Hanoverian Army

The Hanoverian Army (German: Hannoversche Armee) was the standing army of the Electorate of Hanover from the seventeenth century onwards. From 1692 to 1803 it acted in defence of the electorate. Following the Hanoverian Succession of 1714, this was in conjunction with the British Army with which it shared a monarch. Hanoverian troops fought in the War of the Austrian Succession, Seven Years' War and American War of Independence during the eighteenth century.

After Napoleon's invasion and incorporation of Hanover into the Confederation of the Rhine in 1803, many exiled members of the army served in Britain's King's German Legion. In 1813 the Hanoverian Army was reformed under Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge and took part in the final defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo.^[1] Following the Congress of Vienna, Hanover was elevated into a kingdom. It continued to be directly tied to Britain until 1837 when, after the death of William IV, Hanover's Salic Law led it to crown Ernest Augustus in preference to his niece Queen Victoria. The Hanoverian Army was defeated in 1866 during the Austro-Prussian War and Hanover's independence ended. Hanoverian troops were subsequently incorporated into the Imperial German Army.

The symbol of the army, incorporated into many of its uniforms and banners, was the White Horse of Hanover. The term "Hanoverian Army" is also sometimes used after 1714 to refer to British forces supportive of the House of Hanover against their Jacobite opponents, particularly during the 1715 and 1745 Jacobite Risings.^[2] The term Army of Hanover may refer to a French military formation centred on Hanover during the Napoleonic Wars.