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20th Anniversary
Newsletter |
About the King's German Legion
When the French invaded their land in 1803,
many of the Hanoverian army escaped into England to fight for
King George III, who was also the Elector of Hanover. In December 1803
the King's German Legion was formed.
In 1804, several thousand KGL troops
arrived in Bexhill. The impact on the local population was
tremendous; at first the villagers likened the KGL to Cossacks,
but their harmonious singing in St Peter's church endeared them to
the people of Bexhill. These soldiers took great care of their
horses which of course created employment for the tradesmen of
Bexhill. One Barnard, landlord of the `Queen's Head` in Belle
Hill, was also a bootmaker and made the Hessian-type boots to the
order of the Hanoverians.
[Source:- `The Story of Bexhill` – L J Bartley page 121]
Many a young girl's head was turned by these
soldiers. Eventually there was intermarrying. St
Peter's Parish Register bears witness to this and a copy of the
marriages between the KGL soldiers and local girls is in our
archive.
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Colonel
Hugh Halkett |
The best known of the officers in Bexhill was
Colonel Hugh Halkett, who had transferred from the Scotch Brigade.
To relieve the tedium of the depot life he sent two companies of
Hanoverians to dig in the wreck of the Amsterdam at
Bulverhythe, but the water soaked in so fast that the attempt had
to be abandoned.
[Source:- `The Story of Bexhill` – L J Bartley
page 122] |
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LEWES, 24th June 1805. On Saturday, the 15th
inst. His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, reviewed the
King's German Legion at Bexhill and dined and spent the evening
with Lieut. General DON; and on Sunday his Royal Highness attended
divine service on the parade. The sermon was in the German
language, as were several hymns sung by the whole corps,
accompanied by upwards of fifty musicians. The Duke, after again
inspecting the soldiers, visited the new huts, and highly approved
the accommodation they afforded for four regiments.
[Copyright Sussex Weekly Advertiser - reproduced with kind
permission of Hastings Library]
He afterwards rode on horseback to the
Martello Towers, now building for the defence of Pevensey Bay,
dined with the officers of the Line in one of the mess huts
and in the evening the General's family and officers and all the
ladies of the Legion assembled to meet His Royal Highness.
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Duke of Cambridge |
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