(a) and (b) Landwehr
Cavalryman in regulation
dress, wearing he Litewka,
a shako with the Landwehr
Cross on its front
and armed with a sabre;
the lance is not shown
The Infantry
The Artillery
Organisation &Tactics
Arms & Equipment
Flags & Standards
Bibliography & Sources
(c) Westphalian Landwehr
Cavalryman, 1815. This
dress was recorded in
Paris in 1816, but it is
reasonable to assume that
this uniform was worn in
the previous year. Down
the outside of the trousers
is a double stripe - without
buttons; it will be noted
that this leg-wear is not
the usual leather re-inforced
overalls. The cap is blue
with a red band, the facings
are bright green and the
shoulder straps red.
(d) Westphalian Landwehr
Cavalryman 1815. Here
shown wearing the Kollet which
was authorized for the
entire Landwehr cavalry in 1815.
The facings are bright green
and the shoulder straps white.
The girdle is dark blue edged
in bright green. Kollet
buttons are yellow metal, while
the overall buttons are white.
East Prussian Landwehr cavalry trooper.
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The Cavalry
The Uniforms of the Landwehr Cavalry - (Cont'd)
Generally the Litewka with one or two rows of buttons and made of dark blue cloth was worn. It was also made of dark grey cloth, as worn by the Pomeranian Regiment, and a Neumark formation wore it in sky blue. There were minor variations in the cut of the Litewka, but there were other units which wore different forms of dress. The two regiments which wore a Czapska, for instance, both adopted a Lancer Kollet with facings in their provincial colourings. An ordinary Kollet was authorized for the whole Landwehr cavalry in March of 1815, but very few troopers were wearing it before the end of the Napoleonic Wars, although some , such as the Westphalians, were wearing it as early as 1814. These different forms of bodywear were faced in provincial colouring as worn by the Landwehr Infantry. A large number of West Prussian cavalry regiments, if not all of them, however, wore the orange-red of East Prussia, instead of the expected black.
The grey, leather-lined and cuffed overalls were more or less standard items of dress, although similar off-white overalls were worn to a very limited extent. These overalls were sometimes trimmed down the outer seams with wide stripes, or double stripes in provincial colouring, instead of the more usual metal buttons.
Saddle cloth patterns varied considerably. The angular style of the Hussars, and the rounded pattern of the Dragoons were both used in a various colour combinations, as well as the more popular black, lambskin shabraques. The English-equipped Neumark regiments provided a complete contrast in that they had a grey saddle cloth, rounded at the front, pointed at the back and with red heart-shaped ornaments in the four corners.
Lance pennants were normally in the provincial colour, but this practice was open to variation. The most popular type was the bi-coloured, white below the provincial colour, and frequently these penants were embelished with a white or black Landwehr Cross. The white over black pennant was adopted by the Landwehr Cavalry in 1815, in common with all other formations that carried the lance.
Officers' uniforms were more regular in appearance than those of the other ranks. A Kollet was worn, together with grey, officer's pattrern overalls, and a sash and the appropriate insignia of rank.
As a rule, the records that exist, do not specify the uniform of a particular regiment, they only portray soldiers of a particular province. The reasons for this are not hard to divine. The wide variations upon the regulation dress and also the relatively large numbers of formations involved, all tended to obscure the exact unit designation from the contemporary observer. Below are listed a number of the more interesting variations of Landwehr Cavalry uniforms, in addition to those that are illustrated at left.
East Prussian Landwehr Cavalry
High Schirmutze with narrow red cap band and with a yellow Landwehr Cross affixed to the front. Dark blue Litewka with red facings. Yellow shoulder straps. White buttons. Grey leather-lined overalls. Red over white lance pennant.
West Prussian Landwehr Cavalry
Uniformed in a regulation style of dress but with black waxed shako cover. Orange-red facings, instead of black, and a yellow over crimson lance pennant.
Brandenburg Landwehr Cavalry
Leather re-inforced shako without cover, no Landwehr Cross, Prussian pom-pon, brass chin scales. Dark blue Litewka with yellow metal buttons and red facings. Grey overalls with a red stripe down the outside of the seams. Black belts. Red over white lance pennants.
Neumark Landwehr Cavalry
English style stovepipe shakos with white lace around the upper edge and fitted with white woolen cap lines and cords. Dark blue Litewka with red facings. White over black lance pennants. Grey saddle cloth as noted above.
Neumark Landwehr Cavalryman
  
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