The King's German Legion was formed in 1803 from officers and men of the army of the Electorate of Hanover which had been disbanded when the French had invaded the Electorate in May of that year. Originally the "King's German Regiment" was patented to cons1st of no more than 400 men but as increasing numbers of former Hanoverian soldiers found their way to England the patent was extended to allow the formation of a corps of all arms, 5,000 strong. By November 1803, the regiment had reached a strength of approximately 1000, organised into two battalions of light infantry and a battalion of line infantry. On 19 December the regiment was amalgamated with another "foreign" corps and the King's German Legion was born.

By the end of the year one foot and one horse artillery battery had been formed as well as four squadrons of dragoons and four squadrons of light dragoons. The Legion continued to expand until, in February 1806, the corps was organised as follows:

Commander-in-Chief, Adolph, Duke of Cambridge
Adjutant-General, Colonel von der Decken

1st Cavalry Brigade (Colonel von Bock)

1st and 2nd Regiments of Dragoons

2nd Cavalry Brigade (Colonel Victor von Alten)

1st, 2nd and 3rd Regiments of Light Dragoons

Light Infantry Brigade (Colonel von Alten)

1st and 2nd Light Infantry Battalions

First Line Brigade (Colonel von Barsse)

1st and 2nd Line Battalions

Second Line Brigade (Colonel von Langwerth)

3rd and 4th Line Battalions

Third Line Brigade (Colonel Dreiberg)

5th and 6th Line Battalions

Fourth Line Brigade (Major-General von Drechsel)

7th and 8th Line Battalions

Artillery (Major Rottiger)

1st and 2nd Troops Horse Artillery
1st, 2nd and 3rd brigades Foot Artillery

Engineers

Captains Berensbach, Prott and Meinecke
Lieutenants Hassebroik, Appuhn and Schweitzer.

Weymouth was selected as the training and recruitment depot for the K.G.L. cavalry and the 2nd Dragoon regiment, shown here, was raised in 1805. The Dragoons first saw service in the Peninsular War where they earned undying fame at the combat of Garcia Hernandez on 23 July 1812, when they delivered one of the most famous cavalry charges in h1story.

The 1st and 2nd Dragoons were brigaded under MajorGeneral von Bock and they had been in reserve on the left of the Anglo-Portuguese line during the Battle of Salamanca the previous day. Von Bock's brigade, along with the British 1st Division and Light Division and Anson's light cavalry brigade, had been ordered to pursue the retreating French army. The allies came up against the French rearguard just beyond the River Tormes on the road to Peneranda along the valley of Garcia Hernandez. Owing to a delay at a ford while the British infantry crossed, the French had time to deploy into a position which appeared to them to be secure. The approach to the River Tormes lay through a narrow marshy valley, along which ran a small rivulet with steep sided banks, and the road was rough and full of stones. The French rearguard was drawn up in squares with artillery placed in the intervals between battalions, and cavalry posted out in front.

The Germans were ordered to advance and attack. They were marching in sections of three and they tried to form line on the first squadron without halting. But in their excitement this squadron of the 1st Dragoons, led by von Bock himself, dashed at the French without waiting for the other squadrons to catch up. With Anson's brigade also pressing in upon the French left wing, the enemy cavalry retired, pursued by the Dragoons who came under fire from the French squares. The pursuit was therefore discontinued and the attention of the Germans was now concentrated upon the French infantry.

Captain Gustavus von der Decken, who commanded the third or left squadron, wheeled his men around and charged the nearest square, It was almost unknown for cavalry to break a fully formed infantry square and von der Decken's charge was reckless in the extreme. The Dragoons reached the square but they were unable to penetrate the steady ranks of the French and von der Decken was mortally wounded. A second squadron, under Captain von Uslar Gleichen, charged in support of the 3rd squadron. Although now almost encircling the square, the Germans could not break through until a chance shot killed a horse which, with its rider, fell forward onto the unfortunate infantrymen. The square had been momentarily breached and without hesitating the Dragoons burst through the opening and cut down the French infantry.

The 2nd Squadron then attempted to break the second French square. This too gave way in one place and the Dragoons broke in and the battalion was destroyed. The third French square, which included fugitives from the other two was supported by a body of French cavalry. Against this cavalry Captain Baron Marschalch led the 3rd Squadron of the 2nd Dragoons and the left troop of the 2nd Squadron. The French cavalry, having witnessed the destruction of two of their battalions, did not wait to be engaged and they turned and fled. The third French square stood isolated and alone. The 2nd Dragoons bore down upon them, and the French, their confidence shattered, broke under the impact of the charge.

The wreck of the routed battalions (the 76 eme, 6 eme and 69 eme Regiments) managed to rally on some rising ground near Peneranda. The Dragoons charged this makeshift formation but their losses had been heavy and their horses were exhausted and they failed to make any impression upon the resolute and terrified Frenchmen.

