Petite Guerre Toy Soldiers: Hungarian Line Infantry

Prior to the outbreak of the War of the Austrian Succession (or First Silesian War) in 1740, the Austrian military establishment included three regular Hungarian infantry regiments. Seven further regiments were raised in 1741, following the fateful meeting in Pressburg at which a desperate Maria Theresa called for the help of the Hungarian magnates, and the wild Magyars - so the story goes - aroused by the beauty and dignity of the young princess, at once drew their sabers, acknowledged her as "King" of the Hungarians at the cry "Vivat Maria Theresia Rex Hungarorum!", and swore to fight off her enemies.

At that early time all Hungarian infantry regiments wore a distinctive, hussar-like uniform based on the Hungarian national dress and consisting of tall black felt cap, short piped coat, piped vest, barrel sash, long tight pantaloons, and ankle boots.

According to most sources, the coat, vest, and pantaloons were blue for all regiments, while the colors of piping and sash varied to reflect each regiment's distinction scheme. Tight leggings (called Scharawaden in German) reaching to just below the soldier's groin were sometimes worn over the pantaloons. A hooded cloak was also worn in foul weather.

This style of uniform was retained until after 1745, when tricorne hats and white coats of Western European cut, albeit with Hungarian trim, were gradually introduced. Grenadiers, wearing the same uniform as the musketeers except for the distinctive bearskin caps, were only introduced in 1748 (these are the men shown in the famous paintings by David Morier, said to be dated to the end of the War of the Austrian Succession, or slightly later).

I decided to sculpt my Hungarian infantry musketeers in their pre-1745 uniform. This distinctive order of dress affords a variety of color schemes for the different regiments, and also within the same regiment, as it would appear to have been the case due to supply difficulties and the reluctance of early commanders to conform to central regulations. For example, instead of blue pantaloons, some of the soldiers might have worn buff or straw-colored ones, with blue or perhaps red leggings.

The figures shown here are painted as belonging to Hungarian Infantry Reiment Haller, following the color scheme given by Hungarian author Gyozo Somogyi, with some variations.

Note that as this style of uniform is virtually identical to that adopted by the Austrian South-Slavic border infantry (Grenzinfanterie) when first regulated in 1746, my early Hungarians can also be painted as slightly later Croats, and take the field as such in the later part of the War of the Austrian Succession, and in the Seven Years War as well.

I sculpted my first Hungarian musketeer figure in a standing/advancing pose, starting from resin castings of the preliminary mannequin parts I had used to sculpt my French hussars.

When the first pose was completed (below left), I made the rubber mold and converted one of the castings into a running / springing forward pose (below right).

The left skirt of the coat, the saber and Säbeltasche are sculpted together as a separate part. Again, I used preliminary hussar accessory items to model them. Note Maria Theresa's cipher on the Säbeltasche, reflecting her unchallenged standing as Queen of Hungary.

See here below the two body poses with saber and Säbeltasche .

I then set off making a scale model of an appropriate Austrian military musket of the period.

The Austrians entered the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748) armed with their M1722 musket (styled ordinäre Flinte), a sturdy weapon quite similar to the French M1717 pattern.

An experimental musket based on the newer French M1728 pattern was introduced in 1745 (Füsilier Flinte), but apparently was not received well in the field and was soon discontinued. Finally, yet a new model was introduced in 1754 (Commiss-Flinte), which saw service during the Seven Years War.

The Austrian M1722 musket was 1579mm long, just 20mm shorter than the French M1717 pattern (1596mm). As in its French counterpart, the barrel was fixed to the stock by means of pins. The stock and the trigger guard were fitted with iron rings for the attachment of the musket's strap. It had a wooden ramrod.

This musket was equipped with a flat-blade socket bayonet. Unlike the triangular-section bayonets of most other muskets of the period, the flat blade laid in the plane of the bend of the shank.

As usual, to build my model I drew the outline of the stock on sheet-styrene, and cut it with a hobby knife. I took the lock plate and trigger guard from scrap castings of other model muskets of mine, and made the barrel with brass tube and the ramrod with a sewing pin. I sculpted the fine details and fittings with DURO putty.

I used resin castings of my new M1722 musket to obtain masters for three arm poses. The musket straps are taken from scrap castings of my British musketeers.

Note the thin cylindrical pieces added to the bayonet tips. These are designed to create a vent in the mold, preventing air from being trapped in this critical area when the resin is cast into it.

By combining the two body poses with the three arm poses, I obtained a total of five Hungarian musketeer poses.