43 OSPREY· MEN-AT-ARMS SERIES

:Afr!poleon'sgermanufllies (2)

:Ni!Jsau and r9ldenburg

Text by

OTTO YO. I PIYKA

Colour plates by

G. A. EMBLETO

~IE:'\-AT-AR~IS SERIES

EDITOR: t\IARTIN WIXDRO\\"

:J\((1}oleon'sgerman ~llies (2)

:Hr!Jsau and eldenburg

T,xl by OTI"O \'0:\ PIVKA

Colour plaits by G. A. EMBLETO:\T

OSPREY PUBLISHING LIMITED

Publi~hed ill r~Ji6 h}O~prt·~ I'uhli~hilll,; LId59 Gros,ellorSlft'l"1. I.oudoll \\'1 X 91).\I Cflp}ri~11l19i(iO'I)I'I" Puhli_hiu!{l.ldRepriIlH'CjI 9!l1

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:J\&}oleolls qermall ruIll/ies (2) : ~J(llIalltl (9!dellbltrg

11le (9rgfl/lizfltioll 0/J'..0,SflllS 71YJops 1806-1815

In 1806 Nassau consisted of twin duchies ­~assau-Usingcn and Nassau Wei Iburg. Theselands were the rutl1pofthcducal possessions whichexisted up to thai point; those lands on the westbank of the Rhine and many of those on the castbank having been taken by France or by thenewly founded Grand Duchy of Berg (sec.Vapoleon's German Allies (I) in this series). Amonglhe lost provinces were Nassau-Saarbruckcn and~assau-Oranicn. As compensation for theselosses, Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of NassauWcilbllfg received the districts of Limburg andEhrcnbrcitslcin (opposite Koblcnz 011 the RhineMoselle junction). It was traditional under theold Holy Roman Empire of German Nations thatthe various states of 1\assau banded together 10

provide part of the infantry regiment knowll asth~ 'ObelThcinisehes Kreisregimellt' together";th the troops of the micro-statcs Hohenzollcrn

igmaringen, Hohcnzollcrn-Hechingcn, Isen­burg, Lichtenstein and von der Leyen.

Prince Carl Wilhelm of Nassau Usingen wascompensated for his tcrritoriallosses by part of thelands of the old Electorate of Mainz including thedistricts of Konigstcin, Croncnbcrg, H6chst,Hochheim, Castel, Eltvillc and Riidesheim, theold Cologne Electoratc districts of Linz andDeutz, and the old Hessen Kassel district ofBraubach. These new territories each broughtwith them smaller or larger bodies of troops ofvarying states of efficiency and the composition ofthe four infantry batlations which the unitedhouses or Nassau now (1803) raised was asfollows:

NOSJ(//I US;lIgmlsi (lLib) B%ilton: Based 011 one old company inWiC'Sbaclen..jtll lJo/lji!fan: Based on 01U' old company ill Bichrich.These IWO hal\aliOIlS lx-came the 1st NassauIllfanlcric-Rcgimclll in r>.lay ISoH

Baron Co..nod Rudolph yon Schi.f!'~r, Olajo...p;~n~nol andcOOlD1andu of !.he Nusa.. bripde in Spai... (Thi. portnoil.how. un.iforn> of a li~ulV)a"l_g~n~nol in Ihe army of theG......d Duchy of Baden, 10 which ...,rvic~ h~ lra.n.ferred in,8'3.) Of Swedish e.t....ction, von Schiff"r wall born alHagen-Ollen, Hanow:r, i .. '770. In '784 he lIerved i.. Ihe .othHanoy"ri.n Cavalry (Princ~ of Walu'.. Lighl Dragoon.. ),lran..ferri ..g 10 the ..~rvic~ of M.iru i.. '799> a. a captain inIhe .."wly_rai.ed Jag~rkorp•. Thi...nil was lake.. into Ihe..ervice ofNaH5au-U.;nllen in .lkY.land yon Schaffer relainedhis Ihe.. rank of major. The .... il bec:an>~ l.h~ 3rd U.iiller)Baltalion of Na.AU'. tiny army. On 28 May .l\o.f he wa..promOled lieulenanl..,olonel, lakinll comOland ofthe N......ubrigad~; rillinll 10 colonel On 17 Seplemlnr .806, h~ di..tinguished himself in Ihe ca"'F~ allain.1 PruHllia of Ihaly~ar.OnsJanuary.ao, he rea.ved Ihe c ......11 oflh~ ~on ofHonour, and a y~ar lal~r w.s promOled brigad;er'll~neral.

[n '808-9 he foullht in Spain and h"ld .... riO..1I lIlaffappoinl_Olent. under Marshal 1A.f"by~. H~ wa.. invalided hoRte toN....a .., handing over com.mand oflhe bripde to YOn Kru..~and l.kinll an appoinlRtent in Ihe war dqJartmenl afler hisrecoyery. He retired in ,833 and died in .8,]8. Th~ BadenuniforRt iII..., ....led is dark blu~ f.ced N:d wilh Ilold bultonlla ..dembroidery.

NflJ)(/1i IV,ilblirg2/1d !Ja{ailllJn: Carrisoll(,d in Wei Iburg.3rd (]ii,err) B(//flilhlll: Garrisoll('d in Deulz and Lillz.

Each infantry battalion had two threc.poundcr'regimelJtal cannon'. In May 1808 these twobattalions I)('came the ~md Nassau Infalllcrie­Regiment. 'l'here was also a company of garrisontroops in the Marxburg fortress.

On 17 ~'lay 1803 Fi-irst (Prince) FriedrichAugust succeeded to the throne of NassauUsingen and when, 011 16July 1806, the houscsof~ass.'\u joined ~apolcon's Confederalion of theRhine, Friedrich August became HerJ;og Duke"of Nass.... u and Fiirsl Friedrich Wilhelm of~assau Weilburg was confirmed as Prince ofi\assau. Friedrich Augusl was thus head of stateofi\assau and he was charged, undcr thc terms ofthe Ircaty of the Confederalion of the Rhine, withco-ordinalillg .... nd organising the militar) efforts

of all the tiny states prcviollsly mentioned as wellas those of Frankfurt, Arembcrg and Salm. Thisremained a pious hope. however; Frankfun re­maincd independellt until 1866 and Arembcrgand Salm untillBlo, when lhe}'were incorporatedinto Metropolitan France.

One unit was newly raised at the time of thet804 reorganisation of ~assau's lands: this was aregiment of Jiig~r ..:u 11~rd~ (mounted rincs orChasseurs a Cheval also often referred to as the'R~iund, Jiig,". Tlil' bas<.·s for this unit were tin)'groups of'Hussars' (really a type of police force)from the old territori<.'S of ;\'ass.Hl Usingen,Wildenburg and Hachenburg, and some men ofthe Austrian cuirassier regiment '~assau Weil­hurg' of which the Furst of .\'assau Wei Iburg wascolonel·iIH:hief (Chef), Initial strength was onecompany and their commander was RiltmeisterJohann Heinrich Ludwig \'on Bismark. late ofHano\'erian and ~lainzservice. Jn 1807 .\'apoJeon

The Duchy of assau and its neighbours 1806

,".(CoI""",,1

,L,n,

FRANCE

r- ..._ ....I I

I Ijr-..r--) .~ortlu"

(P'RINCIP,UlTY OF "')\ /-jNAlOECKl-....~_ .... / \

! (-) .W"'~kKINGOO...,.,;J I /

F,_enbefg. OJ:" J ,P-\..-We-STFP-\...

Major-Gnttral Au~sl von Kruse. So", .III Wi~badnt,

Nassau in 177!h he enle~ Ihe "erviu of Hano,·e.. as a fool

f:..:~ ;:N:;s~..:ttil'b..~I!n~a:: ::..:..~ti:.I:::'a:'p~:i::c:om...aood of the Weilb.."'ll: infanlry b.ttalio", lale.. Ihe 2ndBall.lion of N......•••806 COluins:nlll. By O.,lobe...806 hewa•• ma;o.. ; he fouShl well in Ih.t y",.r'. Pru••ian camp.i!"...d in Seplembe.. -So, .....e 10 I;e.. tenant...,ol""el. For IheSp...i.h .,.mpaiso he 0"S."i.ed ...d comm.nded Ih", 2ndNun.. Infantry R~ment,which look p.n in no lUll Ihan42 b.nle••nd .ki..m;.he. i.. th", P,,,,,inllul... W.o'. Promotiontocolon",1 c.me;n Decembe... 808, ."d he led th", brilJ.de.fte..yon Schiffe..'lI dep.rtu.... d ..e 10 illn",,, ... In Novembe.. t813.acti"lJ on secrel ord",u from Ihe Duke ofN.IS..., he took hi.~ime"lo"",.. to th", Bril;.h .nd w•• rep.lri.led 10Ger....ny.

~I~:~;rs'~~~8i~~~:d~I~:u·:i~:;;~Dm:J~~::~~I:~:a::f.ntry resimenl" wu fru.I....ted by Ihe "peed of milil.ryevent••nd "on Kru.e look. polIllion on Wellinston·.. "Iaff.He relired f..om Nunu'. milit.ry "e.."ice in 1837 .nd diedin J.nu.ry ,148. Hi. deCo..allon. Included the Gr.nd CrolSwilh Diamond. of the Imperl.1 Ru."I.n Order of St Anne,th .. Lesion of Honou.., N••••u·••n"e.. W.le..loo Med.l, .ndthe inllllJni. of. KnilJhl of th.. Roy.1 N..th..rlands Milil.ryWillems.Orde...

demanded that a light cavalry regiment beraised as pan of Nassau's contingent for the Con·federation of the Rhine and the Rei/ende Jagerwere expanded intoa regiment Oflwoscluadrons.

Drill, discipline and distinctions of rank ofthese new forces wefe after the Austrian modelwhich was introduced on 7Julle 1803, but in 1810these all gan· way to the then curren I French armyregulations and rank hadgt·s. Each of the four

battalions raised in 1803 had fOUf companies eachof four platoons which again divided into twosections. A company was commanded by a cap­tain (Hauptmann) and had three onlcers and [37men; thc whole battalion had fifteen officers and563 men. Line of bntlk wns two rnnks deep, thetallest mcn being on the flanks, the smallest in themiddlc. Recruiting was by a type of conscriptionand by the enlistment of \·ollinteers. In ~'Iarch

1808 each battalion was reorganised illlo fjyecompanies. The second reorganisation of July1808 produced two inr."lntry regiments each of twObaltalions each ofone grenadier. four fusilier andone yoltigeur company.

The new 1st Regimellt was commanded by

~:ikr:~f:..~r;~.,?ne;X~::e;:idH;;'::I:~I~~":~du:~::':d7:::.nd th., decoralions include Ihe Roy.1 Netherl.nds Milit.ryWiII.,ms.Order 4th CI.lIII, th .. Walertoo Medal, .nd 111... 25ye.I"!II' service ...ed.l. A.lefeld w.. 00.... in '18g i.. Ih.. Rhine­I.nd P.I.tin.I." .nd w•• .,omm;••ion..d .01 olli.,,,,r in Ih..

r5~~r€E:::~:~~;I:~~:;~0:~E~:fe:!::~~:2nd Battalion. Afl",r fillht;nll in Ihe 1806 c.mp.;!!" he Iran5­rerred in spmll .ao, to the ," N.ssau W.nlry R~menlwh...... , as a li.,ul"",anl, h.. look part in Ihe c.mpai!" a!!"inSI

~::~~~be:~7..:'::;~~~~orSlt~~~;d:;'~:I'i:ho}8~..':."":::~lal.,r that y.,.r, promol..d c.pl.IIl, h.. took comm.Dd ofLb..I.t G ......adier Comp...y. Afte.- hb r..pmeol waS dlsarm..dby the Fren.,h in B.rc.,lon. on 22. Dt:ce...ber .8'3 h.. t:M:'Ilped...d ....de hi. way home. He foullhl .1 W.terloo, ...d btercommaJIded the 'Zlld N.s...u Inrallfry Res:imeOI. He retiredin 18SO aad di..d .t W;ellhad~1l ;11 July 1856·

Oherst \'011 Pi;llnilZ :llld eOllsistl'd of: Ihe ~rena­

din compall) and lhn't· fusilin C'ompani("S of theold lsi B.lualion. and Ill(' li~hl compan} and onefllsilier company of lht' old 41h Ilallalion, Thercmailldl'r ()flhc rt'giml'llt was lI101Clr up with 11("\\

rrHuits.The n('\\ 1nd Rq,;iment "as rommanded b)

Obcrsllrutn:lnt \-on Kru'ie and romislcd of: lheold 2nd Baualion (I grelladirr and 4 fu~ilicr

companit : the old :ird 1l•.'H1alion 1 li~ht and Ifusilier companies: Olle fusilier C'ompan) of th(~

old 1st n.tll.llion: and Hilt' fllsilier coml}an~ of theold 4th llatt,lIion.

On 20 Augusl 1808 the 1nd Regiment mar('hedofl'for Sp.lin \\ here its losses \\el"(' 50 hi~h Ihall"OmOl"ecompaniesoflheuld tth n,ltl:tlion had 10 IX'SCIll oil' as rt,inforn'ml'lIts befon' Ihe end of til(')e'1I". TIlt.' lsi Rt."Rimt'nt now absodxd the con·tin~en1SoflSt:'llbur~ "91 men and the two houSt"Sof Hoh('n~ollern 19:~ llIel1 rOI" Sigmaringcn and97 mel1 for I(('ehingt'n . Arembcr1{, Salm. Lich.tCllslcin and \'on clt'r I.c\{·n paid a subsid\ 10

;'I\assau \\ho then l"aiscd the rClluircd manpo"crfor them.

This miliwl") consH,lIation of twO infantl")'n'gimenls and a lighl ca\alry reKimem \\as re·taint.-d ulltil ='ovemlX'r 1813 \\hell the IWO rulersofXassau kft Ihe Confederalion oflhe Rhine andjoil1t.-d th(' Allies against ~apokon. The 1St In·falliry Rq.;inwnt and Ihl' R~ilfndf Jag" weredisarmed and interllt.'d in Spain b) the French:the 2nd Illfantr) RCKiment \\ent twer to thenritish and \\as rcp'lIri'lIed to Nass;tu.

In till' upsurge of German nalionalism whichbloomed in IRI3 Na'iS:lll raised a 3rd Infantr)Rl'gimclll, a I.and\\chl" Inf:tntr) Rq,;imcnt Tel'·rilorial \"OIUlll('('rs) a J!igt'" ('.orps and a twenl)'.Iline batlaliun Slrong J,HllClslurm or HOll1e Guard.Tht' 3rd Infanlr)' Regiment was COllllll,mded b}Oberst \"on Steuben. the j!igcr ('.or"s by Obersl\"011 Winzingcr()(le. Tht.'<;l' (\\'0 reginlt.'nts and theI,andwdlr Inr.'lntry R('1{illwnt forllled a brigadecommandl'fl hy Oberst \'011 Bismarck,

In JUlie 1811, after the end of hostilities, theLuulwehr Regiment and Ihe j;u;er Corps "er('di~b;lIldt.·d, lilt' 3rd RI'Kiml'll! \\as I'(,duccd to acompall) and combin('d illlO the dqxH oflhe old1St Regiment, The R,"u1fd~ Jag" were nOIreraised.

With th(' coll'lIxe of tilt' COllft."(leration of theRhine in 1813 Iht, old principality of NassauOranil'1l was I"('crt';l\{'d and all Infillltl"Y Rt.'1{irnelltof Nassau Dr;wit'll of 1\\0 hattalions ;md aJ;i~er COmp;lll\ under Obt'rstkutnant vonSchalrner was fimued. Tht· ,J.igt'"r compan) wa~

allacllt'd 10 Obt'NI \"on Winzillger()(!t-'s JiigerCorp'i. tIl(' infantl'} regillll'nt opel"ated \\ith Ihe:\a au bri~de and in 1815 \\as in Dutch 'ien:ice.

ri,e 'D1lr/l)lol(9lllmbllrgillll,e :J\I!!!!0leollir"Wars

B~ a fortunate mixture of clt,\ er diplomaq andluck, Herzog Peler F,-jedrich I.udwig of Old("l1­burg managed 10 kcC!} his dllCh) Out of Ihe "arsof 1805 and 1806. ~apolroll pllrsuadcd him 10

join Ill(' C.onfcderalion oflhe Rhine by Ihe Treatyof Erfllrt on Ll OClOher 1808. The military con·tingent to b(' maint,tined b) tht'duch) \\.as SCI atan infantr\ batlalion or800 men in six companiesone Krenadier. four fusilier alld one voltigeul" .

