3rd Battalion King's German Legion

3 KGL was part of Du Plat's Brigade.  Its light company was detached to form a composite battalion with the other light companies of the Brigade.  I've previously posted on a different battalion of this brigade so won't repeat previous comments.

While the KGL are generally recognised as experienced troops, their GOC, General Clinton, was a hard task master and found fault in all four battalions of Du Plat's brigade during pre-campaign training as this letter from Clinton illustrates:

"I left Ath early this morning and superintended the exercise of Colonel du Plat's Brigade on that pasturage from ten till two, these battalions are very backward and very awkward in said exercise.  Three of the commanding officers out of four are so near sighted as not to be able to determine whether their battalions are properly deployed, they are besides slow and incorrect in all their movements as well in circulating the word of command,  In marching in column these officers rarely preserve their distance or march upon the true alignment.  In marching in line, the first principle of touching to the centre and keeping the head straight are not understood, the commanding officers do not sufficiently attend to ascertaining the true perpendicular, or having ascertained it to ensure the advanced sergeants continuing to march upon it.  The deployments are full of faults, in charging with bayonets they got into a run without any order and allowed themselves to be thrown into confusion."

Things got better a few days later, but the criticism is still intense:

"The deployment was rather better performed this day, the chief failing was in the incorrect dressing of the heads of the battalion columns in this line.  The march in line was defective from the bad direction of the directing battalion, the correcting of the line by the Colour delayed from some of the commanding officers not knowing at which point to place themselves.  The retreat to Soignies was not well performed from the distance from the named battalion for direction not being duly observed. The halted battalions omit to form themselves by throwing back the outward flanks of their flank division the 8th of the circle.  When the four deep on the centre formed column, the commanding officer omitted to name to which flank the divisions were to dress, which exposed them to the inconvenience of dressing to two points and the subsequent opening of their files.  In marching in column very little attention is paid to the preservation of distances."

There is a modern prejudice that Napoleonic tactical drills were somehow very simple - these complex observations by Clinton illustrate the standards required by battle hardened commanders of the Peninsula when preparing a much less experienced army in 1815.  Clinton's exacting standards seem to have paid dividends at Waterloo.

3 KGL was commanded by Colonel Frederick von Wissell.  Wissell took command of 3 KGL on 8 September 1814. He had previously served in the Baltic in 1807 and the Mediterranean between 1808 and 1812. He served in Spain in 1813 and the South of France in 1814. At Waterloo he took command of the brigade after Du Plat was severely wounded. He was placed on half pay from 21 February 1816. In 1820 he was brevet colonel in the Hanoverian 2nd Battalion of Guards. He died at Wiesbaden on 16 December 1820.

Du Plat's brigade suffered a disproportionately higher casualty rate at 27.6% of its total strength (about 30% of the losses in the Division).  3 KGL suffered the worst, at 29.7%.

The KGL uniform was very similar to the Foot Guards, but the Flank Company wings, while sometimes shown with a blue background, are generally thought to have been red.

In the rear three ranks, the figures are mostly Hinton Hunt, with Douglas, Rose, Alberken and a few DK thrown in.  The front rank are mostly improvised plastics.

The mounted officers are Franznap.

The drummers are Esci

Close up of the Drum Major, an Esci conversion

A KGL drum

I think this chap was NATO aircrew!

The man in the corner was Esci British Zulu War

Some of these officers are Alberken.

The casualty is from one of the new Strelets Picket's charge sets

Other squares - I've completed 16 battalions of 400 each and two double battalion squares, a total of 8,000 Allied infantry.

I need more space!