Please try to control your excitement and do not adjust your set, but here are some more British cavalry regiments for the Seven Years War!
As discussed last time, I had the sudden urge late last year, to paint all the British cavalry regiments for the Battle of Warburg, essentially doubling what I already had painted (for the Battle of Minden, as shown in Part 3). That now leaves me with only one British cavalry regiment left to paint; the 15th Light Dragoons (Eliott’s) and once that’s done I may as well paint the remaining ten British infantry battalions as well (the 5th, 8th, 11th, 24th, 33rd & 50th Regiments of Foot, Daulhat’s Grenadier Battalion and the 2nd Battalions of the 1st, 2nd & 3rd Foot Guards).
In Part 5 I looked at the three extra Dragoon regiments (1st, 7th & 11th) I painted for Warburg, as well as Colonel Edward Harvey of the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons. This time I’m looking at the 2nd (Queen’s) Dragoon Guards (‘The Bays’), 3rd Horse (‘Carabiniers’) and 4th Horse (‘The Black Horse’). These are all Eureka Miniatures 18mm figures, with flags by Maverick Models.
If you’re interested, the painting (by Simkin) above shows the 2nd (Queen’s) Dragoon Guards at Warburg, being led forward in the charge by the Marquess of Granby (the distant figure dressed in blue). If you weren’t interested… I don’t care… 😉
Above: The 2nd (Queen’s) Dragoon Guards (‘The Bays’). The three regiments of Dragoon Guards originally started life as regiments of Horse (i.e. heavy, shock cavalry, the equivalent of Cuirassiers in other armies) and were still known as such during the first half of the 1740s. However, with the War of Austrian Succession becoming ruinously expensive, the Army was desperate to save pennies wherever it could and the regiments of Horse were becoming an expense that could no longer be sustained. They cost far more to maintain than the regiments of Dragoons, who were increasingly being asked to perform the same shock cavalry role and performing it admirably. Therefore, in 1746 the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Regiments of Horse became the new 1st, 2nd and 3rd Regiments of Dragoon Guard (some sources say that Christmas Day 1745 was the actual date of transformation). They would still perform the same role, though would now be paid exactly the same as the Dragoons. The title ‘Dragoon Guards’ was created as a salve to their wounded pride.
However, not all regiments of Horse were converted to Dragoon Guards. The 1st Horse (‘The Blues’) became the new Royal Horse Guards. The 5th, 6th, 7th & 8th Regiments of Horse meanwhile, were part of the Irish Establishment and Dublin simply refused to allow the change. These regiments therefore became the new 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Regiments of Horse, though remained junior in order of precedence to the Dragoon Guards.
The 2nd (Queen’s) Dragoon Guards by Simkin (after Morier)
The 2nd (Queen’s) Dragoon Guards (‘The Bays’), despite having the formal title ‘Queen’s’ and the nickname ‘Bays’, were frequently referred to in the old manner, by the name of their Colonel. The Colonel at the start of the war was the Honourable William Herbert, though when he died in 1757 the title passed to Lord George Sackville. However, following Sackville’s disgrace and dismissal from the Army following the Battle of Minden in 1759, the title passed to the Honourable John Waldegrave. I profiled my Sackville figure in Part 2 of this series; I should have said then that he could equally be used on-table as Waldegrave, who became a key cavalry commander in the latter half of the Seven Years War in Germany.
The regiment was organised the same as most other British cavalry regiments of the period; in six troops, grouped into two squadrons. As in the Dragoon regiments, a seventh (Light) Troop was added during the 1750s. In 1759 and just before deployment to Germany, the regiment is recorded as fielding 390 men in the six ‘heavy’ troops, though it isn’t clear if this includes the officers, SNCOs, musicians, etc (these were often not included in strength-returns and the term ‘men’ often just refers to a regiment’s non-specialist Privates and Corporals). This was probably augmented again before deployment, so the regiment probably fielded around 400 men in Germany, much the same as most other regiments. The Light Troop at full strength is recorded as having 100 men of all ranks, though this wasn’t deployed to Germany, instead staying in Britain and occasionally being deployed with other Light Troops on amphibious expeditions around the French coast.
