It’s been a somewhat slow start to my wargaming year, but I finally got down to the Wargames Association of South Pembrokeshire (W.A.S.P.) recently for a game. I’ve been promising my my mate Al for the last year that we’d do another ACW game, as we had to postpone two games last year. However, my troops were all still labelled up for the postponed First Battle of Bull Run (known as First Manassas to the Rebs), so that was the obvious choice!
This battle, the first major battle of the American Civil War, is the first scenario presented in the Fire & Fury 2nd Edition rulebook and is one I’ve wanted to play for a long time. It’s a very famous battle and the history is very well covered elsewhere, especially on the battle’s Wikipedia page, so for once I won’t bother repeating all the historical guff here. The scenario concentrates on the main part of the battle, being the fighting on the western flank, centred on the Henry House Hill, where General Jackson earned his famous nickname ‘Stonewall’. Rich Hasenauer’s scenario map from the rulebook is shown below.
One of the ‘fun’ aspects of this scenario is that the overwhelming majority of the troops are barely-trained and badly-armed. The ‘amateur’ aspect of the armies is also reflected in that a lot of the over-complicated layers of command have been removed and what generals they do have may only influence the action if they are directly attached to a brigade. The Union side has the advantage in terms of weaponry (some rifled artillery and rifled muskets) and a very few experienced units from the regular US Army, while the Confederate side has the advantage of having quite a lot of talented brigade-leaders and offensive spirit.
Above: It’s quite a complicated map, with lots of undulations in the terrain, woods and back-roads, but we did the best we could with what we had available. The table here is oriented at 90 degrees when compared to the map, so the top (north edge) of the map is at the right of this photo and we’re facing west. In particular, it was quite difficult to precisely define the edges of woods and course of roads and rivers, so there was a fair bit of referencing the map during the game, just to check that the tree-lines were in the right place.
Above: On the eastern edge of the table, a detachment from Cocke’s Confederate Brigade (of Beauregard’s Army of the Potomac) is dug in, defending Lewis’ Ford on the Bull Run River. Behind them, Hampton’s tiny infantry brigade (also from Beauregard’s army) splashes through the ford of the Hokum Branch and marches toward the Henry House Hill.
Above: At the Henry House, an artillery battery from Johnston’s Army of the Shenandoah supports the forward Confederate positions.
Above: Forward of the Stone House, the Confederate line is formed (from left to right) by Evans’ (including the famous Louisiana ‘Tiger Zouaves’), Bee’s and Bartow’s Brigades. Bee and Bartow belong to Johnston’s Army of the Shenandoah, while Evans belongs to Beauregard’s Army of the Potomac.
[The individual officer figure indicates an Exceptional Brigade Leader, in this instance Evans. The unit label also shows this with an ‘E’. The Confederates have Jackson, Elzey, Stuart, Evans, Hampton and Early rated as Exceptional, while the Union side has only Sherman.]
Above: In front of the Confederate line, Hunter’s Division of McDowell’s Union Army of North-East Virginia crests the ridge at the Matthews House. The Bluebellies have brought a battery with them, which immediately takes Evans’ Brigade under effective fire.
Above: Burnside’s Brigade forms up on the right of Hunter’s Division, with Sykes’ small brigade of regulars on the left. To their rear, Hunter has arrived at the head of Porter’s Brigade (represented here by the 14th Brooklyn in their spectacular ‘Chasseur’ uniforms, which would earn them the nickname ‘Red-Legged Devils’), another artillery battery and Palmer’s tiny cavalry brigade.
Above: Casualties quickly start to pile up in Evans’ Brigade, as the Union gunners find the range. They won’t be able to stand much more of this! The supporting Confederate battery on the Henry House Hill is simply too far away to provide any effective support.
Above: Back at the Lewis House, Jackson’s Brigade of Johnston’s Army of the Shenandoah marches on to the field.
[The sharp-eyed will notice a few bases of blue-coated figures. This is to indicate that the brigade contains troops in blue uniforms, which may cause confusion in the heat of battle. The Union side also has some brigades with units in grey uniforms.]
Above: Evans’ Brigade has suffered very heavy casualties to the crushing Union artillery fire and finally breaks!
Above: Concerned by the possibility of Union units attacking via the Stone Bridge and/or Farm Ford, Jackson leads his brigade to take up position on the right flank, to defend against any Union move in that sector. Johnston and Beauregard have also now arrived and ride to the sound of the guns.
Above: Trundling along in the generals’ wake are two more Confederate batteries.
Above: As the second Union battery takes post on the ridge, General Hunter orders Porter’s Brigade to form line on the reverse slope. Palmer’s cavalry form up on their left. Up on the ridge, the army commander, General McDowell rides forward to assess the situation for himself.
Above: With two batteries now deployed, the Union artillery starts to make life miserable for Bee’s Brigade.
Above: Bee’s Brigade doesn’t stand under fire for anywhere near as long as Evans’ men and soon breaks and runs for the hills!
Above: General Beauregard arrives at the edge of the tree-line on the Henry House Hill, just in time to witness the spectacle of Evans’ and Bee’s men fleeing for their lives! Undeterred, Hampton orders his tiny brigade to deploy at the edge of the woods, along with the first of the newly-arrived batteries.
Above: With Evans and Bee gone and with a massive Union force building up in front of him, Bartow reads his tea-leaves and orders his brigade to withdraw to the relative safety of the Henry House Hill. Protected from Union artillery fire by woodland and a crest-line, Bartow quickly forms his brigade into column and passes over the Youngs Branch river.
