Austro-German Legion

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The Austro-German Legion was an association of the Austrian army that existed from 1813 to 1814 during the Napoleonic Wars .

Infantryman 1813. Watercolor by Friedrich Neumann, (Berlin Art Library)

Lineup

The Austro-German Legion, or German Legion (not to be confused with Russian-German Legion , Royal German Legion and German-Bohemian Legion), was founded under Major General Friedrich von Bentheim in 1813 as an infantry regiment in Prague from German-speaking Bohemians and deserters of the Confederation troops , mainly from the Kingdom of Westphalia , who wanted to help liberate their homeland from French rule. After initially adopting the original infantry uniforms of the deserters from Saxony and Westphalia, the troops were soon equipped according to the Austrian model.

The legion's cavalry consisted of the two Westphalian hussar regiments , which, after being re-formed in Aschersleben in the spring of 1813 , deserted near Zittau in August 1813 when the armistice expired. Under Brigadier General von Hammerstein's 1st Hussar Regiment and the 2nd Westphalian Hussar Regiment under Major von Penz transferred from the village of Reichenberg to the Austrians in Liebenau on the night of August 23, 1813, the day before the Battle of Großbeeren , of which they were quickly incorporated into the Legion as Hussar Regiment No. 1 and 2. Also "two squadrons, which were detached , allowed themselves to be attacked and captured on September 18 at Freiberg in Saxony by the Austrian Colonel von Scheither , perhaps not unintentionally" . The Westphalian King Jérôme Bonaparte angrily declared the officers of the defected squadrons guilty of infamous treason and a hateful plot .

The uniform of the hunter's department also indicates the origin from an earlier Rhine Confederation contingent.

Campaigns and dissolution

After the establishment in Bohemia , the legion was relocated to Baden at the end of 1813 , where material was requisitioned and further recruitment made. The position of horses and wagons for the vehicle fleet ... as well as a report from the Baden soldiers who were recruited by the Austro-German Legion can be proven to the authorities .

As part of the Austrian army, the Legion crossed the Rhine between Basel and Schaffhausen without a fight on December 21, 1813 and was relocated to France in a forced passage through the Central Plateau and the Jura Mountains of neutral Switzerland. There she formed part of the Austrian Southern Army in the Sixth Coalition War , which led a campaign to Lyon over several stages:

... Then he ( Friedrich Freiherr von Bianchi ) led the right wing of the Austrian southern army in France; advanced to Beaume with her under Hessen-Homburg on March 3rd, 1814, he took Mâcon on March 10th and is named with special distinction in the victorious battles against Augereau and during the occupation of Lyon on March 20th and 21st ...

The Legion's cavalry participated in the attack on Lyon on March 20, 1814 in a battle with French cuirassiers . After the conquest of Lyon on March 21, 1814 by the Austrians and the end of hostilities, the Legion was disbanded. General von Bentheim and Brigadier General von Hammerstein distinguished themselves in southern France, but overall the Legion had only a few heavy fighting in the two years of its existence. The tradition of the Westphalian 2nd Hussar Regiment of the Legion was later continued by the (new) Prussian Hussar Regiment No. 11 (2nd Westphalian) until the First World War.

Uniformity

INFANTRY :

  • Westphalian fusiliers: short-lobed white Westphalian Rheinbund infantry skirt with light blue lapels and piping, yellow metal buttons, white epaulettes with blue piping. Westphalian shako with black and yellow decoration (pompom and front cockade) in the Austrian style.
  • Regular uniform in the style of the Austrian Landwehr infantry : cornflower blue, long single-breasted skirt with buttons made of white metal, round cuffs, collar and piping in light yellow. Epaulets in cornflower blue with yellow piping. Blue linen pants. Corsican hat with an upright black horsehair tail and black and yellow pompom. Equipment like Austrian line infantry, but officers did not wear a sash and a white stutz.

(The so-called German light infantry of the German-Bohemian Legion was set up with officer cadres from the Kuk Infantry Regiment No. 31 in two battalions from Časlau and Chrudim and were in almost identical uniforms, but with falling horsehair on their hat; white breeches with black knee-length Leggings buttons: yellow 1st Battalion; white 2nd Battalion).

  • Hunter: Dark green single-breasted skirt with buttons made of yellow metal and red piping. Black collar and cuffs with red piping. Green pants with red side stripes. Corsican hat with upright green plumage and black and yellow cockade on the left.

HUSARS :

The two Westphalian hussars - regiments retained their old Westphalian uniforms after the crossing in 1813, but contributed to the Austrian-style, lacing (yellow) and the Shako with black and yellow rosette.

  • 1st regiment: black shakos , dark green pelisse and dolman and dull red breechees
  • 2nd regiment : red or black shakos and cornflower blue uniform

literature

Web links

  • http://www.napoleonicassociation.org/research/articles/The Austro-Hungarian Army 1798-1814.pdf (link not available)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. WJ Rawkins, G. Street: The Austro-HungarianArmy 1798-1814 , pp. 24 and 98 (pdf, 2009)
  2. ↑ The 2nd Hussar Regiment was under the command of the then Major Maritz Boineburg zu Lengsfeld , the actual commander of Pen (t) z remained ill in Macon. Military newspaper, Volume 10, p.381
  3. ^ Bernhard von Poten :  Hammerstein-Equord, William Freiherr von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 10, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1879, p. 493 f (with a detailed description of the transfer at Reichenberg).
  4. ↑ cf. Bröckling, Sikora, 1998, p. 131
  5. ↑ cf. Freiburg State Archives , holdings A67 / 1
  6. ↑ http://www.napoleon-online.de/html/tb_dezember.html
  7. ^ After Wilhelm Edler von Janko :  Bianchi, Vincenz Ferrerius Friedrich, Freih. v. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 2, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1875, p. 608 f (on the campaign to Lyon 1814).
  8. ↑ a b c Uniform plaque ( memento of December 13, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) on hunters and Westphalian infantry of the Legion on Histofig.com
  9. ↑ Illustration of a cigarette collection picture from around 1930 ( memento of the original from February 18, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.grosser-generalstab.de
  10. ↑ Uniform plaque ( memento of August 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) on hussars of the Legion on Histofig.com
  11. ↑ see Austrian auxiliary troops , Osprey