Above: The 2nd (Queen’s) Dragoon Guards (‘The Bays’). Although it’s true that their role didn’t change when they became Dragoon Guards, the uniform did change to the Dragoon style, though with the addition of infantry-style lapels to the coat. The British Army actually called these ‘half-lapels’, to distinguish them from the ‘full’ lapels, extending down the full length of the coat, as worn by the regiments of Horse. Buttonhole lace and aiguillettes were the same as the Dragoons (though now displayed on the lapels), including the chevrons of lace on cuffs, sleeves and coat-tails. They also wore the single Dragoon-style cross-belt, buckled at the front (as mentioned before, I should have used Dragoon figures and painted on the lapels, but I foolishly bought Horse figures with their double, unbuckled cross-belts).
The regiment had buff facings and yellow ‘metal’. The regimental lace (edging the horse-furniture and decorating the musicians’ uniforms) was yellow with a black central stripe. Although their role had not theoretically changed from that of the Horse, there is no record of the Dragoon Guards ever receiving an issue of breast-plates when they were deployed to Germany, whereas the Royal Horse Guards and Regiments of Horse most definitely did. They may however, have worn ‘secrets’ (iron skull-caps) in their hats, as possibly did the Dragoons. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the regiment rode bay horses, hence their nickname of ‘The Bays’ or ‘The Queen’s Bays’.
The Dragoon Guards did not have trumpeters. Instead they had Dragoon-style drummers, plus kettle-drummers and oboists. These musicians wore livery-coats in reversed colours, with lots of regimental lace, topped off with mitre-caps. Musicians of all regiments typically rode grey horses and kettle-drummers’ horses typically had undocked tails, whereas the rest of British cavalry horses had docked tails (a detail observed in these lovely models by Eureka)
In terms of flags, the 1st Squadron of each regiment of Dragoon Guards carried a square, crimson King’s Standard (as seen in the painting at the top), while the 2nd Squadron (and 3rd Squadron in the 1st (King’s) Dragoon Guards) carried a swallow-tailed Regimental Guidon matching the facing colour. I’ve given these fellas the buff Regimental Guidon.
Above: The 3rd & 4th Regiments of Horse. I’ve mentioned it before, but as most British cavalry regiments were rather small affairs, consisting of six troops, organised into two squadrons and typically numbering around 350-400 men in the field, I group two such units together to make a ‘unit’ in Tricorn. The same goes for Hanoverian Horse and Hessian Horse.
Regiments stationed in Ireland were typically maintained at a very low establishment and in 1759 the 3rd and 4th Regiments of Horse had only 120 men apiece (this probably doesn’t include sergeants, officers, regimental staff and musicians). However, this was increased in 1760 in anticipation for their move to Germany and each troop was brought up to around 60 men of all ranks, for a total of 360-370 men in each of the two regiments. This was further augmented at Dublin with men and horses from regiments not being deployed to Germany, so they were probably deployed to Germany with around 400 men each.
Above: The 3rd Regiment of Horse (‘Carabiniers’). This regiment had a long history, being first raised in 1685 as the ‘Queen Dowager’s Regiment of Horse, ranked 9th in seniority. By 1691 the regiment was ranked 8th and known as ‘The King’s Regiment of Carbineers’. Following the War of Spanish Succession, the regiment was transferred to the Irish Establishment and ranked 7th, sometimes being referred to as the ‘Irish Horse’. However, from 1740 to 1742 it was briefly known as ‘His Majesty’s 1st Regiment of Carabiniers’, before reverting to the ‘7th Regiment of Horse (Carabiniers)’. At last, in 1746, following the conversion of the 1st to 4th Regiments of Horse into the Royal Horse Guards and Dragoon Guards, the 7th Horse was renumbered as the 3rd Regiment of Horse. The Colonel of the regiment throughout the Seven Years War was Major General Louis Dejean and the regiment was sometimes therefore referred to as ‘Dejean’s Horse’.