Above: The leading elements of Heintzelman’s Union Division, in the form of Franklin’s Brigade and another artillery battery, now arrive at the Matthews House Ridge.
Above: At the Stone Bridge meanwhile, General Johnston personally supervises the deployment of Jackson’s Brigade and a supporting battery along the stone wall adjacent to the Robinson House.
Above: Bee’s Brigade meanwhile, doesn’t seem to want to stop skedaddling and keeps running, all the way down the Sudley Springs Road and off the table.
Above: With their immediate front clear of Rebels, Hunter’s Division advances to the Stone House, accompanied by General McDowell himself. Franklin’s Brigade and Palmer’s Cavalry Brigade advance in support.
Above: The Confederate battery at the Henry House manages to withdraw to the relative safety of the tree-line, alongside Hampton’s Brigade, but not before the long-range Union rifled artillery find the range! J.E.B. Stuart’s tiny cavalry brigade has also now arrived.
Above: General Beauregard meanwhile, has ridden back to fetch the detachment of Cocke’s Brigade from it’s redundant position at the Lewis Ford. He directs this detachment to take up position on Hampton’s right at the Henry House.
Above: Jackson’s Brigade completes its deployment just as a column of Union troops appears from the direction of the Farm Ford. As the column passes the Van Pelt House, Jackson’s supporting battery fires a ranging-shot, but does no damage.
Above: The newly-arrived column is Sherman’s Brigade of Tyler’s Division.
Above: Hunter’s Division is deployed on a very wide frontage as it advances across the valley of the Youngs Branch, though General McDowell rides forward to take personal control of Hunter’s left flank.
Above: Back at the Matthews House, three batteries continue to fire in support of the advance, though the Confederates are now deployed at extreme range and the Union artillery fire is finally having little effect. It’s time for the guns to move forward, to better support the advance.
Above: Bartow’s Confederate brigade is making slow progress in crossing the Youngs Branch and for a time looks to be in danger of being caught by the advancing Union infantry!
Above: However, the personal intervention of General Johnston ensures that Bartow makes it to the safety of the army’s new position along the tree-line on the Henry House Hill. The detachment of Cocke’s Brigade has also now thickened the line and at long last, it’s starting to look like a tough nut for the Union Army to crack.
Above: Additional forces are also now starting to appear on the Confederate left flank. Kershaw’s Brigade from Beauregard’s Army of the Potomac advances along the Sudley Springs Road toward the Henry House. This brigade is ideally placed to outflank any Union attack past the Henry House.
Above: McDowell rides forward to lead Burnside’s Brigade, with Franklin’s Brigade in support, up the slopes of the Henry House Hill. As soon as they crest the escarpment, the Bluebellies finally get a taste of their own medicine as the Rebel guns open up.
Above: On the Union left flank, General Tyler has arrived at the head of Keyes’ Brigade. They prepare to support Sherman’s attack on the stone wall position.
Above: Jackson meanwhile, has shifted his position left along the stone wall to the Robinson House. His supporting battery limbers up to move to the Robinson House, which seems likely to become the epicentre of the battle.
Above: The Union artillery meanwhile, limbers up and moves forward to deploy on the knoll just north of the Stone House, from where it can sweep the Confederate positions behind the Robinson House.
Above: Howard’s Brigade of Heintzelman’s Division has also now arrived and marches past the Matthews House.
Above: General McDowell, ignoring the hail of fire from the Confederate batteries, leads Burnside’s Brigade forward over the crest, onto the plateau of the Henry House Hill.
Above: However, McDowell and Burnside suddenly find themselves advancing alone, as Franklin’s men have had a crisis of confidence and refuse to push forward from the riverbank!
Above: With a single Union brigade advancing in front of them, General Johnston spies a golden opportunity and orders his infantry to fix bayonets…
Above: Over on the Union right flank, General Hunter pushes Porter’s Brigade out as far as the Bald Hill, while Wilcox’s Brigade (including the spectacular 5th New York ‘Fire Zouaves’) and Palmer’s cavalry deploy in support.
Above: Stuart’s Virginian cavalry observe the Union flank and wait for an opportunity to strike.
Above: Suddenly, the ‘Rebel Yell’ is heard for the first time in history, as the Confederates charged out of the tree-line against Burnside’s disordered brigade! Both Confederate army commanders join the charge; Beauregard with the detachment of Cocke’s Brigade in the centre and Johnston with Bartow’s Brigade on the right. Hampton’s Brigade on the left is judged not to need the personal leadership of a senior general!
[In game terms, the detachment of Cocke’s Brigade had been disordered by long-range artillery fire and needed to roll a 10 to ‘Rally with Elan’ and charge. Al was not confident, as thus far his dice-rolling was true to form and he’d barely rolled anything higher than a 4… However, this time he rolled the required 10 and they charged!]
Above: Union musketry is unsuccessful in stopping the charge, though they do manage to kill Hampton’s horse! The Rebels, having suffered a constant stream of casualties from the powerful Union artillery, are keen for vengeance and get thoroughly stuck in! Burnside’s men are thrown back through Franklin’s Brigade to the river.
Above: General Heintzelman rides over to steady Franklin’s Brigade and quickly rallies them before leading them in a charge up the hill! However, Rebel musketry stops the charge dead in its tracks.
Above: Generals McDowell and Hunter both try to rally Burnside’s Brigade, which has now withdrawn as far as the Stone House.
