Chris’ Curious Regiments
A cavalry regiment was requested by Philippe Martin, so please welcome, ‘The Dancing Hussars’!
11th Hussar Regiment (2nd Westphalian)
The 2. Westfälisches Husaren-Regiment Nr.11 was originally formed on 2 December 1813 from the cavalry units of Napoleon’s satellite state, the Grand Duchy of Berg as the territory was annexed by Prussia. The Berg Regiment des Leichten Pferdes was formed in 1806 and later converted to a Lancer regiment of the French Imperial Guard, the Lanciers de Berg. They saw action on the Invasion of Russia and charged with Murat’s cavalry at the Battle of Leipzig losing sixty casualties in the process.
The new Prussian regiment then saw action at the Battle of Ligny in 1815, against revolutionaries in Baden in 1849 and against the Bavarians at the Battles of Helmstadt, Üttingen and Rossbrunn. In the 1870 campaign against France, the regiment saw action at the Battles of Spichern and Mars la Tour.
In 1906, Kaiser Wilhelm II personally ordered the regiment to be relocated from Düsseldorf to Krefield after the towns-people of Krefeld had petitioned him saying there were not enough eligible bachelors to dance at local balls. Thereafter the regiment was nicknamed the ‘Dancing Hussars of Krefeld’ (Krefelder Tanzhusaren).
When war broke out in 1914, they were garrisoned at Krefeld as part of the VII Army Corps. During the First World War they initially served on the Western Front but were moved East by late 1914 and dismounted by the end of the war as part of the Garde-Kavallerie-Schützen-Division. Werner Voss the German fighter ace with 48 victories, Pour le Mérite winner and commander of Jasta 10, first served in the 11th Hussar Regiment.
Busby Plate: White metal MIT GOTT FUER KÖNIG UND VATERLAND scroll
Busby Bag: Red
State Cockade: Prussian (black/ white/ black)
Oval Cockade: Prussian (white/ black)
Parade Plume: White horsehair for other ranks, white horsehair with lower part in black for NCOs and vulture feathers for officers
Attila: Dark green, officers tunics were a paler shade
Attila Lace: White
Shoulder Strap: Double white cord
Pelisse: None
Field Cap: Dark green with red hatband, piped in white around the upper rim and the upper and lower edge of the hatband.
* Text from my forthcoming book ‘Traditions of the Imperial German Cavalry Regiments’
* Text from my forthcoming book ‘Traditions of the Imperial German Cavalry Regiments’