Above: The 3rd Regiment of Horse (‘Carabiniers’). The Regiments of Horse wore coats with ‘full’ lapels; i.e. extending all the way down the front of the coat. These are often hidden when the skirts of the coat were turned back to form ‘tails’, but it can be clearly seen on officers’ coats, which weren’t normally turned back. The lapels were decorated with buttonhole lace all the way to the bottom. The tails were also decorated with buttonhole lace, though this was in straight ‘bars’, not arranged in chevrons like the lace of the Dragoons and Dragoon Guards. The cuffs were decorated with four vertical lace buttonholes and there was no lace on the sleeves. The coat had two red shoulder-straps and no aiguillette. The Horse wore two buff cross-belts without buckles; the extra belts suspended the sword-scabbard, which was worn outside the coat. Small-clothes were in the facing colour and the waistcoat was decorated with buttonhole lace. On campaign, an iron breastplate was worn beneath the coat, plus an iron ‘secret’ (skull-cap) under the hat.
The 3rd Regiment of Horse (Carabiniers) by Morier (sadly these is no colour version available)
The facing colour for the 3rd Horse was pale yellow and the ‘metal’ colour was white. Regimental lace was white with a red central stripe. I haven’t been able to discover the colour of the regiment’s horses, but regiments of heavy Horse typically had dark horses and the black and white photo of the Morier painting (above) looks very dark, so I’ve gone with black horses.
Above: The 3rd Regiment of Horse (‘Carabiniers’). Regiments of Horse were served by trumpeters and kettle-drummers. These wore livery in reversed colours, heavily decorated with regimental lace, though wore hats instead of the mitre-caps worn by the musicians of Dragoons and Dragoon Guards.
Regiments of Horse carried square standards. The 1st Squadron carried the crimson King’s Standard, while the 2nd Squadron carried the facing-coloured Regimental Standard. I’ve used the Regimental Standard here.
Above: The 4th Regiment of Horse (‘The Black Horse’). This regiment was first formed in 1688 as ‘Devonshire’s Regiment of Horse’, ranked 10th. By 1690 this had become ‘Schomberg’s Horse’, ranked 9th and by 1691 it had become ‘Leinster’s Horse’. Within a year, the Duke of Leinster became the Duke of Schomberg, so the regiment reverted to being ‘Schomberg’s Horse’ and in 1694 was ranked 8th. In 1713 the regiment was transferred to the Irish Establishment and in 1721 became ‘Ligonier’s Horse’. In 1746, with the creation of the Royal Horse Guards and Dragoon Guards, the regiment became the 4th Regiment of Horse, with the semi-official nickname of ‘The Black Horse’ for the colour of its facings. In 1754 the Colonelcy passed to Major General Henry Seymour Conway and in 1759 it passed again to Major General Phillip Honeywood.
Above: The 4th Regiment of Horse (‘The Black Horse’). As mentioned above, the regiment’s facing colour was black and this was displayed on cuffs, ‘full’ lapels and cloak-linings. However, most unusually, the linings of the coat (revealed by the tail-turnbacks), small-clothes and horse-furniture didn’t match the facings and instead were coloured buff (often depicted as a fairly dark buff, almost brown). The ‘metal’ colour was yellow and regimental lace was white with a central black stripe. On campaign an iron breastplate was worn beneath the coat and a ‘secret’ was worn beneath the hat. The regiment’s horses were (unsurprisingly) black.
The 4th Regiment of Horse by Morier (note the ‘full’ lapels, extending all the way down the front of the coat, though partly hidden by the turnbacks)
Above: The 4th Regiment of Horse (‘The Black Horse’). As with the coat-linings, small-clothes and horse-furniture, the ‘reversed colour’ livery-coats of the regimental musicians most unusually didn’t match the black facing-colour and were instead coloured buff, heavily decorated with the regimental lace.
Again, I’ve used the 2nd Squadron’s Regimental Standard, which was black.
Right, that’s it! I’m off to Italy now! 🙂
Really enjoying reading and looking at your British cavalry posts, lovely work on the figures and nice histories on the regiments.
Thanks Donnie! 🙂
Thank you for sharing excellent photos of your wonderfully painted figures.
Brightens up a wet day here in Devon.
Willz.