Above: On Henry House Hill meanwhile, the Rebels charge again! However, this time Cocke’s Brigade decides that it has urgent business that needs attention back at the tree-line, while Hampton (having found a new horse) can’t persuade his tiny brigade (now missing one-third of its strength) to push forward. Consequently, only Bartow’s Brigade charges,
Above: Over on the Confederate left flank, Porter’s Union brigade has pushed down off the Bald Hill to engage Kershaw’s Rebels. However, Kershaw quickly gains the upper hand in the firefight, leaving Porter’s Red-Legs disordered.
Above: The Rebels are quick to take advantage of Porter’s discomfiture, as both Kershaw and Elzey’s newly-arrived brigade charge!
Above: The Rebel charge is completely effective and Porter’s Brigade is thrown back over the Bald Hill!
Above: Wilcox’s freshly-arrived Union Brigade and Palmer’s cavalry are disordered by Porter’s withdrawal, but now have to prepare to receive the Rebel assault.
Above: But further problems have arrived on the Union flank, in the form of Juball Early’s Brigade.
Above: Back at the Stone House, it seems that the combined efforts of Generals McDowell and Hunter have managed to rally Burnside’s shaken men. Howard’s Brigade in the meantime, stands in reserve at the Stone House.
Above: Up at the Robinson House, Bartow’s second charge has not gone well, thanks to the lack of support from the neighbouring brigades and the fact that Sykes’ Union brigade has now moved in to support Franklin. Heavily outnumbered, Bartow is grudgingly forced to give ground. However, fresh Confederate infantry have now arrived at the tree-line, in the form of the main body of Cocke’s Brigade.
Above: Having re-established themselves at the Stone House Knoll, the Union artillery resume their bombardment of the Rebel lines, this time making life miserable for Jackson and his supporting battery.
Above: Despite the battle raging to his left, Jackson remains firmly emplaced behind the stone wall at the Robinson House. Someone on Johnston’s staff exclaims in disgust, “There is General Jackson, hiding behind that stone wall!”
Sadly, General Jackson was never able to shake off this unfair accusation of cowardice and remained known as ‘Stonewall’ Jackson until his dying day.
Above: However, Jackson had very good reason to be concerned for this sector of the battlefield. Everyone else seemed to have forgotten about Tyler’s Division (Sherman’s and Keyes’ Brigades), but they were now crossing the Youngs Branch and were within striking-distance of the Robinson House.
Above: Tyler had struggled to get his inexperienced brigades to move forward, so decided to ‘go Napoleonic’ and formed them into field columns. This worked in moving them forward, but would make them juicy targets when they reached the Warrenton Turnpike.
At this point we had played eleven turns and with only three turns left to play in the scenario, our Mams called us in for our tea…
With Union forces largely stalled in the centre and with their right being driven back by superior forces, the only hope now for the Union side to complete the objective (the clearance of all Rebel forces from the tree-line on the Henry House Hill) was for Tyler’s Division to decisively defeat Jackson’s Brigade at the stone wall. It was going to take at least two of the three remaining turns to reach that point (all three turns if they wanted to shake out into line or supported line formation before charging) and they would then have to inflict a devastating defeat on Jackson, while also somehow ejecting the remaining four brigades and three batteries from the tree-line. This was clearly going to be an impossible task and so we called it a day and declared it to be a Confederate victory!
Just to satisfy our curiosity, we did however, ‘jump forward’ to see what would happen when Tyler charge the stone wall… Jackson’s musketry stopped both brigades cold and they failed to press home their charge.
My thanks to Al and Dave for a great game! 🙂
Models Etc
The troops are all 10mm Pendraken Miniatures from my own collection. I use my own reduced ground-scale and basing-scheme for playing Fire & Fury, the details of which are linked here. The buildings are a mixture of Pendraken and Timecast. I would have put out fences, etc to decorate the table, but it was already very ‘busy’, so decided not to, as they only tend to get in the way.
With the 1740s in mind, I’ll then add second battalions to all the single-battalion regiments, as well as six ‘pointy-headed’ grenadier battalions, five cuirassier regiments (plus one base of four figures for the Garde du Corps), four dragoon regiments and a load more artillery, so we can refight the epic Battles of Hohenfriedburg, Soor and especially 
Above: The 
Above: The ‘Fürst Lubomirsky’ Infantry Regiment, following the surrender at Pirna, was dragooned into the Prussian Army as the 
Above: The re-created ‘Fürst Lubomirsky’ Infantry Regiment in 1757 was classed as a ‘New’ Regiment and therefore consisted of a single battalion and a detached grenadier company. However, as discussed in 
Above: The ‘Fürst Lubomirsky’ Infantry Regiment wore a uniform that was basically identical to that of the ‘Prinz Friedrich-August’ Regiment discussed in Part 1; namely a white coat with yellow cuffs, collar and turnbacks, white shoulder-strap and no lapels. The waistcoat was yellow to match the facings, though breeches were white (yellow for officers, which I got wrong!). Neck-stocks were red and hats were decorated with white lace and yellow-over-white pompoms. The only difference was that the regiment had white metal buttons and officers’ hat-lace. Drummers had coats of reversed colours with white lace.
