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The King's German Legion was a British Army unit of expatriate German personnel that fought from 1803 to 1816. The Legion achieved the distinction of being the only German force to fight without interruption against the French during the Napoleonic Wars. The Legion was formed within months of the dissolution of the Electorate of Hanover in 1803, and constituted as a mixed corps by the end of 1803. Although the Legion never fought autonomously and remained a part of the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars, it played a vital role in several campaigns, most notably the Walcheren Campaign, the Peninsular War, and the Hundred Days. The Legion was disbanded in 1816. Several of the units were incorporated into the army of the Kingdom of Hanover, and became later a part of the Imperial German Army after unification in 1871.
After the occupation of Hanover by Napoleonic troops, the Convention of Artlenburg, or the Convention of the Elbe, was signed on the 5th of July, 1803, and formally dissolved the Electorate of Hanover. Consequently, the Elector's army was disbanded. Many former Hanoverian officers and soldiers fled the French occupation of Hanover to Britain, since George III, the deposed Elector of Hanover, was also King of the United Kingdom. The same year, Major Colin Halkett and Colonel Johann Friedrich von der Decken were issued warrants to raise a corps of light infantry, to be named "The King's German Regiment". On the 19th of December, 1803, Halkett's and von der Decken's levies were combined as a basis of a mixed corps (includes all arms: infantry, skirmishers, cavalry, and artillery) and renamed the King's German Legion. The Legion infantry were quartered in Bexhill-on-Sea and the cavalry in Weymouth, Dorset. Some units were involved in a street fight in Tullamore, Ireland with a British Light infantry unit in the so-called Battle of Tullamore. The number of Officers and other ranks grew over time to approximately 14,000, but during the 13 years of its existence, close to 28,000 men served in the Legion at one time or another. It saw active service as an integral part of the British Army from 1805–1816, when its units were disbanded.
The 5th Line Battalion of the King's German Legion was raised in late 1805 as the fifth of eight line battalions that the Legion levied in total. A British expedition at the end of 1805 to Hanover, which had been vacated by French troops on their way to the Battle of Austerlitz, resulted in a massive recruitment success for the Legion. After Napoleon's victory at Austerlitz, the British expedition's position became untenable. The whole force, including all participating and newly recruited Legion units, re-embarked for England in February of 1806. The 5th Line Battalion was initially brigaded with the 6th Line Battalion of the Legion. It served from 1805 until 1816 in Ireland, Copenhagen, Portugal, Spain and southern France and Belgium. The unit was part of the British occupation force in France in 1815. In December of 1815, the disbandment was ordered and the troops marched back to Hanover, were they were disbanded in early 1816.
Though this 5th Line Battalion, King's German Legion is a much newer regiment when compared to many others, the history of its members dig deep into the history of the game. With members starting out all the way back in 2012, and some even earlier, some of the core regiment has seen the community grow, adapt, and change throughout the years. With a game like this, there is no right way to manage, or contribute to, or be in a regiment, but after years of experience in the game and its community, the members of the 5thKGL have decided to establish their goals in the regiment for the summer of 2015 and onward as a way to regularly meet to play a game as well and for as much fun as we possibly can. That said, we prioritize having fun and combining elements of both competitive and casual play, while still seeking to achieve excellency in practice. A game is for entertainment, and valuing such above all else is what we cherish the most. Trolling, however, is prohibited, as it specifically breaks the enjoyment other people may have in playing the game, as the 5thKGL seeks to enjoy a very old game like Napoleonic Wars in the best ways we can, and equally hopes to see others continue to do the same.
If this sounds like a reasonable and fair way to play the game, consider joining! Though we present ourselves here as a regiment in Napoleonic Wars, we also play other multiplayer games together, ranging from first-person shooters, to strategy games, to absolutely anything we enjoy playing. While rankings establishes a way to more effectively operate in Napoleonic Wars, the value of a rank is essentially ignored outside of the game and regimental responsibilities. If a rank is for a game, then a rank is for a game! While in other games that operate on a different format than Napoleonic Wars, where a structure of a command is not strictly required, we dissolve back into what we were on initial founding: a group of friends who love to play games.
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Please keep in mind that it's expected to attend 2+/3 of these events.)
