"Hanoverian Infantry - 100 days Campaign" Topic

During the 100 days campaign, were any of the Hanoverian Troops light infantry, or were they all used as line infantry?

Thanks

J

Some of the Hanoverian battalions were formerly light infantry although by summer 1815 they were all called feldbattalione (fieldbattalions). They certainly had skirmishing capacity and some light companiess were deployed at Hougoumont. The Feldjägercorps, as the name suggests (with only 2 companies) were very definitely a true light unit and rifle armed. They fought in or near La haye Sainte and had rifles and dark green uniforms. The Hanoverian army of the time was in transition and so it is not entirely clear how they were precisely organised at Waterloo. (Especially whether the transition from light to line (feld) like the Luneburg btn.was already completed and what this really implied for the use of the troops) The great majority of the troops fought as line infantry however. For more detailed info I should dig into my books but have not enough time for that but this gives some I idea I think.

In "Waterloo 1815 Les Carnets de la Campagne nr 5 Les Vertes Bornes" you find an interesting article (unifomwise) with plates by Patrice Courcelle. There is also an article on the Luneburg light btn in nr 1"Hougoumont" stating that they were still very much a light unit (and partly rifle armed) despite the name change to feldbattalion

Infantry
On 4 February 1815 all Feld & Landwehr-Battalionen were combined into regiments. Although 1 Feld-Battalion & 3 Landwehrbattalionen formed a regiment, they continued to operate separately.

Nr 1 Bremen Regiment
Feld-Bataillon Bremen (formerly Leichtes-Bataillon Bremen-Verden)
Landwehrbattalion Ottendorf
Landwehrbattalion Stade
Landwehrbattalion Bremervörde

Nr 2 Verden Regiment
Feld-Bataillon Verden (formerly Feld-Bataillon Bennigsen)
Landwehrbattalion Verden
Landwehrbattalion Bremerlehe
Landwehrbattalion Harburg

Nr 3 Hoya Regiment
Feld-Bataillon Hoya (formerly Feld-Bataillon Langrehr)
Landwehrbattalion Hoya
Landwehrbattalion Nienburg
Landwehrbattalion Diepholz

Nr 4 Osnabrück Regiment
Feld-Bataillon Osnabrück (also known as Feld-Battaillon Herzog von York)
Landwehrbattalion Osnabrück
Landwehrbattalion Quackenbrück
Landwehrbattalion Melle (formerly Landwehrbattalion Iburg)

Nr 5 Lüneburg Regiment
Feld-Bataillon Lüneburg
Landwehrbattalion Lüneburg
Landwehrbattalion Celle
Landwehrbattalion Gifhorn

Nr 6 Lauenburg Regiment
Feld-Bataillon Lauenburg
Landwehrbattalion Ratzeburg
Landwehrbattalion Bentheim
Landwehrbattalion Lüchow

Nr 7 Calenburg Regiment
Feld-Bataillon Calenburg
Landwehrbattalion Hannover
Landwehrbattalion Hamlen
Landwehrbattalion Neustadt

Nr 8 Hildesheim Regiment
Feld-Bataillon Hildesheim
Landwehrbattalion Hildesheim
Landwehrbattalion Uelzen
Landwehrbattalion Peine

Nr 9 Grubenhagen Regiment
Feld-Bataillon Grubenhagen
Landwehrbattalion Alfeld
Landwehrbattalion Salzgitter (formerly Landwehrbattalion Goslar)
Landwehrbattalion Springe

Nr 10 Göttingen Regiment
Feldjägerkorps (formed in 1815)
Landwehrbattalion Osterode
Landwehrbattalion Münden
Landwehrbattalion Northeim

Source Journal of Military History 1959/163
The following is a translation of an undated document written by Captain Carl Müller of the Hanoverian General Staff, but undoubtedly from early 1836, as the other documents in the folder are of this date. It reads:
2nd Division, 3rd Brigade – Colonel Halkett
Osnabrück Landwehr Batt: Red jackets with dark blue facings and grey pantaloons. All of the leather equipment was white. The battalion wore shackos of a tapered design [e.g. the old stovepipe design, of which no foul weather covers were known to exist]
Quakenbrück Landwehr Batt: Red jackets with dark blue facings and grey pantaloons. All of the leather equipment was black. The battalion wore shakos of a Portuguese design
Salzgitter Landwehr Batt: Red jackets with dark blue facings and grey pantaloons. All of the leather equipment was white. The battalion wore shackos of a tapered [stovepipe] design.
Bremervörde Landwehr Batt: Red jackets with dark blue facings and grey pantaloons. All of the leather equipment was white. The battalion wore shackos of a tapered [stovepipe] design.

