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Volume II
• Chapter XVII by N. Ludlow Beamish |
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The Army of the Netherlands
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KGL Soldiers In accordance with the arrangement which had been made by the allied sovereigns at the treaty of Paris, Napoleon embarked for his reduced sovereignty of the island of Elba, on the 28th of April; a treaty of peace was ratified between France and the allied powers on the 30th of the following month, and on the 20th of June, peace was proclaimed in London. The claims of the several powers were now to be discussed, and for that purpose a congress assembled at Vienna in the month of October. Thither the victorious British chief, now raised to the dignity of Duke, repaired as Minister Plenipotentiary from Great Britain. Meantime the several armies broke up to return to their respective countries, and a happy termination to the sanguinary and protracted struggle seemed at length to have arrived. The greater part of the British infantry embarked at Bordeaux in the month of July, but the cavalry marched to the northern parts, from whence they could be conveyed to England without crossing the bay of Biscay. The cavalry and artillery train of the King’s German Legion, however, were sent to Flanders, where also strong garrisons of English troops were left. The infantry of the legion had been increased by the arrival from Catalonia of the fourth line battalion, and the whole embarked for England about the middle of July. The restoration of Louis XVIII. to the throne of his ancestors, was not viewed with such feelings throughout France as gave much prospect of permanent tranquillity. The military class, which had advanced to a high degree of reputation under the victorious guidance of the fallen Emperor, became restless and discontented under the tame dynasty of the pious Bourbon, and panted for the excitement and glory of war. Other classes saw in the proceedings of the legislature a design to restore the old monarchical principles of government; the factious aggravated these feelings, and thus a mass of secret dissension and discontent accumulated and became diffused throughout the kingdom. In England all was joyful anticipation of the blessings of peace; and the brave soldiers who had so much contributed to procure the desired result, were received with that warmth and admiration which their noble bearing deserved. The Prince Regent, in order to mark in as especial manner His Royal Highness’s sense of the "valour, perseverance and devotion of His Majesty’s forces during the long and arduous contest in which they had been engaged," issued a proclamation on the 2nd of January extending the order of the Bath. By this arrangement the order was formed into three classes consisting of knights grand crosses, knights commanders, and knights companions, the two first ranks bearing the title of knighthood. The distinction of knight commander was conferred upon the following officers of the King’s German Legion:
Six months had nearly elapsed since the congress assembled at Vienna, had commenced its proceedings, yet the various interests were found so difficult to arrange, that no important result had been announced; but suddenly an event occurred which united the opinions and concentrated the energies of all the plenipotentiaries. The sovereign of Elba, notwithstanding the supervision of English and French cruizers, had contrived to maintain a communication with France, and now availing himself of the discontented state of that country, and the protracted discussions at Vienna - but chiefly relying on the personal attachment of the military - he determined upon making an effort to recover his lost empire; and embarking at Porto Ferrajo on the 26th of February, with about a thousand men, he landed at Cannes on the 1st of March. No opposition was offered to his progress; on the 7th, reaching Grenoble, he was joined by Labedoyére with two battalions, and obtained possession of a train of artillery; on the 9th he entered Lyons amid cries of Vive l’Empereur; Macon, Chalons, Dijon and almost all Burgundy now acknowledged him as Emperor, and halting at Lyons, he issued decrees for the arrangement of his new administration. Ney had been sent forward by the king, with the troops of the neighbouring garrisons to oppose Napoleon’s progress, and confidently declared that he would bring him back a prisoner; but the marshal, as well as his soldiers went over to their former chief; the remaining army of the Bourbons soon followed their example, and on the 20th - the king having precipitately retreated to Lille in the preceding night - Buonaparte made his triumphant entry into the French capital! The news of this event reached the congress of Vienna in the middle of their deliberations, and tended immediately to concentrate their attention upon a subject of such paramount importance to the whole of Europe. The representatives of the allied sovereigns issued a manifesto on the 13th of March, declaring