Hanoverian Uniforms 1813 and 1866 after original watercolours by C. Ernst.

The Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg, informally also called the Electorate of Hanover, was from 1692 the ninth electorate in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. The dignity of Elector was granted to the Welfs.

From 1714 there was a personal union with Great Britain. During the Napoleonic Wars the Electorate of Hanover collapsed.

It was — after repeated requests from Napoleon to the Prussian King Frederick William III — initially occupied by Prussian troops until the Peace of Amiens on 27.03.1802. In this way the future French emperor skilfully brought the Prussian state into a political opposition to Great Britain. In 1803 France then itself took military action against the Electorate of Hanover. The Hanoverian army was disarmed and disbanded.

From 1807 Hanover was incorporated into the Kingdom of Westphalia or even in part became a territorial component of the French Empire. Many former Hanoverian soldiers enlisted above all in the German Legion of the (British) king, which was already formed in 1803 on the Isle of Wight and counts among the most successful and popular military units of the Napoleonic Wars.

As the successor state to the Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg, the Kingdom of Hanover was established at the Congress of Vienna in 1814. Until 1837 there was (again) a personal union between Great Britain and Hanover, i.e., the ruler of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was simultaneously also King of Hanover.

The Kingdom of Hanover was a member of the German Confederation, whose armed force was the Federal Army. The Confederation itself had no troops but relied on the troops of the member states. These troops were organized into federal corps. The contingent of the Kingdom of Hanover comprised 13,054 men, of which 10,118 men belonged to the infantry, 1,865 men to the cavalry and 1,071 men to the artillery. The latter number also included 217 pioneers and pontonniers. Furthermore, the contingent included 26 guns.

In total the Kingdom of Hanover had a troop strength of 21,000 men. There were 12 infantry regiments, 8 cavalry regiments as well as the artillery and other technical troops.

From 1833 the Hanoverian army strength was reduced. The cavalry, for example, comprised only 4 regiments. Initially there were cuirassiers, hussars and lancers; from 1833 there were only dragoons. The Garde du Corps regiment gave up the cuirasses. Later (1738) the number of cavalry regiments was increased again and there were again cuirassiers and dragoons.

The infantry now included the Guard grenadiers and Guard jägers as well as two light and twelve line battalions. The artillery comprised two companies of mounted artillery, seven companies of foot artillery and one craftsmen company.

Furthermore there was a small corps of engineers and for policing tasks a so‑called Landjäger corps (Landdragoner) or 14 field jägers (H. A. Eckert and D. Monten, Das Deutsche Bundesheer. Vol. IV. Hannover - Braunschweig - Oldenburg - Hanseatic Cities - Holstein. Edited by Georg Ortenburg, Dortmund 1981, pp. 9 ff.).

In 1866 the long‑smouldering political conflict between the Kingdom of Prussia and the Austrian Empire escalated.

The German War or German Brother War, also called the German‑German War or the Austro‑Prussian War, ended after the Battle of Königgrätz on 03.07.1866 with Austria's defeat.

The Kingdom of Hanover in 1866 fought on the Austrian side and subsequently lost its independence.

The mobilised Hanoverian army numbered about 15,000 men, including 2,000 untrained recruits, 2,200 horses and 42 guns (Die Althannoverschen Überlieferungen des Füsilier-Regiments Generalfeldmarschall Prinz Albrecht von Preussen (Hannoversches) Nr. 73, Hannover 1907, p. 77).

Although the Hanoverian army achieved an initial success at the Battle of Langensalza against the Prussian troops, it had to capitulate on 29.06.1866.

On 03.10.1866 the Welfs were deposed and the Kingdom of Hanover was annexed by Prussia. It became the Prussian Province of Hanover and the Hanoverian military henceforth formed the Prussian X Army Corps.

For the Hanoverian infantry, Käppis in the form of the Austrian shako were introduced in 1858 (Richard and Herbert Knötel/ Herbert Sieg, Handbuch der Uniformkunde. The military dress in its development up to the present, Hamburg 1937, p. 116).

In 1866 the shakos were worn in the field with a cover. From 1837 the uniform had been changed to the Prussian pattern and dark‑blue collars were introduced. Up to that time the basic colour of the Hanoverian uniform had mainly been red.