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The King's German Legion (KGL; German: Des Königs Deutsche Legion) was a formation of the British Army during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Consisting primarily of expatriate Germans , it existed from 1803 to 1816 and achieved the distinction of being the only German military force to fight without interruption against the ...
The unit was raised during the year 1806 as the last out of eight line battalions that the Legion levied in total. It was only half completed when the British Expeditionary force withdrew from Hanover early 1806 and subsequently filled up as recruits became available.
The 5th Line Battalion of the King's German Legion (abbreviated: KGL) was raised in late 1805 as the fifth out of eight line battalions that the Legion levied in total. The British Hanover Expedition at the end of 1805, which had been vacated by French troops on their way to the Battle of Austerlitz, resulted in a massive recruitment success for the KGL.
Baring's military career began with his joining the Hanoverian Army in 1787. In November 1803 (dating the commission to 17 November) he became a brevet major in the King's Germans (renamed the King's German Legion on 19 December 1803), a force of which he had been one of the first members.
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The majority of the King's German Legion troops were armed with the Baker rifle with rifled barrels, as opposed to the standard smoothbore Brown Bess musket of the British Army. The French troops also used muskets which were quicker to load than the Baker rifle but the latter was more accurate and had about twice the range of a musket.
When the King's German Legion ceased to exist, Alten was given the command of the Hanoverians in France. In 1818 he returned to Hanover, where he subsequently became minister of war and foreign affairs, and rose to the rank of Field Marshal .
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