Monday 6 April 2015

Private Friedrich Brandr, King's German Legion, 1792? - 18 June 1815

A fascinating news piece for those who missed it today.

From the Independent (the original is in the Sunday Times but I don't link to articles behind paywalls if I can avoid it):
The 200-year-old skeleton found under a car park on the site of the Battle of Waterloo has been identified as a Hanoverian with a hunchback, fighting to liberate his homeland from Napoleonic occupation. 
Military historian Gareth Glover believes the soldier to be Friedrich Brandt, 23, a private in the King’s German Legion of George III, who was killed by a musket ball that was still lodged between his ribs when he was found in 2012.
I love it when my military history and archaeology hobbies come together :D 

3 comments:

  1. An unfortunate lad but a brilliant story.

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  2. It is an interesting find, but the report has one thing wrong. Hanover wasn't being occupied by the French in 1815. Clearly, when he joined the KGL, the French probably were controlling Hanover, but not from 1814 onwards.

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  3. Interesting that he would have spent his entire life in a Europe that was at war, only to die in the battle that ended it.

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