Administratiekist van het Légion Franche Etrangère

Archive chest of the Légion Etrangère, c. 1792. This archive chest belonged to the Dutch Patriot Hendrik Willem Daendels (1762-1818). When the stadholder was restored to power in 1787, Daendels fled to France, like many of his fellow Patriots. There, on his initiative, a Batavian - Dutch - legion was formed with the purpose of liberating the Republic from the rule of the stadholders. In the winter of 1794-1795 this free corps of Dutch foreigners, known as the Légion Franche Étrangère, entered the Republic as part of France's Revolutionary Army.