Thanks Willz! Yeah, it’s bloody grim across the water here in Pembrokeshire as well… But I’m off to Italy today! 😀
Mark
Brilliant post. Very interested in the musician uniform of the ‘Black’ Horse in buff! Wish you all the best on your travels, and that you enjoy your Italian vacation! In late March, early April am heading to Europe for a couple of weeks force marching through France, Germany, Austria, etc. As a Canadian history nerd, I am looking forward to being immersed in European history for a couple of weeks. On my return my plan is to order some Eureka Miniatures and get started on building up a WAS/SYW army (armies?) in 15mm. This is to no small degree inspired by your posts! Looking at starting with one of the Maurice Army Deals and either Prussian or British. I was disappointed to see that the Eureka British infantry are armed with muskets that have barrel bands. Miniatures companies should know that we are a fussy lot and put a little more effort into getting the main things right, or at least pretty close. Maybe ask a fussy wargamer what is important to them. Blue Moon do nice British Infantry as an alternative. The Eureka cavalry are definitely preferable, especially for the heavies, on their large horses. I can not understand some comments that the Eureka horses are too large. I live beside a farm with fairly large work horses, they are imposing animals, close to what the heavy cavalry would ride. The ground rumbles when a handful of them run down the field. A cavalry charge was thunderous, with hundreds of tons of horse flesh and steel heading straight for you – no fair ground ponies please. The Eureka horses are not too large at all. I have some Napoleonic lancers mounted, seemingly, on Shetland ponies, the figures are reasonably well sculpted but look ridiculous. Anyway enough said, thanks again for your posts.
Hi OP,
Yes, I couldn’t agree more re horse sizes. The Blue Moon horses are very small, so I haven’t bought any BM cavalry regiments, just a few staff officers. That said, I’ve got plenty of OG15s and Lancashire cavalry and happily have them on table alongside the Eurekas. I just would mix them on the same stands.
Re black cloth: I read somewhere that colourfast black dye was very expensive, hence why 16th & 17th Century aristocrats are always depicted wearing black as a statement of their wealth.
Anyway, gotta go! The Castello Orsini calls!
As does Frederico’s Bar.. 🙂
Cheers,
Mark
Thanks for the info on black cloth! Another point in favour of using the Eureka British Cavalry, of course, is their attention to detail regarding the cropping of their horses tails. Of course it was a dreadful procedure for the poor creatures (one that I do not condone), but for the period an absolute requirement for the miniatures. It is not always possible to simply clip the model horses tail unless the tail is modelled as majestically flowing behind the model, and not in contact with a leg or legs, as that can become a major sculpting excercise.I have just read Joseph’s comments below regarding two sizes of horse available from Blue Moon. I will have to check out their site again, since they do make Scots Greys (I presume with the correct dragoon style belt) and with a heavier horse that could be a possibility for that regiment! Thanks Joseph!
Correction! I used the wrong term ‘cropping’ is for hair and ears, ‘docking’ is for marks and tails. I should have said docking with regards to the British cavalry tails. My apologies to anyone perturbed by my sloppy carelessness, especially history nerds and English Majors!
Lovely figures so much more detail than my 6mm
Enjoying the series
Thanks Nick!
In the states Blue Moon has two size horses for their figures. Once I found that out, I just asked them to give me the larger ones. They look much better.
Lovely work on that cavalry, even if I, as our group’s local Francophile, hope they don’t perform well on your wargame battlefields.
Thanks for the information on the large horse option for Blue Moon, I will check that out!
I was just looking at the British Horse and Dragoon Guards on Kronoskaf and they specify silver or gold lace on the tricorns, but white or yellow ‘buttonholes’. Curious to know if you painted the hat lacing silver/gold or white/yellow, as I could not make out which from the photos, and (unless I missed it) could not find it in the text. Thanks.
Buonoserra, OP! 🙂
Morier’s paintings from the 1740s certainly show ‘some’ buttonhole and hat lace as metallic, but certainly not all. I would suggest that it would be down to the whims and wealth of the Colonel. The overwhelming majority seem to be plain yellow or white wool worsted lace for the rank and file, with richer metallic gold and silver lace for officers and possibly sergeants and musicians. I’ve certainly seen a lot of drummers’ caps in museums with rich metal wire embroidery.