On 13 Dccember IRIO Napoli-Oil abolishcd lheKingdoll1 of Holland. the Dudl)' of Oldenburg.Ihe old imperial d!i('S of Hamhurg, Bn'mcn andLubeck :Ind combin('(llhern ,alld pans of til(' oldEIC-CIOr.llt' of I-Iano\er, the Cnll1c1 Duchy ofn<.'rg,the Kingdom of Weslf:dia alld lhe Duchy ofAhrcmhl'l"gl inlO l\lelropolilan France,

TIII~ RUSSIAN CAMPAICN JIll:.!

On 28 February IHII (the day that OldenburgbecanU' part oL\letropolilan Fmnce) the militarycontingent of the duchy mardll'd orr to Osna­briirk to ('Iller Frcnch St'rvic(' a~ part of the 129thLine In/illllry R('~inll'llt, which drew its con·scripts from the 'f),pnrtnn~n's' of the Weser('Stuar\. Some oAkt'rs rcsi/{Il{'(1 their commis.sions ratht:r than ('nter Frellch st'rvice.) The 1stand 2ucl HattaliOIlS oftht.' 129th w('re hrought upto full str('ngth and then sent to ~Iaastricht.

wherc the 3rd Battalion was raised. The t\\OCOIll­plelf' battalions \\ere lhen ordt,rt.'(l to march for

Napoleo... O""o..c, Mural and och rs of his scaff in Prussia.fc...r hill cri ..mphanl viaoriH.c J and AU ...rluiidc in .806.

Napoleon's <!.nlry into Berli.., 27 Oc:lobe.r .106. N~<!.r dPrussia beeft ao h..miJialed ..... Ibi.d.,.l A (_ .bon weor. .• (ter bOI.bJood~" ......1 P"...l.. offi«rs ....d osteatalw.jily.....rpftI~ Ihdr .word....he s'epa- oftIM FrftK:b <!.nlto-sa",tIM Prus.i•• army _ji shall<!.r~...d .tmoat ....ihil.l~.ndmucb o( Ihe cou-nlry wali under hanrh Fr<!...ch occ..palion,The da,,~ dllu... ofthe csp".J h.d 10 .... Ich •• Iheir hal~conqueror rode in •••1'1 I.hroulh Ihe 8nonde..hura G.I"',

Russia and )wC:lml' pal'! of lhl' loth Inf;U1II'yDivision of (;('ncl'al I.l'dl'll ill Mar~llal Ncv's IIICorps of l!ll' Dr(ll/{It ,Irml" The olher units'oftllt'III CorpS\\l'IT:

10th Inf(ln/~1' J)/r;J;on21'h LfHh(' rFrt.:nch li/ollil illf<IIIIl') n'j{imclll)

4 ballaliom26th Frl'llcl1 LillI' Inf;llItl'\ Rl~inll'lll

7-'IKI FN'IK"h LillI' Inf.mln Rl1{illWllIeach of 3 nr 1 I>.'lll:llions

129th Frl'mh I,inl' Inr.lllll") Rq{inwllt2 balt,llions

lSI PonUKlINl.' I~on Inf;lllin RI1tillwlIt3 1>''illalioll

Olle roIllP;Ul\ of Fn'lle!l filOl artilll'l)One COllllJ,lll) of Frrllt II hoNe aniUer)

f Itlr Injantry DInJ/on G.'nernl R,IIOUIThe RI~imelll IIhril'1l1111 Frl'lll:h Ijllt' Infallll"Y RI'HinWllI12111 Frt'lich I.illl' II1r.llltl) RqCillll'lIl9:ircl Frellch I.int, IlIf;lIIln Rl'KiIllClIl

('.lth of I or 5 h;lIIalionsDill' COlllpall) uf ItMI' and 0111' cornp:llly IIf hoI's!'<ll'1iltt'r)

25/11 "rf;lI/lr~ 1J;I';J;Otl orig:inall) 1111' CrO\\I1 I)riut'l' orWurttemlwrJ{,lal('rGelll'ral M:lr·eh,lud)

lSI & ,wd W(iruI'mh"I"K LiKhl IlIf:mlry HaltalionslSI & '.l11l1 Will't!\'mll\'I'g:JiiKl'l' (Rille) IlallaliUIlSlSI, .llld, 'I'h & hlh Wurtlt'lllhl'rg: Lillt' Infalll~

Rl'gillll'lIlS lalcr ,11'10 tltt' 7th \\'druelllocfR Infalll~Rt',:illlclil

.1rl;ff".,HrlrrlYFi\\: fiM'1 anillt'l") Ihllll'l"il'S

Total.lIlill,r..' 90 Rum indudillK jO Wurllernhc'~

pire ill 1\\0 hu",,' ;lIld IhrC'C" fOOl1>''iIlI'riN,

1.i~"1 Cnralry IJr;~nd, (;1'11(,,,11 J\lourk:f)Ith l:n'lIeh Ch.IJtS('III't, 11th Fn'I\clt HUS50II't, -IlhWurllf'llIhergJ,'':l'n

fjght Ctmnfry Brigade (General Beurmann)61h Frcnch Lancers, lsi & 2nd WurllcmhcrgChcv<lu-lCgers Regimenls

InJune 1812 the III Corps crossed the Russianborder and advanced lOwards Moscow. Bothbattalions of the 129th took part in the Baltle ofSmolensk on 17 August 1812 but it is nOt recordedthat they were presented with an eagle for theirvalour in this action, the first large battle of thecampaign. For the next three months, until mid­Novemher, the 129th remained in the Smolenskarea on garrison duties, maintaining securityalong Napoleon's ever-extending and vulnerablelines ofcommunication, which eventually reachedinto Moscow itselr.

As the starving mob that was all that was left ofthe Gralld Armer staggered back through Smolenskin the bitter winter of rR12, the 1St and 2ndBattalions of the 129th took part in the rear-guardaction at KalOwo on 18 Novrmber, an actionwhich ended badly lor the Frrnch. Ney's IIICorps now formed the rearguard of Napoleon'sarmy and it was ground to pieces by the relentlessRussi'lll troops in the bitler weather. Only ahandful of omcns and men of the 1291h survivedto reach their homeland again.

'rhe 3rd Battalion of the 129th also containedOlden burgers, amI its history in this dramaticyear is as follows. In ivlay 1812 it marched toBerlin and then on through Magdeburg andStettin to the Island of Rligen. In mid·Nuvemberit advanced eastwards to Danzig and remainedhere until after Christmas. By mid-January r8t3the 31"(1 Battalion joined thc remnants of the 1[[Corps in .Mulhausell, retiring: with them onKustrin and later to Spalldau, where they becamepart of the garrison of this fortn·ss. After Spandaucapitulated in .May 1813, the remnants of the 3rdBattalion marched back to their depot in Maas­tricht. As a rcsult ofa reorg-anisation of the Frenchinfantry the 129th was disbanded, the men beingused to bring the- 127th and 1281h regiments up tostre-ngth.

The dispossessed Duke of Oldenburg had lefthis duchy in 1811 and had taken refuge ill Russiawhere his second son was the Tsar Alexander'sbrother-in-law. Both his sons lought with distinc­tion on the R Llssian side in the campaigns of 181 2and IS t3. The duke himself was given the task by

the- Tsar of organising the 'Russian GermanLegion'. This formation consisted of infantry,cavalry and artillery and was recruited fromamong German prisoners of war in Russianhands; on 29 March 1815 it was transferred intoPrussian service, pl'Oviding raw material for the30th and 3tst Infantry Regiments, the 8th Ulans,the t8th ,md 19th Horse Artillery Ballcries andthe 19th Artillery Park Column.

On 27 f\ovember 1813 Petcr, Duke of Oldcn­burg, re-entered his duchy and set about re­raising his armed Itlrces. These consisled of 800lille infantrymen and 800 Landwehr (HomeGuard) organised in one regimcnt of two bat­talions each of foul' companies. There was a bandof twenty-one musicians, and each company hadthree drummers. Commander of' the regimentwas Oberst (Colonel) Wardcnhurg, who had beena brigadc commander in the Russian GermanLegion.

The regiment was mobilised for Ihe- HundredDays Campaign of 1815 and was att;H:hed to theNonh German Army of Gelleral Kldst vonNollendorr. This consisted of three infantrybrigades, the Oldenburg-('rs being pan of theAnhalt Thuringian Brigade of' Major Generalvon Egloflstein of Saxe Weimar. This hrigarkcontained a ballation each fl'Om Lippe Oetmold,Saxe \Veimal', Saxe Gotha, Saxe Anhalt, vVal­deck and Schwarzburg; in all eight ba1talionswith 6,800 men. A squadron of Hessian Dragoonswas later altached to the brigade'. The brigadewas used to blockade the small French fortress ofBouillon and, later, to besiege Sedan andMezieres.

ri,e 'Battle :Histor)' of

~satts TroopsTHE CAMPAIGNS OF 1806 AND IRO]

Under the terms of the treaty governing theConfederation of the Rhine (Rheinbund), whichNassau joined on 12 July 1806, the military con­tingellt which had to be- provided for scrvicc withthe French against Prussia, Saxony, Sweden,England and, later, Russia, was an inlil1ltry

.....---~~-,----

Since ,g6., ... OftCO rides u. luau, t~8" ..... B....deotb....Gale - d ... ~l::""I" waU ... the rorqroMH, buih by lbeCo..unuaia••, p .......,~I••1l accesa.

bri~adc offi)lIr battalions lind til(" )lip,1'f ;:11 11ml,(rnoUlllt'd rifk!'l) rcginwlll.

The infanlr)' mobiliS('d at the ('nd Ors('ptl"lllbn1806, and, til(" 3rd j;ig('r) B:H1alion was ,hCllordt:rcd to Frankfurt am Main 10 join MarshalALigercau'~ III Corps. This corps lOok part inthe b.'lltk orJcna on 14 OClober 1806, "hen' theI)russian Saxon arm) \\ as decisi\ d) crusht:d b)Ih(' French. The :\ass.'luJ:ig(·f ball.llion maretit'dthence "ilh lilt: III Corps 10 Ilt.-din and tht'nI;trthcr C"aSI to Dricscn and I)osen. follO\\ in~ up thedisorR3nisc.-d rcmnant5 of the once-proud Prussianarm). Th(") \\cre thCll dt'wehed tOt'M'Or! a ("011\'0)

ofprisolll'N bilck (0 ~Iagdcburg. \\lll'rl' the) met"I) a~aill \\ ith their comrades of tht' I t and ,;md~assau Intllun Ballalion \\ho arrived there 011

:16 OClober I~. The 4th Rallalioll n'main('d illHanau until 7 January 11107 and Ihl'1l marchl'(lfor Hedin wlwre it arriv('d on 15 F('hrual") andwa~ join('(1 1)\ the rest of the briKadr, who \\('reIIOW us('d on convoy dllti(:s to Spal1{lau, Magdc­hllrK, Stellin and W;trsaw. Th(' Nassau Jiigtr':l1Pim/r rCKiUll'l1t was nO\\ also mobilisl'd at :.strenKth of twO companirs. the 1St Comp:myKoinl.ttoBeriinin~lay1807. On 150ctobcr 1806the Nassau troops were ordered to adopt theVrench system of rank bad~es to "void confusion\\ilh their allil'S.

The :\assauers were no\\ attached to the \'111Corps of ~I:lrshal ~Iortier. who had Ihe task ofcov('l"ing the northern flank of Napolron' lines ofcommunication. The main French :trm,' wa01K'ratin~far 10 the east atf-linst the allied P;ussian

10

and RU'>$ian armit'S. Monier's t'nemies ill thenonh \\en' the S,\t:des and tlwil' English Alli('s inSwedish Pnlller:lI1ia, which th('n included StrOll.slind .lIld Ihe isl:lIId of Rugen.

Aftt'r a S\\ ('(I ish raid had c:wsed heal) I<xscs toIhe Frf'nch division of Cent'rill Cr.lIldjl·:IIl, thebulk of the :\assau infantry bdR••de was orderedto lean' Berlin and to reinforce the no\\ hakvFrench front. Obt"rst ,·on h.dfer comm.lI1dedthe bri'folde and the} reached Pasc,\ alk on 15f\pril IStJ7. joininf.:" ~Iarshal ~Iortier. who nowcommanded I'J.OOO men. ~ext dOl} he atutckcdIhe S\\{'(lish forn' under CCIll'ral .\nnfcld atFerdin::tndsholT, be:lt him soundl} and pushedhim back 011 f\nklam. Mania ~t'llt Ceneral Vallxwith Obt'I'st VOII Schiillcr's NasS:lUl'rsand the 72ndFrcnch I.ine Inf:lIltr}' ReKimt'llt to captureUCkt·rltlllll{It... which they did, takillg 500 $W{'(lesprisollt'l' and cnpturing thrce gUlls at the sa1lletime. On In April Mortier ('lIl('l"{'d into a ten-dayarmistiC'l' with tIlt' Swedes, and the ~assallers

were transfcrrt-d to reinforce tht· besieging forcearound Colberg, \\ here tht· famous PmssialloffiCl'r Lt.·Ulnant Schill led a spirited deft'IICl', alldin fact savt-d Prussi,,'s honour in the dark ,earsof 1806 and 1807. Th(' :'\assaut'rsonly ta)cd'herefor thrC'C day!> bcfort' lK'ing sent hack to Ik'rlin torejoin till' rest of tlwir brigadt·.

011 ·.I6June 1807. howc,·er.tht'2nd.3rd :lIld 'Ith~ass::lll inf."lnt'1 b:utalions \\crc back at Colbergwhich \\all still holding out. suppli("(1 with \\ .. rlikematcrials b) the Ro).11 Navy. (Unfonunately, til("British Board of Ordnance St'llt quantitil"S ofcannon barrels to Colberg, but no chassis to gowith them; ::tnd as there was no suitable \\(xxl inIhe to\\ II to make thesl' on the spot, tile harrelsjllsl lay abollt until lht' siege was raised!) TheNassauers IOl"llH.'d the 2nd nrif.:":lde of thc be­siegers. togt,ther \\ith the 3rtl French LightInfantl") Rt-gimcllt. The Treaty ofTilsil (gJuly1807) put an ('nd to hostilities betWt't'11 France andRussia and !lrussia.

S\\eden \\as till in thc ring a~aillsl ~apoleon.

ho\\e,'('r, and England sent 8,000 men of th('King's Cerman Legion sce 7 h, A:ing's G,rmtm/.Jgio" in this serie for details, to Ru~cn tosupport him. ~apoloon therefore sent ~Iarshal

Brune \\ ith 40.000 men to end this insolence.Among Brune's troops was the Nassau brigade

under Oberst von Schiitlcr which formed part ofGeneral Pi no's DivisIOn. The Swedes, howcvcr,now found themselvcs alone when the Englishtroops left them to take part in the attack onCopenhagen and the capture of the Danish fleet.The Swedish king, Gust:lV Adolf IV, withdrewinto Stralsund and thell across to the island ofRugen. ~Iarshal Brunc I(lllowni as quickly aspossible bIll on 7 Scpt(>mber 1807 peace wasagreed upon and Ihe French occupied Rugenunopposed. The :"assauers relurned home, ac­companied by se\'eral letters from their variouscommanders, praising their conduct in the paslcampaign,

THE IBog CA:\IPAIGN AGAINST ACSTRIA

By this time Ihe four infantry baltaliolls had beenreorganised into two regiments, The 2nd Regi­ment had marched ofrfor Spain logether wilh Ihe2nd Squadron of the Jiig~r,;:u Pf~rd~ regimelll inSeplember 1808. and the tst Infantr), Regimenlwas mobilised for tll(' Austrian campaign andbecame pan of General Dupas's Reservc Divisionof ~Iarshal Da\"oust's Corps at Donauworth onthe river Danuhe. Tht> division had the followingunits:

1St Regimelll of N"assau (or 3rd Rllt.'inbund-Rt.:gi-mCIll) Oberst Pollnitz

4th Rheinbulld-R(,gillll'lIl (Saxon DuclliL'S)sth Rheinbund-Rcginlt"lIl (Anhalt and I,ippc)6th Rheinbulld-R('gilllt'nl (Schwar7.bufg, Reuss

and Waldeck)

The Nassauers did nOt come into action duringthis campaign but wcre part of the garrison ofVienna from 22 Junc until 21 October r809.During this time, Napoleon gave the regimenttwo cannon (taken from Vienna's arsenal) andordered that a regimental artillery companyshould be formed. This step had already beentaken by the French infantry or the Army ofGermany before the bnttle of \\lagram - arc­markablc tactical 'gimmick' which had been~enerally abandoned ill nil European armies althe turn of the century. The Nass;1lI regimelll'sartillerymen received their own uniform, with redplumes, epauletles. collars and cuffs.

