Due to the near Gods-like power of
Lowest-Bidder Admin Help The title of this thread has changed from "Does anyone have evidence of M1860 Reserve / Landwehr Prussian Eagle Wappen?" to "The Prussian Landwehr Wappen 1842 to 1895."
Why? Essentially I have never been able to find an issued M1860 Line eagle Wappen with a Landwehr cross and now I know why. An issued M1860 Line eagle Wappen with a Landwehr cross should not exist. I will explain.
For years I have been collecting and studying the Prussian eagle Wappen, especially any with a Landwehr cross, and it occurred to me that I was not clear regarding the timeline of its use. Every reference gives a piece of the puzzle, but often misses other details. Current references in any language frequently mixed up the timeline of the Landwehr and Reserve. So with a lot of help from collecting friends, weeks with my nose stuck in Knötel, Pietsch, Kraus, Larcade, and many other references, and with the extraordinary research abilities of Glenn Jewison, I was able to piece all the bits together and place dates on Landwehr and Reserve Prussian eagle Wappens that I believe to be correct. Feel free to disagree.
Note 1: Unfortunately (for me) what this means is that most times I use the word 'Reserve' on my website, it's probably wrong, which will now take hours to correct. So be it. Not the first time I've been wrong.
Note 2: To prevent confusion (if possible in one of my posts) I am going to refer to the Landwehr cross worn on the eagle's chest from this point simply as 'the cross'.
1842 Landwehr
Establish first: Prussia made extensive use of the Landwehr. From Wikipedia (yes Wikipedia and support them):
"The landwehr in Prussia, was first formed by a royal edict of 17 March 1813, which called up all men capable of bearing arms between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, and not serving in the regular army, for the defence of the country. After the peace of 1815 this force was made an integral part of the Prussian Army, each brigade being composed of one line and one Landwehr regiment."
So this plus other references make it clear that essentially the Landwehr were the Reserve. (This is incorrect. See Glenn posting #12 below)
Here are two of the recognized patterns of the issued M1842 Prussian Landwehr eagle Wappen.
This might be a good time to mention that I have never seen a Prussian M1842 eagle Wappen with the crown cut out, which is what we normally associate with officer (Private Purchase). So to stir the pot a bit more, I don’t believe there was any difference between the issued and officer M1842 helmet eagle Wappens, and that voided crowns for Private Purchase and officers was a post 1860 development. Perhaps there are some Line or Landwehr M1842 with voided crowns out there, but the norm seems to be the same solid crown for all ranks from 1842 to 1860.
1860 Landwehr
Pietsch p.238
Translation:
On August 2, 1860, it was decided that the Landwehr should gradually replace the helmet with the Jäger Tschako with a black, white oval cockade with a silver border for officers and sergeants, on which the metal cross (Fig. 76 / 6), with the Guard and Grenadier Landwehr the brass star with a white cross (Fig. 76/5).
So logically, there was no requirement for issued M1860 Line eagle Wappens with a chest cross, as the Landwehr adopted the Tschako in 1860, and Reserves were not directed to wear the chest cross until 1896. That would explain the gap of eagle Wappens with the chest cross between 1860 and 1881 when the Landwehr started wearing leather spiked helmets again. So there it is. The end to my futile search for M1860 issued Landwehr Eagle Wappen with a chest cross.
So here is the Landwehr Wappen from 1860 to 1881, plus I am including the Garde Landwehr Wappen, as these are not often seen.
1868 / 1869 Reserve
Now finally the Reserve shows up in documentation concerning the wearing of the cross. As Glenn indicated in Post #8 above, the institution of Reserve officers did not exist until 1868.
"The Decree concerning the terms of service of non active officers dated 4 July 1868 provided for the classification of the former Landwehr officers into both Reserve and Landwehr officers."
However, as you will see below, only officer's helmets were affected. From Pietsch Vol 1 p.65
Translation:
The helmets of the Reserve Officers
“The Reserve Officer Corps was established on July 4, 1868. These officers received the regimental uniform in full, like the active ones, only on the helmet eagle the Landwehr cross of the opposite colour. Since the inscription was already in the cross as on the eagle Bandeau, the Bandeau did not remain. After wartime Ordinance dated February 17, 1869, the cross should lie on the center of the chest”
And again here in Larcade Vol I p.35
Translation:
The corps of reserve officers was created on July 4, 1868. These officers wore the uniform of the regiment from which they came. The plate of the helmet remained that of the regiment of origin but without the "Vaterland-Bandeau" whose motto figured on the Landwehr cross.
This cross was silver on the golden eagles, and golden on the silver eagles.
An ordinance from the Ministry of War dated February 17, 1869 prescribes that this cross must be fixed in the middle of the body of the eagle, on the monograms or on the star of the Guard. But, two months later, the A.K.O. from April 6, 1869 gave him his final place. It will be placed at the bottom of the eagle, under the motif adorning the center of the plate.
Based on these references, 1868 was the first time that a Landwehr cross was put on a
Reserve officer eagle Wappen. Plus it clarifies that after 6 April 1869 Reserve officers wore the cross soldered on the tail feathers of the eagle Wappen.
