Osprey Men-at-Arms 280 : The Austrian Army (3) 1740-1780 : Specialist Troops

Until at least the latter years of Maria Theresa's reign, the Austrian artillery was acknowledged to be second to none in Europe; and it must have been no coincidence that Jean Baptiste de Gribeauval, who went on and so radically reformed the French artillery after he became inspector of artillery in 1776, had spend the Seven Years' War on attachment to the Austrian army from the French. The Habsburg Empire also possessed a unique resource in the form of the most proficient light infantry of the period; the Grenz Corps. They were recruited from the inhabitants of the so-called 'military borders', the frontier between the Habsburg and Ottoman empires, which had been settled by military colonists in the 16th century. In these frontier regions, virtually the entire male population was a military force, given leave to reside there in return for a feudal style of military service. Their principal occupation, apart from subsistence agriculture, was to protect the frontier against Turkish incursions, and to serve elsewhere when required. Their spartan lifestyle produced men inured to hardship, and they were more adept at light infantry tactics than any other in Europe as a result of the irregular nature of frontier warfare against the Turks. In this last of three books [Men-at arms 271 & 276] Philip Haythornwaite examines the composition and uniforms of these and other specialist troops of the Austrian army 1740-80, including the artillery units, engineers, Grenz, Jägers and Medical troops. Illustrations by Bill Younghusband.

Contents

• The Artillery
• Engineers
• The Grenz Corps
• Jagers
• Administration
• General Staff
• Medical Services
• Frei-Corps
• The Plates