The Germans ...

(Source)

Private Georg Schmidt (who had been born in the Electorate of Hanover on the 17th of February 1791) was gazing off into the fields. This country reminded him more of home than did England or Spain. The architecture, the way the farmers tended their fields, it all made him very homesick.

Schmidt had been with the King's German Legion (KGL) since 1807, He had managed to escape his homeland when it fell to the French along with his father, mother, two brothers, and one sister. His father was a soldier, an officer in the Hanoverian Army, as George III of England was also the Elector of Hanover, Schmidt's father decided that they would go to England, where a unit of Hanoverians was being formed.

He had been too young to enlist when the unit was formed in 1803. When he turned 16 years of age, he had managed to join up. The recruiting sergeant was glad to have him, Schmidt had been honest with the man and told him that he was only 16. The sergeant had told him "That will be our little secret lad. You're big for your age, I think you'll make a fine soldier."

By the time he completed training and been shipped off to Portugal as a replacement with twenty-seven other men, his oldest brother Wilhelm had already been killed in action. He had heard that his next oldest brother, Klaus, still lived and was serving with the 1st Line Battalion of the KGL, he himself was assigned to the 1st Light Battalion. Both brothers wore uniforms indistinguishable from those of their British comrades. Being in a light infantry unit, Georg wore a green tunic, Klaus wore a red one.

The other difference was that Georg carried the Baker Rifle and could hit a man-sized target with great consistency up to 300 yards. His brother's smoothbore "Brown Bess" (more formally the India Pattern Musket) would find it difficult to hit a man at 50 yards with any consistency at all.

"Schmidt!"

When he heard his name, Schmidt turned to see his sergeant approaching, he thought, "I wonder what nasty job Sergeant Klein has for me now? Yesterday mucking out the stable, today, who knows what?"

"Sergeant?" he said, coming to attention.

"Relax boy, I'm going over to the 1st's bivouac, thought you'd like to come along, perhaps see your brother."

"Yes Sergeant, I would like that."

"Come along then, I want to be back before sunset."

Not many miles away, another group of Hanoverian soldiers were being drilled. Unlike the KGL, many of these men were newly recruited and were still being trained. They were officially part of the army of the Kingdom of Hanover. (George III was their titular ruler though a more junior member of the royal family generally acted as the administrator of the Kingdom.)

Though drill at the individual level and up to company level was satisfactory, finding space enough to hold exercises at brigade level and higher was nearly impossible.

Soldat Hermann Schweitzer though was an older man, a veteran of the Prussian Army. He had fought at both Jena and in Russia, as part of the Prussian Corps attached to Napoléon's invading force.

With the collapse of the French Empire, Schweitzer had deserted. He thought to make his way to Austria, enlist there for the bounty, serve for a while, then move on.

He hadn't factored in the fact that with the abdication and exile of Bonaparte, armies just weren't looking for recruits. But he had been in Hanover, involved in a certain criminal scheme involving smuggling, when Bonaparte landed in France.

The Hanoverians were hiring, so he signed up.

Now he was in the Low Countries assigned to a battalion with very inexperienced younger men. His captain was threatening to make him a sergeant due to his experience. He had been fighting the idea until one of the battalion senior sergeants mentioned the hike in pay the promotion would bring.

While it wouldn't make him rich, it would certainly increase the time he got to spend in the local cafés. He liked that idea.

Now if only the French would move, then he could get this war over with and move on to more lucrative pastimes. An Englishman he knew from his short time in Hanover had pointed out that smuggling along the English coast was still active, and very profitable for someone of few scruples.

Like Hermann Schweitzer.