French Cavalry

The French cavalry regiments in the Seven Years War had an establishment of 2 squadrons for a total strenght of nearly 200 troopers, brigaded in three or even fours at time. In the Volley & Bayonet basing, cavalry is based either on a 3"x 3" "Brigade base" of 10 squadrons or in a 3"x 1.5" "Regimental base" of 5 squadrons.

With Austrian and Prussian regiments of 5 squadrons, I based each single regiment on a 3"x 1.5" base, collecting the two-regiment brigade on a sabot base. The only exception was the super-large 10 squadrons DR 5 Bayreuth which had the honour of a single "Brigade base" for himself. 

To represent the French Brigades I choose to base each regiment on a small 1"x 0.8" base with four figures each and then put three regiments on sabot base with the brigade name (normally the oldest regiment in the brigade). In this way I can represent historical brigades by simply putting the appropriate regiment on the sabot.

The original lot allowed me to get five regiments (two blue coated - Royal Etranger and Royal Piemont- , two red coated - Fitzjames and La Reine- and one white coated - Bourbon Busset-): I added a blu-coated regiment with bearskin, namely the Rougrave regiment (ex Royal Liegiois).

The six "small" bases:

and the "sabot" with the slot for the regiments and the brigade name:

The two Brigades: first, the brigade La Reine, at Rossbach in the first line of the  left wing and formed by the "La Reine", est. 1635, 14th in the 1759 list, "Bourbon-Busset", est. 1666, 23th in 1759 list and "Fitzjames", est. 1733, 56th in 1759 list, disbanded 1763. Fitzjames, an Irish regiment, is those with the yellow-coated trumpeter whereas Bourbon-Busset is typical grey-white coated french cavalry regiment.

The Brigade was routed by the Prussian cavalry, Fitzjames losing two standards and the kettle-drums. 

The second brigade was formed by one regiment present at Rossbach, the "Volontaire Liegeois, 1756" (later Rougrave, 1758) ranking 61th in 1759, disbanded 1763. Is a typical "german" regiment (indeed belgian) with bearskin cap. The other two regiments weren't at Rossbach (indeed no blue-coated regiments apart Rougrave were at Rossbach!): Royal Piemont, est. 1670, ranking 10th and Royal Etranger, est.1635, 6th. The base accordingly represent a "Royal Etrangere Brigade" which was present nowhere. 

Finally, a tribute to one of the most-maligned SYW commanders: He, the loser of Rossbach. 

Charles de Rohan (July 16, 1715, Versailles-July 4, 1787, Paris), prince de Soubise, duke of Rohan-Rohan, seigneur of Roberval, and marshal of France from 1758, a military man, a minister to the kings Louis XV and Louis XVI, and a notorious libertine. The last male of his branch of the House of Rohan, he was also the great grandfather to the duc d'Enghien, executed by Napoleon in 1804. 

He was neither a military genius nor a jerk: the coordination of the French and Imperial armies at Rossbach was simply beyond his (and Hildburghausen) capabilities; indeed he later successfully defeated the Allied at Lutterberg and Joannisberg, becoming Marshal of France in 1758.

This is the only portrait I found of him, a well-known one:

   

and this is his depiction in my miniature army: