COBI Prussian Soldiers Set 20094

COBI's Prussian Soldiers set contains 38 blocks making three figures: a line infantryman, a second Prussian infantryman in a field cap, and a volunteer of the Lützow Free Corps in black. Each carries a musket with bayonet; all markings are printed and the set contains no stickers.

Where Germany's colours came from

The black figure is the interesting one. Lützow's Free Corps was a volunteer unit raised in 1813 from students, craftsmen and poets rather than conscripts, and it dressed in black — not as a statement but because volunteers supplied their own clothing and black dye covered whatever colour a coat had been.

The uniform ended up as black cloth, red facings and brass buttons. When students carried that combination into the movement for German unification a few years later, black-red-gold became the colours of a nation that did not yet exist, and they are the German flag today. A practical solution to a clothing problem turned into a national symbol.

From Jena to Waterloo

Prussia's war against Napoleon began catastrophically. The twin defeats at Jena and Auerstedt in 1806 destroyed the army in a single day and reduced the kingdom to a French dependency. What followed was a rebuilding — new training, promotion on merit, a reserve system — and by 1813 the rebuilt army was a serious force. At Waterloo it was Blücher's Prussians arriving on the French right in the late afternoon that settled the battle.

In the COBI range

Part of the Napoleonic Wars series. Napoleonic Era Soldiers (20098) adds French, Russian and Prussian cavalry figures; French artillery is set 20093.

Specifications

Pieces: 38 · Figures: 3