that by breaking the convention which established him in the island of Elba, Buonaparte had "destroyed the only legal title on which his existence depended, had deprived himself of the protection of the law, and manifested to the universe that there could be neither peace or truce with him." By a subsequent document signed on the 25th of March, the allied sovereigns declared themselves resolved to maintain entire the treaty of Paris, and bound themselves each to keep constantly in the field a force of one hundred and fifty thousand men, "and not to lay down their arms but by common consent, nor until Buonaparte shall have been rendered absolutely unable to create disturbance, and to renew his attempts for possessing himself of the supreme power in France." The exertions of the different states fully correspond with the spirit of their declaration. Troops from the most distant parts of the Austrian dominions began their march towards the Rhine on the 2nd of April, the Russians scarcely arrived on their frontier, traversed back the whole of Germany; the Prussians assembled to the number of one hundred and twenty-three thousand men and one hundred and thirty-four pieces of cannon; Bavaria, Baden, and the minor states of Germany made similar preparations, and reinforcements from England were rapidly added to the British force in Belgium. These preparations were carried on with such activity, that towards the end of May, about five hundred thousand men had assembled on the French frontier. According to the original agreement entered into between the British government and the King’s German Legion, their period of service had expired, and the whole might have returned to their homes six months after the treaty of Paris; however very few availed themselves of this position, and a new engagement for six months was voluntarily offered by the legion, and accepted by the British government, in the month of March. This brought nearly the whole of the German legion to Flanders; for the third and eighth line battalions had arrived there from the Mediterranean in the preceding October; those which had landed at Portsmouth from France in July, were soon after re-shipped for Ostend, and before the opening of the campaign of 1815, the following regiments and batteries of this corps were assembled in the Netherlands: ENGINEERS
ARTILLERY
CAVALRY
INFANTRY
These troops were brigaded as follows: The batteries of major Kuhlmann, major Sympher, and captain Cleeves were attached to the first, second and third divisions respectively; the remaining companies of legion artillery, were employed to supply the deficiencies in the other batteries, as also to furnish some officers and non-commissioned officers to two new raised batteries of Hanoverian artillery. (The first and second companies of legion artillery, had been sent from England without horses or matériel, and were stationed in the fortresses under the command of lieutenant-colonel Bruckmann. From these companies, lieutenants Schulzen, Hugo, Heise, Haardt, and Lewis Heise were transferred to the Hanoverian artillery.) The latter were attached to the fourth and fifth divisions under the command of captains von Rettberg and Braun of the legion artillery, superintended by major Louis Heise of the same corps, and both these and the legion batteries were placed under the chief command of sir Julius Hartmann. The first and second dragoons of the legion were brigaded with the twenty-third English dragoons under major-general sir William von Dörnberg. The first hussars were brigaded with the tenth and eighteenth English hussars under major-general sir Hussey Vivian; the second hussars with the seventh and fifteenth under major-general sir Colquhoun Grant, and the third hussars were brigaded with the thirteenth dragoons under colonel sir Frederick von Arentschild. The two light battalions of the legion with the fifth and eighth line battalions under colonel von Ompteda, and placed in the third division commanded by sir Charles Alten, and the remaining line battalions formed the first German brigade under colonel du Plat, in the second division commanded by sir Henry Clinton.
The whole of the British, German and Belgian force, which was called the army of the Netherlands, and placed under the chief command of the duke of Wellington, amounted to seventy-five thousand men, of which about twelve thousand seven hundred were cavalry, and the artillery numbered about one hundred and sixteen guns (Batty gives the force of the English-German legion and Hanoverian artillery present at the battle of Waterloo at one hundred and eight guns; to these the two batteries of the duke of Brunswick’s corps have been added.); of these troops little more than thirty three thousand were English, and those principally young second battalions, many of the most efficient regiments having been sent to America; the German legion numbered seven thousand men with eighteen guns, and the remainder consisted of the troops of Brunswick, Nassau and Belgium, and the new raised Hanoverian levies. The latter consisted of a