THE NASSAUERS IN THEPE;\ISINSULAR WAR 1808-13

While the 1St ~assall Regiment was in Austria.the 2nd Regiment and onc squadron of IheNassau 'Chasseurs:) Cheval' wcre mobilised andsent to Spain to take part in what still stands asoneofthe most vicious and mcrciless campaigns inmililary history. Therc were refreshing occasionsin these dark years when glimpses of chivalry litup the bllXldy gloom bllt gcnerally this war wasconducted bolh by Ihe Spanish and Portuguese onthe one side and the French, Italians and Poles onthe other mOSI German cOlllingellls retainedtheir code of conduCI and Iheir discipline underIhe eXlremely adverse conditions in these cam·

t...i~Bal.iUonYOO Tod~nwarth, ,806 - • Knol,,1 pl.I" illu...Iratin!': th" uniform wOrn in Ih" war of ,h.1 y~.r. Th" hi!,:hbta"k I~.lh~r h~lm"twilh y"Uow m"I.1 fu ....ilur" ....d Sluffedbla"k wool e~t;s _imilar, bUI nol id"olie.1 with th.t w ....byth~Da..... ria .. ca.... lryoflheday.Th~u.. iform i. inlh~u" 1Nanau dark II:~ bUI wilh red r..d ..S_ ....d yellow bultons....d pip"'S; Ih.. f..cinS_ "h....«ed 10 bl.d<. io .8og, ..ad Ih..hdmet_ w ........t_ ~1l"h""Sed for brown fur eolp.ek_ ofhussar patlern .1 I.hal I.irn~. The while trou,","" ...d 1I;&i1"""wer~ _u",mer w~.r; i .. wi..ler Srey breec.h~_ w~r" wOrn.....id.. black Sail"'" .....c:h.iaS to below Ib.. bee.

II

f ..ederiek Willia.... t.he 'BI.ek Dv.ke' o( B......swtek. Hi.r.the..,. P....... iaa marshal, ...... I,;lIed in 1106.1 Jnu.,_dfrederido; William .won 10 ••·.,..,e him. Hili hOlililily 10

~h~~~e~i':'~:~Ho~ll:efi~:~:~Ccr~ca." dietato... Whe.. A...tria eollap-.l he rouShl hi......yto IheNorth Se. eo-JOI and look hi. corps miD 8rililib servlee _Iii"'5; be ..... killed.1 QuaI"'"B......

pai~lls \\ilh mutual sadism and hrutalil)" It must1)(' mcntiOllcd Ihat ~apol('on's sySlem of forcinghis armies to li\"c ofr thc countries ill which thc)were fi~htil1g was a major factor ill generating,and maintaining, a high Icvd of hmtitit)' amongthe Spanish <lnd POI'\t1.1{lH'S(' popllt:l1ions againstthe occupa1ion lroops. \"'dlil1g101l'~ armies ex­pl'ril·Ilc<.'d llO such probkms ('UI1 \\hell in anl'IlCI1l) coul1tr) as in Francc in 1811 becausetht'} wcrc regular!) supplied h) a highly de­H'lopcd logi'ltic syslem \\ hich did 1I0t overslrail1lhc eCOllom\ of the coulltr) in which the) wereopcralin~.

B} Xowmocr 1808 the 2nd Rcgimelll ofX:tss.'H1 "ilh two batlaliolls and commanded b)Ol~.. rslkutllallt Li('utenant ("..olond \-on Kru~c

and Ihe Jnd Squadron of the Xass.:w Chasseurs aChe\·al reaclwd Burgos in nOrlhnn Spain and

12

AD 11.11......1e...typo"" it o(Geae...1Michel N."., '7'9-r815-.. oil paindna: by 8 e now m the N.lioooaJ M ..SC1I... atVe....mn. II lihow. Ney in h..na...... i(o..... , with hi. hal..powdered and q..e..ed. He enLi..led ia '''7 m the CA,..Jrywhich beca.me the s.e It .......d•. Hili impehoOlJhy .t JnL1Iimperilled hi. corps., b.. t Ioe dil'lm'....hed him_If in thep...,...11 whielo roUo~ '''aory, I.ltln, :J'.- priJlOllers_d7f» ' .......1 Err.."" _d Ma,deb..rw. A..rivi_,mle on tloe fieldo( E)"I&..,. feb.....ry IlIry,hi.. command liC'Aled the R....iandere.l; a..d all' eommaade.. o(lhe frflOeh ri,hl.1 friedla..don ." J..ne .107 he made .,...,..,1 eODI";b..lloa to Ihe vietary.

became pan of the 1\' Corp'> of Gell('ral Sebasti­ani. The infalllry r('gim('nt was in C('l\cntl Lc\'al's'.md Didsion:

1\/ IJril!lUlf Oberst VOll Porbn"k (B:ukll) (killed at thchaltll' ofTata\Tra Oil 28July IHI'!»):.11111 ~.I·.sau luranlry Rt'gimclIl

2IMtl •• lionsph Rldt'n Inf:lI1try Rt.'gilllelll

:l h.lllaliOlisOnt.· h•• lltT\ oflladt'll fOOl arlilkn

6 KUIl<;

2n4 Hru:atff General Chasse HollandInfinltr. RCKimt'llt 'HoI];md" fmm 1810 Iht· 1:.I3rd·Frt.'l1eh· I.ill(· Inrantry Regiment

J IMllalionsOnt' t.'tullpan) ofDuteh sappcn and mill('n011(" DUlch horse artillen b.-men

6 KI"l~ .

Th.. Baul.. of Talav..ra, 28 July .80g - III.. confusioa of aNapoleonic baltl., i" w ..11 coav..yed by Ih.. aO'1;SI ofthi. se......,which from Ih.. prolif..ratio.. ofSp....i.h u..it• ..,.,01. 10 .howIh.. soulb..rn ....d ofW..llinfl:I01I'.Ii.n.., near Tal.v..", 10Wl! oa

:=1~7.:.;·i:~I,:'~:':':'j';;;:II~:..of:"~I;::r::':St;'::~Fr....c1.; coalills..n1Ji fron> Na."au, Badea, Ikr«, WKlf.lia...d HHSCIl-Darm"tadl suff..red beavily. A lilll.,.o th....ort.h,

:"'lli:..I~;~t~on~.~:~~~::," .?r'"-::....K..:;~;"'c':~~:IIS ~:~~(N."on.t Arm-, "'.......m)

.1rd Ilr;Knd, Gelleral Grandjean Francl')I-ll'<.st'n Darmstadt Inr,lIltry Rl'gimelll ·Gros.~ undErllprinz'

'1 hallaliollSIn!;llllry Rq~i1l1cnl or Frcnkfun (Obersllcutnantvon Welsch)

I ballalionParisian Guards

I ballalionGnl'lllryriflllr II' Corps

3rd DUICh Hussars4 S<luadrons

\\'l'Stf.'llian Chcvau-ICgcrs2 squadrons

Nass.'lU Chasscurs;\ Chcval1 squadron

The l':assaucrs were now ann('(1 and organisedcompletely as for the French arlll), (each battalionhaving one grenadier, four fusilier and one \'olti-

geur company' and wore Frcneh badges of rank.L'lter in the campaign French drill regulationswere alw introduced. The 21ld Squadron of lheXassall Chasseurs:i Cheval were commanded bya major and had also a Rittmeistcr captain ofeavalf\ . OIlC first lieutenant .Ind two sccondIicut('~ants, one surgeon, iI quanermaster, asl'rgl'ant-major, a vctcrinary slIrgl"Oll, a quaner­master's assislant, a rough-rider. t'ight sergeants,two trumpeters, eight corporals, and I;inety-sixtroopers (Jiig('rs) including a smith, a saddler anda waggon dri\'t'r.

The Nassau units had an eventful time in Spainand casualties werc vcry heavy, more men dyingfrom disease than by cllellly actioll. From 180guntil til(' end of 18t [ the squadron ofChasseurs;\Cheval r('ct'ived rcinforcrmcnlS from tlwir depottotalling five officers, Sl'VCI1 ~.C.O.s and fifly-follrlroopers. In July 1813 the 1St Squadron joined,heir comradcs in Spain and the 'IlrcmierRtgiml'nt des Chasscursde Nassau' as Ihe Frenche.lIkd them "cre uscd for sl'('urity duties on thelincsorcommunication ofKingJosl'ph's 'Arm)' ofthe C('ntre'. They wl're skilful and daring horse­mcn whose bravery won them the respccl offriend and roc alike; IX-man. in his SrhicLah duGroJSh~r<:.ogthums Frankfurt (iCVOll'S murh lime to

13

N••••u ;,.r...lry ....uor 808-,S-. K..no.~1 pl.t~ rrom .....rqimlMl••1 hi.tory or Rlrf!:im t, s"ow;n!': d ..""lop-HI.,n' OV"r t .... Hveu_y r riod.. On I..fl is offic..r wi."bico ~, J;0'"!..t, ~paul~tI~., haldric: .nd , ~lIed H~.... ianhoo Hi" I.' ..r c:ount..rparl of ,10.. Fr..nch p..riod (b..ck-,rro,,"dj w ...n a F",nc:h-s,,,I.. "hako bu. r~tain. all .h~ o.h..r.,..u. i'~D1". S"cONd from I..ft and tloird from I"ft ar"~.die...., both w;lh 110.. usual Fr c...'ll"l ccou,"'..........or .la'u. red plu..........p.ul....t~ d ..br lrAo.. Iou. boLhwitJr .pecial .....d«r.o.r. The fin.. i. a lip r .808, witJr , ....Ba...n.-tyle boiled-I..ath..r 10..1 ' wiLh. black crest; , ..54!c:0nd is of 18'0, .rtLh ,10.. hu YJH!' bro_ colpack .rtthred bas: and cord•. Th.. fUJIi.Li~r (ri.flol) h....hako pl.'ebeams th~ r~im.,....1 numbe.. iI. See colour plalew .ndc:am.men'ari... ra.. furth.... d ..l.il".

their exploits, which arc oftell ofalmost legendaryproportions. Due to the hard campaigning and thepoor forage in Spain, horse I055t.'S were high and itwas not long Ixofore the :\'ass.·H1ers W('re mountedon the highly-blooded Andalusian horses.

By October 1813 the Nassau Chasscurs :1Cheval were in action in Catalonia (northeastern Spain) and on 25 :\'ovelllber of that YC;lrlhey, like all other German troops serving withlhe French armies, 'H're disarmed and madeprisoners ofwar. This was due to the recent e\,entsat the Baltic or Leipzig when whole brigades of

14

Westfalians, Saxons nnd Wi.irtlembergers hadgone o\"cr to the Prussian Russian AUSlrianarmies which were tightening their grasp around~apolcon'sh'lrd-pressed forces. The lSI Squadronwas disarmed in Gerona, the 2nd in Fornells ncarFigueras. The strength of the regimellt was thelltweke officers and 231 mell. The commander.~Iajor Baron Obcrkampf. wrOIC in a report to~lnrshal Suchct: 'During the last five years I havebeen in French service and I havc recei\·{·d manyflattering cOmJllendations of my conduct and ofIhat of my regiment. I have ohtained, and willretain, cternal proof of this in my receipt of til{'officers' cr055oftl1(' Legion of Honour'. The menwere interned in Perpignan and rcturned home inAprilt814. Those still fit for military service weretransferred 10 the reformed Nassau infantryregiments.

The2nd RegimelllofNassaul nl~Ultry remainedin theso-calkd Cerman Division ofGcneral Levaland in October 1808 were part of Xapolcon'sforce which marched \·ia Viltoria, cros.'Icd theupper Ebro and reached ~Iadrid via Burgos.Valladolid, the DuCl'o, Segovia and L'Escoria1.

In January t80g the German Division Idi~1adrid 10 block the bridges over the river Tajosouth of the cily'l to prevent the advance of a

Spnnish army. For this task the Division was aug­mented by the following French foreign units:'Regiment Prusse', 'Regiment Westphalie' andthe 'Legion Irlandais·. A number of minor dashestook place along the Tajo from Talavera toAlmarez. Latcr Ihe German division a(h-ancedsouth of the ri"er and took part in the b."1ttlcs of~Icsa de Ibor (17 Mnrch IBog) and Medellin onthe river Guardian<l (27 March 18og). In boththese battles the 2nd Regiment of Nassau sodistinguished itself that Ihey wore these bailiehonOUrs on their helmets until after the FirstWorld \rar. _A.t ~Icddlin the Spanish generalCucsta with 30,000 infantry, 7,000 cavalry and30 guns was rash enough (0 attempt 10 stand upagainst Marshal Victor with 17,000 l11en. Thismay initially sound odd but, apart from tworegiments of Swiss mercenari('s, most ofCucsta'smen were raw recruits, badly equippt..·d peas.'lnlSwith lillIe or no military training. Victor's menwere by now all well-npcrienct.-<I, wcll-disciplimxl(in battle if not c1sewlwre!) and hard-bitten

regulars. Cut"Sta was hcavily defealed. Cuesla'sforcc consistcd of;

'nfnnt'7:Ith·Ra.ualion. Spanish Guards2nd and .ph U'lltalion. Walloon Cuards2nd Rl-giment of :\lajorca 2 h.1.ttalions~nd Ihllalion. C:ualonian Light Infalltf)I~rovincial Ballalion of BadajozI'rovincial Grenadier I~lttalioll

Regiment Badajoz 2 battalionsRt'giment Merida I hallaliollRq,J"imclll La Serena I IlallaliollRq('imellt ofJael1 '2 battalionsRq;:;-imelll Irlanda '2 hallalionsProvincials of'I'okdo I 1:J<ltlillionProvincials of Burgos I battalion2nd llatlalion. Voluntarios of ~hdrid3rd Ballalion, VolullIarios of SevilleRegimenl ofC.1ml)() MaiorPnwincials ofCuadixPr(winci,lls of Cordm'aRegimenl Osuna 2 hattalionsGr:lI1aderos del GeneralTiradores de Cadiz

TO/(I/ - ahuIII 20,000 ha)'OTlf/J

Cm:fI!rylsI Hussars of Estremadufa {late 'Marfa I.uisa')'!th Hus...ars (Volunlarios d'Espagne)Rq } Regiments which had heen sent 10

Denmark in Marquis de L1. Romana'sInf:llIte Division and had subse<lucntly re­

turned 011 English ships to fight againstAlmanza ~apolcon

C:Il\.ldorcs de Llerena }new I(Tics

Imperial de Toledo~Iosl rq.:;-imcllls Il"d it IiClu:ldron dClat'lll'(l in Andalusialooking for relllourlls.

Tolal (lho/ll ,1,:.!Oo .mhreJ

Anillery 30 guns and 650 TIll'nSappers two comp'lIlies 200 men

THE BAn'LE OF TALAVERA27 28 JULY IBog

In his first aHcmptlooperate against lhe Frenchin Spain, the Marquis Wellesley (Ialcr Duke ofWellington) moved out from his base in Portugaland advanced against Madrid in conjullction

Offic~ of lhe NilJIlIiI .. R~lende Ji~~. Illo6-8j a plale byWt:ilatld fro... his worlt D"rstdttlt/l8 tier K"'ser"cll Fr"• .2O$-

isciuN A""",,, ,1,2, Ut. whid. tb.. F ...mcll .Dd th..ir .1Ii"' ....por1.rayed. W~laDd II..b-titl.... llUs p).ce <N.ss... U.i ..kSCh ..Ch.." ..... ~",r Offid",r>, .Dd llle 6S:"lre obviou.dy ....rvt:cl.lIon", ofKnol"')'. so"re..-. for IIi. pl• .., offo..rohh.. rn",n ohhillr~im",nl. Knol"') m.illlOOIt I.he lI.b....cud.e cypher - clearlyFA ...d .Iso ornint:cllbe b.ndolier picker equipmenl. Theh""mel IIhown here ill de6Dilel)' of Bavarian c.valry panen>bUClhe ~I"ft.. plume rilliD! from lhe fronl ofche Cre81 remainsa m),lIlery. (S..e colour pl• ..,•. )

Wilh a Spanish army under Ihc same GeneralCuesla. Strengths were: English, Portuguesc andGermans 20.000; Spanish 32,000. Most ortheSpanish forces had been il1volved in thc dcb:kleof Medellin and thus their morale was, at the 1x'S1.briltle. Wilh this in mind. Wellesley put lheSpanish troops in, and to the north or. lhe lownof Talavera on the rivcr Tajo; the English.Portuguese and German troops (King's GermanLegion) werc extended north of the Spaniards 10the hills aboul two milcsaway, and wcrc arrangedbchind Ihe Arl'ojo MOI"ap~jo stream.

