Tuesday 8 March 2011

Mutiny of Ansbach and Bayreuth regiments

Today in 1777 this event happened - according to the wiki

The Ansbach and Bayreuth regiments are remembered for a mutiny that occurred in Ochsenfurt. The soldiers were loaded onto boats on the Main River, but could not cross the bridge, which the Bishop of Würzburg refused to open. In the morning, 8 March 1777 some Ansbach soldiers managed to get to the bank of the river, and pulled the other boats to land. The officers tried to address their concerns, but some men deserted. Chasseurs were posted to keep men from deserting, and fired warning shots; the mutineers returned fire. When the Margrave of Ansbach received word of the riot, he rode through the night to get to Ochsenfurt. The Margrave convinced his soldiers to reboard the boats, and sailed with them as far as Mainz, where he succeeded in getting the bridge opened, without the consent of the Elector.[38]

The Margraf of Ansbach-Bayreuth was deeply in debt when the war broke out, and received more than £100,000 for the use of his soldiers.[34] In 1791 he sold both Ansbach and Bayreuth to Prussia and lived the rest of his life in England on a Prussian pension.[39]

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