Szekely Border Guard Infantry Regiments in the Conflicts of the End of the 18th Century

Abstract

The Szekely border guard regiments were established for two purposes. First, to defend and control the passes of the Eastern Carpathian Mountains; second, to increase the number of available units in war time. The border guard units were usually deployed as light infantry, but as they also had to learn how to fight in close combat formations they could also be used as line infantry. The question is whether these units were fit for both types of missions, and due to the short time spent on training, whether they could deliver similar performance as line infantry? This paper is trying to find the answers to these questions focusing on the pre-Napoleonic times.