Black Brunswickers
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The Brunswick Ducal Field-Corps, commonly known as the Black Brunswickers in English and the Schwarze Schar or Schwarze Legion in German, were a military unit in the Napoleonic Wars. The corps was raised from volunteers by German-born Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1771–1815). The Duke was a harsh opponent of Napoleon Bonaparte's occupation of his native Germany. Formed in 1809 when war broke out between the First French Empire and the Austrian Empire, the corps initially comprised a mixed force, around 2,300 strong, of infantry, cavalry and later supporting artillery.
The Brunswick Ducal Corps at the Battle of Halberstadt led by the Black Duke
A statue of Frederick William, located in Braunschweig
Braunschweiger Totenkopf (Brunswick skull) badge
Soldiers of the Leib-Bataillon with their distinctive horse hair plumes.
Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
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Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, was a German prince and Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Oels. Nicknamed "The Black Duke", he was a military officer who led the Black Brunswickers against French domination in Germany. He briefly ruled the state of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel from 1806 to 1807 and again from 1813 to 1815.
Painting by Johann Christian August Schwartz, 1809
Statue of Frederick William at Braunschweig, by Ernst Julius Hähnel
Tod des Schwarzen Herzogs (German: "Death of the Black Duke") at the Battle of Quatre Bras on 16 June 1815. An 1835 painting by Friedrich Matthäi now displayed in the Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum.
Brunswick Monument in Baisy-Thy. The German caption reads : Frederick-William Duke of Brunswick and Luneburg fought ahead of his troops and fell not far from this place on 16 June 1815.