Personally, I tend to avoid using metallic paint for silver and hold lace on 15mm or 18mm figures, unless it’s very rich, as in real life it tends to just look white or yellow at any distance. I’ll post a pic of the 9 carat gold lace on the cuffs of my RAF Mess Dress; it just looks yellow.
French regiments used ‘false’ silver and gold lace on their hats, which was a relatively cheap mixture of wool, satin and metallic wire. I’ve studied this at close range in Les Invalides and it doesn’t look very metallic.
I don’t know if you saw my Gendar.erie de France? Their lace was ‘true’ silver for all ranks, but I used white for all except the officers, as I didn’t think that silver paint would look ‘right’ (I did the same with my 28mm WSS Mousquetaires du Roi).
Re Kronoskaf; some of their information on the British is quite definitely wrong, so I’d check multiple sources before painting. Buttonhole lace and hat lace would be the same, whether metallic or non-metallic.
Ciao bene! 🙂
Thank you for the detailed response. I am aware of the false silver, false gold hat lace for the French, very interesting that you have seen some upclose. I was not aware that some drummer’s mitre caps would have metallic embroidery! That makes perfect sense, however, since it would be up to the colonel and having the fanciest drummers would be a great way to show off! It is easy to get proscriptive about how miniatures should be painted, however, as you pointed out, the reality of what the rank and file were kitted out with probably varied more than we (or Kronoskaf) might think. Also how to effectively represent these materials on a 15mm miniature is an artistic choice. Some skilled miniatures painters use non metallic paints to obtain a very convincing metallic effect – quite astonishing in fact, and, if done skillfully, far more convincing than metallic paint on miniatures.
Anyway, thank you, and your cavalry regiments look lovely! I really like the yellow that you have used for the lace, more of a yellow ocre as opposed to a ‘caution tape’ yellow giving them a period feel!
Hi OP,
I wrote a long reply to this earlier while waiting for my flight home in Fiumicino airport, but then accidentally deleted it due to fat fingers! Aargh! Anyway, I’m now home where it’s cold, but at least I can use a proper keyboard…
Anyway, yes, I’ve seen a few original drummers’ caps around the country and a lot of them have metallic embroidery, though not all. I seem to remember that the one I was recently looking at in the NAM had a wire-embroidered drum, crown and running horse, with plain coloured wool for the piping, foliage, etc. I’ve seen others with the whole lot embroidered in wire and conversely with it all done in wool. Militia caps are frequently (and perversely) more ornate; presumably as they spent more time parading on home service than the regulars.
My ‘lace yellow’ is actually purely down to Humbrol’s yellow enamels being so bad nowadays. My former go-to was Humbrol 154, but that is now very dull, translucent and absolutely hopeless. Humbrol 99 meanwhile, is too harsh; very much a sulphur-yellow. I therefore mix the two together and add a touch of white to lighten it up a bit, as well as improve the opacity.
Anyway, gotta go and pick up the go and collect the dog from kennels… 🙂
Cheers,
Mark
Thank you for the information on the colours. You are definitely sticking to the ‘old school’ painting program. I must say that I would not have known that these were painted with enamels rather than the more common acrylic paints. I made the transition from enamel to acrylics about 20 years ago and will likely stick with them at this point. I understand that you are painting your current miniatures to be compatible with your original collection from 90’s. The one thing that the enamels have over acrylics is durability. I have found that the acrylic paints, probably especially before they have cured (perhaps a month or two) are very inclined to wear off if handled at all. So in my opinion definitely require some varnishing. Other than that the acrylics are pretty good, but you can still get some duff bottles (chalky whites being a problem).
Glad you got back from your holiday’s safely. I am getting ready to head out on my holiday’s this Thursday, but am fighting a bit of a chest cold, so hoping to beat it down with vitamin C and heating pads before I depart.
