1st KGL Hussars in Spain
I have been confused by the various representations of their headwear but it seems to me that the busbee they wore in the Peninsula was a variation of the British Army light dragoons of that period i.e. a tall version of the busbee with a small semicircular leather flap at the front to cover the eyes from the sun. Knotel et.al appear to show a shorter round brown fur hat in use by 2nd and 3rd but I believe if so these were possibly a later introduction in common with the heavy dragoons becoming the light dragoons in 1815. However at this end of a long war I doubt there was much enthusiasm for uniform changes among auxiliary forces of the British Army. Thoughts, forumites?
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I’m not sure if ‘busby’ is a Napoleonic term but I don’t think so. It is usually referred to as a fur cap. British Light Dragoons wore the Tarleton crested helmet, not the fur cap. Quite how KGL Light Dragoons were dressed prior to 1808 seems to be one of those ‘nobody knows’ questions. By c1808 the KGL light dragoon had become hussars and dressed accordingly, with a fur cap. The illustrations in Beamish’s 'History of the King's German Legion', executed by a member of 3rd Regiment, are perhaps the best known primary images and are largely the basis for many secondary renditions of the uniforms. British hussars wore two versions of the fur cap, the earlier one being some 5 inches taller than the later one. KGL hussars regiments seem to have received the earlier cap, at least initially. Those in the Beamish illustrations include a small peak, perhaps a local addition because the usual British hussar fur caps do not seem to have had one. See the article here which is as good a summary as any of what is known of KGL uniforms. https://thisreilluminatedschoolofmars.wordpress.com/the-dress-of-the-kings-german-legion-1-some-primary-sources/