IS

21lld N....u laraDtryR~..al ia Spaia, ,tho. By w. ti ..hoIh ~i"'''''I.......r .. o~ised 0" l.b.. F ch mod..l, chb.u.li.. co...i..mS or .... S........di ..r. 0 IiSh' or ,·oltiS r,aDd rour r".m..r compa.n.i"'5. KaOt ..1 .ho_ Idi..r or clItypt! or company. n... "olu,..ur (k/t) a .ha"o wil.b abuSIe-ho.... hadS" '!IurroUJtd.iD.S t.h.. r"'(l:im....t ..1 "u...!xr,s~a pom,... 8 rpIlul..t1K wil.b y..llow cr..sc..al•• sr_a..b ..........OI. aad y..Uo cord.aad y..Uo....-upped sreeu plu .Th.. 5"'a.di..r (c.... t ) .......n red rpIlul..ll... aad ..b ot.aad red baS, cordll. pompon, aDd plum auacht:d 10 a browarur colpack. The rU5i1ier (ri&'ltt) turt.t:d company_colour pompou OR hi.. shako .Dd .. y.. llo pl.te ...ith rc~

meat.1 number. His .bouJd......"trap. are Srfl!n piped y..Uo.....Nat... Ibal uDIi Fl"Vlcb ce.. lr.....,omp...y men, ...bo had.bandoned th ide-arm, bc ......ar" a "abre - t.h.. "DOl ....ouldh.".. b«n pl.in yello...-bufl'lelltb.. r.

Killg:.Joseph, wilh his46,oooStrollg" ArmyoftlH'Cenlre, tllowd against Wt'Jkslt:y from Madridand attacked the Allies on the night of27.July; thebauk was violent but the Allies hdd ('ven thoughthe Spanish ilrmy was paralysed and ineflcctivcfrom tll(' start of the aclion. Th(' ass<lull was re­Ilewcd next da)' with th(' Cerman division onceagain in the forefront of the combat just north ofTalavera. But all the French and Cerman \"alourin thes(' .wads was in vain; Wclleslc,,'s line heldfast and after the battle King Joscpl; had to fallback on ~Iadrid. Th(, losses of the GermanDivision were 103 dead. 827 wounded and 77

16

captun.'d; as their tOlal strength in the battle was4.267 m('n this meant 25 per cent los5(·s.

The 1St Regimellt of Nassau waSS('1\l tojoin theVII Corps undt:r ~Iarshal Aug('rellu in Catalonia(north ('aSI Spain and attached to CeneralRouycr's Division at Barcelona. which in .:\Iarch1810 consisted of:

Ht IJn:e.adr Gt"IIt"ml Sc!w,an; Frt"lIchlSI R~inwlll orXassau

J hallaliolls 1.-19-4 menIlh Rlwinhund Kcgimt"llI Saxon Duchit-s

:i haltalions 929 men2nd Brigadr (Colonel Chamb.:lUd Saxony Anhalt)

51h Rheinbulld RegimelllJ battalions 1.258 1lJ('1l

61h Rheinhund Regiment2 battalions 8]6 lllell

The Spanish forces in Catalonia under GcncralO'Donnell were conducting: gUl'rrill;l operationswith the aim of breaking lhe communications!wtW{"C'1l the French III ,Ind VII Corps and thenof destroying their hated ellt'mics in detail. Asusual, the Spanish forces of this era were nom;uch for the French and Iheir allies in the openficici, but COllet'lllrated on cutting ofr isolateddct:lchments and destroying them in ambushes.

Augen'au gave them 0111' such opportunitywhen on t9.:\larch t810heselll Gencral Schwarz'sbrigade to Ihe remote Spanish-held town ofJ\lanresa then a Aourishing gunpowder manu­facturing celllre for the Spaniards) with orders tooccup~ Ihe town and 10 destroy the powder-millsbut with no instructions as to whcn to return totheir base at Barcelona. (This is probably the firstmilitary application of the 'usc and throwaway'principle!) Leaving Barcelona on 19 March,Schwarz's hrigade stormed the pass of MontScn'at and on 21st rcached the larg-et J\Jlanl"esa.TIl(' town was deserted excepl lor lhe old andsick. and the brigade entered and put it into astate of dcfenc('. for alrcady the surrounding hillswere filling up with thousands of Spanish armedIx:asants who finally outnumben:d the brigade bysix toone. i\tanresa was now in a strtlcofsiegeandonly panics of o\'er company strength couldventure out of the town.

On the 25 March an ammunition com'O)'escorted by a ballalion of the French 67th LineInt'l.ntry Regiment arrived in Manrcsa, ha\'ingIOSllwoofits waggons m rOlli, from Barcelona and

,86,

3'0

,8

Officers N.C.O.s6

'5

DC;ld

WoundedC'..lpturl-clMissingTOTALS

having been saved from massacrc only by thetimely arrival of the 2nd Battalion and both eliteflank) companies of tbe 1St Battalion of the~assau Rcgimtlll, who bad comc out of Manresato meet them. The French hattalion left again on27 )"Iareh to fight its way back to Barcelona, and011 2 April was given the unenviable task ofescorting a second convoy of ammunition to thebeleaguered force in ~Ianresa. General O'Donnelland his Spaniards captured this cOl1voy and thefew survivors of the escort who staggered back 10

Barcelona convinced ).larshal Augen'au thatCeneral Schwarz's brigade W:lS lost. In fact. thesimation in ~Ianresa was so desperate that ; lI!..tf'~""

Schwan!: :It last decid<.'d to ah.mdon the townduring the night of the 4(5 April: his food wasexhausted. ammunition and powder ,"cry low,and onl) by stripping the church roof and meltingdown pewter plate could he provide his sun"i"ingmen with even 30 rounds each. The wounded hadto lx' abandoned in the care of some Spanishmonks even though this usually meanl a slowdeath for the poor wretches at the hands of theSpanish women. ~Iiraetllously, ~Ianresa pro"ed r" ................lla.a;;:.,,;an exception to the rule; the Spanish monks de- ~:~J~"'t:.~:::=:i~b=::.:;~ar:I~d~:~;:;:li~':I~!:=::fended their charges from the peasants with force OtdftJbu~ l'1lilio:d an infanlry ~;me." wlLich w.a dresliedof arms when they str('amed back into the ;-~~:;:~~~::;J-::'o~:~::~::':~ed~:':d~t""c;:.1 f~Ci.~i.abandol1ed (0'\'11, nnd the wounded were handed The hal WOrD by Ihefu..itien aad liSl1.l company is, however,over to the Spanish army. :;~;;~e;:n::n;~~:ne;~;~;ee::';;I~rSl1::.~e1:Jc~::'

Schwarz's attempt to slip through the enemy ::::t~~:Ii,bb:;dn:::-:·p:::"j:,:I;:'.:'le~:::c~';:;~a::II:::linrs unnoticed failed whell at about midnight were r"uved for parade and &:al. dre... The sre..adienthe Spanish sentries heard them and gave the wore French_Iype bearskins. '

alarm. At once the church 1)('lIs in all ncar-by tinued. but by evcning the pursuit slackened andvillages began ringing a signal for the militia to the brigade bivouacked at SI Andres, having beenturn out and the chase to Barcelona was on. In marching and fighting for over twenty hours.the darkness the column ofSchwnrz's brigade be- Next day, 6 April, to the great astonishment ofcame separated and the 2nd Ba1talion of the I st the garrison of Barcelona who had given them upRegimcnt of Nassau struck o(ron the wrong path, for dead, Schwarz's brigade marched into the cityonly picking up the correct one again after finding with bands playing. Auge!'(.'au had alreadyfresh horse dung on olle of the roads leading from ordered the quanermastcrofthc Nassau Regimentajunction, which indicaled that mounted officers to take stock of all his stores and hand them in ashad shortly before ridden that way. Under con- his regiment had been captured! The Nassallcrs'tinuous (ire from all sides the column joined up losses were high:again at daybreak and puslled on as fast as possibletowards Uarcdona and safcty.l\·lany men droppedout from exhaustion on the way and once thebrigade had to stop and fight a rcar·guard actionto ease the pursuit and to allow the men a littlerest in the blazing sun. All dny the chase con-

17

Th.. gilt.... of Spllndllu fortr..n; 10 Ih.. north-w"111 of S..rlin,;1 hlld been on.. oflh.. cily's strong...1d ..f..ncu for c..nturi.....Ahhough ;., good r ..p.ir ;., .806 it willi ..harndully Ilur...,nd­ere<! to Ih.. F...,n..h .el..r th.. coll.p." oflh.. Pm..;lln Ilrmy.Th.. N.5HU..... w ..r .. h..r .. "'I..r in thai c ....p.ip. Und..rF...,...ch conun.alld ....8'30 Sp d.u h..1d oul stubbornly.gainst R ....iaII ...d Pru i.1I b iq...... Today th.. citad..1lIou..... liln.ll ...useOlm d th.. ba5U01l5,1l1ill'" good repair,can be visited.

The Ducal Saxon regiment had lost 353 officersand men. Augereau published the following orderof the day 10 praise the considerable achievementsof these German troops in his Corps:

lJarulona 6 April fOIO

I-lis Exufl~nf)' .\larshal oj th, £mpir~, commandrri" chid tif th~ 11m!! oj Catalonia, charg,s G~n~ral

d~ Dit-ision RO/I)'" to rday to GI!1If!Tal Schwaru.alld to tht sup,rior offiurs oj his Gmllllf! IJrigad~

d('/achcd to Mal/rem his romlJfrt" sl1tiifaction forthe brilliallt conduct of Ihrir troops parlicular!)' inIht suits of various combats which th')' fOllghlagainst suptriorforus.

18

C""ral Schwart< rrspoml,d p"f~ct!)' to tht i,,­Imtions oj th, mission with It'!tich His Exu{{",'J(hargrd him. That gmrral offiur is to commmd toHis Exu{{rncy thou tifhis o.!ficrrs and soldirrs whohat't particularly distin.s:uish~d l!tmlSdvrs.

JI/lgf!Ttau

When one considers that the Manresa expedi­tion was a very representative example of the sortof life that French units in Spain endured from180g 13 it is easy to sec how the 'running sore' ofthis campaign drained the resources of trainedmanpower and warlike materials of the FrenchEmpire.

So life for the 1st Regiment of Nassau went on­grinding, boring garrison duty being relieved byperiods of intense and exhausting activity as taskforces were selll out into the hostile hills loanemptto bring the elusive foc 10 batlle.

On 10 July 181 I Oberst von Pollnitz, com­manderofthe 1St Nassau Regiment was kilk-d bya cannon shot from a British ship at Mataro ne;uTarragona, and his place was taken by Oberst­leutnam \'on Steuben umil 28 Februarv 1812when Oberst ),,'leder was transferred from ;hc 2ndNassau Regiment and promoted to fill the post.

In August 18r2 the garrison of Barcelona (1stRegiment of Nassau, 18th French Light, 5th andIlsth French Line Infantry Regiments, somecavalry detachments and the artillery 10,000men in all) was issued with bread (ilScifa rarity!)which had been poisoned by the Spanish workerswho had brought in the nour. Luckily lhere wereno fatal casualties as a rcsult of this but on otheroccasions this, and other French garrisolls inSpain lost numbers of men due to poisoning,

Reinforcements for the Nass,luers c;lIne toBarcelona inJuly 1812 (40fficers, 24 N.C.O.s and426 men) and in JUlle 1813 (20 N.C.O.s and238 men).

~apolcon's disastrous defeat in Russia in 181'2lurm.-d the tide of war against him in Spain aswell. and lhe French were gradually pushed upout of the peninsula and illto France. In June18t3 the British General Murray landed inCatalonia with an international force of 20,000men and besieged Tarragona. General Mathieuwas sent from Barcelona with the entire garrisonof lhe city (6,ooo men) to relieve Tarragona but

~lUl·ray had by lhen already re·shipped his armylosing most of his heavy equipment in his haste),

and Mathieu returned to Barcelona. Murray wassacked for his timidity; General Lord Bentincktook his place and re-invested Tarragona, so theBarcelona garrison once again came to its aid.~Iarshal Suchel (now commanding in Catalonia)decided to destroy the fortress of Tarragona and10 abandon it, which hedidoll 18 August 1813.

As already mentioned, Napoleon's Germanallies began abandoning him at about this limeand ~assau officially joined his enemies on the16 November 1813. In accord with secret orders.the 2nd Regimenl of Nassau weill over to theEnglish on 10 December. No such secrct ordersreached the unlucky 1st Regimenl (vast amountsof French despatches were captured by Ihe

panish guerrillas in this war) and ahhoughLord Clinton, commander of the English forces inCatalonia, sent Obcrst !\!t:der a lettcr from OberstKruse urging him, ~1eder. to follow his exampleand to bring his troops over to the English, ~Iederproudly refused (as he thought) to sully hismilitary honour, On 22 December 1813 the 1stRegiment of Nassau was disarmed in Bilfcclonaand escorted to French prisons by the 1171hFrench Line Infantry Regiment. The authoritiesdid not trust the 5th, 115th French Line or the18th French Light Illfantry Regiments to do thisjob as these regiments had shared the fortunes oftheir Nassau comrades and it was feared that theywould have allowed their prisoners to escape.Oberst Medersecrns to havcdolle well for himself;after the disarming of his regiment he enteredFrench service, Fate caught lip with him a fewweeks latcr, however, when he was killed justoutside Barcelona fighting the Spanish.

THE WATERLOO CAMPAIGN

The 1st Regiment was part of the HanoverianRcscrvc Corps undcr Lieutcnant General von del'Decken which was organised as follows:

lSI Brigadt (Lieutenant-Colonel vall del' Dccken)Fdd-Itltaillon HovaLandwt:hr.Halaill~n MolInLandwchr-Bataillon Hrcmcr!chc

:md Brigadr (Licutenant·Colonel \'on Beaulieu)LlIldwehr-H.'\laillon :\IordheirnLandwehr-lblailJon Ah!cfcldlL'lnd\\chr-lbtaiJIoll Springe

yo Brigadt (Liculcnalll·Coloncl Hodccker)L'lnd\\ehr-Balaillon Ollt:rndorrLand\\chr-Batailloll CelieLmd\\ehr-Il:uaillon Ratzeburg

, // // .... ! ,/1.,,1 " ..,I'~IIII,,'·//f.,',r,/",.u'·I', ':/""./1/,1/'1:/"/>1<'/1,1" 1'';;.1.1 I_ /.

'Th" Happy Hunter' _ a cartoonist·'s view of Napol_n after

~::s~:ttl=.t0(~~p~~n~~13~1~:.~et..ta~(~~~:~:\=~~:al_ys Slays catm and unruffled; He's nOt the ...... t or WOMitbeeau_ he haA shot (?); If his _pression is not too happy,II's becaUH he smell.. the soat's tail.'

On 9 May 1815 Nassau concentrated her forcestwo infantry regiments eaeh of tWO line and one

Landwehr battalions, each ofone Grenadier. fourJiiger (three in the Landwehr battalion) and oneFlanquer company. Commander of the I st Regi­ment was Oberst von Sicuben; Oberst \'on Krusewas promoted General and commanded the~assau contingenl.

1"///, " 1./.,/.,

, /.,. '/'

19

.JIh nriplldf (Licutf'llant.Coloncl Wissf'l)Landwi'hr-Batailloll HannoverLandwehr-Batailloll Uelzcnl.anclwehr·Bataillon Neustadtl.andwehr·Bataillon DiepllOlz

1I11n1I01<triftl/IQ/nl 9,000 11/(1/

. \'IlS$II/I Conlin!:",! [General "011 Krust')lSt ~assa\l Infantry RegimcllI 2.880 mcn

'rhe 2nd Regimt:nt of Nassau was detached ;lndplaced IOgether with th(' Rt'gill1('nt of Oranien­~;lssau (Nassauers in Dutch Belgian s(:r\·ice inthe 2nd Dutch Belgian Division of LeutnantGeneral Baron de Perponcher in tile Prince ofOrange's I Corps:

lSI Brigadt (:\tajor-Ceneral B..1ron de Bylandl7th Line Infantll Regiment

701 mell2ilh J:iger Ballalion

Bog mell51h Milili<l HaHaliOll

.482111en7th ~Iilitia Battalion

675 men81h Militia BallaliOIl

566111('112nd Brig(ult, H.R.H. Prince IkrnhardofSaxt' Wcim;lf)

2nd Rt'gimenl of ~aSS<1ll (3 batt;lIiolls2,709 men

Regiment ofOraniCII NaSS<1lI (2 battalions)[,59[ men

ATlifl~r (Major van Dpslal)Horse battery Capt:lin Bylc"ddFoot battery Captain S[it'\TnaarTllisdivision was prt'St'nt at the battlcofQuatrc-Bras.

