The King’s German legion

In 1803, the short lived Peace of Amiens came to an end when the French, under Napoleon, declared war on Great Britain.  The Napoleonic War was to last until 1814 when Napoleon was finally defeated by Allied armies including the Austrians, Russians, Prussians and British and abdicated.   Following the French occupation of Hanover, many officers and soldiers fled to Britain to continue the fight against the King’s enemies.  As King George III was also the Elector of Hanover, they were incorporated into the British Army.   Initially formed as a Light Infantry Battalion it  rapidly expanded to that which became known as the King’s German Legion. Eventually, the Legion had 5 regiments of cavalry, 2 Battalions of Light and 8 of Line Infantry as well as 16 Companies of Artillery and  8 of Engineers as well as a nucleus of a staff .

The KGL served with distinction in most of the European campaigns of the Napoleonic War and were known for their steadiness in battle and their good discipline.

The tables below illustrate the expansion of the KGL, both in the number of units and their size.

Table 1:  Units of the King’s German Legion

	1803	1805	1808	1810	1811	1812	1813	1814	1815
Staff
Brigade Majors		4	8	9	8	8	7	7	6
Military Commissaries			1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Hospital staff
Dep Insp of Hospitals			1	1
Purveyor			1	1
Dep Purveyor			1	1
Surgeons			3	3
Apothecary			1	1
Depot Companies		1	1	1	1	1	1
Garrison Companies			1	1	1	1	1
Cavalry	1803	1805	1808	1810	1811	1812	1813	1814	1815
Cavalry Regt		1
Regt of Dragoons			2	2	2	2	2
Hussars								3	3
Light Dragoons		1	3	3	3	3	3	2	2
Infantry	1803	1805	1808	1810	1811	1812	1813	1814	1815
Light Infantry Battalions	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Line Infantry Battalions		4	8	8	8	8	8	8	8
Engineer Companies		2	3	3	4	6	7	8	8
Artillery Companies		7	12	12	12	12	12	14	16

 

Table 2: Officer Establishment of the Units of The King’s German Legion 1805-1815

 

	1805	1808	1810	1811	1812	1813	1814	1815
Cavalry
Cavalry Regiment
Col Commandant	1
Lt Col
Maj	1
Capt	7
Lt	9
Cornet	9
Regt of Dragoons	1805	1808	1810	1811	1812	1813	1814	1815
Col Commandant		1	1	1	1	1
Lt Col		1	1	1	1	1
Maj		2	2	2	2	2
Capt		8	8	8	8	11
Lt		9	9	9	9	10
Cornet		8	8	7	7-8	7
Light Dragoons	1805	1808	1810	1811	1812	1813	1814	1815
Col Commandant	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Lt Col	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Maj	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Capt	10	8	8	8	8-10	10	10	10
Lt	9	8-9	9	9	8-10	11	11	11
Cornet	1	6-8	8	8	8-10	10	10	10
Hussars	1805	1808	1810	1811	1812	1813	1814	1815
Col Commandant							1	1
Lt Col							1	1
Maj							2	2
Capt							10-12	10-12
Lt							11-13	11-13
Cornet							8-12	9-13
Infantry	1805	1808	1810	1811	1812	1813	1814	1815
Light Infantry Battalions
Col Commandant	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Lt Col		1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Maj	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Capt	6-7	8	8	8	8	10	10	10
Lt	6-8	17-18	17	16-17	16-17	21	21	21
Ensign	6-7	7-8	8	8-9	7-8	8	10	10
Line Infantry Battalions	1805	1808	1810	1811	1812	1813	1814	1815
Col Commandant	0-1	0-1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Lt Col	0-1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Maj	1-2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Capt	8	8	8	8	8	10	10	10
Lt	8	16	17	17	17	21	21	21
Ensign	8	8	8	8	6-9	4-6	4-6	10