5th National Militia
Army of the Netherlands
Napoleonic Unit Profile
by Adrian George, UK
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Only one year later and the new Netherlands army was to face Napoleon. Many, in the Kingdom’s Army had recently fought for France, and still held mixed feelings towards their erstwhile comrades.
Apart from the regular line and Jäger battalion’s the Army of the Netherlands also included forty-five partly trained ‘Militia’ battalions, fifteen of which took part in the Waterloo campaign. Ably commanded by Lt. Colonel J. Weslenberg (formally of the Imperial Guard) the 5th Militia battalion gave a fine account of itself, when it was tasked with the defence of Gemioncourt farm during the battle of Quatre-Bras. Outnumbered, their valiant defence was finally overcome, but not before losing more than half there number.
Depicted here, is a rather shabby looking NCO of the 5th Militia on the morning of Waterloo. He is holding a French musket minus it’s strap, his shako is the outdated British ‘Stovepipe’ as worn by most militiamen, although some Prussian type cloth caps were worn.
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The Kingdom of the Netherlands had only been existence since 14th June 1814 following the Treaty of London. The Kingdom was created by combining the Dutch in the north, and the Belgians in the south. For the French speaking Belgians in particular, it was an unhappy marriage, they had harboured the dream of an independent Belgian state and were less than enthusiastic about their new King,.