It was a brilliant, if not incomparable, affair. Within forty minutes the Dragoons had taken fourteen hundred prisoners, all of whom were wounded. But the Germans had suffered severely. Four officers, forty-eight Non-commissioned officers and men, and sixty­seven horses had been killed. Two officers, fifty-six N.C.O.s and men, and forty-six horses were wounded along with six men and four horses taken prisoner. The combat at Garcia Hernandez was so well received by the British Government that all officers of the King's German Legion were accepted into the British Army on an equal footing with their British counterparts, their commissions being dated from the day of their initial issue. The battle honour "Garcia Hernandez" was carried by the descendants of the 1st and 2nd Dragoons in the Hanoverian and then Prussian regiments until the First World War.

UNIFORMS

The Dragoons wore the standard, single-breasted red or scarlet coat of the British heavy cavalry, fastened by a row of ten yellow metal buttons. The uniforms of both regiments were identical except for the facing colour on the collar, cuffs and turnbacks which was blue for the 1st Regiment and black for the 2nd. Lace was gold for officers and yellow for other ranks. There were two lace bars on the collar, each three-quarters of an inch wide and the lace edging on the turnbacks of the coat was half an inch in width. The pointed cuffs were also edged in lace, and on the lower sleeve were lace chevrons (point facing upwards), two for officers, one for other ranks. Officers were further d1stinguished from other ranks by gilt chain winged epaulettes on black velvet backing with gold edging, and a crimson sash knotted around the wa1st. In the model shown here the sash is worn outside the greatcoat to denote his officer status. Other ranks had a red "wing" on each shoulder, and red shoulder straps, both edged in yellow lace. All ranks wore ten horizontal bands of square cornered lace down the front of the coat. This lace was ten inches across and one inch wide. The tails of the coat were decorated with a false pocket adorned with three buttons in a vertical row. Non-commissioned officers' rank badges took the form of gold chevrons (point facing downwards) on a blue backing on the upper arm. Sergeantmajors had four chevrons below a gold crown, sergeants had three chevrons, corporals two, and lance-corporals one.

White buckskins or doeskin breeches were worn usually only with the full-dress uniform. On active service, as in the model shown here, they were replaced by grey overalls which had a single yellow or gold stripe down the full length of the outside leg. The inside leg and the bottom three inches of the overall were normally reinforced with black leather. Full length riding boots, cut away behind the knee were worn with the breeches, a shorter boot being worn under the overalls.

The two-cornered "bicorne" cocked hat was worn by all ranks at this time. It was made of black beaver or felt and was held in place by brass or gilt chin scales. In full dress a white-over-red plume of cut feathers was fitted into a holder but on campaign it would either be protected in an oilskin cover or removed altogether. The hat itself could also be covered with an oilskin which was tied in place with black tapes. A black, silk cockade, decorated with a gold lace loop, was fixed to the hat below the plume by a single button. At either end of the hat were yellow (gold and crimson for officers) tassels to which draw strings were attached which, when pulled or released would tighten or loosen the headband. On parade the bicorne would be worn side-to-side but on campaign it was worn "fore and aft". As an alternative to this large and cumbersome hat a "watering" cap was worn by Dragoons on campaign. It was made of black leather and a detachable square, black leather peak and stood about ten inches high.

All belts were buff white leather with brass or gold buckles and fastenings. The sword was suspended from the wa1stband by white leather slings. A black leather cartridge pouch was attached to the rear of a white crossbelt, and a plain black leather sabretache was carried, suspended by white leather straps from the wa1st belt. A round, blue canteen was slung from the shoulder on a thin brown strap. The canteen bore the regimental initials and the squadron number. A white haversack was also carried.

The shabraque of the dragoons was dark blue. It had square corners and a black trim for the 1st Regiment and red for the 2nd Regiment. Shabraques for officers of both regiments were trimmed in gold. On campaign the shabraque was normally replaced by a plain grey saddlecloth. A blue square-ended portmanteau was strapped to the rear of the saddle. It was piped red and on the end of the portmanteau were the regimental initials also in red.

The principal weapon of the Dragoons was a straight sword with a thirty-five inch blade, with a large circular disc hilt and a wooden grip bound with string covered with thin leather. The troopers secondary weapon was a short carbine which was hung from a swivel on a bandolier which was worn across the right shoulder. P1stols were also carried, held in holsters forward of the saddle.

Each regiment had a regimental staff of, one colonel, one lieutenant­colonel, one major, one quartermaster, one regimental sergeant-major, one paymaster-sergeant, one saddler, an armourer and a farrier. A regiment cons1sted of four or five squadrons of two troops each. A troop comprised, one captain, one lieutenant, one cornet, four sergeants, four corporals, one trumpeter and seventy-six troopers.

The officer shown here wears a locally purchased overcoat, the normal greatcoat being either grey or "salt and pepper".

Our thanks to the National Army Museum for permission to use photos of a model from their 'Road to Waterloo' exhibition to accompany this article.