Austro-hungarian cavalry dragoons

Hello

Does anybody have any information or pictures of uniforms of austro-hungarian dragoons. I only know that before 1914 they were using red pants and blue jackets.
Also i would be happy of any informations on austro-hungarian uniforms used during austro-prussian war in 1866.


Sorry about my bad english
Great side and forum!!!!

Thanks

Hi Gasper. The Knotel print above gives a good idea of how the Austro Hungarian dragoons looked in 1914. The only concession to active service during the early months of the War was to wear a grey cover over the crested helmet - or in some cases to paint the helmet itself grey. The collar and cuff facings were dark red (1st and 3rd Regiments), yellow (7th and 10th), scarlet (8th and 11th), madder red (13th and 14th), and white (15th). Any two regiments having the same facing colours were distinguished by having either silver or bronze buttons. Red forage caps were worn as an alternative to the helmets.

Heavy losses led to the substitution of pike-grey breeches for the red ones by December 1914 and soon after pike-grey tunics for the light blue garments. The slung pelise (in pike-grey) however continued to be worn for the rest of the War.

It is not altogether clear why the Austro-Hungarian cavalry (dragoons, hussars and uhlans) retained their colourful peacetime uniforms for active service after the rest of the Imperial and Royal (KuK) Army adopted pike-grey field uniforms in 1909. They were of course a conservative arm and reportedly the regimental colonels petitioned the Emperor for permission to retain the traditional dress for all occasions - which was granted. The remainder of the Army more sensibly put their conspicuous full dress and off duty uniforms into storage immediately on mobilisation.

Hope this helps.

Thank you buistR, it helps a lot!

buistR wrote:

Hi Gasper. The Knotel print above gives a good idea of how the Austro Hungarian dragoons looked in 1914. The only concession to active service during the early months of the War was to wear a grey cover over the crested helmet - or in some cases to paint the helmet itself grey. The collar and cuff facings were dark red (1st and 3rd Regiments), yellow (7th and 10th), scarlet (8th and 11th), madder red (13th and 14th), and white (15th). Any two regiments having the same facing colours were distinguished by having either silver or bronze buttons. Red forage caps were worn as an alternative to the helmets.

Heavy losses led to the substitution of pike-grey breeches for the red ones by December 1914 and soon after pike-grey tunics for the light blue garments. The slung pelise (in pike-grey) however continued to be worn for the rest of the War.

It is not altogether clear why the Austro-Hungarian cavalry (dragoons, hussars and uhlans) retained their colourful peacetime uniforms for active service after the rest of the Imperial and Royal (KuK) Army adopted pike-grey field uniforms in 1909. They were of course a conservative arm and reportedly the regimental colonels petitioned the Emperor for permission to retain the traditional dress for all occasions - which was granted. The remainder of the Army more sensibly put their conspicuous full dress and off duty uniforms into storage immediately on mobilisation.

Hope this helps.

When hectgrau was adopted in 1909, it was originally intended for the cavalry as well as the rest of the army, but the cavalry had a cow, or hissy fit about it and petitioned the Emperor, who basically said "OK, you can keep your uniforms".

The red breeches were first adopted in 1867 to use up cloth that had originally been intended for the uniforms of the Mexican Army under Emperor Maximimilan, Franz-Joseph's brother. However, Max was deposed and shot before the cloth could be delivered. Rather than see the cloth go to waste, it was decided to use them for the cavalry.