Prussian Recruitment, Training and conditions of Service 1806

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  • Magpie
    Neuer Benutzer
    Cantinière
    • 31.10.2022
    • 5

    Prussian Recruitment, Training and conditions of Service 1806

    Hello all,
    Thank you for admission to you community and please accept my apology for posting in English as I have no German

    I am presently researching for a fictional novel that is set in Napoleonic Prussia and I am looking for some details on the subjects mentioned above.

    Is anyone able to help with that?
    I am wanting to write of the experiences of a young soldier joining the Prussian Fusiliers just prior to Jena so fleshing out the details of things like:
    what sort of induction process was followed?
    how the men were trained?
    did the men live in a barracks?
    Who trained them?
    Where the NCO's aggressive and abusive?
    What were they trained in?
    What were the commands on the battlefield?
    Was the training in their weapons detailed, like how to strip and assemble and principles of marksmanship or was it more about how to load and that was about it?
    Did they get leave at the end of their training?
    How much were they paid?

    Anything you have on this or things I haven't thought of would be much appreciated.

  • Sans-Souci
    Erfahrener Benutzer
    Major
    • 01.10.2006
    • 1841

    #2
    It is difficult to gather knowledge about a Napoleonic German soldier's life, if you do not know German and can't read the sources.

    If you transfer your novel to a British soldier in the Netherlands in the 1790s or later in Spain ?

    Kommentar

    • HKDW
      Erfahrener Benutzer
      Colonel
      • 02.10.2006
      • 2962

      #3
      As I wrote at another forum, check my chapter in Glory is Fleeting which will answer quite a few of the above question as providing sources for further reading, in fact Wilhem von Doering's recollection - he is a very junior officer in one of the Füsilier regiments also will give you a lot of information, But I am afraid to agree with Oliver, without reading German this is a next to impossible task to achieve writting anything of substance about the Prussian Army.

      Kommentar

      • Magpie
        Neuer Benutzer
        Cantinière
        • 31.10.2022
        • 5

        #4
        Zitat von Sans-Souci Beitrag anzeigen
        It is difficult to gather knowledge about a Napoleonic German soldier's life, if you do not know German and can't read the sources.

        If you transfer your novel to a British soldier in the Netherlands in the 1790s or later in Spain ?
        Because that has been done 1000 times before, besides I want to tell a Prussian story not a British one.

        Kommentar

        • Magpie
          Neuer Benutzer
          Cantinière
          • 31.10.2022
          • 5

          #5
          Zitat von HKDW Beitrag anzeigen
          As I wrote at another forum, check my chapter in Glory is Fleeting which will answer quite a few of the above questions as providing sources for further reading, in fact Wilhem von Doering's recollection - he is a very junior officer in one of the Füsilier regiments also will give you a lot of information, But I am afraid to agree with Oliver, without reading German this is a next to impossible task to achieve writting anything of substance about the Prussian Army.
          As I said in that other forum as well, I have done exactly that but I still am chasing some details.
          I was hoping that by asking some questions on this forum I could get around needing to read German by having those who can and have made a more detailed study on this than I have fill in the details I need.


          Kommentar

          • Sans-Souci
            Erfahrener Benutzer
            Major
            • 01.10.2006
            • 1841

            #6
            Zitat von Magpie Beitrag anzeigen
            Because that has been done 1000 times before, besides I want to tell a Prussian story not a British one.
            If you have a good story, I think it doesn't matter whether you tell it in a Prussian, British or Turkish context. But the slightest wrong detail can easily spoil a historical novel even if its story is captivating.

            Anyaway, the Prussian soldier Laukhard left extensive memoirs from the 1790s, and basically the Prussian army had not changed much until 1806/7. I didnt check whether he was fully translated into English, but he and others are quoted in this book:

            Drawing on a wide range of primary sources, this volume argues that although the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars are often understood as laying the foundations for total war, many eyewitnesses continued to draw upon older interpretative frameworks to make sense of the armed struggle and attendant political and social upheaval.


            Maybe in the bibliography of this book you find some more references to English translations of memoirs of Prussian soldiers, or even more secondary works on the topic.

            Kommentar

            • Magpie
              Neuer Benutzer
              Cantinière
              • 31.10.2022
              • 5

              #7
              Why not just answer the questions?

              Kommentar

              • corporal
                Erfahrener Benutzer
                Tambour-Major
                • 25.04.2007
                • 306

                #8
                Because answering your copious questions would amount to days of work.
                I know Sans-Souci and HKDW personally, they are both exceptionally helpful.
                But why should THEY write YOUR book?
                Your topic would be very interesting indeed, but every author has to work within their limits.

                Kommentar

                • Magpie
                  Neuer Benutzer
                  Cantinière
                  • 31.10.2022
                  • 5

                  #9
                  Well, no one can say I didn't try.
                  It's pretty clear why there is so little information available to the English speaking world on the Prussians and their experience.

                  I'm not asking anyone to write my story, just to help lend it some authenticity but it's pretty clear no one here is interested in that so what I don't know I'll just make up or use the British parallel, which isn't how i'd like it but will probably appeal to my target audience better anyway.

                  Enjoy your well kept gate.

                  Kommentar

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