Napoleonic veteran in Dutch uniform
This rare depiction of the Belgian Jean-François van Wesel wearing an infantry uniform of the Royal Netherlands Army, as worn in Luxembourg at the time, illustrates the exemplary career of veterans who were conscripted under Napoleon and continued their service in the Kingdom of the United Netherlands. Van Wesel founded the Schutterij in Kortrijk in 1821, anticipating the introduction of these civic guards throughout the kingdom in 1827.
His sword of honour, which was awarded to him by Napoleon, has survived, as has that of Michel Eiffes, who was from Luxembourg, of the 13e régiment de ligne. The Napoleonic eagle on the shell was replaced by the Royal Cypher W of King-Grand Duke Willem I.
The Crown Prince’s cap
This forage cap was worn by the Crown Prince and future King-Grand Duke Willem II during the Ten Days’ Campaign in August 1831 and given to the museum by Wilhelm Heinrich Ziegesar, chief director of the Royal private domains in Berg (Luxembourg), on 2 February 1857.
The troops who fought for the Netherlands in the Ten Days’ Campaign against the Belgians were decorated with the “Hasselt Cross”, a newly introduced military decoration, such as the dragoon Henri de Roisin and the lancer Martin Baudouin. Their uniforms are part of the appearance of the Royal Netherlands Army in Luxembourg.
The Belgian 2nd Chasseurs regiment
Volunteers from Luxembourg joined the insurgents in Brussels. On 27 November 1831, most of them formed the 2nd Belgian Chasseurs regiment. The recruits came from all corners and social classes of the Grand Duchy.
In Luxembourg, the Dutch institution of the Schutterij became the Belgian Garde civique after the Belgian Revolution. Military service continued in the form of the Milice nationale - but for the Belgian army in Arlon and Bouillon.
The colonial army and Foreign Legion
Between 1850 and 1890, 369 Luxembourgers served in the Koninklijk Nederlandsch-Indisch Leger. Many had previously been active in Luxembourg’s Federal Contingent, Luxembourg’s Chasseurs Corps and the French Foreign Legion.
Franz Carl Hartmann was born in Hunsrück but grew up in Luxembourg. At the age of 15, he joined the Prussian garrison of the Federal fortress. From the age of 18, he had to do his military service in the Nationale Militie and joined the Royal Netherlands Army in 1829. From 1830 to 1834, he took part in various battles during the Belgian Revolution and was transferred to the Netherlands East Indies Army in 1837. In 1841, he was one of the first officers to join the Federal Contingent and was promoted to commander.
While his biography was written by Nicolas Liez, Louis-Joseph Zelle wrote down his own experiences in the Federal Contingent and the Dutch East Indies Army himself in the unique Myn Wedervaren.
Registration lists and matriculation books of Luxembourg’s Federal Contingent
The first recruits arrived in Echternach on 8 October 1842. It was a diverse group of 74 Luxembourg soldiers transferred to the contingent from service in the Royal Netherlands Army. At the beginning of 1843, 53 volunteers from the Grand Duchy, 24 Germans, 9 Dutch, 7 Belgians, 1 Spaniard and 1 Dane joined them. On their arrival in Echternach, they presented their enrolment lists, which proved their fitness for service and traced their careers to date, such as Christian Philippe Bruinier from the 8th Netherlands infantry regiment, who enlisted for eight years' service in 1840.
The enlisted men were recorded in eleven registers, which contained entries for no fewer than 11,555 soldiers up to the disbandment of Luxembourg’s Federal Contingent in 1866 and Luxembourg’s Chasseurs in 1881 – a significant proportion of the population at the time.
From around 1,500 18-year-olds in Luxembourg deemed fit for military service, around 300 militiamen were drawn for the contingent each year. Militiamen had to serve for eight years, unless they found a replacement to cover for them. Their training took almost two years. They were then called up annually in autumn for manoeuvre exercises. Volunteers and militiamen who continued to enlist were promoted to non-commissioned officers.
