: see J. Prinz, Das württembergisches Kapregiment 1786–1808 (Stuttgart, 1932).
87. HSAS, C14 Bü.586; Schüssler, ‘Werbewesen’, pp. 224–9; F. K. Erbprinz zu Hohenlohe-Waldenburg, ‘Über hohenlohisches Militärwesen’, Württembergisch Franken, NF XL (1966), 212–41; T. Osterritter, ‘Die französische Emigrantenlegion Mirabeau im Hohenloheschen’, ibid, NF XIX (1938), 105–12.
88. 2 inhabited by 1.44 million people. For its composition and politics, see K. E. Demandt, Geschichte des Landes Hessen (3rd ed. Kassel, 1980); G. A. Süss, ‘Geschichte des oberrheinischen Kreises und der Kreisassoziationen in der Zeit des Spanischen Erbfolgekriese (1697–1714)’, Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins, CIII (1955), 317–425, CIV (1956), 10–224.
89. 2 inhabited by 12,000 people. For the disputes: W. Dotzauer, ‘Der Kurpfälzische Wildfangstreit und seine Auswirkungen im rheinhessischenpfälzischen Raum’, Geschichtliche Landeskunde, XXV (1984), 81–105; H. Philippi, Landgraf Karl I. von Hessen-Kassel (Marburg, 1976).
90. 2 as its share of Hanau, with a combined population in 1789 of 395,734. See C. Ingrao, The Hessian mercenary state. Ideas, institutions and reform under Frederick II 1760–1785 (Cambridge, 1987); P. K. Taylor, Indentured to liberty. Peasant life and the Hessian military state, 1688–1815 (Ithaca and London, 1994); H. G. Böhme, Die Wehrverfassung in Hessen-Kassel im 18. Jahrhundert (Kassel and Basel, 1954).
91. Hessen-Kassel was compelled by the Emperor to rejoin the Kreis military organization in 1763, but left it again in 1790. The Palatinate left in 1770.
92. Apart from Hessen-Darmstadt, the most important members were the various branches of the houses of Nassau, Zweibrücken, Isenburg and Waldeck, and the imperial city of Frankfurt. The total collective forces, excluding the Kassel and Darmstadt contingents, numbered 1,787 men in 1782: G. Tessin, Die Regimenter der europäischen Staaten im ‘Ancien Régime’ (Osnabrück, 1986), p. 248.
93. 2. See n. 101 below for population.
94. For Mainz’s policy and political importance, see T. C. W. Blanning, Reform and revolution in Mainz 1743–1802 (Cambridge, 1974); R. H. Thompson, Lothar Franz von Schönborn and the diplomacy of the electorate of Mainz (The Hague, 1973).
95. StAD, E1 C 37/2; C 43/3, 4; H 110/5. The Mainz garrison is detailed in A. Börckel, Geschichte von Mainz als Festung und Garnison von der Römerzeit bis zur Gegenwart (Mainz, 1913); F. Beck, ‘Zur Geschichte der Besatzung von Mainz in der 1. Hälfte des 18. Jahrhunderts’, Quartalsbericht des Historischen Vereins für des Großherzogtums Hessen, IV (1910), 384–98. For the Electoral Rhenish Kreis, see W. Dotzauer, ‘Der kurrheinische Reichskreis in der Verfassung des Alten Reiches’, Nassauische Annalen, XCVIII (1987), 61–104.
96. C. Pohlmann, ‘Zweibrücken in der Zeit der französischen Reunion (1680–1697)’, Mitteilungen des Historischen Vereins der Pfalz, LVI (1958), 107–36; R. Pillogret, ‘Jean-Hughes d’Orsbeck électeur de Trèves et la politique des Réunions (1678–1688)’, Revue d’histoire diplomatique, LXXIX (1965), 315–37; K. v. Raumer, Die Zerstörung der Pfalz von 1689 (Munich, 1930); F. L. Ford, Strasbourg in transition 1648–1789 (Cambridge, Mass., 1958).
97. See Kracauer, ‘Wehrwesen’, pp. 21–7.
98. O. Munter, ‘Die Waldeckischen Truppen von 1681 bis 1750’, Geschichtsblätter für Waldeck, LXXI (1983), 179–211 esp. 207–8; B. Frhr. v. Canstein, Der Waldeckisch-Englische Subsidienvertrag von 1776: Zustandekommen, Ausgestaltung und Erfüllung (Arlosen, 1989); E. Drumm, Das Regiment Royal Deuxponts. Deutsches Blut auf fürstlichen Befehl in fremden Dienst und Sold (Zweibrücken, 1937).
99. Hessen-Kassel recruiting areas are discussed in R. Atwood, The Hessians. Mercenaries from Hessen-Kassel in the American Revolution (Cambridge, 1980), pp. 207–15. This also provides an introduction to the literature on Hessian subsidy treaties. See also Wilson, ‘The German ‘‘soldier trade’’’ and the sources cited there.
100. th century Hessen-Kassel’, (Univ. of Iowa PhD, 1987), p. 58, n. 45.
101. StAD, E8 B 9/1, B 12/8. Hessen-Darmstadt’s population suffered a severe decline between 1629 and 1635 and still only totalled 95,000 by 1669, but then recovered substantially, reaching 290,000 by 1790, including 15,000 in Hanau-Lichtenberg.
102. HSAS, A6 Bü.55 May 1726 and Feb. 1727, C14 Bü.597 28 June 1752. From 6 Dec. 1754, Württemberg required its soldiers to carry a passport at all times and expelled all Prussian servicemen on leave in the duchy to deny them opportunities to recruit: A202 Bü.2299.