Above: The 
Above: The ‘Prinz Joseph’ Infantry Regiment. When the captured Saxon regiments were conscripted into the Prussian Army, the men of the ‘Königin’ Regiment refused to swear an oath to King Frederick II of Prussia. As a consequence, they weren’t simply re-titled and re-uniformed as a Prussian regiment and instead were split up across various units. Needless to say, many of these men deserted from Prussian service and in 1757 were formed as a new regiment in exile. However, the former regimental inhaber, 
Above: The ‘Prinz Joseph’ Infantry Regiment in 1757 was classed as a ‘New’ Regiment, being therefore organised as a single battalion and detached grenadier company. This seems odd at first glance, as the regiment could trace its lineage back to 1673. However, unlike the three ‘Old’ Regiments, it had not mutinied and marched out of Prussia service as a coherent unit and therefore had to be rebuilt from scratch, and was therefore classed as ‘New’. The detached grenadier company was formed from former members of the 
Above: The ‘Prinz Joseph’ Infantry Regiment wore the standard Saxon white uniform coat, with cuffs, collar, turnbacks and shoulder-strap coloured ‘cochineal’. Cochineal dye can be used to make everything from deep, dark reds, to various shades of crimson and pink and was the dye used to create the crimson facings of Polish units in Napoleon’s army. It’s usually interpreted in this instance as being a deep pinkish crimson shade. Waistcoats were a matching shade of cochineal and breeches were white (cochineal for officers, which I’ve again got wrong). Buttons were brass. Neck-stocks were red and hats were decorated with white lace (gold for officers and NCOs) and cochineal-over-white pompoms. Drummers had coats in reversed colours, with yellow lace.
Above: The 
Above: When transferred to Prussian service, the ‘Prinz Clemens’ Infantry Regiment became the 
Above: The re-created ‘Prinz Clemens’ Infantry Regiment, like the ‘Prinz Joseph’ Regiment above, was classed in 1757 as a ‘New’ Regiment, as it had to be reformed from scratch. It therefore consisted of a single battalion and a detached grenadier company. The detached grenadier company was drawn from dismounted former members of the 
Above: The ‘Prinz Clemens’ Infantry Regiment wore the usual Saxon white coat with ‘French blue’ cuffs, collar and turnbacks and white metal buttons. Waistcoats were French blue and breeches were white (again, the officers had facing-coloured breeches, but I’ve got it wrong!). Neck-stocks were red and hats were decorated with white lace (silver for officers and NCOs) and blue-over-white pompoms. Drummers again had reversed colour coats with white lace.
Above: The 
Above: The ‘Prinz Carl Maximilian’ Infantry Regiment, following its surrender at Pirna, was absorbed into the Prussian Army as 
Above: The ‘Prinz Carl Maximilian’ Infantry Regiment was re-created in 1757 was one of Prince Xaver’s ‘New’ Regiments and therefore consisted of a single battalion and detached grenadier company. The grenadier company was formed from former members of the 
Above: The ‘Prinz Carl Maximilian’ Infantry Regiment wore the usual white Saxon infantry coat, with cuffs, collar and turnbacks in ‘Russian green’, white shoulder-strap and white ‘metal’. Waistcoats were Russian green and breeches were white, though officers wore green breeches (which I’ve again got wrong!). Neck-stocks were red and hats were decorated with white lace (silver for officers and NCOs) and green-over-white pompoms. Drummers wore coats of reversed colours, with white lace.
Above: Saxon Grenadiers. As discussed in 
Above: Saxon Grenadiers. I must confess that when I painted these, I didn’t have a clue about the origins of Prince Xaver’s grenadiers, so just decided to paint two grenadier figures for each regiment I was painting (not including ‘Lubomirsky’, as they were converted back to artillery)! However, it’s entirely possible that the former members of the Leibgrenadiergarde, Garde du Corps and Cuirassiers did in fact wear white, infantry-style uniforms during this period, matching those of their new parent regiments. White uniforms would certainly be a lot easier to source from Austrian stocks.
Above: Saxon Grenadiers. When first formed, the new grenadier companies, instead of their old Prussian-style mitre-caps, wore cocked hats like the rest of the regiment, though these were decorated in ‘scalloped’ or ‘zig-zag’ lace. In 1761 the hats were replaced by bearskins, variously-described as ‘French’ or ‘Austrian’ in style, with a hanging bag that was probably coloured to match the facing colour and tasseled (perhaps also piped) in the button colour. Although my fellas are intended for the earlier part of the war (Lutterberg, Minden, etc), I decided to go with the later bearskins and used Austrian grenadier figures.
Above: Saxon Grenadiers. In 1761 the Saxon grenadiers were increased to twelve companies, organised into three battalions. One battalion was designated as the Leibgrenadiergarde at this time and perhaps adopted the old scarlet uniforms with yellow facings (if they hadn’t already)?
The Saxon Corps was clothed and equipped largely according to the old Saxon dress-regulations and colourings, though the uniforms came from Austrian stocks. Consequently, the Prussian-style mitre caps worn by the old ‘Kurprinzessin’ and ‘Rochow’ Regiments were replaced by cocked hats, while the mitre caps of the grenadier companies were initially replaced by cocked hats with scalloped lace and then from 1761 with Austrian-style bearskin caps. The exact cut and colouring of uniforms probably varied from the Saxon originals, depending on what was available from Austrian contractors. New regimental flags were issued, which conformed to the old ‘fiddly’ Saxon designs, but which were made more cheaply, being painted onto a single layer of silk.
