Dear Bill
Each line was a Regiment. The Regiment was commanded by the Regimental Commander who commanded the 1st Musketeer Battalion. In 1813 this was the IR and the second line would be the RIR in most Brigades. With the implementation of the Landwehr, these would operate as a Regiment or as Battalion supports for the Line Infantry.

It is as ever misleading to follow the French over Generaled structure. Often there were Obersts commanded full Prussian Brigades. An Oberst would rank as equivalent to General de Brigade when you look at the responsibility. This is often overlooked and misunderstood. Seniority was important in the Prussian Army as in the British Army. This was one of the problems with Gneisnau being Cheif of Staff with von Kleist being more senior. Von Yorck would not take orders from him so was comander of the Reserve in Prussia in 1815. The internal politics is complex.

The flexibilty of the system was not fully explored until after the complete reorgansation that started in 1814 and finished in 1818. The structure survived into the 1860s.

Most of the officers of 1813-15 had served in similar roles in 1806-07. The changes in the Prussian Army was an evolution and not a revolution. Throughout the period, the Prussian Army suffered from lack of funding. It was the cutting edge of the Allied Army. It coped with an ineffective cavalry arm and poorly equipped artillery. The Infantry was the centre of the system. There was recognition that large cavalry formations were no longer viable upon the field as Frederick the Great had employed.

The organisation and cohession of the command is shown better in defeat where they came back to the battlefield and beat the French.

Stephen

Stephen