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When Napoléon imposed the Convention of Artlenburg (Convention of the Elbe) on July 5, 1803 the Kurfürstentum Hannover (Electorate of Hanover) was disbanded and its army dissolved. Many former Hanoverian officers and soldiers fled the French occupation to Britain, as George, Elector of Hanover, was also King of the United Kingdom, as George III.
The same year, Major Colin Halkett and Colonel Johann Friedrich von der Decken were issued warrants to raise a corps of light infantry, to be named "The King's German Regiment". On December 19, 1803, Halkett's and von der Decken's levies were combined as a fundament of a corps of all arms to be formed and named the King's German Legion. Because the Legion was considered loyal it was the only foreign regiment stationed on the British mainland at the time.
The number of officers and rankers grew over time to around 14,000, but during the 13 years of its existence, about 28,000 men served in the Legion. The Legion saw active service as part of the British Army from 1805 until 1816, when its units were disbanded.
ORGANISATION
Cavalry
1st Regiment of Dragoons (1804–1812, red dolman)
changed into: 1st Regiment of Light Dragoons (1812–1816, blue dolman)
2nd Regiment of Dragoons (1805–1812, red dolman)
changed into: 2nd Regiment of Light Dragoons (1812–1816, blue dolman)
1st Regiment of Hussars
2nd Regiment of Hussars
3rd Regiment of Hussars
Infantry
1st Light Infantry Battalion
2nd Light Infantry Battalion
1st Line Battalion
2nd Line Battalion
3rd Line Battalion
4th Line Battalion
5th Line Battalion
6th Line Battalion
7th Line Battalion
8th Line Battalion
Artillery and engineers
King's German Artillery
2 horse batteries
3 foot batteries
King's German Engineers
The Legion was stationed in Bexhill on Sea and Weymouth. Later some of them were sent to Ireland.
Campaigns
The Legion never fought as a unit, so it is difficult to follow the various battalions in their campaigns.
The Legion's units fought in battles in Hanover, Pomerania, Copenhagen and Walcheren, the Peninsula under General Sir John Moore; and the retreat to Corunna; the Peninsula under the Duke of Wellington, including the battles of Busaco, Barrosa, Fuentes de Onoro, Albuera, Ciudad Rodrigo, Salamanca, Garcia Hernandez, Burgos, Vittoria, San Sebastian, Nivelles, Sicily and the eastern parts of Spain, Northern Germany and Göhrde.
At the Battle of Waterloo, the 2nd Light Battalion—with members of the 1st Light Battalion and the 5th Line Battalion—famously defended "La Haye Sainte" until they ran out of ammunition.
The Legion was known for their excellence and their fighting ability. The cavalry was reputed to be among the best in the British army. According to the historian Alessandro Barbero, the Legion "had such a high degree of professionalism that it was considered equal in every way to the best British units." Barbero, p. 33. After the victory at Waterloo, the Electorate of Hanover was re-founded as Kingdom of Hanover. However, the army of Hanover had been reconstituted even before the final battle, so that there were two Hanoverian armies in existence.
In 1816 the Legion was dissolved and some officers and men were integrated into the new Hanoverian army—but not all, which led to much hardship, especially for the lower ranks.
Memorials
Plaque on the outside wall of 'La Haye Sainte'
Monument opposite 'La Haye Sainte' commemorating the dead of the KGL
Hanover - the Waterloo-column
Osnabrück - the 'Heger-Tor' formerly called 'the Waterloo - Tor' commemorating the officers and soldiers of the KGL
From,Wikipedia
Dragoon is the traditional name for a soldier trained to fight on foot but transport himself on horseback, in use especially during the 17th and early 18th centuries
History and use
The name derives probably from the dragoon's primary weapon, a carbine or short musket called the dragon. Dragon carbines are said to have been so-called because they "breathed fire" — a reference to the flames carbines emitted when fired. According to another theory, the name originated from the title of Dragon given to Guillaume de Gomiécourt, an 11th century French lord, by King Henry I of France, and from his son Raoul Dragon de Gomiécourt, who trained a group of soldiers to fight both from horse and foot.
Creation of dragoons, although still not bearing that name, is now generally credited to Piero Strozzi, an Italian condottiero who fought for the King of France in the early 16th century.
Dragoons were organized not in squadrons or troops like the cavalry, but in companies like the foot soldier, and their officers and non-commissioned officers bore infantry ranks. The flexibility of mounted infantry made dragoons a useful arm, especially when employed for what would now be termed "internal security work" against smugglers or civil unrest. The dragoon regiments were also cheaper to recruit and maintain than the notoriously expensive regiments of cavalry. When in the 17th century Gustav II Adolf introduced dragoons into the Swedish Army, he provided them with a sabre, an axe and a matchlock musket (flintlocks from 1635): many of the European armies henceforth imitated this all-purpose set of weaponry.
However, dragoons were at a disadvantage when engaged against true cavalry, and constantly sought to raise their horsemanship, armament and social status to the levels of the cavalry regiments. "Dragoon" came to refer to medium cavalry by the time of the early wars of Frederick the Great, in the 1740s.
The term "to dragoon" dates from the earlier mounted infantry period. Dragoons were the most efficient and economical form of cavalry for police work and counter guerrilla warfare.
From the late 18th century, some regiments started to be designated as Light Dragoons, who rode faster and lighter horses and carried lighter sabres. They were trained in reconnaissance, skirmishing and other work requiring speed. In the early 19th century, the British Light Dragoon regiments converted to lancers and hussars. Between 1881 and 1910 all Russian cavalry other than Cossacks and Imperial Guard units were designated as dragoons, reflecting an emphasis on dismounted action in their training.
In 1914 there were still dragoon regiments in the British, French, German, Russian, Austro-Hungarian, Swedish, Danish and Spanish armies. Their uniforms varied greatly, lacking the characteristic features of hussar or lancer regiments. There were occasional reminders of the mounted infantry origins of this class of soldier. Thus the dragoon regiments of the Imperial German Army wore the pickelhaube (spiked helmet) of the same design as those of the infantry and the British dragoons wore scarlet tunics (hussars and all but one of the lancer regiments wore dark blue). In other respects however dragoons had adopted the same tactics, roles and equipment as other branches of the cavalry and the distinction had become simply one of traditional titles.
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