2nd Dutch Line, 3rd Netherland Division

2nd Dutch Line, 3rd Netherland Division

As I've mentioned before, I've been mustering troops for the Quatre Bras and Waterloo scenarios. I already have sufficient British troops, more than enough in fact, so the bulk of my time has been devoted to the Dutch, Belgians, Brunswickers and Nassauers. At the scale I'm dealing with the troops are purely representational, I picked troops that I liked.

The Brunwickers were a natural choice, as the heavy metal fans of the Napoleonics era, but for the most part I have picked troops that were relatively ordinary. Consider it a sort of reverse snobbishness I suppose, but I have an affection for the troops of the line that battalion upon battalion of Old Guard Grenadiers never stokes. 

Officer, Musician & Sergeant

The above are my first addition to my Dutch forces, the 2nd Dutch Line of the First Brigade of the 3rd Netherlands Division. They were the only line unit, barring some Belgian Jaeger, in the division. They were also "...comparatively weak...could scarcely muster 470 [men]". Wellington apparently did not wish to rely on the division, which was mostly a militia formation and did not fight at Quatre Bras.


They were in the 1st Brigade under Colonel H. Detmers, who in turn reported to Lieutenant General Baron David Hendrik Chasse. According to Mark Adkin's, from whose masterful Waterloo Companion all this is culled, Chasse was known as "General Bayonet".  This nickname was apparently bestowed by General Bonaparte himself, as Chasse had previously been in the French service. He later did good service during the siege of Antwerp in 1832

He'll never eat another tulip

The figures themselves are all HAT plastics straight out of the box. Their Dutch infantry set while not exactly the highest example of the sculptors art, is perfectly serviceable. The actual painting was done by Mark Bevis. The casualty figure is an Irregular Miniatures British casualty, who I think you'll agree is  close enough and had the virtue of lying around in my box of bits doing nothing in particular before he was dragooned into Dutch service.

The division had a relatively quiet morning on the 18th June 1815, being stationed to the west at the village of Braine l'Alleid. However, they were moved to the rear of the British position in the afternoon, where they were called upon to form square when French cavalry penetrated the main Allied line. They took part in the repelling of the attack by the Imperial Guard towards the end of the day, getting cut up in the process and losing about an eighth of their number.


The Napoleon Series had two little known accounts of his Divisions activities at Waterloo, which you may read here.






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