Above: The 
Above: The ‘Prinz Xaver’ Infantry Regiment served in Poland during the War of Polish Succession and was actively engaged in the First and Second Silesian Wars (Saxony was an ally of Prussia during the First Silesian War and an enemy during the Second). However, the regiment went ‘into the bag’ in 1756, when the Army of Saxony surrendered to Prussia at Pirna. The regiment was then dragooned en masse into the Prussian Army, becoming the new 
Above: The ‘Prinz Xaver’ Infantry Regiment, as mentioned above, became one of the three ‘Old’ Regiments of Prince Xaver’s new Saxon Corps. The ‘Old’ Regiments were initially organised with two battalions (reduced to one battalion in 1761) and a detached grenadier company. The regiment’s grenadier company was formed from personnel of the dismounted 
Above: The ‘Prinz Xaver’ Infantry Regiment wore white coats and smallclothes, supplied by the Austrians but apparently conforming to the previous Saxon regulations. This style had buttons spaced 1-2-3-3 down each side of the breast and three buttons arranged vertically at the ‘trailing edge’ of each cuff. The cuffs, turnbacks and collar were coloured a pale shade of blue known as bleu-mourant and buttons were brass. The regiment’s uniform did not have lapels or lace and shoulder-straps were either absent or they were white to match the coat. Neck-stocks were red. Hat lace was white for all regiments, though was gold or silver for officers and NCOs, matching the button colour. Cockades were white and pompoms were white with a central spot matching the facing colour.
Above: The 
Above: The ‘Prinz Friedrich-August’ Infantry Regiment, as one of the three ‘Old’ Regiments, was initially organised as two battalions (reduced to one battalion in 1761), plus a detached grenadier company. In this instance, the grenadier company was actually raised from the regiment’s own personnel.
Above: The ‘Prinz Friedrich-August’ Infantry Regiment‘s uniforms were essentially the same as those of the ‘Prinz Xaver’ Regiment above, except the distinguishing facing colour was yellow. Note that again, I made the mistake of painting the officers’ breeches white; they should be in the facing colour. Note also that Saxon officers wore waist-sashes of mixed silver and red threads and had white neck-stocks.
Above: The ‘Prinz Friedrich-August’ Infantry Regiment. The drummers of all Saxon regiments wore reversed colours, in this case yellow coats with white facings. Smallclothes remained the same as the rank-and-file, so a facing-coloured waistcoat with white breeches. Hats were also the same. The coat was laced in the button-colour with lace buttonholes on the breast (arranged 1-2-3 from top to bottom), swallows’ nests on the shoulders, upward-pointing chevrons and seams on the arms and edging to the cuffs and pockets. In this instance, the lace is yellow on yellow, which is a god-send to those of us who are bone-idle! 🙂
Above: The 
Above: The Saxon Artillery Corps wore a rather attractive uniform consisting of a green coat with brass buttons and red lapels, cuffs, tail-turnbacks, collar and shoulder-strap. Smallclothes were straw. Hats had yellow lace, white cockades and two small white-over-red pompoms in the corners. Belts were white and gaiters were black. I’ve used 
Above: The Saxon Artillery Corps originally painted its gun-carriages black and had ‘yellow metal’ fittings, thus matching the black-and-yellow-striped armorials of Saxony. It’s a matter of some debate as to whether the ‘yellow metal’ was brass or simply iron painted yellow. I’ve gone with yellow paint, as to be honest, brass looks a bit rubbish and from a soldier’s point of view, would have been murder to keep clean and shiny. It’s likely that the ‘Swedish’ 4-pounders supplied to Prince Xaver by the French would have retained their light blue paintwork with black ironwork, though if they were re-painted black, they wouldn’t have replaced the ironwork with brass! That’s my excuse, anyway…
Order of Battle of the Allied Army
Allied Order of Battle Notes
Allied Deployment
Allied Reinforcement Schedule
Briefing for Maréchal de France Louis Georges Érasme, Marquis de Contades
French Order of Battle of the French Army
French Deployment
French Reinforcement Schedule
Terrain Rules
Umpire’s Eyes Only
As can be seen from the map above; when I eventually get around to painting all the troops for Minden, it will be something of a ‘line them up’ slug-fest, as we don’t really have the time or space for a great battle of manoeuvre. However, ‘Wanneminden’ does allow us to play out the advance to contact phase of the battle. I’ll post the full scenario soon, but here’s a map showing the starting-positions. As you can see, there is a far greater amount of space and tactical options for the development of the battle:
Above: The view from behind Wanghenheim’s corps, facing south toward the walls of Wanneminden. If this were the Battle of Minden, the city would actually be just off-table and would be replaced by a line of earthworks and redoubts.
Above: The centre of Wangenheim’s line is formed by four single-battalion Hanoverian infantry regiments (Kielmansegg, Jung-Zastrow, Spörcken and Halberstadt) and a battalion each of British, Hessian and Brunswicker grenadiers. On the right flank is General von Grothaus’ cavalry division, consisting of the Hessian Prinz Friedrich Dragoons and two massed regiments of Hanoverian heavy horse (the Reden and Heise Regiments).
Above: The Duc de Broglie’s corps is deployed into three lines; the first line is formed by the Marquis de Saint-Pern’s Grenadiers de France, supported by a battery each of heavy and light artillery.
Above: Having judged Wangenheim’s position to be something of a tough nut to crack, Broglie pauses while he waits for the Chevalier de Nicolay’s division to move up in support. Nicolay has five battalions from the Picardie and La Marche Regiments, together with a further battery of light artillery.
Above: Some distance behind Nicolay, two more French infantry divisions are moving up in column (as indicated by the MDF arrows), past the hamlet of Finster-Reie. The division of the Duc de Beaupréau, consists of the Touraine and d’Aumont Regiments, each with two battalions, together with a battery each of heavy and light artillery. The blue-coated German division of the Comte de Saint-Germain comprises another four battalions from the Anhalt, Saint-Germain and Bergh Regiments.
