King's German Legion - History

History

After the occupation of Hanover by Napoleonic troops the Convention of Artlenburg, also called the Convention of the Elbe, was signed on 5 July 1803 and formally dissolved the Electorate of Hanover. Consequently, the Elector's army was disbanded. Many former Hanoverian officers and soldiers fled the French occupation of Hanover to Britain; George III, the deposed Elector of Hanover, was also King of the United Kingdom. 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 19 December 1803, Halkett's and von der Decken's levies were combined as a basis of a mixed corps (includes all arms: mounted, infantry, artillery) renamed the King's German Legion. The KGL infantry were quartered in Bexhill-on-Sea and the cavalry in Weymouth, Dorset. Some units were involved in a street fight in Tullamore, Ireland with a British Light infantry unit in the so called Battle of Tullamore. The number of Officers and Other Ranks grew over time to approximately 14,000, but during the 13 years of its existence, close to 28,000 men served in the Legion at one time or another. It saw active service as an integral part of the British Army from 1805–1816, when its units were disbanded.