All the best,
Neil
Hi Neil,
Ah yes, some of us keep to the old gods… 😉 I do use the occasional acrylic colour for VERY bright colours and a decent purple, which Humbrol doesn’t do since they ditched the ‘Authentic Colour’ range some 30-odd years ago. I also noticed the wearing problem with acrylics when asked to re-touch some figures for a friend. It seemed like the paint kept sloughing off as I was handling them! He also sent me several batches of figures that he’d undercoated with acrylic black and that was appalling. I also found that acrylics dried too fast on the brush with my usual ‘large batch’ method and shagged out my brushes far faster than when using enamels (curiously, I often see the opposite said on forums, but that’s definitely not my experience). Oh and I can also buy Humbrols in at least four shops within 15 minutes of home, whereas the nearest Vallejo stockist is two hours’ drive away! 🙂 I’d also rather support my local art shop, as I NEVER want to have to buy fine brushes online! Humbrol don’t make it easy though, as their quality control in recent years has been absolutely abysmal (they did however, recently replace ten bad tins of 60 Scarlet and threw in a couple of free tins).
Oh God, holiday illnesses… 🙁 I was consistently ill on holidays for about 20 years, but recently seem to have broken the curse! 🙂 Of six trips to Paris, last July’s trip was the first time I wasn’t looking at the city through eyes blurred by snot! The Italy trip was fantastic and the food even more so. The Italian Air Force Museum on Lake Bracciano was superb and the weather all week was perfect, in the high teens and low 20s C. Cue us Brits wandering around in short-sleeved shirts, while the locals are wrapped up in ski-wear, scarves and woolly hats… 🙂
Mark
Thank you for your information regarding the Drummer’s mitre caps. So I would say that that leaves the options wide open for painting the mitre details non-metallic, metallic, or a mix! Great information.
No worries! It certainly does! I just found another picture of an infantry drummer’s cap with all-metallic embroidery, including a metallic tassel (unknown regiment with blue facings) and another belonging to the Inniskilling Foot (featuring their ‘ancient badge’) that’s just plain coloured woollen/cotton/silk embroidery.
Yes, you mention some good point with regards to acrylics, they are not without their own challenges. For starters, I use a flat enamel primer spray for the undercoat (something from the hardware store) as I found that the Vallejo black ‘surface primer’ was useless, it scrapped off my miniatures with the slightest passing of a fingernail. I might use it on balsa model buildings or some such, but definitely not on any wargames miniatures. The flat enamel primer adheres very well to plastic and metal surfaces, and the acrylics adhere well to the primer. Acrylics also do dry very fast, which can wreck brushes, and thick, partially dry paint provides a very poor surface on the miniature. After some frustration I read about using a wet palate, which is essentially a piece of water absorbant foam (very fine pores) with some parchment paper (not sure if that is what it is called across the pond) on top. It helps to prevent the paint from drying too fast, but I often still have to dip my brush into water and make sure the paint is the right consistency. I have the wet palate in a snap-lid sandwich box and replace the parchment when I run out of space for more paint. It still does dry on the brushes (and I use a mix of cheaper artists synthetics and usually one quality Winsor and Newton Series 7 sable brush for fine details) with a particular tendency to dry close to the ferrule – causing the bristles to splay out and lose their ability to make a point. The solution is to periodically clean with as close to 100% Isopropyl Alcohol as you can get (NOT rubbing alcohol that has other additives). The alcohol cleans up the brushes very well. I then use artists brush cleaning soap on the bristles. My currrent very fine series 7 brush is about 2 to 3 years old and although it is getting very thin from use, the alcohol does not seem to have had any or much ill effect on it.
I have stuck with the acrylics for the same reason you have stuck with the enamels and that is that the acrylics are now the only paints available in the closest miniature store to me, with the added advantage that there is a fantastic range of available colours. Another possible disadvantage with acrylics is that they are not consistently matt, or glossy. Most of the paints do not indicate the finish, so top coating with a varnish becomes important to provide a consistent finish.
I have started using Winsor and Newton varnish for protection, not because it is the strongest, but it has a really appealling finish, which is almost velvety in appearance. I use a coat of satin for the first coat and then a top coat of matt. Now I do more painting than gaming so time will tell if these measures are sufficient for protecting my miniatures in the event (eg when I retire) that I game regularly with the little blighters!
Best regards,
Neil
I just thumbed through my copy of Lawson ‘A History of the Uniforms of the British Army’ Vol 2, and he lists the hat lace for Horse and Dragoon Regiments c. 1742 – 45 as yellow or white! Your advice to check multiple sources is sound.
Ah, that’s saved me a job! I was hoping to check Lawson when I got back from Italy! 🙂