subsidiary corps of fourteen thousand men, including two regiments of cavalry and twelve guns, and a reserve corps of nine thousand men with one regiment of hussars; the subsidiary corps, which was principally composed of regular regiments, had been stationed in the Netherlands since the termination of hostilities in the preceding year, but the reserve corps, which was in the pay of Hanover, consisted chiefly of militia (landwehr) and had been rapidly organized in Hanover by general von der Decken, immediately previous to the opening of the campaign; several officers and non-commissioned officers of the legion were transferred for temporary duty to the new raised Hanoverian regiments, and the third and fourth Hanoverian brigades were commanded by colonel Hugh Halkett of the seventh, and colonel Best of the eighth line battalion of the legion. With the exception of the reserve, which remained under the orders of general von der Decken, and was not intended to be immediately employed in the field, the whole of the Hanoverian troops were placed under the command of sir Charles von Alten. (In consequence of the general inexperience of the officers and non-commissioned officers of the new levies, a proposition was made to the Hanoverian government by sir Charles Alten, suggesting that the new raised troops should be allowed to volunteer into the infantry regiments of the legion, according to the practise of the British government with regard to the militia. This proposition was declined, and it therefore, became necessary to make another arrangement, according to which the legion battalions, then consisting each of ten companies, were formed into six companies, and the supernumerary officers and non-commissioned officers transferred for temporary duty to the Hanoverian landwehr, chiefly to the battalions of the subsidiary corps; the captains of the legion thus removed, served as field officers; the subalterns took rank according to the dates of their commissions.) The entire army of the Netherlands was divided into two corps and a reserve; the first, under the prince of Orange, occupied Enghien, Braine le comte, Nivelles and Soignies; the second, under lord Hill, stood in Ath, Lens, Oudenarde, Grammont and the neighbourhood; the reserve was placed at Ghent, Brussels, and the adjacent places. The chief command of the whole allied cavalry was given to lieutenant-general the earl of Uxbridge; the immediate superintendence of the Hanoverian cavalry was entrusted to major-general Victor von Alten. ARMY OF THE NETHERLANDS Commanded by Field-Marshal, His Grace the Duke of Wellington – June 1815 CAVALRY 1st brigade – major-general lord Edward Somerset 2nd brigade – major-general sir William Ponsonby 3rd brigade – major-general sir William von Dörnberg 4th brigade – major-general sir Ormsby Vandeleur 5th brigade – major-general sir Colquhoun Grant 6th brigade – major-general sir Hussey Vivian 7th brigade – colonel sir Frederick von Arentschildt 1st Hanoverian brigade INFANTRY First Corps commanded by 1st division – major-general Cooke 1 battery. K.G. horse artillery - major Kuhlmann 1st brigade – major-general Maitland 2nd brigade – major-general Byng 3rd division – lieutenant-general sir Charles von Alten 1 battery royal horse artillery – major Lloyd 5th brigade – major-general sir C. Halkett K.G.L. 2nd brigade – colonel von Ompteda Hanoverian 1st brigade – major-general count Kielmansegge Belgians Second Corps – Lieutenant-General Lord Hill 2nd division – lieutenant-general sir Henry Clinton 1 battery, K.G. horse artillery – major Sympher 3rd brigade – major-general Adam K.G.L. 1st brigade – colonel du Plat Hanoverian 3rd brigade – colonel Halkett 4th division – lieutenant-general sir Chas. Colville 1 battery royal foot artillery - major Bromes 4th brigade – colonel Mitchell 6th brigade – major-general Johnstone Hanoverian 6th brigade – major-general Lyon Belgians – Prince Frederick of Orange RESERVE 1 battery royal foot artillery – major Rogers 5th division – lieutenant-general sir Thomas Picton 8th brigade – major-general sir James Kempt 9th brigade – major-general sir Denis Pack Hanoverian 5th brigade – colonel von Vincke 6th division 1 battery royal foot artillery – major Unett 10th brigade – major-general Lambert Hanoverian 4th brigade – colonel Best 7th brigade – major-general M’Kenzie 8th brigade RESERVE ARTILLERY Three batteries royal foot artillery BRUNSWICK CORPS Commanded by His Serene Highness the duke of Brunswick Artillery – major Mahn Cavalry Advanced guard – major von Rauschenplatt Light brigade – lieutenant-colonel von Buttlar Line brigade – lieutenant-colonel von Specht HANOVERIAN RESERVE CORPS Lieutenant-General von der Decken Cavalry Cumberland hussars – lieutenant-colonel von Hacke Infantry 1st brigade – lieutenant-colonel von Bennigsen, 2nd brigade – lieutenant-colonel von Beaulieu 3rd brigade – lieutenant-colonel von Bülow 4th brigade – lieutenant-colonel von Bodecker
from: History of the King's German Legion, Volume 2, London 1832 - 1837, Pages 314 - 324 and 465 - 469 © 2003 Michael-Andreas Tänzer |
