8233 Napoleonic Austrian Landwehr
Dated: July 17, 2010, updated Jan 5, 2011
In 1808, as Austria prepared for another war with Napoleon, the government ordered the creation of a Landwehr, or territorial militia, throughout the hereditary lands of the Habsburg monarchy. Service was generally required of able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 45 who were not already serving in the regular army, although numerous occupational and social exemptions reduced the number actually available. The Landwehr was intended chiefly for local defence, garrison duty and internal security, thereby releasing regular troops for service with the field army. When war began in 1809, however, a number of Landwehr battalions were also incorporated into field formations and fought in major operations, including the campaign around Vienna and the Battle of Wagram.
Box art
The Landwehr was raised territorially rather than as numbered regiments of the regular army. Districts or Kreise supplied one or more battalions bearing local names, such as the Graz, Klagenfurt, Bunzlau, Leitmeritz and Königgrätz Landwehr. The planned establishment was very ambitious, around 170 battalions in the principal recruiting regions, but only about 70 appear to have taken the field in 1809. A regulation battalion was intended to contain approximately 800 men, divided into four companies of about 200 men, although actual strengths varied considerably.
Austrian Landwehr Recruiting Regions, c.1809
Landwehr battalions were raised in Lower and Upper Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola and other Habsburg territories. Each province was responsible for much of its own clothing and equipment, producing considerable regional variation. Some formations received fairly complete military uniforms, while others appeared in locally made clothing or garments influenced by regional dress. Weapons were also inconsistent, and many men were issued older muskets drawn from storage. Consequently, the smartly dressed soldier shown in this set represents the intended regulation appearance rather than every Landwehr unit actually seen in the field.
Line drawings
This set 8233 contains 60 figures in ten poses, including advancing and firing infantry, an officer, NCO and drummer. The men wear the short, single-breasted coat, breeches and gaiters prescribed for the more formally uniformed Austrian Landwehr. Their distinctive headgear is the so-called Corsican hat, with its turned-up front and rear portions and the traditional green field sign attached at the side. The mixture of combat and command poses allows the set to form a complete battalion or to represent one of the similarly dressed volunteer formations raised during the campaigns of 1809 and 1813.
Test shot
Typical intended Landwehr battalion, 1809
Approximately 800 men
Four companies of approximately 200 men
Four platoons in each company
Two sections within each platoon
Raised and named by its local district rather than as a regular infantry regiment.
Following Austria’s defeat in 1809, the original Landwehr system was largely dissolved. It was revived when Austria re-entered the war against Napoleon in 1813, although the reconstituted battalions increasingly served as reserves and depots associated with regular infantry formations rather than as an entirely separate field force.
Painted figures by Krisztian T. (Hungary)
