Peninsular War

Hi folks,

Following on from the excellent threads on Baker rifles supplied to the Portuguese and KGL infantry, and a recent discussion on a wargaming facebook page, I was wondering what the collective thought was as to how the three skirmisher companies of the Brunswick Oels Jager, attached to 4th and 5th Divisions, were armed.

Consensus among British historians seems to be an assumption that all three companies were armed with Baker rifles; however, my (admittedly wonky) schoolboy German has left me unable to find any reference to this re-equipping. My research suggests that one of these three companies was formed from the two companies of "scharfschutzen" of the 1809 Black Horde, and this was armed with rifles - either the original German ones issued to the units in Germany, or possibly replacement Bakers - whilst the other two companies were formed from the main body of the infantry (perhaps the much smaller third battalion, which had yellow facings?) and thus were musket-armed. I should add that I also cannot find any reference to the re-training that the extra two companies would have required in order to use rifles.

I have put this idea to the Brunswick re-enactment group via their website, and they seem to agree with my conclusions.

I would be interested in any thoughts anyone has to offer.

Kind regards,

Brendan