Austrian
obristwachtmeister Trenck had asked for the establishment of a Serbian militia (), a
freikorps (volunteer unit) numbering 1,000 troops, to be recruited in Slavonia and to be put under him to
fight in Silesia. On 27 February 1741 a
patent (decree) gave him permission to establish a regular Corps for supporting the Army in Silesia. The unit recruited from
Slavonia (
Kingdom of Slavonia and
Slavonian Military Frontier) and
Syrmia, from the
Serb and
Croat population. The unit was known as and . With the 27 March 1745
patent the Corps was complemented a Regiment (20 ordinary, two
grenadier companies). . The Pandurs arrived in
Vienna for a
military parade for empress
Maria Theresa on 27 May 1741. The unit was headed by Trenck and included two
captains, a
senior lieutenant, five
lieutenants, a
quartermaster, an
adjutant, two
chaplains (a
Catholic and an
Orthodox Christian), two
medics, forty
sergeants, five
scribes, eighty
corporals, and twelve musicians equipped with
flutes, a drum and
cymbals. The musicians were called the
Turkish band, after
Ottoman military bands, and are considered pioneers of
martial music in Europe according to Jurica Miletić. The Pandurs did not have specific
uniforms as their clothes varied but were of
Turkish style. Their oriental appearance was compounded by mandatory
head shaving, leaving a
rattail, as well as by the use of a
horse tail bunchuk instead of a unit banner. Each Pandur carried four
single-shot pistols, a
fighting knife, and a small utilitarian knife. The Pandurs saw military action in
Silesia,
Bohemia,
Bavaria, and
France. The Pandurs took part in
War of the Austrian Succession, including the
First Silesian War. In 1741 the unit was sent to the Silesian war theatre, and participated in the attack at
Zobten, with successful operations. They then captured
Strehlen in
Lower Silesia from the
Prussians, and defended a bridgehead near Vienna after the
Battle of Mollwitz. In 1742, the Pandurs took part in capture of
Klaus Castle in
Styria as well as
Linz and
Deggendorf, where they defeated French troops before taking part in Austrian recapture of
Munich. By the end of that year, the Pandurs had captured
Diessenstein Castle and
Cham from Bavarian defenders, completely destroying Cham to secure access for Habsburg troops led by
Ludwig Andreas von Khevenhüller to
Bohemia. In 1743, the Pandurs led by Trenck captured
Cosel fortress. In 1745, during the
Second Silesian War, the Pandurs took part in the
Battle of Soor, where they looted a Prussian war chest containing 80,000
ducats, as well as weapons, horses and a tent belonging to
Frederick the Great. The Pandurs earned a reputation for being brave and audacious, as well as feared and ruthless soldiers, looting and pillaging, but also characterized by disobedience, breaches of military discipline and stubbornness. Trenck was relieved of command in 1746 and tried for unspecified "acts of violence", with imprisonment in
Spielberg Castle where he died in 1749. In 1748 the Pandur-Corps was reduced to a battalion, with four fusilier- and one grenadier company, and was called the . This unit was then transformed into the infantry "Linien-Infanteri-Regiment" in 1756, which later received the number 53rd. Despite having ended its Pandur history, that regiment kept its Pandur lineage alive through its
commemorative medals bearing Trenck's image wearing Pandur attire, until its disbandment as the 53rd Zagreb infantry regiment in January 1919. ==Legacy==