The Hanseatic Legion was a military unit, first formed of a group of citizens from

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. They had met in 1813 on the instigation of General

Friedrich Karl von Tettenborn Friedrich Karl Freiherr von Tettenborn (19 February 1778, in County of Sponheim – 9 December 1845, in Vienna) was a famous cavalry commander in the Austrian and Russian armies during the Napoleonic Wars. Life Tettenborn first studied at the Wa ...

, in order to fight in the

War of the Sixth Coalition In the War of the Sixth Coalition (March 1813 – May 1814), sometimes known in Germany as the Wars of Liberation, a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, and a number of German States defeated F ...

. This association of volunteers was joined immediately by volunteers from Hamburg's Hanseatic sister cities

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

and

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...

. The Legion should not be confused with the '' Hamburger Bürgermilitär'' (Hamburg Citizen Militia). During their time of coexistence, the militia restricted itself to ejecting the French garrisons stationed in Hamburg and the other two

Hanseatic cities The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=German language, Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Norther ...

, whereas the ''Legion'' also participated in the rest of the campaign.

History

The Legion defended the Hanseatic cities against

Davout Louis-Nicolas d'Avout (10 May 1770 – 1 June 1823), better known as Davout, 1st Duke of Auerstaedt, 1st Prince of Eckmühl, was a French military commander and Marshal of the Empire who served during both the French Revolutionary Wars and th ...

's and

Vandamme Vandamme is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alexandre Vandamme (born 1962), Belgian businessman * Dominique Vandamme (1770–1830), French military officer * George Vandamme, Belgian wheelchair racer * Jamaïque Vandamme (born ...

's troops until Tettenborn completed the raising of their sieges in the night of 29/30 May 1813. The Legion and the Hanseatischen Bürgergarden went with Count Tettenborn and in

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; nds, label=Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin ...

joined the Allied northern army, later taking part in the fighting in the area around Mecklenburg and in parts of the

Duchy of Schleswig The Duchy of Schleswig ( da, Hertugdømmet Slesvig; german: Herzogtum Schleswig; nds, Hartogdom Sleswig; frr, Härtochduum Slaswik) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km ( ...

. The members of the Legion returned to Bremen, Hamburg and Lübeck on 30 June 1814, and all received the "Kriegsdenkmedaille der drei Hansestädte" (War-Medal of the three Hanseatic-League cities) in 1815.

Sources

*Perthes: W. Perthes Leben. Bd. 1 Gotha (1892) *Heilwig Prosch: Die Hanseatische Legion 1815 nach Senatsakten und Familienbriefen. In: Der Wagen 1960, S. 66–77.
Uniforms of the Legion

External links

Hanseatic Cities German military units and formations of the Napoleonic Wars History of Bremen (city) 19th century in Hamburg History of Lübeck Military of Hamburg Military units and formations established in 1813 1813 establishments in Germany {{Germany-hist-stub

History

See also

Sources

External links