Above: The garrison of Wanneminden watches as the battle unfolds. I should add that the fortress and its garrison are purely decorative and will play no part in the battle.
Above: At the southern end of the battlefield, in the village of Hahlen, the French Vastan Regiment (from the Duc de Guerchy’s division) quickly find themselves under extreme pressure from the Prince of Anhalt’s picquets and are forced to fall back.
Above: To the right of the Saxons, the Marquis de Poyanne heads his two elite cavalry regiments (the Gendarmerie de France in red and Royal-Carabiniers in blue) onto the field, while on their right, the Duc de Fitz James leads his four cavalry brigades (Colonel-Général, Mestre de Camp-Général, Du Roi and Bourgogne) northward.
Above: The divisions of Saint-Germain and Beaupréau deploy into a single line between Finster-Reie and Malbergen. Beaupréau’s artillery is soon in action, though quickly starts to suffer casualties from effective Allied counter-battery fire. It soon becomes apparent that the French artillery can’t shoot for toffee
Above: Another view of Saint-German’s and Braupréau’s divisions, with Fitz-James’ cavalry approaching from the south and the walls of Wanneminden behind.
Above: Spörcken’s corps consists of four British regiments; the 23rd Royal Welch Fusiliers, the 37th Foot (Stewart’s), the 25th Foot (Home’s) and the 51st Foot (Brudenell’s). On their left stands the formidable Hanoverian Fußgarde Regiment. All five regiments are brimming with confidence and don’t seem to be remotely concerned by the considerable force arrayed against them.
Above: At the southern end of the battlefield, Lord Sackville’s corps of British and Hanoverian cavalry has arrived. As he emerges from the woods, Lord Sackville spots the huge phalanx of Frenchmen and orders his cavalry to halt while he seeks clarification of his orders from Prince Ferdinand.
Above: In front of Sackville, Major Foy’s Brigade of British light artillery is making an extreme nuisance of itself, despite being completely isolated and out-gunned!
Above: Back at the northern end of the battle, the Duc de Broglie realises that his artillery is completely inadequate to the task at hand and instead orders the Grenadiers de France to decide the issue at bayonet-point! Prince Camille’s cavalry meanwhile, launch a supporting, if somewhat suicidal, charge on the Hessian and Brunswicker grenadiers.
Above: The brave, if somewhat foolhardy Grenadiers de France are shredded by canister fire from the Hessian and Schaumburg-Lippe batteries and their charge falters at the foot of the redoubt. The Commissaire-Général Cavalry Brigade meanwhile, is utterly destroyed by the Brunswick and Hessian grenadiers. The battle has not started well for the French.
Above: Nevertheless, Broglie has every confidence in Saint-Pern and his Grenadiers de France, so instead of ordering du Muy to support the assault, orders him to wheel left and engage Wangenheim’s infantry in front of Kutenhausen.
Above: To the west of Kutenhausen, Grothaus waits with his cavalry to see what develops. Nicolay’s French infantry don’t seem to be as enthusiastic to get in amongst it and seem content to engage at long range with their guns.
Above: Undeterred by their earlier rebuff, the Grenadiers de France charge again! This time however, the Allied gunners fail to stop the vengeful fur-bonneted grenadiers, who are soon swarming over the parapet! Neither the gunners or the supporting Bückeburg Regiment are able to stop the grenadiers and they are quickly ejected from the redoubt, abandoning the guns to the enemy!
Above: More Allied infantry appear in the centre of the battlefield; General von Wutginau’s blue-coated Hessians (the Leibgarde zu Fuß, Toll and Bischhausen Regiments) form the first line, while General von Scheele’s red-coated Hanoverians (the Stolzenberg, Estorff and Reden Regiments) form the second line and a Schaumburg-Lippe artillery battery deploys in support.
Above: The Schaumburg-Lippe-Bückeburg Regiment have managed to rally in the second line of entrenchments. Two battalions of the Grenadiers de France continue the assault, but the stalwart Bückeburgers this time manage to hold their ground.
Above: The 2nd Brigade of the Grenadiers de France rally, having failed in their first attempt to destroy the Bückeburgers.
Above: The rest of the Grenadiers de France wheel left, to join Du Muys’ attack on Wangenheim’s infantry. The Stammer’s Brunswick Grenadier Battalion, on Wangenheim’s left flank, is quickly overwhelmed.
Above: With Wangenheim’s position looking precarious, Fitz James is ordered to lead his cavalry to that sector, to exploit the success and roll up the Allied left flank.
Above: Prince Xaver’s Saxons finally move into their allotted position, in support of Saint-Germain and Beaupréau.
Above: Nicolay’s infantry meanwhile, are happy to stand and watch their artillery achieving the sum-total of ‘Rien’.
Above: Poyanne’s elite cavalry wait in reserve to add some dash and tone to what would otherwise be a vulgar brawl.
Above: Guerchy meanwhile, is not content to wait and marches forward, thereby masking his own guns. Guerchy’s aide asks “Are you sure that’s wise, Sir?”
Above: Spörcken can’t believe his luck. As the French artillery fire slackens off, his infantry advance on Guerchy. Behind Spörcken, three batteries of Hanoverian artillery under Colonel von Braun and Major von Haase deploy and take the French artillery to task.
Above: Guerchy’s gunners have finally re-established their guns in front of the infantry line, but Spörcken’s division is now very close!
