The 8th Line Battalion of the

King's German Legion The King's German Legion (KGL; german: Des Königs Deutsche Legion, semantically erroneous obsolete German variations are , , ) was a British Army unit of mostly expatriated German personnel during the period 1803–16. The legion achieved th ...

was a Hanoverian unit in British service during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

Chronology

The unit was raised during the year 1806 as the last out of eight line battalions that the Legion levied in total. It was only half completed when the British Expeditionary force withdrew from Hanover early 1806 and subsequently filled up as recruits became available. The battalion was initially brigaded with the

7th Line Battalion 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mythology, s ...

of the Legion. It served from 1805 until 1816 in Ireland, Walcheren, Copenhagen, Sicily, Peninsula and Belgium. It took part in the Northern Italian campaign, resulting in the capture of Genoa in April 1814. On 18 June 1815, during the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

, the battalion was nearly wiped out during the fighting in the centre of Wellington's battle line and lost a flag.

Uniforms and equipment

Uniform and Equipment of the Legion's Line battalions was of standard British pattern of the time. In accord it was repeatedly revised during the years from 1803 until 1815. In general it was composed of: *Red uniform with dark blue cuffs and collar, laced with regimental lace *Grey legwear *White leather equipment with black leather pouch. *

Brown Bess "Brown Bess" is a nickname of uncertain origin for the British Army's muzzle-loading smoothbore flintlock Land Pattern Musket and its derivatives. The musket design remained in use for over a hundred years with many incremental changes in its ...

musket *Stovepipe

shako A shako (, , or ) is a tall, cylindrical military cap, usually with a visor, and sometimes tapered at the top. It is usually adorned with an ornamental plate or badge on the front, metallic or otherwise; and often has a feather, plume (see hackle) ...

, later Belgic shako The principal distinction from British units was that the backpack was of dark blue colour rather than black.

References

Bibliography

* Beamish, N. Ludlow. ''History of the King's German Legion'' vol 1,1832 reprint Naval and Military Press, 1997 * Beamish, N. Ludlow. ''History of the King's German Legion'' vol 2,1832 reprint Naval and Military Press, 1997 * Chappell, Mike. ''The King's German Legion (1) 1803–1812.'' Botley, Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2000. . * Chappell, Mike. ''The King's German Legion (2) 1812–1815.'' Botley, Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2000. . * King's German Legion, 8th Line Battalion King's German Legion Military units and formations established in 1803 Military units and formations disestablished in 1816 {{UK-mil-unit-stub