The Uniforms of the French Army under Napoleon I (1800 - 1815) - Foreign Troops - The Hanoverian Legion
The Hanoverian Legion was established at the end of the Consulate by General Mortier (Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph, * 13.02.1768 in Le Cateau-Cambrésis, Département Nord; † 28.07.1835 in Paris, later raised to Marshal) and officially approved on 13.04.1804. He was commander in Hanover.
The legion consisted of infantry and a cavalry unit (mounted chasseurs).
The commander of the infantry was initially Colonel Striffler; he was later replaced by the Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen.
The cavalry was commanded by Colonel Evers.
In 1809 a battalion from the Westphalia regiment was integrated into the legion.
On 09.08.1811 the unit was disbanded and its personnel distributed among various infantry regiments.
According to Eugène Fiéffé (History of the Foreign Troops in the Service of France, Vol. 2, p. 186), the legion was not composed solely of Hanoverians.
In 1811, for example, the composition of one of the battalions (500 men) was as follows:
226 from Austrian lands, 53 from Prussia, 129 from various states of the Confederation of the Rhine, 3 from Spain, 2 from Naples, 7 from Poland, 9 from Switzerland, 14 from Russia, 3 from Sweden and 57 partly from Holland, etc.
The infantry wore a long-tailed coat whose base color was red. The facings (collar, lapels, sleeve cuffs) were blue. The turnbacks were white.
The waistcoat and trousers were also white; in the field, black gaiters were worn instead of the white ones.
The shako had a yellow trim and a white plume.
The cavalry wore a green spencer with short skirts and no lapels. Collar, sleeve cuffs and turnbacks were yellow. The waistcoat and legwear are described as Hungarian. The headgear was a shako.
