Danish Lifeguards - The King's Lifeguard of Foot

In a break from our normal weekly compendium, I can confirm he's only gone and painted some little metal men!

Inspired and given a mental boot in the posterior by this awesome post on David's Not by Appointment blog [clicky] I raided the stash, and came up with 24 little metal men in basically the same pose. They were on painting sticks and undercoated almost within a few hours of the post, so I was clearly keen! 😀

During the War of the Spanish Succession, Danish troops were hired out in large numbers to Austria and the Maritime Powers (1702-1709 and 1701-1714 respectively). In total, almost 20,000 men was rented out. The Danes had a fairly large standing army, in order to counteract the military strength of their close neighbour, Sweden, and as idle hands cost money, hiring them out bought much needed funds, ensured the soldiers were paid, but also kept them trained and battle hardened.

The Royal Life Guards (Den Kongelige Livgarde til Fods to give them their full title) was (and still is*) an infantry regiment of the Danish Army at the time of the War of the Spanish Succession, and one of those regiments made available to the Maritime powers. 

The regiment was founded in 1658 by King Frederik III, and comprised a single Battalion - two further battalions were raised in 1867 and 1923. 

*These days they fulfil a ceremonial function, but they are also mechanised in the event they are required on the modern battlefield..

Completed, varnished, waiting basing..

The regiment served at all four main battles of the period (Blenheim/Ramillies/Malplaquet and Oudenarde), but as our main interest is Blenheim, here there they served on the right (under Eugene), in Bielke's Brigade (comprising Danish and Austrian regiments). 

The Bielke in question was Brigadier General Christopher Bielke [clicky], eldest son of the splendidly titled Reich's Admiral Henrik Bielke. Christopher died on the battlefield at Blenheim.

The other regiments (and numbers of men) in the brigade were 

• 1st Battalion, Regiment of Foot Prince George (one battalion, 824 men) -  (Colonel) Christian Jørgen von Urne
• 2nd Battalion, Regiment of Foot Prince George (one battalion, 704 men) - (Lieutenant General) Hertug Carl Rudolf af Würtemberg
• 2nd Battalion, Regiment of Foot Prince Carl (one battalion, 627 men) - (Lieutenant General) Jobst von Scholten
• Regiment Dansk Den Kongelige Livgarde til fods (one battalion, 740 men) - this regiment -  (Colonel) Jacques du val de la Pottrie

Jacques du Val de la Pottrie is an interesting character as well (I've yet to find one who wasn't to be fair!), he was a Huguenot nobleman originally from Alençon in France, who entered Danish service after the repeal of the Edict of Nantes in 1683 (Louis must have singlehandedly provided the Maritime powers with some of their finest soldiers and officers as a result of that single stroke of the pen!). 

He also died at Blenheim (and tragically, his brother was to later die at Malplaquet)

....and this was what prompted me to wield the paint brushes - what a lovely, lovely, regimental standard.. 😊

David advises he will be releasing other flags for the Danish Regiments over time, so I look forward to adding some of the other elements of Bielke's Brigade in due time..

So... 24 figures in all, but the unit comprises a bit of a mongrel selection of troop makes; mostly they are from the CP Models Marlburian range (now defunct?), with a leavening of Minifigs (drummer for certain) and a Black Hat/Gladiator officer (holding his hat) - painted/based January 2024 

Further references:

• Danish infantry uniforms 1700-1730 (tacitus.nu)