103. StAD, E8 B 9/8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 17.
104. StAD, E8 B 9/9, 12, 13, 16; B 10/1–10, 21, 27. For Sulzbach’s request in 1717, see E8 B 9/23. By contrast, Frankfurt gave him permission to recruit: Kracauer, ‘Wehrwesen’, p. 21.
105. StAD, E1 C 36/6 relating to 1715. Like Württemberg, Darmstadt also declined Öttingen’s request to recruit for its Venetian regiment in 1716, although Frankfurt permitted it: E8 B 10/22.
106. StAD, E8 B 9/3 esp. 31 May 1774; B 10/26. Darmstadt signed a cartel with Zweibrücken in 1790 (E8 B 107/9), but appears to have been unable to reach an agreement with Nassau in 1752 (E8 B 107/4).
107. E. G. Franz, ‘Landgraf Ludwig IX, der hess. ‘‘Soldatenhandel’’ und das Regiment ‘‘Royal Hesse Darmstadt’’’, Archiv für hessische Geschichte und Altertumskunde, NF XXXV (1977), 177–227 at 192; Galéra, Vom Reich zum Rheinbund, pp. 107–8. The only other exception occurred in 1707 when Sweden was briefly permitted to recruit, subject to the usual conditions. At this point, the Landgrave of Darmstadt harboured ambitions to succeed Charles XII to the Swedish Crown: E8 10/19.
108. StAD, E8 B 11/1 11 Mar. 1734.
109. StAD, E8 B 11/2. For the subsidy negotiations, see E8 B 259/6. It is noteworthy that the Landgrave simultaneously declined a Bavarian request to recruit: E8 B 11/3.
110. StAD, A6 Nr.1425; E8 B 260–4 contain the agreements with the Dutch. Additional recruiting for the units in Dutch service is detailed in E8 B 11/13. Refusals to permit others to recruit are in E8 B 11/8 and 9.
111. StAD, E8 B 11/7, 10–12, 14–19; B 12/1–11, 13, 17, 19–22 covering Austrian recruiting 1746–54, 1765–74, 1780–3, 1786, 1789. For the use of Gießen, see E8 B 11/5. For an example of a rejected request, see E8 B 11/7 23 Jan. 1751.
112. StAD, E8 B 9/2. Austrian requests to relax this rule were declined in July 1785: E8 B 9/3.
113. StAD, E8 B 264/9 covering negotiations with France; E8 B 264/10 covering those with the Dutch. For Franco-Austrian relations, see E. Buddruss, Die französische Deutschlandpolitik 1756–1789 (Mainz, 1995).
114. Franz, ‘Landgraf Ludwig’, pp. 188–97. However, a few men were handed over to Kassel to preserve neighbourly relations.
115. StAD, E8 B12/18; Franz, ‘Landgraf Ludwig’, pp. 198–210. Three-quarters of the regiment was to consist of Germans, the rest of French subjects from Alsace and Lorraine. The relationship with France was always uneasy and became still more complicated when Darmstadt granted transit to recruits intended for the two Hanoverian regiments bound for India in 1781–2: E8 H 108/12.
116. StAD, E8 B 12/24–6.
117. HSAS, A6 Bü.60; A202 Bü.2196 1 May 1733 (renewal of 1722 cartel), Bü.2226; C14 Bü.70; StAD, A6 Nr.1463.
118. StAD, E8 B 107/6 and 8; A6 Nrs.1222–4. Württemberg’s agreements with Ansbach (1731, 1748) and Prussia (1731, 1742) also fall into this category: HSAS, A202 Bü. 1207, 1314, 2196. Hessen-Darmstadt also signed a cartel with Baden-Baden on behalf of its dependency of Hanau-Lichtenberg (1746): StAD, E8 B 107/2.
119. HSAS, A6 Bü.61; StAD, A6 Nrs.1185–9; E8 B 107/1.
120. HSAS, C14 Bü.68, 70.
121. For example, Sachsen-Gotha requested one in Oct. 1740 after eighty of its soldiers deserted to Prussia: R. Wolff (ed.), Zeitungen aus dem Jahre 1740 (Berlin, 1912), p. 99. For the Prusso-Hanoverian crisis see H. Schilling, Der Zwist Preußens und Hannover 1729/1730 (Halle, 1912).
122. Politischer Briefwechsel des Herzogs und Großherzogs Carl August von Weimar 1778–1828, W. Andreas (ed.), (3 vols, Stuttgart, 1954–73), I 61–2. France, however, appears to have complied and returned two Württemberg deserters who had enlisted in its German Infantry Regiment La Marck: HSAS, A202 Bü.2278 21 Mar. 1742.
123. HSAS, A6 Bü.63; A202 Bü.2281. Baden and Württemberg signed cartels in 1794 and 1799. Cooperation was not always smooth, however, and Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen seized a herd of sheep belonging to Reutlingen citizens in 1732 after the city council refused to extradite the men accused of helping the Prussians abduct a Sigmaringen shepherd: P. Schwarz, ‘Die Werbung langer Kerls im 18. Jahrhundert’, Reutlinger Geschichtsblätter, NF XI (1973), 45–54.
124. For example, see the material relating to foreign recruiting in the period 1805–28 in StAD, E8 B 9/4–7. Darmstadt signed a cartel with Prussia on 27 Feb. 1818: E8 B 107/13.