I t would be beyond the scope of this book todescribe the entire battle of Waterloo in detail.\Ve must concentnll(' on tlte participation of the.'Jassauers thcmselves,

On [5 June IBr5 the vilal cross-roads ofQuatre-Bras lying between the Allied Britishand Prussian armies was held only by the 2nd~assau and the Nassau Omnicn Infantry Regi­mcnts and the allached ballery of eiglll DutchHorse Artillery guns,

20

THE NASSAUERS AT QUATRE-BRAS

The left wing of Wellington's army on the cve ofQuatre-Bras was the 2nd Division of GeneralPerponcher. in lhe arca ofGenappe. Frasnes and~ivelles, The 2nd ;\Iassau Regiment was aroundQuatre-Bras (the 2nd Battalion being south ofthis place with a ballery of .'Jctherlands horseartillery. was the unit closest to the eXllCCtcrlFrench advance from the south). At the appear­ance of the enellly, the division was to concentrateon the \·ital cross-roads at Quatre·Bras,

On the 15th Napoleon sent Marsh;:tl Xey 'TheBra,'csl of the Brave') Ilorth towards Brusselswith instructions to take Quatrc-Bras and thus to

prevent a unification of \\'cllington's army wilhthai of Blucher troops of Prussia and DlherGerman stales '. Xey's force consisted of the ICorps General d·Erlon), the II Corps (GeneralReUle,. General Pir("S I.ight Cavalry Di,·isionand initiallv the Chasscurs and L.:tIleiers of IheImperial G~ard.

Although the 2nd Division at Quatre-Ums hadheard heavy e'lllnon fire frOIll the Prussian posi­tions at Ligny carlyon the 15th, no great alarmwas caused because it was interpreted as justanother Prussian artillery praelice and at thattime no communication existed between the twoAllied armies. In fact. this cannonade was audibleexpression of the desperate fight thcn taking placeas Xapoleon's simple, but terribly effective planofdestroying his separated enemy in detail beforethey could unite was put into practicc, Wben, bythe afiernoon, the firing had not died down,Major von Nonlliltl 11 , with the 2nd Uattalion ofthc 2nd Regimclll, and the Nctherlands horseartillery ballcry, took up baltic stations behindthe village of Frasnes wilh patrols south towardsCosseliesand informed theregimelllaicollllllandcrof his aClions. This intelligcnce was in turnrelayed to headquarters, 2nd Division,

At about 6 pm Pire's advance guard drove inNormann's patrols and soon Normann was forcedto fall back on Quatl'(:-I~ras, his pre-determined

~:~~U(~o":':;~N"':';'~:f)~:i:::~:'~:5~::n:oN";:c:...me.' (I) G..m;o.."ourt F...m, (:0) La.....II.. F....... (3) G ......dPi ..,..pOlIl F....... h') P..dt Pi""""fOnl F......, (s) M.....i5 (6)F sne.Ie. ROU5.

TO

CHAIl,UROI

\

21

~~-~~~'-=:~~;;~LIInIUUUn! ensraviDs by J. Voh2: 5howinS French pri50"Crsbein! u,•.nsportN (brou!!h a Bavarillft cown in .8 .... Themodey r:OU~riOD appears co inch.de W ••"ry, ca...bini"....c.urassi"",, bus".rs and c.....se..rs. The rno....ued .....,.,rtvillible .ncb d ....wa ..bre MhUod the cart lIftmI' to be "trooper of the 71h National Cbe_.._I~"... R~m"nl ofSaVllria, calki.a5 10" e....ri... hussar InH>JH'l".

rallying"point where the 2nd Brigade of the 2ndDivision was also in position. ~igillrall ended thefighting.

(The dispositions of the Nassaucrs at Quatrc­Bras on 16 June may be seen on the Illap Oilpage '21). At 6 am on 16 JUlle the Prince ofOrange (who had arrived there during the nightand assumed command) ordered von Normanll'sb.ltlalion 10 push south 10 Frasncs and recoil·noitrc. Normann chased off light French cavalrypiCqllCls and rcoccupil."d his position of (heprevious day. At • I am the Duke of Wellingtonarrived and orden."d VOI1 Normann to engage theenemy with twO companies. Combat followed butremained at low.intensity. By now there were7,000 men, 16 guns and 50 Prussian hussars underthe Prince of Orange at Quatre·Bras; Wellingtoninstructed him to hold his position until helparrived and then rode all' to confer with Bluchero\'er a common operational plan for the comingbattle ..

At '2 pm ~ey, with 9 ..000 infantry. 1,850cav~tlr)' and '2'2 guns began a very cautiousassault on the Quatre·Uras position (Normann'sforce had bv now withdrawn into the mainNetherlands line). Despite tough resistance, theFrench soon occupied Piroaumonl and Gemion­court, the Allies being much hampered by theiralmost Iota I lack of cavalry (the 50 Prussianhussars had also returned to Iheir parenl corps

22

during the day). The position was beginning to

look grim for Perponcher's division when at laslreinforcements came up. The)' were General vonMerlen's ~etherlallds Urigade and Genernl Pic­tou"s English division (altogether 7,000 infantry,',100 cavalry and 1'2 guns). Shonl)" after this theDuke of Brunswick ("The Black Duke') alsoarrived with part of his division (3,000 infantryand 800 cavalry) and Ihe balance of power lippedslightly in favour of the Allies.

Encouraged by these new forces, the rash andimpulsive Prince of Orange launched a hurriedattack to win back mOSI of the plateau which hehad lost but was repulsed with losses. Wellingtonthen returned from his meeting with Blucher andassumed command .. Ncy launched an assault 10

follow up his withdrawing enemy and Wellingtoncountered the struggle raged back and forth forsome time - the young and untried Brunswickhussars being overthrown by the french Chasscurs;i Cheval of Pire's command and the frenziedencrgies of the Prince of Orange contributing asmuch to the enemy's success as to lhat of his owntroops. By the early evening, wilh reinforcemenlSall bOlh sides, the Allies had 37,000 men againstNey's 21,000 on the battlefield. At 7 pm Ncybroke on" his assaults and withdrew south 10

f ....<lsnes. The day had cost about 4 ..000 dead andwounded all each side. The Allies bivouacked onthe battlefield, the Princc of Orange resumt:d hisposition on Wellington's staff and gavc upcommand of his brigade. The lSI Regimel1! or

Map o( W.lel'loo, Ihow;,,! po.ilio". of Nasaau a"d N...au­O.,.llie" eO"Iu,!e,,"... Symbot. l'epnollenli,,! unita do nolrelate to .ctual size o( u"il or t.et;cal (ormal;O". Key 10pl.ee n.mU, (I) MO"1 51 Je." Farm, (2) Hou!oumont, (3) LaH.ye S.;"te, (4) Pape)otte, (5) Smohain, (6) La Belle AIIi.nee,(7) Planeeno;I, (8) Ro..om.... AI W.lerloo the det.i1ed deploy­menl o(lhe eonlu,!enl. wa••1 (ollow.,HO,«ONmO,.1 C..rri.O,. (Ce,."r.. , By..&,,): III B"., 2 ..d R~ .. o(N.....u (H.upt.rnann BaiSea) - companies IhOWD u,divid­g.l1y on m.p.. Two COntp.llies o( H.a-overia.... Fo"rcontpallies o( British FOOl G".rds. ~b-B.lailIOII, AV1Ult.~e, and ,.1 Lil';hl BD .. o( BnulI,,,,,;ck Corps.rh.. Cttlt'rtt: Front .....k _ III Ba., lit R~. of NUAu. Rearraak-2..d B..., l.tR~.o(N••A'" La HayeSaial.. G.rri_(Major ~,KGL) both F1a.J:oquer compa.a.ies, I.t Rqt.. o(

~:-:;h~'1:~h~::'~rw:a~i't~~tB~~~,~-=~batt.lio....

~::/:!/~':d:~~~':.,--;:I~~~~-:;;:~:;'I::~:~~~meal N.as.,,-O.....;e.. j 2Dd B" .. , R~m"Dt N...."-Oralliea;Fre;willis..Jiis..r Coy.. , Rf!K"im..nl N."".u-o.,.aieaj P,.pdott'"(It,. ..plm.... ,. vo.. R",ub",r8) FI.nquer coy.., 3rd 8 .... , 2nd Rf!K"t.o( Naslau, Iihown hy platoonl 0" map.

23

Nas..u's Rallis, Lilr.ethOHOrmOtle Eu.ropea. armiesoreh" day,w"re ..ailed 10 th" scali's. Th" prese...eali.., or c:olours 10 a

;:r~:~o;~~:a::"~rp":~:~~:~~:~:::lIloo;:i:: ~..:=:~iIIulOlraled here - would be 00 hand 10 .e.rike;n II." nne or1.1." 1Il0Id.h".ded nail. with a suilably dec:oral.ive hamme...

~:~I~~rlt;f;:it:::~":b:::t ;1:::::~~WI ;;'~:;:hC:o~ o:~~e..:~~::po...ihle embarra."me.ne!

Nassau arrived al Quatre-Bras only ill theevening and did nOI lake pari in Lilt, day'sfiglHillg. Thai samc day, 16Junc, Blildwr's arm~had becn beaten b) .\'apoleon at Lign) and \\asno\\ \\ilhdrawing nOrlh-easl on \\'avre. bUIWellinglOll did nOI recci\e nt'\" of Ihis Ulllil Ihemorning of the 17th.

Tht 18 ]un, 1815I-laving successfull) disengaged from ~e) at

Quatn:·Bms, Wellington no\\ cOllccntrated hisBritish Cnman Dutch Belgian army at i\lontStjean.

Thc 1st Regimcllt of Nassau was in the C(:lItreof the position, which was composed also ofGelleral Cooke's British Guards Division andGen('rnl Alten's British Division ami was COIll­

m:mdNI by Ihe Prince of Orange whosc' im­petuous and on:rbc'aring decisions had COSI lIlanyAllied livc"S at Quatre·Bras and \\ere to causc thedestruction of the 5th Linc UallaliOIl of theKing's German Legioll this day, From west tocast the d isposi tions of the cent rl' were as follows:

~orth of Hougoumont up agaill~t the road toXi\'ellcs \\as Byng's British Guard~ Brigade of twob."l.ttalions, thell ~Iaitland's Guards Brigade alsotwo batlalions, General Colin Halkeu's BritishBrigade with four battalions, General KicJ­mannscgge's Hannowrian Brigade of fi\(' bat-

laliom, and finally Ihe Kin~'s G('I'lllan LegionBrig:ade ofColoncl Omptcrla w'ith four batlalions.

The left flank of Om ptedOl's bri~adl' reached tothe Cellapp(' road and t!lr farm of I.a H:l)eSaintl'in front of this brigade \\as occupied b) the 2nd

tilthl Baualionofthe f'.ing'sGennan Legion. The1st Rrgiml'l1t of XaSS:lu was in til(' second linelX'hind the brigades of Halketl alld Kiclmann·se1{gl·.

The brigadNi weTe arrnngcrl in 1\\0 lines; thebatl,lliOlis in column, In the 1St Xassau Regimentthe first line consisted of the 1St Battalion indidsional columns; Ihe second line \\;IS formed b)th(' 2nd and the Landwehr llattalion~, both inassault columlls, The 2nd Rc'gimellt of i\assallwas on the western and e:lslel't1 ends or Welling­lon's line. Ilonh of Hougoumont (wlll're thc 1stBattalion oflhis regiment look part ill Ihl' defenceoflhis vital farm, the strug1{l{' for which absorbedso l1luch of Napoleon's gr!lerals' int('resl andl'lwrg)' (in vain) throughout lIlt' whole battle) andnorth of Papeloltc sce bl·low. In spite of beingin Ihe second of "'cllingtoll's battll' lincs andbeing situated on thc re\'erse slope oflhe position,thr 1st Regiment ofXaSS<lu ~urrered hra\ ily in thranille!) bombardment \\hid bc~dn at II o'clockand went on all day most of the ~hots whichstruck the re~iment being ricochets,

B) 2 pm a hea\'y Frl'nch infantr) :lSS3ultD'f.r1on's Corps and Duruue's di\'ision was inpr~ress against ,,"ellington's centre 'Ind left anda fierce struggle was centred around tht, farm ofLa 11a)'{' Saillle. In addilion to 11ll' originalgarrison of this placc (2nd Light Ballalioll. King'sGerman Legion) two companies of Ihe 1st LighlBattalion. King's German Legion and 200 men(both Flanquel' companit,s) orthe lillt' batlalionsof till' 1st Regit1len~ of Nassau wen: C'llled in toreinforce this important post. Ii)' 3 pill this Frenchassault had failed, and a massin' c'l\'alry attackbeglln to dcvelop against WellinglOn's centre andright flanks. This glittering Illass of horsemencharRed through the intervals be!\\('('n the bat­talions ill the first of Wellington's lines who hadalrl'ad) formc'd square to rccl·i\,e them) and thendescended upon the 1st Nassau Regiment whichwas also in square. As the \ast majorit) of the~ass."uerswere )oung recruits ill their first action.thl'ir conduct in this crisis was difficult to forecast

1 PriVllI"'. ,sl 8alla.lioo, "umm",r drn"••llo:J

" D....mm"'r. "nd Balt.lion. Summ.... C2mp"i~ndr..u ••806

3 Fusili"'r!>. <t1h Ballal.;on. su..,nu'r campa;,;"dr.. ~"'.•806

A

B

• FusiJjer, lind Battalioo, parade dress, .806

II Grenadier sergeant, 4th Battalion, winterparade dress, 1806

3 RiflelDan,3rd Bal1a!;on, sUlIIlDerparadedress, .806

N...IIll .. , Offiee.... Reilende J_!U, p.....dedretia. ,&0,

c

D

11 Officn-.Reil~"J.8 ..r.I',.(I.. Spal"l

• Officu (Pr~m;~rl~utnant)ofVoltigeorli,parad~dre55, .8'0

II Volrigeor Corporal, campaign dr~8lI, 180g-1:J

:J Drummer of FU5ili~"" lind IDfantryRegiment, 180g-13

, Old~nburg: Corporal, Vohigeur Company,,808-11

,. Naliliau, Serg",anlomajor ofGn:nadj",r",'iiI R~g;menl, ,8'5

J Old~nburg: Drummer, Grenadier Con'pany,drill order

• fllsili.,r 8.,rlleanl, 12gll, 'f",nch' Lin.,Inran.ry R.,!;m.,n., ,8'2

2 Offic.,r. R-=!;mrn. Old""bll~.win•.,.. pa....d.,drus. ,8,..

3 Prh'll'''. f ...,;"';lI;lIrJi.~",r Dr.a"hm.,n. or.h",R-=!;m.,nl Old.,nbll.'1!:, fi.,ld dru§., ,8 ...

G

[ {:lg~~I[:;I~:)anlry Regiment, .8'5

:lI 3~e"r ofth" General Staff, parade dress,

3 ?s~eer ..fGrenadiers, lSI Infantry Regiment,

H------

and, if they wan~rt'd, it could have causedWellinglOn's n'ntre to break. Buoyed up b} theexcellent example of their British j\llies inHalkett's brigade. who had held their firc untilthe cavalry was at a r.ang"(· of 60 paces and hadthen mown down dozens of horses and riders, the'oung Nassauers stood firm and repulsed theFrench cuirassiers' attach. English dragoons then('ount('ratlacked tIll" dismayed Frt'IU,'h c:l\'alr~

and pushed them dowlI the slope towards theirOWIl lint'S. This brought no relief to the long­sufl'(:ring infantry, however: as soon as tIle cavalryhad gone, the great banery of French artilleryop('ned up on the English lines ag'lin and casu­ahit:s began 10 mount.

A second massivc ea,-alry attack folJowro atahout 5 pm and the much weakened Allied~quar('S in WellinglOn's centre almost "anishedheneath the flood ofsabn.'S and helmets. BUI ('\'ennow, in this moment of crisis when "'e1lington's~Jim f('sen'es "'('re commitled, Biilow's Prussiancorps Iwgan to appear from the cast through thevillages ofConturc imd Hanotelcl, and graduallya flanking pressure was hrought to he;)r 011

Napokoll'S line. III spite of this, it was well overan hour before the French ea,-alry fdl back fromtilt' Allied centre in this second attack. and O\'ertell separate chargt.'S \\t're made; but no squaresbroke.

