Washington accepting the surrender of Rall’s Hessians at Trenton, 26th December 1776
Merry Christmas to the surviving readers of this blog! I hope you’re all in the bosom of your family (or at least in someone’s bosom) and got everything you wished for? This year Mrs Fawr is ‘Saying it with Bastions’ (lovely models by Total Battle Miniatures). I knew there was a reason I keep her…
Anyway, the dinner’s in the oven, the dog’s burying her latest Christmas toys and Mrs Fawr is just pouring me a Buck’s Fizz, so I’ve got time to sit and write the third and final article on my 28mm AWI Hessian Army (until I paint some more of course). After a few hours with the family, the dinner will probably be in the dog, my toys will be buried in the garden and Mrs Fawr will be pouring me into the car…
In Part 1 I covered the Grenadier Battalions and General von Donop. In Part 2 I covered the Musketeers, Fusiliers and General von Knyphausen. This time I’m looking at the Hessen-Kassel Feld-Jäger Korps and artillery.
Hessen-Kassel supplied a large Jäger detachment, consisting of two mounted companies and two foot companies. Brunswick, Ansbach-Bayreuth and Hesse-Hanau also sent Jäger detachments to America as part of their contingents and these were uniformed very similarly to the Hessen-Kassel Jägerkorps, so having almost no shame, I’d be perfectly happy using these figures for any of the contingents.
The Jäger were ‘pure’ skirmishers, being trained sharpshooters, armed with rifled carbines. They proved to be superb troops and were frequently found as part of the advance guard and/or rearguard in all the major campaigns. Cornwallis in particular, valued them very highly and included them as part of his Elite Corps.
However, despite their accuracy and long reach on the battlefield, their slow rate of fire and lack of a bayonet made the Jäger vulnerable to close assault and they ideally needed a formed body of troops in support, behind which they could retire. The Brunswick contingent therefore supplied the specialist Von Barner Light Infantry Battalion, whose role was to provide ‘bayonet support’ to the Jäger.
The uniform of the Hessen-Kassel Jägerkorps was a dark green coat with crimson facings and yellow metal, without lace. Smallclothes were straw-coloured, though as with other Hessian troops they would often wear American ‘Trowsers’. Their hats were unlaced, though had green cockades and corner-pompoms. Belts were red leather.
Ewald in later life, as a Danish general
These are lovely models by Perry Miniatures. The truly wonderful model of a roguish, eyepatch-wearing officer is modelled on Captain Johann Ewald, the commander of one of the two Foot-Jäger companies and who left a superb account of his service in America that is widely considered to be one of the finest eyewitness accounts of the war. Ewald was a veteran of the Seven Years War, having initially enlisted in Brunswick service before transferring to the army of Hessen-Kassel and being commissioned from the ranks for bravery at the Siege of Kassel in 1761. However, in 1770 he got into a drunken fight with a friend, which led to a duel and the loss of an eye! This breach of discipline would normally have resulted in dismissal, but Landgrave Frederick II wisely decided to keep Ewald in his service.
Above: A closeup of two Jäger.
Above: Another closeup.
Above: A Jäger officer and NCO, with a wounded Fusilier of the Erbprinz Regiment. The Erbprinz Regiment had crimson facings and turnbacks, with white buttonhole lace, white smallclothes and white metal. The fusilier cap was crimson with white metalwork.
Above: The officer’s rank is indicated by the gold aiguillette behind his right shoulder and the silver and red sash worn around the waist. Hessian officers also typically wore a silver gorget at the throat, though Jäger officers probably didn’t wear those in the field.
Above: The NCO’s status is shown by the gold lace edging to his cuffs.
Above: Hessen-Kassel supplied a light artillery detachment to provide close support to its infantry battalions. They consequently had no guns heavier than the ‘Swedish’ 4-pounder. I’m not sure how many guns they had in total, but Hessian brigades in America were typically supported by a battery of four guns. The Ansbach-Bayreuth and Hessen-Hanau contingents also included light artillery detachments.
Above: The astute will of course, have noticed that these aren’t ‘Swedish’ 4-pounders, but are in fact British 6-pounders… Guilty as charged… The reason for this is that back in 2006 I needed some Hessian guns for a game and had two spare British guns and a spare pack of SYW Prussian gunners that I’d been given. So I painted them all up for the game, fully intending at some point to get some 4-pounders and some more British artillery crewmen. So much for that plan! Anyway, these models are all by Wargames Foundry.
Above: As usual, Hessian artillery uniforms were very Prussian in style, though unlike the Prussians, the coats had lapels, so these had to be painted on (I don’t think they look too bad). Facings were crimson, metal was yellow, smallclothes were straw, belts were white and the hat was edged in white lace and decorated with three crimson & black pompoms. The correct ‘Swedish’ 4-pounders should have light blue carriages with black metalwork and brass gun-barrels.
Right, that’s it! The meat is out of the oven and we’re off to the daughter’s place.
Merry Christmas All! 🙂