Above: Poyanne deploys his cavalry reserve into regimental lines and prepares to attack Spörcken.
Above: Another view of the northern end of the battlefield. Prince Xaver’s Saxons are completing their deployment, but are already taking casualties from ‘overs’, thanks to the large number of Allied guns being directed against Saint-Germain and Beaupréau. One of Beaupréau’s batteries has already been knocked out by Allied counter-battery fire
Above: Wutginau’s Hessians and Scheele’s Hanoverians have completed their deployment and prepare to attack Saint-Germain.
Above: Fitz James’ cavalry march past Nicolay’s flank to deploy in front of Kutenhausen.
Above: The Hessian and British grenadiers on Wangenheim’s left flank are under extreme pressure from de Broglie, but are still holding their ground. Most of Wangenheim’s Hanoverian battalions have withdrawn into the limited cover afforded by the village.
Above: At last, Spörcken’s division passes through the storm of canister and launches its charge on Guerchy’s line. However, the 2nd & 3rd Battalions of the Du Roi Regiment hold firm and manage to halt the British 37th and 23rd Regiments through firepower alone.
Above: On Spörcken’s left flank, the Hanoverian Fußgarde manage to weather the storm of musketry and charge home on the 1st Battalion of Du Roi. However, they are counter-charged in turn by the Gendarmerie de France! Nevertheless, the elite guardsmen earn their pay and manage to defeat both enemy units, throwing them back in disorder!
Above: In the centre, Wutginau’s Hessians advance past the hamlet of Malbergen.
Above: In front of them, the French and Saxon infantry are starting to suffer significant casualties from the persistent Allied artillery.
Above: Wangenheim’s left flank meanwhile, continues to hold out. Donop’s heroic Hessian grenadier battalion even manages to defeat a charge by the 3rd Brigade of the Grenadiers de France on its open flank!
Above: Fitz James’ cavalry continue their deployment, but in so doing mask de Broglie’s guns. 
Above: Fitz James was rather hoping that de Broglie would by now, have defeated Wangenheim and cleared away the enemy infantry!
Above: To add to Fitz James’ woes, the previously-identified ‘clear space’ between the villages of Stemmer and Malbergen (which he’d planned to ride through in order to roll up the Allied flank) is now being filled by the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp’s Allied cavalry.
Above: Holstein-Gottorp’s column is led by a brigade of Hessian heavy horse (the Miltitz & Prüschenck Regiments), followed by a brigade of Hanoverian horse (the Leib and Hammerstein Regiments) and Holstein-Gottorp’s own regiment of Prussian dragoons.
Above: In addition, General von Imhoff’s division of Hessian and Brunswick infantry has now arrived (the Hessian Gilsa Regiment and Grenadierregiment and two battalions of the Brunswick Imhoff Regiment).
Above: Spörcken charges again and this time succeeds in throwing back the 2nd & 3rd Battalions of the Du Roi Regiment.
Above: The French might not be able to roll shooting and combat dice for toffee, but they do have a remarkable ability to rally every retreating unit! The Du Roi Regiment and the Gendarmerie de France therefore halt their retreat and face the enemy once again.
Above: At Hahlen, a vicious firefight develops between the Vastan Regiment and their tormentors. The Vastan Regiment have taken heavy losses, but at long last are managing to damage the Allied picquets.
Above: The formed main body of the Allied picquets moves forward to join the firefight, just as the Allied skirmishers, having taken too many losses, decide to flee the field. 
Above: As Allied roundshot continues to bound through the French ranks, Prince Xaver pushes Saxon battalions forward to plug emerging gaps in the first line. Beaupréau’s heavy guns are too busy engaging the approaching Allied infantry to conduct counter-battery fire.
Above: Nevertheless, Beaupréau’s guns have only done marginal damage to the enemy infantry, who now close in for the kill.
Above: Saint-Germain’s Germans and Prince Xaver’s Saxons fail to stop the Hessians through musketry, so the combat is resolved in the old-fashioned way. The Saxon Lubomirsky Regiment somehow manages to destroy the Hessian Bischhausen Regiment, and the Fußgarde Regiment is halted by fire from the Bergh Regiment. However, the Hessian Toll Regiment charges home and simply destroys Saint-Germain’s own regiment.
Above: With the loss of two out of four German battalions, Saint-Germain’s division breaks and runs from the battle! Thankfully, Prince Xaver’s Saxons are in place to plug the gap, but at present are somewhat widely-spread, having been used to plug gaps in the French line. Prince Xaver, Beaupréau and Nicolay frantically order battalions to counter the Allied breakthrough.
Above: At long last, Fitz James’ four cavalry brigades (with Prince Camille’s remaining brigade in support) ride out to meet the Allied horse!
Above: Back on the southern flank, the Royal-Carabiniers have also had a go at the Hanoverian Fußgarde, but have also been beaten off and are now rallying under the walls of Wanneminden. The Fußgarde are very vulnerable on the flank of the line, but they are the best unit in the army, so are just the lads you want holding the flank! The Gendarmerie de France charge again, but now have the additional problem of the British 51st Foot (with the green colour), who have moved from the second line to support the left flank of the Fußgarde. The additional musketry causes heavy losses to the Gendarmerie, who are finally broken when they charge home on the wall of redcoats.
Above: At Hahlen, the Prince of Anhalt’s picquets have suffered very heavy losses, despite their tactical successes. Determined to go down fighting, the Prince leads a desperate charge out of the village with his main body! Astonishingly, this desperate act succeeds in breaking a battalion of the Vastan Regiment, though the picquets can take no more and soon join their comrades in fleeing the field.