3rd Division, 1st Brigade – Major-General Count von Kielmansegge
Lüneburg Light Infantry Batt: Green jackets with black facings and green pantaloons. All of the leather equipment was black. The battalion wore shackos of a Portugeuse design.
Duke of York Light Infantry Batt: Red jackets with dark blue facings and grey pantaloons. All of the leather equipment was white. The battalion wore shackos of a Portugeuse design.
Grunbenhagen Light Infantry Batt: Red jackets with dark green facings and grey pantaloons. All of the leather equipment was black. The battalion wore shackos of a tapered [stovepipe] design.
Verden Light Infantry Batt: Red jackets with light green facings and grey pantaloons. All of the leather equipment was white. The battalion wore shackos of a Portugeuse design.
Bremen Light Infantry Batt: Red jackets with black facings and dark blue pantaloons. All of the leather equipment was black. The battalion wore shackos of a Portugeuse design.
Feldjägers (or Jägers): Green jackets with light gree facings and grey pantaloons. All of the leather equipment was black. The Jägers wore shackos of a tapered [stovepipe] design.
5th Division, 5th Brigade – Major-General [sic] Vincke
Hameln Landwehr Batt: Red jackets with darl blue facings and either grey or white pantaloons. All of the leather equipment was white. The battalion wore shackos of a tapered [stovepipe] design.
Giffhorn Landwehr Batt: Red jackets with dark blue facings and grey pantaloons. All of the leather equipment was white. The battalion wore shackos of a tapered [stovepipe] design.
Hildesheim Landwehr Batt: Red jackets with light yellow [as opposed to dark yellow] facings and grey pantaloons. All of the leather equipment was white. The battalion wore shackos of a Portugeuse design.
Peine Landwehr Batt: Red jackets with light yellow facings and grey pantaloons. All of the leather equipment was white. The battalion wore shackos of a Portugeuse design.
Reserve, 4th Brigade – Colonel Best
Lüneburg Landwehr Batt: Red jackets with dark blue facings and grey pantaloons. All of the leather equipment was white. The battalion wore shacks of a tapered [stovepipe] design.
The above details are repeated for the Osterode, Verden and Münden Landwehr Battalions.
The following notes accompany the above report:

4. All of the shackos were black

I wonder if "Portuguese design" is just an odd way of describing what wargamers would call a Belgic shako?

At the time of Waterloo only the Feldjager Corps, Luneburg Feld Bn. and Grubenhagen Feld Bn. were Light units and could be used as such. The former was completely armed with rifles and the latter two about one third had rifles.
About 100 men of the Feldjagers and 50 each of the other two were detached to defend the Hougoumont Woods.
The rest of Luneburg was caught in Line or open order by French Cuirassiers while trying to relieve La Haye Sainte. Accounts are not really clear whether Luneburg or Grubenhagen were used as Light Infantry much during the battles.

The chart from the Source Journal of Military History is the one that Siborne obtained during his work on the Campaign. A few uniform descriptions are in error as there are other sources confirming the details.
The Luneburg Light Bn. wore a tapered shako like the K.G.L. Lights.
The Grunbenhagen Light Infantry Bn. wore dark green with black facings – ex K.G.L. Light uniforms. I believe confirmed by a Knotel plate.
The Bremen Line Bn. is also noted to have partially retained some men in green jackets with black facings and blue overalls. They had not been totally re-equipped by the time of Waterloo.
The Osterode Landwehr Bn. had red coats with green facings – confirmed by an existing uniform.
And the "Portuguese design" is the Belgic shako.