"Hanoverian Help" Topic

I am back with more questions about the Hanoverian units in the 100 Days Campaign. For Blucher I am making a 6mm base of the Keilmasegge Brigade (1st Hanoverian/3rd Div.) which consists of the following:

Light Btn. "Grubenhagen"
Light Btn. "Lüneburg"
Line Btn. "Osnabruck"
Line Btn. "Werden"
Line Btn. "Bremen"

My battalions are 16 men in strength. I have ignored the Field Jaeger and will be representing them as skirmishers at the front of the base.

Piecing together what I can from the internet (including the excellent centjours.mont-saint-jean.com website and other TMP threads), I believe that the 'Line Battalions' wore red jackets and stovepipe shakos, whereas the 'Light Battalions' wore green jackets with green caps. The facings are not as important, but I am guessing they are all black? Is this correct? Also, I am assuming there would be one flag per 'Line Battalion' and none for the 'Light Battalions'? Is this also correct?

I have been having quite a headache over this for the last few evenings…

You may find this to be of use:

link

Grubenhagen, Osnabruck and Luneberg had black facings and were dressed and in some cases equipped as light infantry though in fact I think they had been re-designated as line battalions by the time of Waterloo. Verden's facings were green, Bremen's were blue.

If you take another look at the Cent Jours website you can find uniform plates for each of the regiments in question.

I have a feeling that the Hanoverians didn't receive their standards until after the campaign but I'm not certain about this.

Incidentally, in Ugo Pericoli's '1815 – Armies of Waterloo' (which may not be the world's most reliable source) he says that the Hanoverians painted their backpacks yellow rather than black. I haven't seen this confirmed elsewhere but if it is true it is a useful way to get them to stand out from the British and the King's German Legion.

Thanks for that. I had read elsewhere that the CentJours website had the wrong uniforms for at least one of the units though.

Sorry I can't help you with these.

Some uniform information is indeed difficult to find, and some sources don't agree on everything. Even contemporary paintings sometimes have mistakes in uniforms.

Hello Abwehrschlacht!

It's extremely difficult to nail down the Hanoverians as they were changing right up to Waterloo and after. I used an extract from Siborne which is also acknowledged (by him) to have some errors. But it does match up pretty well with a number of other sources that I managed to find.

Luneburg – green jacket & pants, black facings & cross belts, Waterloo shako

York (new/old name) – red jacket, dark blue facings, grey pants, white cross belts, Waterloo shako

Grubenhagen – red jacket, dark green facings, grey pants, black cross belts, conical shako

Verden – red jacket, light green facings, grey pants, white cross belts, Waterloo shako

Bremen – red jacket, black facings, dark blue pants, black cross belts, Waterloo shako

Jagers – green jacket, light green facings, grey pants, black cross belts, conical shako

Most of the other sources I found indicated all the hats were black.

That's how I painted my Baccus figures and if their really right or not I don't actually know, but they look good and different then the Brits. So if nothing else I think at least I captured a "Hanoverian look". Add in the Baccus flags and bingo!

Best regards,

Glenn

Hello Glenn!

That is great info, and very useful. I have already ordered the Baccus Prussians as stand ins for the light troops (cloth caps), so I may still use those as the uniforms seem to be so changeable! I had no idea that creating these units would be so bloody demanding when I set out!

Hello Abwehrschlacht!

If I recall correctly it was only some of the landwher that wore the cloth caps. So if your going to do some of those your in luck.

Yes the entire allied army is a little hard to pin down but that's part of the fun of the hobby (well for some of us) the research.

Best regards,

Glenn

Nobody mentioned that the sashes worn by Hanoverian officers and sergeants were yellow, adding a bit of color.

The officer plumes were white over yellow instead of the British white over red. NCO plumes were white over red.

There were no Hanoverian light infantry, except the small unit of jaegers. The field battalions were dressed in either red or green, the landwehr very much like British infantry with some use of "wheel caps." Thus the militia (landwehr)look more "regular" than the line (field battalions).

Abwehrschlacht
To add to what Glenn and others have posted.

Luneburg Light Bn. had grey pants and Conical shako.
Grubenhagen Light Bn. had green coats, black facings, grey pants and Conical shako.
The Jager Corps may still have worn some caps.

There is little evidence to support any troops wearing the cap except for the Jager Corps and a few Officers.

The Landwehr were in red coats with mainly blue facings – one with green and two with yellow facings, grey pants, and Conical shako for most, some in Waterloo shako. Again no caps.

Most seem to have carried un-official flags, even the Light Bns. as the Luneburg is said to have had theirs captured during the battle. The designs are for the most part unknown but used the white Hanoverian horse as a common device.

Following is Siborne's list:

The 'pointed' shako is the earlier Conical type.
The 'Portuguese' refers to the later Waterloo style.
Hzg. von York is the Osnabruck Line Bn.
Bremen is listed twice as part of the unit retained their old green coats with black facings.
He is wrong about Grubenhagen – they wore green with black facings.

Thanks for clearing up my confusion chaps, this is great information! Let's hope the KGL are a bit easier to work out…

I have heard the line units had ochre back backs as opposed to black for British but I do not have any sources.