Osprey Men-at-Arms 206 : Hanoverian Army of the Napoleonic Wars 1809-1815

Of all the armies of the German States, that of Hanover remains of greatest interest to the British reader due to the close links between the crowns of the two states. One of the great 'ifs' of recent history is the question of the succession to the British throne in 1837. Had the British crown, like that of Hanover, been exclusively the property of the males of the line, then the century-old link between those two crowns would have been maintained. Prussia could not then have seized Hanover in 1866 without risking war with Britain, and Germany could not have united under Bismarck's Prussia. Where, then, would Britain have stood on the eve of the Great War? Hanover is the symbol of the close relationship of the British and German peoples. Hanoverian regiments went to war in 1914 with cuffbands and helmet badges bearing battle-honours won alongside their British comrades - Gibraltar, the Peninsula and Waterloo. Peter Hofschröer explores the uniforms and organisation of the Hanoverian army of the Napoleonic Wars, complemented with plenty of illustrations and photographs, plus eight full page colour plates by Bryan Fosten.

Contents

• Introduction
• The Army of the Electorate of Hanover 1792-1803
• Organisation
• Uniforms to 1803
• Tactics
• The King's German Legion
• The New Army 1813-16
• The Plates