At 6 pm the silllation of the small garrison inthe farm of La Hayc Saintc became Ulltenable\\hen tlwir ammunition supplies ran out. ~Iajor

Biiring ,of the King's German Legion) who com­manded this Outpost had repeatedly sent mcssagesto the f('ar asking for ammunition rt.'supply butfor some reason Ilone arrived. Now the Frenchallackers could shoot down the defenders withimpunity and Major Itiring was forced to with­draw up the hill to the main British lim', TheFrench swarmed after him and a baiter} of gUllswas set up aoout 300 pan'S in front of the lsiBattalion of the 1st Nassau Regiment and beganto tear this and other units to shreds wilh dis­charges of canister. In a few minutes all officersof the Nassau grenadier company were dead orwounded, In an cnon to put an end to thcsiaugiller, the tst Balla lion's commander, ~Iajor

VOn \Veyhcrs. ordered a bayonet charge to takethe ballery but a ft·w seconds Iatrr he was badly

wounded by callister and the chargt· call1(' to ahalt. WellinglOn Ihen sent an order that thebattalion should return to its place in th(' line hutfor some reason the grenadier and the 1st .Ja~(·r

company remained halted in a fire-fi~ht with theFrench batter}. Suddt'nl) some French n:imssi('rsquadrons. who had regathered b~ the 11;uns,swarmed over the isolated :\'ass."luers and cutthem dow n, Between 7 and 8 pm :"Japoleon, see­ing th(' growing pown of tIl(' Prussians in his rig-htreal' and heing as y<,t ullable to break the Alliedarmy on his front, decided to chance c"('I'ythingon one last desperate throw, The Imperial Guard,invincible in battle (large!) because it had sorardy been used! was launched at \\'ellin~tnn's

arm~ with the aim of bUNting through his tiredand weakent:"(!line ,lIld thu, openin~ the way to

Brussels. The incredible hapl)Cned: til(' ImperialGuard was met b~ tlw ,tead\ British lint' andthrown back with h(·,.,') loss! The entire FrencharlllY groaned in despair; the day was 10M. andthe Fn'nch began 10 stn',lIn away 10 tIl(' south.fleeing in increasing confusion from Ihe Prllssianswho had t:lkell over the pursuit. On \Vellington'sleft flank the ;)ssault columns of the j\liddleGuard were met by Iialkell's brigad(' and the1st Regiment of:'\assau now commanded b} theCro\\ n Prince of till' X{'llwrlands : Ceneral vonKruse and Obersl \'on Steul)C1l \\ere al<;o tlwre.The prince ,\ as wounded hut the Cuard was alsopushed back. Xapoleon's last effop had bnnmad(' and had failed: the Ibttle of Waterloo hadbt.·en won b) the AIl~lo Dutch German AlIit'Sand th(' feared and h:lIt.'(! dictator of Europe hadhis claws drawn for the last time,

Tilr :.md Rr,~illlfl/l ojNaWIII (1/ jjI(llrriooAt 10 am the 1st Ballalioll. 2nd Regilll{'nt of

;\'assau. had l)Cen SCllt illto the farm of HOlig-Oll­mont on \\'dlingtoll's right flank IO!-{ether \\ithsome Brunswiekers, two Ilannm'erian companies.four companies of British Guards and GcneralCooke's British di,·ision. The 2nd and 3rd8attalions of the 2nd Regimellt of;\'ass.."lu and theRegim{'nlofOrange AaSS.."lll wcrcon the extrcmeleft flank of \\'ellington's line, and the ,-illag<' ofPapelottc was occupil"(l by the Flanquercompan)(under Hauptmann von Rettherg) of the 3H!Battalion, 2nd Regimellt of Nassau. The map Oil

25

Gf,.~ 1 KI~ist "Oot Nollftldorf, comma.oder of the NorthGf, Army Corps ioo the H ••dred Days eampaip. TheOldftlblU'SR~ftIlw .. pan ofthi.corps. Kld.e. wUCanuis dark blue with red r.ei.«_ and «aid b,ut_.. embroideryand _baulder cords. Amo.« his d~a....tioll.. __ be~ Wlrou Cros"'(O::"-led ioo 1'13 by Kiool! Frederick WillialD Dt ofP.......i.l, Ille P.......ia.a Order ofthe Blade Es.;!e, the Austri.a.D.M.ri••The~iaOrder, ••d Ibe Ru...ia.a SIa!' of Ihe Order ofSI Ceo"l!e.

page 23 shows the dispositions of the Nassauersthis f<lteful day.Just before 4 pm a heavy Frenchassault on Papelolte forced Hauptmann von Rett­berg to abandon the outlying village houses andto withdraw his company into the main buildingin the hamlet. Now the 10th. IlIh and 12thCompanies ofhis regiment came to his aid and theFrench wcre expelled again. The 2nd Regimcntof Nassau remained in possession of Papelottcuntil the end of the battle. From about 4 pmonwards, von Bi.ilow's 30,000 strong I>russiancorps began deploying into combat formation onlhe eastern edge of lhe batllefield and advancedtowards the French right rear at La Belle Alliance.They were opposed by Lobau's French corps and afierce fight developed in the burning village ofPlancenoit from which the French were ulti·mately dri\·en. Hauptmann von Rettberg, withthe fOllrcompanies of the 2nd Regiment of Nassauunder his command,joined in the Prussian assaulton Plancenoit.

~'Iost accounts of the Battle of Watcrloo arcremarkably vague as to the correct state of affairsin I>apclotte and as to the actual participation inthe battle of the 2nd Regiment of l'\assall.

As its part of the booty taken after Waterloo,Nassau received fOllr 6-pounder cannon, two 7-

26

pounder howitzers and 12 train vehicles. As partof the reorganisation of the German mini-stateswhich took place in 1815. Nassau had lost someland to Prussia and all inhabitants of this lostterritOry became Prussians. Thus, on 28 November1815,832 men of the 2nd Regiment were trans­ferred to Prussian service and were replaced by832 men of the Regiment ofOrange-Nassau.

The Regiment of Orange-:'\assau was dis­banded on 3 January 1816, thc men going intothe 1st Nassau Infantry Regiment or 10 Prussiaaccording to their place of birth. The LandwehrBattalion of the 1st Regiment of Nassau was alsodisbanded, those N.C.O.s and officers who weretransferred 10 it to help in the training returned totheir parent unit.

Ulltil 1820 the 2nd Regiment of Nassau (at astrength of three battalions) served with theNetherlands army and was then reduced to twobaualions on returning home.

The two N"assau infantry regiments were ab­sorbed into the Prussian army in 1860 andassumed the titles:

Das 11~ Herzogliche Nassauische Infi:\Ilterie­Regiment Nr 87

andDas 'lie Hcrzogliche Nassauische Infanterie­

Regiment Nr 88The 2nd Regiment wore on its helmets the

battle honours 'La Bellc Alliance', 'Medellin'and '!\'Iesa de lboI" until after the First WorldWar.

The 1st Regiment wore 'La Belle Alliance'.

NASSAU ORDER OF BArrLE 1815

lsi "ifmllry Rfgimm( - Oberst von Stcllbt:n (7 r officersand 2,974 men)

HI IJallalioll - Major von Weyhers2nd /Jallalion - Major VOIl NallclldorfLnndu·tkr /Jat/olion I\-bjor \'on Prcen

:md Infanlry Rtgimffll Oberst Prinz Ikrnhard vonSachsen-Wcim;lr (Ialcr Major Sattler) (ag ofliccrs,2,738 men)

lSI /Jattalion Hauptmann Blisgen2nd Battalion Major Ph. \'on Normanlll...alldwrhr Battalion Major Hegmallll

This regimenl, logelher with the Regiment ofOrange­Nassau, l'i)f1llcd Ihe 2nd Brigade of Lieu lenant CenefillPeqxmcher's 2nd Division of the Netherlands Army.TIle Rrgilllrlli of Omnge NaSSfW (Nassal/-Omllil'lI) Tilis

~mcnt was in Dutch Ikl~an c;eryicc and witi partthe Netherlands Arm}.lSI Bal/a/ion }

39 officers, 1,4'27 men_"Bal/alionFuiu:illigt Jag" Company 3 officers, 166 men

To/alXossalilToops '93 offiUTS ond 6,832 mtn

From a letter by General von Kruse to theH.a.no\·crian Captain Bcmel

Wicsbaden 7January 1836

. The Ducal Nass..,u Brigade, consisting of twobIllry regiments was dispersed from 15~18

1815. The2nd Regiment had been in Dutchy since 1814; the 1st Regiment (which formedreal :\"ass.'l.U contingent had only arrived a few

ys pre\,iously and had not yel been alloned to aCorps. ntilthe 16th it lay dispersed in canlone­1Dnll'i between Brussels and Lowen.

<'fhe 1st Regiment consisted of three battalionsuntil August 1814 both regimcnl'i had only had '2

Italions, and at this time wcrc reinforced by menm the thell disbanded 3rd Nassau Infantry

R.~ment).

'Each battalion had six companies, namely, I

nadier, 4Jagcr and I 1:lanquer company. Thenadiers formed on the right wing (of the

ttalion). The Flanqucrs on the left wing.'Each company had 3 officers and [60 N.C.O.s

.utd men. The battalion thus had 18 companyfficers and 960 N.C.O.s and men, the baualiolladquarters had 13 officers and 40 N.C.O.s

~nd men.'This regiment, which until tben formed my

tntire brigade, marched out of its camps carlyonthe 16th and wellt to Quatl'e-Bras which they«,ached on the evelling of the fight.

'On the 18th the Brigade, without beinganached to any division, was ordered to join theFirst Army Corps commanded by H.R.H. thePrince of Oranien.

'The 2nd Regiment had 3 battalions each of6companies as for the 1st Regiment but eachcompany had 4 officers and 150 N.C.O.sand men.Thus the Regiment had 24 officers and goo~.C.O.s ilnd men in the companies and 12)fficers and 33 N.C.O.s and men in the regimentalhradquaners.

The Oldtabu'1l l....r ~ry R~rne.1 i••8.,So Af~er ~!!:

liberal~ from ~he Fr dl yok.. ia .8.J, Old....b..rs raisOl'd....o~h..r lia.. iaf....~ry r~m...t ....d • LaAdw..hr force forlIernc.. with the Allie. ap;aiast N.poleon. AlIlDili~.ryaecfl.i-ti... w ia .bort .upply, 50 it caaa.. be .......eet tkat th..~ ta which fousbt ia tbe 18.] ca...paip appe.red iaperl'ec:1 r~atioa d ...... l it was. caM of'coDl...s you are',....d .......y Pru...... La.ndw..h .. r~m""la fouSlu for DlOAthswith a IUSb p"?",:ni.. of m .... barefoot. Pru...... inJI......cecan be.-.. ap.o ill th.. c." of~h" uniforDis .ho_ here, b.. r.,

~tri=?f:':~:::k~AB=B:~~' :::s~~~b.rse ...

;This regiment, together with the Regiment~assall~Oranicn, formed the 2nd Brigade of the2nd Royal Dutch Division.

'The former wascolllmanded by Prinz Ikrnhard\'on Sachsen-\Veimar, the latter was commandedby Gcneral!eutnant von Perponchcr. (The Regi­ment Oranicn Nassau, like the 2nd NassauRegiment, had been taken into Dutch' service forsix ycars from 8 November t814. Even so, thcRegiment Oranicn Nassau also wore Dutchuniform. 011 3January 18t6 the latter regimen!\\"a~(·()tl1hirH'd lIitll11)(' t~1 :'\;I~~;'ll Rq,6nH'nl andwith thl' Prus,iall :~:>th Fmilicr Rl·~inH'I11.

'On t5.JUtW IH[S till' ~l1d Ibtlaliul1 of tIl('Dutch regimenl Ol'anicn Nassau still carriedfrench pattern muskets and each man had onlylen cartridges. The FreiwilligcJiiger had rifles offour diflercnt calibres and no morc ammunitionthan the men of tile 2nd Batlalion.'

Uniform'The grenadier companies had round bearskins

(colpacks), all other companies wore shakos. Theuniform of both regilllenl'i was dark green withblack collar and currs and short skins. The coat

27

Iltatlquartrn3 Ibn.dion surgeonsI Di\·isionaJ surgeon

l~ N,C.O.sI Corporal

33 Soldiers

I ColonelI Oberstlcutnalll

:'1 l\lajors:'1 I\djulanl majorsI Rq~ilTIcntaJ surgeon

summer white linen trousers were worn.'The regimcntal and battalion commander-;

and the six mOllllled Adjutalll-majors. wore col­packs: only the general starr, 4 officers, worebicorns with whitc, drooping reathcr plumes, Allmounted officers carried sabres,

'The Aags, of which each baltalion carried on(".were or pale yellow silk with Ihe ducal badK(" inthl' centre !:Illhroidel"ed in hill!: silk. The slafr tipwas gilt and from it hung two golden tassels.

'It is correct that on the day of the battle of\\'aterloo the men of the 1st Rt'giment were wear­ing \\ hile covers on their shakos and pouches butI had thcsc removcd al about 3 pm as they ga\"{'the ('ncmy artillery a good aiming point. The menor tlw 2nd Regiment had the same COWl'S but inblack waxed cloth,

'No moullted ofliccr rode a distinctive horseduring the battle: only I rode a Falhc 101 lightcolou rcd horst' I.'

Slrtnglh oftht lsI .\"assaulnfant')' Rtgimtnt on18 JUllt bifor~ tht battlt

had a single row of yellow hunons on the frollland the uniform, ,md the side pockets, were piped\ellow, The breechcs were dark gr('en trimmedwith yellow cOrti and ,he Railers were black, Belts,handoliers and pack straps were ofbuA'lcather.

'The uniform and headRear of the officers wasas for that of the men, except thai offi(('rs' coat·skins were longer and they wore light grey andhlack striped pantaloons instead of grecn, Allofficers wore epau!cltt·s \\ hich indicated theirranks and orange silk sashes, [In I'oltmu ,\"1'/,Pl"tr 8 of ttl/ours ·'Cniforml.:undt" thrrr is a up­usmlation oj Iht .\'o$Sou inJantr:.r, Tht tnt 10 Ihis plattItalts Ihal tht uniform u'as u'o", from 18J I 33 bul in181-/ thr rpaulrurs oj oJlir"s ill Iht jlo1/k rom/Jm/inIN" rrpfared ~J' rrd or yllou' ".Irhsrlzhiilli·-It'illgs.}The Jager companies wore on their shakos a ball­shaped woollen pompon with a small turt ahoveit. The colours varied h} company as follows:

1St Compan} yellow2nd Com pan} white3rd Com pan} light bluc4th Compan} black

'L'nder th(' pompon at the front. top (('ntr(' ofIhe shako was a small leather cockadt·, In

Hou!OUmOnl, ,8JuneI8's-a Fr"'nch a.nult i. tak..n in fl.....by • British batt.tioll, Althou.!lh fi ..rc.. ty conluted 'hrough_out ,h.. battt.., the rarm n..v.. r r..11 ;1110 Fr....ch h.lld., II w ••d.. r....ded by.n AII~lo-Germang.rri....n indudins numMrsorN••s.uers. (N""o""l Army ~'....t'..m)

28

lSI Ballalio"

6 ('..'plains60berkutnanls6 L:nlerleuln,lI1ts

17:\·C.0.s

67 Corporals18 ~ Iusiciam

&)1 Soldiers

HOU!o..mODt today, laktn from the _d. _ II... directiont ....na by the aua..lli,,! F",Deh I.rOOp... Th.. hoY)' nat..", ofthe 5rou.nd c:aft dearly be _, and mu~t have tnad.. Ib..ad\.....c.. pby_icaJly tim5 a. w,"-II as militarily perilo.... UlleWid'",.. plooto.J".pIo, to ..rl"'~N.ti__' Ann.7 M ..."'..,..j

The 2nd Battalion and Ihe Land\\'ehr Ballalionhad almost exaell)' the same slf('ngth and Ih("wholt· regiment had 61 offieersancl appl'Oximalt'ly2,8.1-0 men.