From Luxembourg to Galicia
During the Revolution of 1848, the former State Chancellor de Blochausen (1841-1848) was dismissed by King-Grand Duke Wilhelm II on 2 April. Offended and having withdrawn to Birtrange Castle near Ettelbrück, he saw no future for his son Auguste (1836-1854) in Luxembourg’s Federal Contingent and continued the noble tradition of fighting for the Habsburgs. Thus, de Blochausen placed his son in the 11th Hussar Regiment of the Austrian-Hungarian army, which was deployed in the Crimean War in 1853. Even before his career began, Auguste succumbed to a severe infection in the harsh winter of 1854 in Galicia. His scarlet sabre pouch has remained in the family as a keepsake.
Officer factions
On 18 November 1844, Governor de la Fontaine confidentially informs Chancellor Blochausen of his opinion of the officers of the Federal Contingent. There are ‘German’ and ‘Dutch’ factions between the officers.
Since 1842, the officer positions have been filled for decades by the most senior officers. In 1848, the younger officers feared that their career prospects would further deteriorate under the new Dutch commander Christiaan P. Winckel. Eleven officers, including eight Luxembourgers, therefore lodged a protest with King-Grand Duke Willem II against his appointment.
During the 1848 unrest in Diekirch and Echternach, Winckel's command sparked the resentment of Luxembourgish militiamen, who demanded the dismissal of the Dutch officers in May. The government then decided to disband Luxembourg’s Federal Contingent.
On 21 July, Willem II pardoned the Chasseurs who mutinied. He gave his officers the choice between naturalisation or resignation. As a result, 18 officers were naturalised. Winckel refused and returned to the Netherlands.
Munchen’s uniform and Chelius’ shako
Louis-Alphonse Munchen, born in Luxembourg on 31 January 1819, is the only officer of whom a portrait in the uniform of the Limburg-Luxembourg Federal Contingent has survived until 1847. With its dark green tunic, red collar, blue trousers, silver trimming and orange sash, it corresponds to a typical Dutch uniform. The high cockade with the white parade feather decoration bears the horn of the Chasseurs’ units under the orange cockade.
In 1847, the shako – a type of military hat – became cylindrical and cornflower blue. In 1860, a lower model was introduced. This shako belonged to Captain Johann Jakob Chelius.
The King-Grand Duke’s organ
This portative organ was built in 1845 by the Dutch company J. Bätz & Co. for King-Grand Duke Willem II in his residence in Walferdingen. The originally light-coloured oak wood is stained with oxblood to match the mahogany furniture in the palace.
Willem II gave this organ to the Catholic officers for the military service in the Chapel of Our Lady in Echternach, having previously given another organ to the Protestant officers.
In 1815, Prussian and Dutch troops deployed Protestant soldiers to Luxembourg for the first time and garrison churches had to be set up for them. The majority of the Luxembourgish members of the Federal Contingent were catholic.
The 2nd Chasseurs battalion’s colours
On 30 September 1853, Prince Hendrik presented the new colours to the Chasseurs at a solemn ceremony on the Beaufort heights manoeuvring ground. Both battalions carried the same colours. On the front is the crowned monogram ‘W’ of King-Grand Duke Willem III and on the back the lion of Luxembourg.
When the Second Battalion was disbanded in 1868, this flag was given to the museum. The Compagnie des Volontaires took over the colours of the 1st Chasseurs battalion.
King-Grand Duke Willem III, commander of Luxembourg’s Federal Contingent
This exceptional portrait by Léon Lyon, a generous loan from the Cour grand-ducale, is, together with its modello, the only known depiction of the young King-Grand Duke Willem III to be preserved in a Luxembourgish collection. The inscription Berg, which is branded on the chassis and frame, indicates that the painting is part of the estate that was located at Berg Castle when Grand Duke Adolph of Luxembourg acquired it from Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands in 1891.
