Uythoven, Geert van They Fought with Extraordinary Bravery. The III German (Saxon) Army Corps in the Southern Netherlands, 1814

In October 1813, the soldiers of one of Napoleon's staunchest Allies, Saxony, defected en masse in the midst of battle at Leipzig. Almost immediately III German Army Corps was formed with these same soldiers as its nucleus and augmented with returning former prisoners of war, volunteers and militia. Commanded by the Duke of Saxe-Weimar the Corps was sent to the Southern Netherlands to take part in the final defeat of Napoleon amidst of a constant changing command of control structure, in which the Swedish Crown Prince Bernadotte played a major and dubious role. Although for the greater part inexperienced and badly armed, fighting against the much superior French I Corps which even contained Imperial Guard units, III Corps struggled to prove that it could be trusted, paying a major role to protect the Netherlands against the French as these regions tried to regain their own identity after decades of French rule.

Under the command of the Duke of Saxe-Weimar, the corps was sent to the southern Netherlands to take part in the final defeat of Napoleon I amidst an ever-changing control structure in which the Swedish Crown Prince Bernadotte played an important and dubious role. Although the III Corps was largely inexperienced and poorly armed, fighting against the superior French I Corps, which even included Imperial Guards units, it endeavoured to prove that it could be trusted and played an important role in protecting the Netherlands from the French as these regions attempted to regain their own identity after decades of French rule.