SlrrnK,1t oj IIII' :md Nassau Rt'gimmlon 16 JU1If 1815 bifore Ihe bal/lt' rtf O!lfIlrr-Bras

/Iradqllorlrrs12 Officers 33 N.C.O.s and nwn

lsi BallaliOIl

130flkcrs 8.0 X.C.O.s ;mel Illen

2nd /Jalla/ion

1 I OITin'rs 8.rl mell

3rd Ballalion

11 Officcrs 853 men

TOT.I/. 830ifiurs and 2.575 111m

TheBnt"HI~pperoad, witb tb.. farm on.. Hay.. Sau""-loo1UB! lJO..Lb, toward. tb.. 1iII.'"- bdd by th.. fn-oeh.. N......troop. look pan u. Ihe heroit deftnce of thi• ..,.Stlltialbastion of Welli..!to..'. lill.e al Wal'"-rloo, wbich ..",tnt...llyfeU throu!b laclt of unm...,.;tiOD. It.. 1__ precipilaled th..eri..i,. of tbe baltle. Vile W",I1..,.. ploo'0.J".PIt, tow,.,.....7 N.·ti,n...1 A,.,..)' M ....",.. ,..j

29

l..osSlS of the 1St Regifllmt al Il'aterloo on /8 )llIIe 18/5

['nit Drad lVoundl'd MissingOffrs Mr" Offrs .lIm Offrs Men

Headquarters , 3 ,1St Batlalioll "3 1....7 ,,62nd H:utalioll 96 1 '3' 8,L:mdwehr Uattalion 39 , 8, 65

TOTALS 250 '0 3iO ,63

Tot,,1Offrs Men

3 3386

7 308'I ,86

25 883

The 2nd Regimcnt also fought at QUOIlrc.lkas and ilS lossn there "ere:

L·n;t1St Banalion2nd 1l.1t1alioll3rd lJallalion

Drad Il'oundid

40'0

3'

At Waterloo Lhey then lost:

Ullil Du/(I Wounded Missing TotalO./frs Mell Offrs IHell qlr" Mill 0.11",1 /\1'1'11

Heac!{IU,arters ,lsI Battalion '7 6 46 '7 82nd Battalion '3 7 45 '4 8 7'3rd HaHalion '7 7 6, 50 8 '39

TOTALS 6g '0 '53 9' ''I 3'3

Source: S/(lQlsarrhil1 Wiesbadrn, VI/I v\'assau, KrirgsdrpartrmrnlXr 532,26 27.

Other distinctions were the headgear; the 1stBattalion wore Bavarian style black.leather hel­mets with black crest, black plume (r(:d rorgrenadicrs) a brass grenade badge and brassfittings; the 2nd Battalion wore what seem to havebeen PrussialHtyle, black4rclt shakos with a blackleather top band (N.C.O.s and drummers had

7Ite 7.1Nijorl7ls Ol:Ni!!,StlllScrroops 1803-1815

The rOllr inl~ll1try battalions wore dark green,long-skirted coal'; with red racings, piping andturn backs. In the tails werc vcrtical pocket-flapswith rour bullons and yellow laces. Initially therewas one grenadier company per battalion (aCarabinier company in the grd Jager Ila.ltalion)and three rusilier companies: the grenadiers worercd plumes and epaulettes. the others blackplumes and dark green shoulder straps. The shadeor the racing colour and the colour or the buttonsvaried rrom batlalion to battalion as shown here:

30

tst Battalion2nd Battaliongrd Battalion4th Battalion

1st Battalion2nd Ballalion3rd Battalion4th Battalion

FacingsBright redBrick rcdLight redDark redParadebr('('chesGreyDark grcenGreyGre)'

But/onJ BtltsYellow Bun·Yellow Bun·White BlackWhite Buff

WaistcoatsWhiteGreyDark greenWhite

La Haye Saiale i_bu,d duri.aS Ofte o( the "",ach cavalryallacQ; Bntish fin (rom the prrisoa ...d the !tSlh Riftes in"'ppon aom o( Ihe (arm Ndly mauled the nshl 8aaks o(F"""ch cavalry c...""!.... 110. view Ht!m~ to I_I. ....uth (roma poinl dose 10 the cross-road. m.rlo.iD.s the centre o( the

=;~:S(:al~;k.;~ollh:,:,~~~oo~.::~::.a(":t~:~r~:.;MOll"'",,")

gold top bands according to rank}, black cockade,white cords, black plume; thc 3rd Battalion worcbicorns with black cockade, yellow pompon,white loop, button and cords and the 4th Bat­lalion worc shakos as for the 2nd but light green incolour with yellow (gold for N.C.O.s) top band,black cockade, boltom band and peak, andycllow cords. The grenadiers of the 4th Battalionwore thc black shako wilh copper grcnadc badgcand rcd plumc and cords as shown in thc colourplates.

Until 180g all officers wore bicoms with blackcockade, and loop and button in the regimentalcolour.

Collar and cuffs of the jackcts were edged inyellow piping and badges of rank were shown bygold orsilvcr lace tocuffsorcollaror both. N.C.O.sand officcrs carried sticks as signs of office and itmay be assumed that at this time officers woreilk waist s.'lshes (in orange?). From 28 October

1806 the)' also wore gilt sword knots.Lcgwear was, for parades, close filling breeches

with side-stripes and thigh-knots in short blackgaiters with black leather buttons: in summer.white trousers over short white gaiters. Officerswore black Hessian boots with gold trim andtassel.

The Rti/tndt Jagtr were dressed all in darkgreen with silver lace and buttons, black leather­work, black-leather helmets, high-crowned, Ba­varian style for officers, low·crowned for otherranks. The helmets had black crests and greenplumcs with white metal fronl pia Ie, chin-scales,peak edging and side struts. Wcapons wcre acarbinc, pistols and a curved, light cavalry sabrcin a steel sheath. Sabrelasches were of blacklcather with the crowned cypher 'FA' and thoscof the officers had a broad silver edging.

In 1808, when the inf:llltr)' W:lS reorganised, theuniforms were also altered. The helmets of theold 1st Battalion (von Todenwarlh) were givcn tothc first grenadier companies of the two newregiments, the second grenadier companies woreFrench style grenadier shakos. By 1810 allgrenadiers should h:l\'c been issued with thebrown fur colp:lck with red bag. pompon. plumc

31

Service badges were also after the Frenchpallern and lOok the form or yellow chevrons,point up, on the upper len sleeve.

Oflict'r5 wore gilt gorgets and gold sword knotsand thcir rank was indicated by gold epatlktles onthe should('rs:

trous{'rs had yellow side·slripcs and thigh-knols.On 15 Octoher 1807 French muskcts and

sabres wcr(' issued to replace the old-fashionN:1and worn-Out \\eapons which the ~assauers pre­viously h'ld and French b'ldg("S of rank andsenice were introduced. For 0111('1' r;lI1ks theseconsiSI('d of dia~onal stripes across both 10\\('1'

.. leeycs:

I.ieutenant fringl'd epaulette right:contre-epalilette len

Premier Lieult'nant fringed epaulelte len:contft'-epalilelll' ri~ht

Hauptmann 1\\0 fringed epaulet1es~Iajor two epalllcttes \\ith silwr

straps and gold bullionfringes

Oberslleutnant two golden epauk-tl('s, onlythe len with bullionfringes

Obcrst two golden {'paulett{'s withgold bullion fringes

OfTiC{'rs wort' gold shako cords on paradt',

The cavalry uniform changed liltle at this timeexcept lhat the helmets gave way [0 black rurcol packs with dark grecn bag (oflicers with silvertassel, the nll'n with white), Dark green pelisseswith black fur and white lace and buttons wercaddl·d. and the eXJl('nsi\"e. close fittingdark-grecnbreeches in huss.'lr boots ga,·c way to dark-greenoveralls wilh black leather fillings, Badges of rank\\ ere a serics of \\ hite silver for officers I chevronssituated over the Cliff.

t\\O red stripesone gold stripe ed~('(1 r('(1

t\\oredstripes andtwogoldchevrons on the uppcrslen'('

two gold stripes edged red.

