Sturler's Regiment of Foot...

Herewith some pictures of the latest regiment to leave the painting table and march to the sound of Marlborough's guns.... these guys represent Sturler's Regiment, a Swiss regiment in Dutch service...

..another picture - I quite like the commanding officer - fitting him into the stand was a bit of a squeeze but the effect I think is quite good.. the figures are all Minfigs, with the exception of the officers horse, which is Dixon. The flag is from the excellent Warflag site...

...as those of you who know me from previous posts, one of the joys of the hobby for me is the research into the history of the regiments our little metal men are representing, in this case I have found this wonderful website (click here), and with the help of Babelfish (because my Dutch is not brilliant!) have discovered the following.

The regiment was officially titled Infanterie Regiment 694a or 2e regiment Swiss of Bern - but like most regiments of the time it was better known by the name of it's colonel, who in this case was a man called Vincent Sturler. He was promoted to full colonel in February 1702 (he had been lieutenant colonel up until then), and to brigadier in 1709, whilst remaining in command of the regiment until 1722 (when he retired). I notice that there are a number of other Sturler's mentioned in the returns, so it looks like it was a family calling..

The regiment was recruited from men in the Bern, Neuchâtel, Waadt/vaud, Schaffhausen and Appenzell-Ausserrhoden cantons of Switzerland as a result of agreements between the Dutch Staten-Generaal (or government) and the governments of the relevant Cantons. The agreements allowed the Dutch to recruit, equip, and pay, men from the canton to serve in the Dutch forces - my assumption is that this provided a useful form of employment for the Swiss, and resulted in a flow of income back to the Canton. The first regiment of Dutch Swiss was recruited in 1693, and was followed by five others, Sturler's was the second and was only eventually disbanded in 1796.

Sturler's were in the 15-battalion contingent sent by the Dutch under the command of Van Goor, as a result of the Wesel conference in 1703 which agreed to send assistance to the Empire.

Following some scuffles with the French commander Villars (pictured), where the Dutch troops received the commendations of Louis von Baden, Van Goor and Sturler's were eventually ordered north.

In the Danube campaign (1704) Van Goor's battalions (including Sturler's) were with Von Baden at the start of the campaign while three others had joined Marlborough on his way south. In June all the remaining battalions were transferred to Marlborough's army and so the Anglo Dutch army was formed.

In the attack on the Schellenberg on 2 July 1704, Van Goor got the command of the Infantry that performed the first attack. Sturlers were in Beinheim's Brigade as part of this attack. Van Goor commanded the infantry from his horse and was killed by a shot through his eye almost instantly (his tomb is in the church of Nördlingen).

Sturler's went on to server under Major General the Prince of Holstein Beck at Blenheim, where they were in Horn's Division, in the first line.

..with a history like that, I expect great things from them on the tabletop!