The painting is the only surviving representation of a commander-in-chief of Luxembourg’s Federal Contingent in uniform. Willem III is dressed in the dark green, single-breasted uniform worn by the contingent from 1850 to 1868.
After Willem III's first visit to Luxembourg in 1855, the enterprising bookseller Victor Hoffman took the opportunity in 1857 to distribute a lithograph of Lyon's portrait of the King-Grand Duke in the uniform of the Federal Contingent. It became extremely popular and even featured in photos of the Federal Contingent.
Muskets and rifles from Liège
Luxembourg’s Federal Contingent needed 2,500 muskets and 190 carbines (lightweight, short-barreled muskets), so double the number of soldiers.
From 1845 onwards, in addition to infantry muskets, Joseph Lemille manufactured rifles for skirmishers and cavalry weapons for Luxembourg’s Contingent in Liège. After the federal inspection in 1858, they were deemed inadequate for combat. In 1859, the existing muskets were fitted with rifled barrels and converted to the Minié system.
Two years later, after the introduction of equal calibre for all Federal Contingents and under pressure from the German Confederation, Luxembourg’s Contingent had all the rifled muskets replaced by needle rifles made by Dreyse and Doersch/Baumgarten, respectively.
Luxembourg’s cavalry weapons in Denmark
The cavalry weapons of Luxembourg’s Federal Contingent – 217 muskets, 27 pistols and 321 sabres – were sold in 1848 to the Danish army. However, the Danes were at war with the German Confederation – an alliance for which Luxembourg had in fact had to raise its contingent – over the sovereignty of the principalities of Schleswig and Holstein. In spring 1849, Luxembourg’s Contingent reserve was mobilised to take part in the fighting. In March, a battalion of 800 Luxembourg soldiers received marching orders for Schleswig, where they would have faced, above all, their own weapons. It was only thanks to the refusal of King-Grand Duke William III to send the Luxembourgish troops that they escaped the conflict.
On 1 February 1864, Otto von Bismarck, Prime Minister of Prussia, single-handedly drove Prussia and Austria into a second German-Danish War. After a month-long siege, Prussian troops stormed the Dybbøl redoubts on 18 April. This decisive battle was one of the first to have its devastating effects recorded and publicised in photographs.
The uniform of Luxembourg’s Chasseurs
On 28 April 1869, King-Grand Duke Willem III approved a new uniform for Luxembourg’s Chasseurs, who were still wearing the old tunics of the Federal Contingent. A lighter green was chosen and the tunic was turned into a double-breasted coat. The trousers were light grey and the cornflower blue passepoil (a type of decorative trim) became crimson red.
Quartermaster Dirk Egberts van Bennekom was responsible for the alteration of over 1,000 uniform items, which was not be completed until 1871.
The sheer quantity exceeded the capacity of the prison sewing workshop in Luxembourg-Grund and also prevented the uniforms from being taken to the cloth factory in Esch/Sauer to be re-dyed, as was previously done with smaller quantities. The Godchaux frères et Cie weaving mill in Schleifmühl now became the sole supplier of uniform cloth.
Luxembourg’s Federal Contingent’s military band
The music corps of the Federal Contingent is the oldest professional wind band in the Grand Duchy. With the formation of the 2nd Chasseurs Battalion in 1847, another band was set up in Diekirch alongside Echternach, conducted by the 20-year-old Jean-Antoine Zinnen. In 1861, the garrison music in Diekirch acquired new instruments, including a prestigious Turkish crescent, also known as a Jingling Johnny.
From 1850, on the annual opening of parliament, a battalion and its band took turns providing the guard of honour for Prince Hendrik, the brother and lieutenant-représentant of King-Grand Duke Willem III, in front of the Grand Ducal Palace.
Only after the Prussian garrison had left the fortress did the Chasseurs battalions, led by the sound of the Turkish crescent, enter Luxembourg City on 9 September 1867. Together with the 2nd battalion, the Diekirch garrison band was disbanded in 1868. The crescent was given to the museum.