CorporalSer~ealll

CompanyQuartermaster

Sergeant i\lajor

N.... u Infan,ry flail;, ,806-15- Of pale rello_doth, il bore a liS"" blue sloield, a lI;old aod redcro_n, and a lau...,1 _rea,h in S'--" "";,h a !old

~~~:ca~=;"~:I:d:;:;~.'!t"..;:~':o~:~~:;bars. ne browa slaff had a sold spearhead,nails aad ICOrtU.

and corcb ..ho\\ n in Ihe colour plalC"i. The elitccompanies ~renadierand the Ile\\ Iy raised \'olti­Reur \\ore French st) Ie distinctions: ~r('nadiers

red haHrim, red epaulellcs and red sabre-strap,red gr('nadc·badge in the turnbacks: voltigeurs.grecn plume with yellow tip, brass horn shako­hadgt', green cords, green epaule\tes and sabrestrap, yellow-horn badges in the lurnbacks.Fll~iliers won.' shakos with white cords, blackcockade, company colour pompon (1St Company

yello\\,2nd white,3rd light blue, 4thblack and a badge in the shape of a brass ovalbearil1~ the regimelllal number. surrounded by atroph) oLums and nags.

The jacket remained dark green but facill~

became black. butlons )'('110\\. turnbacks ~f(·en.

edged ) ello\\ , waistcoats iniliall) \\hite, laterdark ~Teen \\ith )ello\\ pipin~, Ie~\\ear either~f('y breeches in black gailer'S as before or. lalcr,dark gr('('n trousers over shon black gaitt,rs. The

32

7heP/atesNASSAU

A I Privatt, lsI !Jalla/io1l, summer dress, /803This battalion was also known as the 'Lcib­Bataillon' (Life Baltalion), a commonly used titleall the Continent for the most senior regiment,battalion, company or squadron. II was also thecustom to namr units after their commanders andthus the 1St Battalion was also knowll as the'Batailton VOIl Toclcnwarth', The boiled-leatherhelmet is vcry similar to thaI worn at this time bythe Ravarian army. The front badge was aflaming grenade in brass; the grenadiers wort ared plume at the side of their helmets, the musket­eers the black one shown here. For winter wearthe men wore grey trousers with black thigh-kiwIsand side-stripes and black gailers to below theknee, the gaiters over the trousers. The coat wasingle-breasted and cUt away in an oval shape at

lhe bottom so that the white waistcoat showedThe coat was edged in red piping. The pouchplate bears the lion or Nassau.

A2 Drummer, 2nd Bflltalion, j/immfr ((Ipaigll dress,/806

Here the Ilew yellow shako trim is shown ~ theNassau drummers did not Weill' reversed coloursbut were distinguished by the yellow lacc on theirchests and the yellow chevrons on their arms. The1St and 2nd Baualions wore bun' leatherwork, thesrd (RiOt) Battalion wore black. The brass drumwas the modern dcsign and much lighter to carrythan the older, bigger wooden models; this wasimportant as the drummers were usually boys orabout thirteen 10 sixteen years orage.

A3 Fusiliers, 4th Raila/ion, summer cflmpfl(ftll dress,/806

This battalion was recruited mainly rrom theWeilburg area or the duchy and was also knownby the nameofitseommander- Major von Kruse.In Novcmber 1806 the black shako shown herewas brightened up with a yellow top band, pom­pon and cords. The black plume was added rorparades. Note the rathcr unusual soldiers' coats

Li~utenant.G~n~ralFriedrich Christian Di~trich von P..-n,wbo commanded th~ 3rd (Landw~hr) Battalion of th~ .stNanau Infantry R~gim~nt at Wat~r1<H> and was badlywounded in th~ n"ck during an atl~mpt to r~li~v~ La Hay~

Saint~. Born in Waldeck in t787, h" fought lllI an offic~r in th"

~i::~~c:a:~it:~~!;':tcif:::~I::fa~;:;hR~;rm,:~i~nt~i:,sh:u ......nsf"rred in Marcb of that y~a.. to th~ Nassau s~rvic",

.."taining bis rank in th~ 2nd Nassau Infantry Regim"nt. H~s~..ved as A.D.C. to G~n~..al voo Scuff"r, r"tunting with bitntoNassau and lat~r r~joininghis tr<H>ps witha r~inforc~m"nt

d .....ft.ln .8.] h~ was named a knigbt ofth~L~on ofHonou...On 25 Octob"r .8'3 h" was promoted major. It was von Precmwho carri"d his Duk,,'s s~c..~t v~rbal ord~rs to von Kru"",,instructing him to tak~ his "~gim~nt ov"r to th~ British. In.8'4 von Preen was given th" task of o ..ganising Nassau'sLandw~br. His b .....v~ry at Wat~..t<H> bl"Ought him th~

WiU~ms.Ord"rand a p"l!5~ntation sabr~. H~ r~tired in .848and died in .856. His uniform h~r~ -that of his final rank - isdark green raced with black v"lv"t, and has gold "mbroid~ry

and "pauJdt~s.

with long skirts to the knee; this custom wasnormally reserved ror officcrs. The green breechesshown here were parade wear; llOrmal legwearwas grey breeches in the short gaiters. It was inthis unironn that the Nassaucrs took lhe field in1806 to help Napoleon Cl'ush Prussia.

IJ / Fu.rilier, 2nd !Jalla/ioll, l)fIrade dress, /806The origin or the green shako shown here is notknown. The green coat was as ror the olherbattalions bUI the racings were dark red comparedwith the medium rcd orlhe lsi and 2nd Battalions.The dark green plume was put on lor parades andwhen laking part in a prepared battlc. For wintcr

33

"ear ,,;-rc} br('('('hn with black thi~h-knolS andsidC"-stripcs wert' "om inside short black 1{3iters.The hack of thl' jacket had red turnhack andveni('al pocket flaps each with four bUllons and}c!lo" button holt' laces; two large bUllOllS werein the mall orthe back. Hair \\a worn !>o"deredand qUl'ucd ulltil 1806 7, Commander of thisbattalion was Major von Holb:lCh, and lhe unitwas I"('cruitcd from the area or Usingell,

82 (;rmadi" S~rg~a,,/, 4th Battalion, lI'int" parad~

tlrrss, t80GThis company of the battalion wore black shakoswhich appear to have been of the then-<urrentPrussian model with a copper grenade badgeunder the black cockade, The huge red horsehairplume is intercsting as both Russia and I'russiaintroduced plumes of this panern into theirarmiC'S in thepcriod 1809---15. TheotherK'"enadierhallmarks were of "ery French f1a\our redshako cords. red woollen ('paulellcs and rt"(1 sabre

no.. Prian: otOra.slt" _.dM d..-ias; doe laua' n oflhe Lute ofWala'Ioo, n-I" -..d._budl,. a,..... ofCO\I"lIIlt _d dll~1a. I.Jte p~ was aoc a 1..-1 a~-e I. llae

:r~=:::-=~~:':~::!:I~I~c~..s.~~~:';;~:hel}~~e:.~:~:: :t:':I·r7tai:;'..h:ef~-:'~~h~;

~~..~~~~i::=i:"'.f:r=:;::'Z.;-:-~~CO'''lH' of acdon which _u.1 ha" e.cIeared IliID I. Manha'

~::~~::i:::ul:~e~~~i:a1e:.-:o~~:!~:::vc: ~.!a;:;lhe ~t!,j".1 .. lime 10 ...... Ibe 1.1 N u laI..lry from••Wm.S lhe ..me fatt!. (N.,i_.1 A.....)' M m)

fist-strap, Additionally, the)' wore gailers with rcdIr'im and tasscllO the tops. As in most Continentalarmies, ,he packs were made or calfskin whereasin the British arm)' the)' were ofcallvas painted inIh(' facing colour of the regiment.

1J3 Riflmwn, 3rd Baltation, summt'r part/de duss,,800

During ~O\ember 1806 the battalion began toreceive the new pattern shakos as worn b) the 2ndB.'lltaliOI1 but i, is likel)' thai onl), a fmction of themen had them during the campaign period. Th("rcd facin~ of the 3m 8<ltIalion W(Ore slighthlighter in colour than th~ of the 2nd B.'malion.

W.,Jlinglon signals the general advance at the dose of theBatde ofWaterloo. (Natio..al A.-my M ..s....m)

Being riflemen they were armed (at least in part)with rifles carried in the traditional huntsman'smanner. Their equipment was also diAcrent fromthat oftheil' comrades; instead oran ammunitionpouch and pack, they wore small canridgepouches on the front of their belts and carriedtheir other kit in a black leather satchel or'RanzeTltasche'. Another variation of the uniformwas the orange thigh-knots on the grey breeches.Instead ora sabre, the riflemen carried a straiglll­bladed sworc!·bayonet with a green fist strap.

C Nassau: OjfiCfrS, Reilmde Jager, parade dress,

! 807Until 180gthe ReitendeJdger (Chasseurs a Cheval)wore the helmets shown in this plate; thereafterthe black fur busby seems to have been adopted.Officers' helmets were of the same pattern as thenworn by officers of Bavarian Chevau-lcgers withthe following: differences: the dark green plumewas worn on the right-hand side of the helmet

whereas the Bavarians wore a white plume on theleft and the oval from plate bore the cypher 'FA'(Friedrich August, Duke of Nassau) instead of theBavarian 'MJK' (Maximilian Jo~eph, Konig).Other ranks' helmets were very similar in appear·ance to those of the officers but ' ....ere considerablylower ill the crown; their crests were of blacksheepskin over a stuffed 'sausage' instcad of thebearskin of the officers. K note!, in his Plate 34. ofVolume V of his Uniformenkunde - Lose Blaller,shows both officers and other ranks as having fiverows of white metal buttons on the chests of theirdolmans. This is most ullusual and it was moreconventional for other ranks to have only threesuch rows. Some authorities state that each dol·man had fifteen rows of whitc (silvcr lor officcrs)lace across thc chest but the actual number wornmay well have depended upon the wearer's size!As in the French light cavalry, an officer's rankwas indicated by the number and width of thebands of silvcr (or gold) embroidery to be seen

3S

-:::; ~~~:,::~~;;ic~I~;"t""';' ~:a~:::h:~ ~~~~::r.~~ L~fa'kofficers of.llthe arntiu urlhe day. It ill now in the Museumfor German Hi..lory on the Unl.,r den Linden ;n East 8"rUn,The M1th& sadly droopin!plume obscurelllh" bl"d, r.,ath"r!Ial jUba""

A. S"TJ>ftII, an odd but .pdy ....med mUlIical ;n.l.....ntt:nlcarried by many nUlitary band" in Napoleon'. day. This":umpl,, baDS" ... the Bavarian fortress of Coburs.

36

abow the cufr and around the thigh knots. Thecyphn 'FA' on the sabrctaschc is orten wronglyreproduced as 'F~l' by anists who copy the oldpaintings without sufficient knowledge of who S<~t

011 the ducal throne al which time. Saddles wereof the w<:MX!t:n 'Bock' Sly Ie. as produced in Tllrkc~

and Hungary hundrcdsofycars ago, and harnesswas of the lighl c;I\"alry pattern and, for officers.was dccoratlX! with liny whitt: co\\ ric shells.

D I Pion"r. HI "ifalliry Rl'gimml, 1809 13SapPl'rs one per company) wore grenadier ap­poilllml'nlS (red epaulclte!l. busby wilh ft.xl baR.cords. pompon and plume), full hl·ards. :Ind th('aprons, gauntlets and arm badg'l's sl1O\\ tl here.'rhcir armamelll consisted of a sabre with red(ist·slrap, carbine (usually carried slung over theshoulder) and a heavy axe for dearing obSlacies.

/)2 0.9;((r, Rtilmdt Jagtr. 1810 (in Spain)Evkknce tends to show thai only oflicers worethl' bright red and rather baggy brecches shownhere; other ranks worc thc previously Illentionedgrey ovemlls wilh a dark green side-piping andwhile buttons. The old helmets have now givenway to bro\\ 11 busbies wilh dark green bags andwhile; silver tassels. Other changes in the uniformarc Ihal hussar pattern. dark green pelisses withbrown fur and sih-er lace and buttons have beenadopll'(l and the silver pouch belt has givcll way10 a hlack aile, edged in silver ami with silverpicker equipment.

Supplies of clothing scarcely ('wr rt'ached anyof til(" men serving in Na]Xlkon"s armies in Spain(or in any other of his campaigns come to that!)so the troops were forced to make do "s best theycould. Thisoften meant that each battalion wouldbuy (or steal) cloth in the area in which they werequartercd and would han: their tailors make it llPinto clothing on the spot.

II seems that Spain was richly endowed wilhFranciscan abbeys al this period as man)' con­tempomry diaries and painlingsshow French andallied soldiers in brown trousers and gre.alcoatsduring these campaigns. It is an intercsling Ell'lIhat Wellington's troops scarcely ('vcr suOcredlogistical disasters or shortages on the scale lhal:\"apolcon inflicted on his men.

/)3 Trooprr, Nrilflu!e]iiger,/)(mu/rdrl'ss, 1806This is the uniform worn by the 'Gn.'('n Hunters'(as the)' were nicknamed) in the campaign of 1806against Prussia when the unit W<:1lI to Berlin. It islikely that on campaign the decorated greenbreeches would have been covered (or replaced Iby mueh cheaper and marc comfortable greyoveralls bultoning up the outsides oflhe legs.

EI Ojfim (Prrmierlmlnant) oj l'o/tigmrs, parodI'dress, 1810

The old·fashioned bicorn was replaced by theshako for officers of fusilier and voltigeur com­panies in about 1810. Grenadier officers thenadopted the busby worn by their men. Officers'shakos Iwd gold cords, front plate and chin-scalesand vari-colout'ed tufted pompons according 10

company (fusiliers yellow, white, lighl blue orblack; voltigcurs dark green). Sign oroffiec (from18060n) was thc gilt gorget with a circular ccntralsilver platc, bearing lhc crowned cypher 'FA'(?)and the gold sword knot. Rank was indicated by~old epaulettesexactly as in the French ~apolconic

army. The burr baldric had a gold oval plate withtil(" lion of :\"assau on it.

£2 Voltigellr Corporal, campaign dms. 1809 '3The \'ohigeur distinctions are almost identicalwith those used in the French Napoleonic army,i.e. grcen plume with a yellow tip, grcen cords andpompon, green woollen epauleltcs and sabre fist­strap. Turnback badgcs in the shape of ycllowhunting horns W(TC worn and the ammunitionpouch badge was also a distinction. Fusiliers hadneither turnback badges nor pouch badges.Grenadiers had r('d grenades on Iheir ILlrllbacksand a brass grcnade on their pouches. Both;\'assau infantry rcgiments had blad fllcings since1808; in 1809 the orange decoratiOl1to collar andculTs was replnccd by a plain yellow (:dging asshown here.

I-.j Dmmmu tif Fusiliers, 2"d Infantry R~gimml,

I 80fr '3The shakos now worn by the llisiliers and volti·~eurs of the Nassau infantry would seem to be ofFrench issue pattern. The old drummer's distinc­tions have beel1 re(;lined.

F I Oldmhllrg: Cor/Joml, Vol/igl'lIr Company,1808 II

After joining the Rheinbund on 14 October 1808.the Ouch) of Oldenburg exist<:d until 13 D('Cem­bel' 18w whcll it was dissolved by :\'apolcon andincorporated into ),letroJXllitan France. Theuniform sho\\ n here is a mixtuTe of Prussian.Austrian and French styles: the four fusilier andIhe voltigeur companies of the battalion woreAustrian 'Jiiger' pattern hats (the fusilicrs with a\\ hite plume, the voltigeurs dark green, while thegrenadiers wore black bearskins with a red lOppatch certainly a little French influence. Thecoat, with its twin rows of buttons, is veryPrussian. The regimental historyshowsnn N.C.O.with th(' silver stripe on his upper arm; this is notconfirmed in any othn source. omn'rs wore thehats of their companies but wilh a 1011~ plumefollowing the top of the upturned brim with thebushy end to the rear. These plumes w('l'e whitewith a red tip. Thc sign of office was a silvergorgct with gold badge and a silver aiguilctte onthe right shoulder. Officers carried curved sabresin black and gold sheaths on sih"Cr slings from asilver waistbeh worn o\'er the coat. The)' worewhite breech('S in straight-topped black lx,x)ts:their coat-skirts reached to knee level.

F2 Xassall: S"geanl-major of Grenadiers, 1stN,gimenl, 1815

This plate shows the uniform \\orn by the)\assauers at Quatre-Bras and \Vaterloo. TheFrcnch·styk epaulettes in red and green for theelite compani(:s (grenadiers and voltigeurs) havenow bcell replaced by 'Achsdwlilstt" or shoulderrolls (ksign('d originally to prevent a hunter'sslung rifle from slipping on' his shoulder. Thegrenadiers' Achsdwi.ilstc were red, the voltigeurs'yellow. Voltigellrs now wore a brass hunting hornon their shakos and had green cords, pompon,plume and sabre-strap.

F3 Oldmhllrg: Drummu, Grmadi" Compan..", Drillorder

As in many otheT armies of thc day. Oldenburgcmplo)'('d N('gTOCS for its regim('ntal band 'atleast for the grenadier company). Drummers'badges werc the red and white 'swallows' nests' atthe tops of th(' sleeves and til(: four n·d and white

37

ch('vrons on each arm. Th.. ~mallo\\_' ncst \\crcrolotl-d \\ith red alld \\hite frinl;M alonlot thcbotcoms, Offic('n' bearskillJl had ~iher cord~,

OLDE:-iBl'RG

(,"1 Fusili" srrl!.",nl, 12gllt 'Fr",rJl' /./l/r "ifrlllf':.~

Rrgimrnl, /8Ul

Tht' men of lhe old R<"Riment OldC"nbur~ \\ rsenl 10 o..nabrud. in 1811 to form part of thC"nt'\\ I) -raised' I!/!I dr Lignr", The uniform sho\\ n11('1'(: is cOlllpl('u'l) French. Crt:nadiers had redshako-cords and plumes. r('t"1 ('paulettes and redsabre-knots: \'olliXeurs. )dlow o\er Kr("("11 plumes,~r('t'll rorrls. grN"1l epaul.. t1C"S and ~recn sabrc­st"ll Drill and disciplirll' \\ere also French,\\hich meant Ihal corpor.11 punishm(,111 \\a notusnt. Officers had gold sha~o<orrls. \\ore gold/o::0rgels, and carried straiKht bladed s\\ords 011

38

ne Old_boof'J W_lry Rewi_t" ; -rGer_rewi_a. I...ad~ Uae.le clirectl,. r m 1M N............,u. 10 lhe Fin' World War, aad llooM wlUc.ll look o. Ih.lradili... oflheKl..... e-.n..IAttI.. bore Brid.h Peal",.,,­tar lNoltJe,......O"... l. 1"., The Old_b,,_f'J"" of '1411 .liII_r" d.rk bl"e (a~ red wilh whir" .houkl" I p.; Ih"

:~,:"~::r"~.~':i:;:::;:.c==-~: meekl,

wai~lbdlS wOl'n 0\'('1' th .. waislcoat and tinder til..("0<11. :'\apoleon commanded that th ne\\ rt'Joti­menu hould not r('C('iH lheir ea~1 uncil the\h.ul proHd lhemseln's in battle th(" Russiallf.llllp"ign ~;I\e liberal opporltlnitiN for the i'iSUl'of man) l"aKI . unfortunatel) lh~ ca5ualtin \\t'r("~) hea\-) lhat h) the elld of 1812 then" \\ere ofl.. 11

too f("\\ men IC'fI in a n"Killlcnt to carr) thccolourll!

(;;/ 0.ffirrr. R,t1mnd Oldtttbllrg. lonl« fNlrodf tirw.181 1

rhe Prussian influence in this uniform has no\\cmnplctd) ulIsled the Austrian alld French

touches which were seen prior to 181 I. The shakoplate bears a 'p', the initial of the then.reigningDuke ofOldenhurg, Peter Friedrich Ludwig. Aswas fashionable in Prussia in those da)'s, the uni­forms wcre vcry c1osel)' cut and thc slecvcs were solong that the bottom button of the cuff Aap wasoften worn open to gi\'e the hand a little morefreedom and to stop the slecve from creasing tOOmuch. The plumes of the men were slightlyshoneI' and thicker than those of the officers andthe mens' shako plates and crowns were of brass.Drummers had red swallows nests as before,edged in white, but no chevrons on the sleeves. Itseems that all companies were composed ofmusketeers and that there were no grenadier orlight companies. The shako shown in the regi.mental history would seem to have been of thethcn·current Pl'llssian model.

G3 Priunte, Freiwillige Jiiger Detachmel/t oj theRegil1lml Oldtllblifg,jicld dress, /8/4

On 27 November 1813 Oldenburg finally shookoff the French )'oke and formed one battalion oflinc infantry (1st Battalion) and one battalion ofLandwehr infantry (2nd B.'l.ualion) which to­gether constituted the 'Regiment Oldenburg'.Attached 10 the 2nd Baualion was a detachmentof 'Frtiwilligt Jagtr' (,Volunteer hunters') orGentlemen Rankers. These volunteers had to berich enough to clothe and equip themselvcs andwere addressed by officers and N.C.O.s as 'Sicthe polite form) instead of the usual 'Du'familiar form) which was used to the common

soldiers. The Frriwillige Jagers were armed withrifles and s\\'ord-bayonets and their facings weredark green instead of Ihe red of the rest of thebattalion. They were used for skirmishing duties,and WOI'e the Landwehr cross in silver on theircaps, as did the Prussian Landwehr. Their beltswerc black whereas the rcst of the 2nd Battalionworc white.

NASSAU

HI Jiigtr, 1st "!lantry RtgimLnI, 1815 (allVlIltrloo)This figure is shown wearing Ihe white shako("o\"er and while pouch covcr which their com­mander. Obersl VOI1 Kruse, ordered them to re-

Helmet ofa .. (hher R.ar.k, Old_hurs W ...uyR~...e..1 Nr.9'. "''I...ow ia the ...ililary m .._ ..... ia the caatIe ofRaatauia Bad_. Local f~li.a~ a..rvi",ed ia onuoy paru of Gu......y10ft!; aFter Pnania weldfld thl! p ....vi...... ly iadepnodeal atalKiato a aiaSl1! ••li.... ia Ihl! 187M; I!VftI today thl!re ia atl'Oll~

...cj...Pnuaiaa f~li.a~ia H....."l!r ...d Sa.,.ria. Thia r~ml!..te...".i.a..ed 10 recnail ia Old_hurs, d i.. hel'l"l!l btan thl!..Id bad~1! ..rthl! eroWlled ducal e ......I l!;lJht-poi.. ted al"r.

move at about 3 pm on the day of Watcrloo asthey were too conspicuous a larget for the Frenchartillery. Badges of rank were still French but tbeepaulettes of the Hite companies had given way to

shoulder rolls. Belts were ofbllITleather and packswere of calfskin as they had previously been. Theshako plate was brass and as for the figure of Ihedrummcr in Plale E I.

H2 OffictrojlhtCtntraISlaff,paradtdrtSs, 1815This small corps of four officers kept alive thcnewly founded Iraditions of the general slan- abody of officers designed to help a commander

39

manage his forces and win his baltles. On fieldservice the expensive white breeches would hecovered by grey overalls with a row of bUllonsdowll the outside of each kg. These four officers(and the commander) were the only ;'\Iassauofficers 10 wear bicorns, the rest of the regimentalofficers wore brown fur colpacks like the grena­diers.

H3 OJficerqfGref/tlrlierJ. Hlltiftl/llryRegimml, 18/5The regimental history states thal olliccrs woregold cpaulettes to indicate their rank in 1813 andthis is confirmed by General von Kruse's letter onthat campaign. Knotel, in the text to his Plate 8of Volume XVI of his UlIiforml'Tlkullde, states thatin 1814 the cpaulelles of the officers in lhegrcnadier and 'f1anquer' companies were re­placed by red or yellow Arhsdwiilsle or wings inthe style of those worn by Ill(' officers of Britishlight companies. Page I II of the Regimelltal

40

An interesting link with the Nas..auers of Spainand Waterloo; note the similarity between lhi ..badge and the central device of the Nassau·olours. It i .. the patch worn on the up~r leftarm by present....ay members of the GerrnanBundeswehr'.. 5th Panzer Divi..ion, garrisonedin the area of the old Duchy ofNa..sau. The blue..hield with its yellow lion and bars is wOrn withdifferent coloured edge.. to indicate sub-unit.Divillional troops have black and white stripededges; '3th Panzer-GN!tladier Brigade has whileedges; '1th Panzer Brigade has red edges, and15th Pan..er Brigade yellow edges. This colourcode by seniority (white, red, yellow, and whereapplicable blue) is the sarne as that U!led in thePrus..i.. arrny of .8'3'

History states lhat 'the epaulettes for the menwere discarded', but does not clarify the positionof these items for officers. Being a company officer,this man carries a straight bladed Degell on abuff' baldric; mounted ofTicers carried curvedsabres all black and silver slings.

SOURCES

Ikrnays, Schicksale tlrs Gro:;sherzogllllllllJ Ff(IIi~fllrl

Knotcl, Unijormenkllllde I.ose Bliilla, Vol. VKIIOlc!, £!nijormklwde. Vol. XVI\"'riland, D(lrJlelbmg da KtliSfrfid, Frlll/Ziisisdlfli Armre/8/2

Nalional Army !'vlusculn, LondonSlaats;lrclliv Wicsbadcn. VI II Nassau, Kricgsdcpanc­mcn1 Nr 512, 2627

M en-at-Arms Series Titles in Print

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ISBN 0-85045-255-4

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