However, I could find no reference to soldiers of the Reserve also wearing the chest cross after 1869, because they did not. In what I call
‘The smoking gun’. Glenn tracked down a scan of the 1869 Uniformirungsliste by Louis Mila, a noted Prussian uniform researcher who lived during that period. The extract Glenn shared was the published 1869 – “Uniformirungs-Liste der Königlich Preußischen Armee und Marine fur das Jahr 1869.
Translation:
Reserve Troops: These have the clothing and equipment as per the corresponding units of the standing army. The Reserve officers wear the Landwehr cross on the headdress.”
This clearly states that soldiers of the Reserve did
not use the chest cross. They used the same eagle Wappen as the three Line Btlns, as they were to be supplied by the Regiment or Btln they were assigned to. Only
officers wore the cross on their eagle Wappen.
If you think about it logistically, it makes no sense at all for a Line Regiment to have a Battalions worth of leather helmets with Landwehr crosses laying around in Regimental Stores all year, in just the right sizes for the Reservists who show up for manoeuvres. Not practical.
Then again from Glenn, in Louis Mila’s “Uniformierungliste” of 1881, confirmation again from 1881 that Reservists would not wear a cross (at least until the formation of exercise Reserve Regiments)
§ 289 – Reservisten
“These have the clothing and equipment as per the corresponding ranks of the units of the standing army, in which they are incorporated”
1881 Landwehr
Back to the Landwehr. A.K.O. of 20 January 1881 gradually replaced the Tschako for Landwehr Infantry by the spiked helmet once again. From Larcade Vol I p38
Translation: 1881
By A.K.O. From January 20, 1881, the Tschako is abandoned and replaced by the leather spiked helmet model 1871.
Other references confirm this occurred in 1881. This then is the first instance of the cross on the chest of a Prussian issued eagle Wappen after 1860. That implies that any
issued M1871 eagle Wappen with a cross on the chest is (ready?) actually an 1881 Landwehr eagle Wappen. Reservists were supplied by their assigned unit and would have worn the standard Line eagle Wappen with the Fatherland Bandeau. Based on this, below is an M1871 eagle Wappen, as adopted by the Landwehr in 1881.
An observation on equipment roll-outs if I may. There often appears to be a misconception of how new models of equipment were introduced. To use this Landwehr example, many seem to erroneously think that the soldiers went to bed 19 January 1881 with a Tschako in their locker, and woke up with a shiny new M1871 spiked helmet in the locker. That is not how roll-outs of new equipment occur. It is a slow process, typically taking years to complete the transition. It is well recorded that in 1914, many Landwehr Btlns were still wearing the old M1860 Tschako. 43 years after the 1881 AKO, many units still had not converted to the leather spiked helmet.
Reserve 1886 and 1903
There is no mention of the Reserves wearing the cross until the Bekleidungsordnung of 1896 which directed “All Reserve, Landwehr and Landsturm formations wear as a common item of insignia the Landwehr Cross of white or yellow”
However..
Glenn pointed out:
"Both the Bekleidungsordnungen of 1896 and 1903 clearly state that “the men of the Beurlaubtenstande who are placed in a line (i.e. active unit) wear the uniform of the latter without the Landwehr cross”. Both editions do however state that “Reserve-Regiments” (i.e. exercise formation formed in peacetime do so) However, one must remember that reservists served with their original unit on recall for training”
So even as late as 1903, Reservists serving with their assigned Line unit were directed to wear the standard Line eagle Wappen with Fatherland Bandeau. That implies that any
issued M1891 eagle Wappen (with threaded posts on the back) with a cross on the chest is Landwehr, as once again, Reservists were supplied by their assigned unit and would have worn the standard Line eagle Wappen with the Fatherland Bandeau.
This also suggests that it was the Landwehr who were first issued (supposedly) M1895 (loops on the back) Prussian Wappens with chest cross, and that issued Reserve Wappens are from
1896 onwards, but only for raised Reserve exercise formations. How often that happened is unknown.
So, to summarise, here is my understanding of the timeline of the Landwehr cross as worn on the leather helmet:
1. M1842 and M1856/57 only the Landwehr wore the Landwehr cross on the chest.
2. 1860 the Landwehr adopted the Tschako with the oval Landwehr cross Wappen.
3. 1868 Corps of Reserve Officers was raised but only officers were authorized to wear the Landwehr cross on the chest of the Prussian eagle Wappen. Soldiers of the Reserve did not as they were outfitted by the Line unit.
4. 1869 Reserve officers are directed to wear the Landwehr cross on the tail feathers so the 'FR' is visible on the chest.
5. 1881 the Landwehr were directed to abandon the Tschako and once again wear the M1871 spiked leather helmet with a Landwehr cross on the chest.
6. 1896 the Reserve soldiers are directed to wear the same eagle Wappen as the Landwehr with the cross on the chest,
So below is a more accurate representation of the chronological evolution of the Landwehr, and 1896 Reserve eagle Wappens. These are to scale, taken at identical distances from the camera.
In closing, I never miss an opportunity to plug my Wappen Want List:
https://www.kaisersbunker.com/wantlist_wappens.htm
And for suffering though my agonizingly long posting, some eye candy. The helmet that started it all.