The Pils-Holstein Campaign, 1755.

Before you go rushng off to an atlas to find Pils-Holstein, and before you start calling travel companies to book your holidays in such a wonderful land, don’t worry… because you won’t find it. It is a fictional country, along with others such as Teutonburg-Fredonia, which I have created as the sort of states that could easily have existed in Europe during the middle of the eighteenth century. Their actions and those of their rulers, will, I hope, reflect the political machinations, the intrigues, and the military alliances of that period.

Pils-Holstein is a stretch of land approximately 80 miles east-west, by 60 miles north-south, and lies somewhere between France and Hesse, with Teutonburg-Fredonia further north east.

The map is a “stylised” version, and is not to a strict scale. It shows only the major features; the major towns and rivers, and the significant ranges of hills and woods. Smaller rivers, woods, hills and the complex network of villages, hamlets and farms are omitted for clarity (though some say the cartographer had been paid one lunchtime in Pils-Holstein’s finest ale, and was unfit to complete his work!).

above: stylised sketch map of The Landgraviate of Pils Holstein, 1755.

Pils-Holstein is primarily a rural land with just a few small towns. It is a territory rich in raw materials for the production of the finest beer in Europe , and it’s trade links with all parts of the continent are much coveted. It is a land festooned with windmills, oast-houses, and the means of shipping goods via it’s inland lakes and waterways to The Low countries, and thence to Britain, Scandinavia, and beyond, to the new world and the colonies. In return it receives goods from far and wide, at a low price (countries are desperate to trade for the best beer in the world… for many Absolute Monarchs it is an essential ingredient in keeping their populations content!), making Pils-Holstein a well-stocked land of plenty. In short, it is a land worth fighting for!

The capital of Pils-Holstein is the fair city of Pilsner where the administrative apparatus of the Landgraviate can be found. Kronenbrau is the largest “industrial town” and is only a short ferry ride on one of the famous barges across the “Innen See”. The Palace of Altgard , by far the largest of the many fairy-tale castles, hosts the extravagant court of Ludwig II, and nestles to the north in the mountains overlooking the Ober See.

Allied forces:

Hessians:  Regt Prinz Maximilian	Prussians: Regt IR1: Winterfeldt	and again	The Holstein Hussars
Kurtz Jagerkorps		Pils Holstyein Artillery, deployed for action	artillery on the march

A potted Political outline for those who like such background

 Teutonburg-Fredonia is ruled by The Elector of Teutonburg-Fredonia, King Ferdinand Adolphus (also known as “Sweet FA”), and is allied to Prussia .

 The Landgraviate of Pils Holstein is ruled by The Landgrave Ludwig II, also allied to Prussia , and more importantly in the context of the immediate conflict of 1755, allied to Hanover , Hesse-Kassel, and Brunswick against the expansionist policies of Louis XV’s France .

 France, anticipating the outbreak of a major war (which we now know as the Seven Years war, 1756-1763), wants to “practice” its battlefield tactics and put the military through its paces by initiating a few “manoeuvres”. If, as a result, it can make some territorial gains while Teutonburg-Fredonian eyes are directed east in support of Frederick the Great of Prussia in his squabbling with Austria , then all to the good. What better place to start than with the relatively weak (and opulent) Pils-Holstein, which, apart from a very small defence force, has to rely on subsidy troops from surrounding princes, many of whom may just be a little loathe to play their cards too early in the forthcoming struggle for European hegemony.

French forces:   

French Cavalry:  The Cuirassiers du Roi	French Infantry Regt Picardie	Dillon Irish Regt in French Service
and again	French artillery

Some notable Campaign personalities

Brigadier Petr Jung… commander of the Pils-Holstein Guards (see notes on that regiment).

Baron von Gladbach of Munchen. The largest Beer merchant in Pils-Holstein: largest in more ways than one!

Professor Klichstich. A scholar in the university of Pils-Holstein, rumoured to be a spy, even an assassin. His clumsy assistant Dextrus isn’t very (dextrous, that is).

Win de Mahler: outspoken mill owner, and head of Pils-Holstein’s rapidly expanding Peasant Workers Collective.