The Hanoverian Army
in the 18th Century

Background and Organization

By Bill Biles

The Hanoverian army is the most enjoyable army to paint and one of the most enjoyable to game with of the Seven Years War. This rather absurd sounding statement is true for several reasons that make sense to me if nobody else. First, red is a fun color to paint coats. White coats are boring and dark blue coats are depressing. Second, lace is enjoyable, but not if it becomes too intricate. Hanoverian lace is neither too plentiful nor too intricate. Third, every regiment (battalion) has different facing colors and you get to really show the color because the vests were of the facing color. This prevents boredom that can arise from painting the same color scheme over and over. Fourth, just when you think you are finished and ready to field your regiment you realize that the flags are basically impossible to reproduce at the size you need them. Fifth, if you decide you want to paint some Prussians you can - you just make very minor adjustments and call them Hessians or Brunswickers.

Some 29,000 men made up the Hanoverian army at the beginning of the Seven Years War. [1]

These represented virtually every troop type known during the war: regulars, militia, freikorps, hussars, grenadiers, ulans, jagers, mounted jagers, mounted grenadiers and so on. If the regular troops fail to provide you with enough variety, the expanding corps of light troops (0 in 1756, 3,800 in 1762 [2]) are uniformed in an array of colors and styles. This variety also allows you to choose what type of wargaming you want to do. Light troops played a very important role during the war in maintaining contact with the enemy and feints and raids with these troops against the French allows for one type of wargaming. You can also build regulars for linear battles like Hastenbeck, Krefeld, Minden, Vellinghausen and others.

Organization of the Hanoverian Infantry

The Hanoverians had long been allied with the British and their army was organized in a similar manner. Regiments were comprised of single battalions (except for the Foot Guards, of which there were two battalions). Each battalion had seven companies of 114 men. Each company also had eight grenadiers, but these were permanently assigned to "grenadier battalions" and are figured separately. [3]

Savory states that there were 814 men per battalion. [4]

At the beginning of the war the Hanoverians could field 29 battalions, including two Foot Guard battalions and three battalions of grenadiers. In 1758 two new battalions (10B and 13B) were raised and organized in a different manner. Both of these were organized into five companies of 200 men for total strength of 1000 per regiment. Each battalion was assigned two light guns that were manned by artillery personnel. Each battalion (except 10 B) also carried a white "King's Colour" and a Regimental Colour. These standards were works of art and little more will be said about them in this article.

Of other troops, the Legion Britannique was the largest contingent. This unit consisted of five battalions of four companies: about 500 men per battalion. Each battalion also fielded a squadron of dragoons having 101 men. [5]

Jagers of the Hanoverian army underwent several organizational changes. Raised originally as the Schulenburg Jagerkorps, in 1759 this organization became known as the Freytag Jagerkorps in 1759. The command was 624 men divided into four companies. There were also two companies of 106 men who were designated as mounted jagers (Korps zu pferde). By 1759 these troops were performing so well that their establishment was increased to 632 men. In 1759 another corps of jagers was raised: Stockhausenkorps. This outfit had two rifle companies of 126 and a grenadier company of 144 men. [6]

In 1762 these troops were amalgamated into Freytag's and the organization became four companies totaling 804 men.

Other troops were small bodies and will not be covered here. One such was the Scheitherkorps that was made up of one company of jagers and one company of grenadiers. The corps also included one squadron of "karabiniers" -four troops of 75 men (1761 - 106 men). [7]

Organization of Hanoverian Cavalry

The Hanoverians fielded two types of cavalry - Regiments of Horse and Dragoons. By the time of the Seven Years War, there was little to distinguish between the two types, though the Dragoons retained the organizational structure of the infantry from whence it derived. Hanoverian cavalry was able to consistently keep its cavalry mounted throughout the war with excellent horses. The tactical unit was the squadron - the number of men which could be commanded by a single voice. Hanoverian cavalry were held in high esteem by their opponents. [8]

There were eight Regiments of Horse, each with two squadrons of three companies.. Total regimental strength was 348 plus the regimental staff. The Garde du Corps was organized in the same way but had three companies and a squadron of Grenadiers a Cheval. Each squadron carried a standard. The first squadron carried the "King's Standard" and the second squadron carried the "Second Standard." These, like the flags of the infantry, were works of art and individualized.

Dragoon Regiments were comprised of four squadrons of two troops - 714 men per regiment. Each troop provided six men for the troop of grenadiers so the troop was 48 grenadiers plus five others, including the officer. These troops fought with their regiments on the right flank. Each squadron carried a standard. The first was the "King's Standard" and each of the others was unique.

Luckner's Hussars presents interesting problems for the wargamer: what size to build the unit and what uniform to put it in. The unit was begun in 1757 as a single troop of 54 men (later 90 men). The next year it was doubled in size to a squadron of two troops. At the beginning of 1759 a second squadron was added and by the end of the year a third squadron was started. By 1760 there were four squadrons of two troops - a regiment totalling 671 men. [9]

The unit started out wearing one type of hussar uniform that was dark green and, at some point, switched to white uniforms and a different type of headgear.

Hanoverian Artillery

"The artillery of the army of the Electorate of Hanover was perhaps held in even higher esteem than the cavalry." [10]

Artillerists were volunteers who, rather than receiving a bounty for joining, had to pay six thalers to learn the art of artillery as apprentices. The artillery was organized into eight companies that totaled 696 men. [11]

The artillery arm commanded the guns assigned to the infantry battalions as well as the larger gun. One officer, two NCO's, and twelve gunners were assigned to each battalion. These were assisted by eight men from each battalion when in battle in order to move them by hand. The barrels of these three pounders weighed 800 pounds. Each battalion gun were served by two ammunition carts that were each drawn by three horses and three horses were needed to draw the gun. The artillery was also responsible for carrying the ammunition for the infantry - 21,000 rounds. [12]

Batteries were not permanently organized, though the regiments Sachs-Gotha and Biickeburg were permanently assigned to guard the artillery trains.

The Hanoverian Army in the 18th Century

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© Copyright 1993 by James E. Purky

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