Hanoverian Army
The Hanoverian Army were the armed forces of the Kingdom of Hanover from 1814 to 1866 and formed the majority of the X. Army Corps of the Federal Army .
history
Even before the collapse of the Kingdom of Westphalia , troops were set up in the former Electorate of Hanover in April 1813 , namely a light field battalion under the command of Lieutenant Colonel von Estorff in Lüneburg and two infantry regiments under Major von Berger in Lauenburg and Major von Zestefleth in Bremen - Verden as well as a hussar regiment in Bremen-Verden under Major August von dem Knesebeck and a dragoon regiment in Lüneburg. The training of the recruits was taken over by a department of the German Legion under Colin Halkett , who had recruited volunteers for the Legion as early as 1803. This contingent was under the command of Count Wallmoden-Gimborn and fought victoriously as the Russian-German Legion of the Northern Army in the Battle of the Göhrde .
In February 1814 the units of the Legion (three infantry and two cavalry brigades) were separated from the British divisions and returned to Hanoverian pay with the newly established units with their own standards.
The recruits were initially drafted into the Landwehr as part of their general compulsory service, but from 1816 onwards this was done according to a new Landwehr ordinance, which was replaced by a military ordinance in 1820. Thereafter, the previous distinction between field and Landwehr battalions was abolished and general conscription with permanent service of one year was introduced. Only the cavalry accepted only volunteers who had to take care of themselves as part of the "natural quarters" that existed until 1864.
The Electorate of Hanover, which was elevated to a kingdom in October 1814, was initially administered by the Duke of Cambridge as Governor General , but the King of England remained the highest commander . Only with the arrival of Ernst August , who had also taken over the command, did the military gain greater importance. With a general order for a new formation in 1838, he lifted the previously made army reduction. He also introduced the blue uniform used in the Prussian Army .
The general conscription resolved by the National Assembly and the increase in troop strength to two percent of the population would have meant an increase in Hanover to 35,600 men (with 1.78 million inhabitants). Ernst August defended himself unsuccessfully, but his son Georg had to submit to the federal decree in 1855 to increase the main contingent to 1 1/6 percent of the population, which led to a total of 21,757 (including reserve and replacement units). The meeting of the estates rejected the associated increase in the military budget to over two million thalers and only approved 1.7 million.
In view of the war between France, Austria and Sardinia in 1859, Georg feared that he would be drawn into the conflict, as Denmark could attack Germany together with France, and demanded that the army be doubled. Such plans, however, became obsolete with the Peace of Villafranca .
In 1862/63 the uniforms and weapons were changed based on the Austrian model. The development and introduction of the “Hanoverian rifle” (muzzle loader) could then no longer be completed, so that two different armaments were available until the end.
In his dissertation, Düsterdieck states that the “fate of the kingdom” had already been decided on the political level and that the use of the army was ultimately irrelevant and senseless.
organization
The army was first under the command of Lieutenant General from the Old and introduced in 1814 with twelve infantry, eight cavalry regiments, twelve companies of artillery and engineer corps total of 20,912 man on. After an interim reduction, in 1838 eight cavalry regiments with three squadrons each were set up, eight infantry regiments with two battalions each and four light battalions.
The list of regiments (until 1866):
- Cavalry regiments with four squadrons each
- Garde du Corps (Hanover, Hildesheim, Hameln)
- Guard Cuirassier Regiment (Northeim, Göttingen, Goslar)
- Guard Hussar Regiment (Verden, Osterholz, Nienburg)
- Queen Hussar Regiment (Lüneburg, Lüchow, Harburg, Stade)
- Duke of Cambridge Dragoons Regiment (Celle, Walsrode, Gifhorn, Uelzen)
- Kronprinz-Dragoons regiment (Osnabrück, Lingen, Quakenbrück, Aurich)
- Infantry regiments
- Guard Regiment (Hanover)
- 1st or Leib-Regiment (Hanover)
- 2nd Infantry Regiment (Celle)
- 3rd Infantry Regiment (Einbeck, Northeim)
- 4th Infantry Regiment (Stade)
- 5th Infantry Regiment (Lüneburg)
- 6th Infantry Regiment (Hanover)
- 7th Infantry Regiment (Osnabrück)
- Guard-Jäger-Battalion (Hanover)
- 1st Jäger Battalion (Goslar)
- 2nd Jäger Battalion (Hildesheim)
- 3rd Jäger Battalion (Hanover)
- Engineer Corps (Hanover)
- Artillery Brigade (Wunstorf, Stade)
- Train Corps (Hanover)
After the capitulation in 1866, the kingdom was occupied and annexed by Prussian troops . The soldiers of the disbanded Hanoverian Army were transferred to the Prussian Army in 1867 and in 1899 the tradition of the earlier Hanoverian regiments was awarded to the Prussian ones. Originally designed by George III. Awarded cuff Gibraltar was awarded again in 1901 by Wilhelm II .
Skirmishes
In the Wars of Liberation, the newly established units were used in the association of the Northern Army and later as the occupation army in the Netherlands. At the Battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815, General von Alten commanded the 3rd Division, whose 5th Brigade was led by Major General Hugh Halkett , Colin's younger brother.
The revolutionary unrest in 1848 only led to uprisings in Hildesheim in which the army was deployed. In the same year, the German Confederation had mobilized troops against Denmark, which included one of the two divisions of the X Army Corps with seven infantry battalions, nine cavalry squadrons and two artillery battalions. The Queen Hussar Regiment under Lieutenant Colonel von Platen defeated the Danish cavalry. After the armistice and the failure of the peace negotiations, the German Confederation again sent a contingent of four divisions in the spring of 1849, including the 2nd under Major General Wynecken of the X. Army Corps under the command of General Hugh Halkott, which Ulderupp captured at Sundevitt. These troops were also involved in the attack on the Düppeler Schanzen .
In 1863 and 1864, the Hanoverian Army, as a contingent of the German Confederation, participated in the federal execution against the Duchies of Holstein and Lauenburg together with Prussia, Saxony and Austria and was deployed to protect the mouth of the Elbe. The first and last deployment of the entire army since the Wars of Liberation took place in 1866. The declaration of war by Prussia caught Hanover unprepared and had prompted a hasty march towards the southern German troops. Despite serious shortages of supplies, the Hanoverian army under General von Arentschildt defeated a smaller contingent of Prussians in the battle of Langensalza on June 23, but a further break through to the south was impossible due to a lack of ammunition and in view of the threatened superiority of the Prussian troops equipped with more effective needle guns so that the officers decided to surrender.
Motto
The army had adopted the motto of the Guelphs and the Kingdom as their motto: Nunquam retrorsum !
literature
- Claus von Bredow : Historical ranking and master list of the German army. Verlag August Scherl, Berlin 1905, pp. 1015-1040.
- Bernhard von Poten : The generals of the Royal Hanoverian Army and their regular troops. Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1903.
- Gisela Hummel (Ed.): Too few tents, not even enough straw. The less glamorous location of the Hanoverian army after Waterloo. Letters from the Hanover High Command. (= Welfenschriften, Vol. 91), brochure DIN A5 (almost 50 pages) with a selection of transcribed letters from the letter book, Lower Saxony Main State Archive Hanover, signature Hann. 41 XXI No. 100, Wedemark: self-published, 2014.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hans-Peter Düsterdieck: The army in the Kingdom of Hanover from 1820 to 1866. A contribution to the history of the Hanoverian army . In: Dissertation . Technical University Carolo Wilhelmina, Braunschweig 1971.
- ^ Wilhelm von Wersebe: History of the Hanoverian Army . Helwingsche Verlagbuchhandlung, Hanover 1928.