Infantry officers 18th Century

Question

Hello to everyone here... trying to find out if infantry officers were walking or riding? During the marches and the at the battles, were they on foot, or riding? I'm more interested in the austrian army, but also the french troops.

Hans - Karl Weiß · Accepted Answer

During battle the answer is not so difficult - usually only the battalion commander was mounted, regimental commander and majors as well, the rest was dismounted, when travelling or on the march, officers tried to obtain mounts, as can be seen in memoires, so also a lieutenant could be mounted to a certain extend on a campaign, but he wouldn't use this in battle, there he would be with his unit as file closer.

Hans - Karl Weiß · Answer

@Zack White Tactical common sense, dismounted subaltern officers were also common in the 7YW and earlier, mounted battalion commanders as well,   the battalion commanders place was at the rear in the center of his battalion to be able to command - being on horse back he had a better view on his command, skirmishers as such - as tirailleurs de combat - non existent.A battalion commander and more superior officers would have of course more than one horse.The dismounted officer was of equal importance for the company, he was standing in rank and file, or file closer - by that supervising his company and here he didn't need to be mounted.In the 7YW the mounted battalion commander wasn't of such key importance than later, there his battalion war part of a battle line, itself commanded by a mounted superior officer, the Prussian regimental commander in fact had to dismount before battle and lead the battalion from the front, the majors however remained mounted to be able to have a better supervision on the battalion.

Zack White · Answer

Would you say that the reasoning behind this was tactical, financial, or just plain common sense? Being on horseback made you an obvious target for skirmishes, if you lost the horse in battle it was obviously difficult and expensive to replace, but operationally was there an advantage to being on foot in the battlefield?

val230967 · Answer

Thank you! All clear now.

val230967 · Answer

Glad I found this place. Thanks to you all!