Above: The final removal of the threat at Hahlen is of small comfort to Guerchy, as his division is being taken apart by Spörcken’s British battalions! The 4th Battalion of the Du Roi Regiment has broken following a protracted firefight with the 23rd Royal Welch Fusiliers, while two of Guerchy’s three batteries have been destroyed, while the third battery is forced to pull back.
Above: The Royal-Carabiniers are rallying from their previous exertions, though as fugitives flee past them from the broken Gendarmerie de France, they too break and run to the safety of Wanneminden!
Above: Spörcken’s division charges again! On the extreme flank, the isolated British 37th Regiment is halted by fire from the Vastan and Aquitaine Regiments. However, the Du Roi Regiment is simply destroyed. With the loss of over half of Guerchy’s division, the remaining formed units (the Aquitaine Regiment, one battalion of Vastan, a light artillery battery and the massed Chasseur companies) are suffering a severe crisis of confidence! Spörcken looks around, expecting to see Lord Sackville’s cavalry riding down the remnants of the French infantry, but the British horse are nowhere to be seen…
Above: In the centre, Prince Xaver, Beaupréau and Nicolay desperately attempt to form a new line against the Allied infantry. Beaupréau’s artillery are doing damage to the approaching lines, but it’s simply not enough. The Allied artillery meanwhile, continue to hammer away and succeed in breaking up the two battalions of the Saxon Prince Xaver Regiment, thus weakening the new line.
Above: On the extreme northern flank, the situation remains unchanged as Wangenheim’s grenadiers beat off assault after assault! In the entrenchments, the heroic Bückeburgers continue to hold out against the Grenadiers de France.
Above: As the French cavalry advance, the Penthièvre Brigade on the right flank, suffers casualties from the Hanoverian infantry lurking in the village. Although only light, those casualties will put them at a slight further disadvantage in the mêlée.
Above: The Allied horse charge to meet the French! Although there are no disastrous failures, the French horse are beaten all along the line. The groans of dismay can be heard from Contades’ headquarters…
Above: In the centre, Wutginau’s surviving Hessians charge again, with Scheele’s Hanoverians in close support and Imhoff’s Hessians and Brunswickers in reserve.
Above: The Saxons fail to stop the Hessians through musketry and somewhat inevitably, the Saxon Prinz Josef and Prinz Clemenz Regiments are broken by the Hessian steamroller. With four out of seven battalions now broken, Prince Xaver’s remaining Saxons decide that they’ve had enough and are soon following their comrades in the general direction of ‘Away’.
Above: With the first line of French cavalry in full retreat, the Prussian Holstein-Gottorp Dragoons exploit the situation and charge Prince Camille’s second line. Once again the French horsemen are put to flight. Nevertheless, all five French cavalry brigades rally and prepare to fight again.
Well, that was shit…
So games were fairly thin on the ground for me this year, though in the meantime I’ve been fighting a ‘postal’ (e-mail, actually) campaign of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. The campaign is masterminded by Barrie Lovell of Timecast Miniatures and he runs the campaign and fights the battles on his wargames table in Shrewsbury, while we send him orders. 
Then some more 
I don’t have too many plans for 2025 beyond hoping that my family members recover from what ails them. From a wargaming point of view, I’d like to catch up with writing up my game-reports and would like to actually do some more wargaming this year! As much as I love the 18th Century, it would also be nice to play some WW2, Napoleonic, AWI and ACW games this year and perhaps some other things as well.
Merry Christmas and Nadolig Llawen to the remaining reader of this blog, from all here at Fawr Towers!
My thanks to Gareth Beamish for the suitably-seasonal ‘snowy’ Battle of Mollwitz photos (OK, so Mollwitz was actually fought in April, but still…). We played this in October 2023, and I still haven’t got around to doing the write-up, but here are some snowy photos for Christmas Day…
The Austrians (now in my collection) were originally painted by Gareth for the collection of a late friend ‘Deutschmeister Doug’.
Right, that’s it, I’m off to the bosom of my family! Here’s hoping that Santa’s sack is loaded with goodies from Helion Books and Eureka Miniatures… 🙂
And now, in this thrilling instalment, I add yet more units to my Seven Years War Hanoverian Army! Please try to control your excitement.
Above: First up are some Hanoverian Artillery, consisting of a pair of 6-pounder position guns. I did cover the powerful 
Above: Nobody makes Hanoverian Artillery in 15/18mm scale, so these fellas are 18mm British artillery crew figures by 
Above: The ‘Schulenburg’ or ‘Freytag’ Jäger-Corps. I painted these chaps for our 
In 1760 three more mounted companies were raised, which meant that each brigade now had two companies each of foot and mounted jäger and the total strength of the corps was around 1,883 (roughly 620 men per brigade). However, the attrition of continual campaigning meant that by the end of the war in 1763 the organisation had fallen back to three mounted companies and four foot companies.
Above: The uniform of the ‘Schulenburg’ or ‘Freytag’ Jäger-Corps was very simple, consisting of a dark green coat with lapels, cuffs and turnbacks in the same shade of green. The waistcoat was also in the same shade of green, though breeches were white. Buttons were of white metal. Belts were white, though some illustrations show red leather rifle-slings. Scabbard and cartridge-pouch was black (note that belly-boxes are not shown as part of their equipment, but my figures are stuck with them). Gaiters are variously shown as grey, white, off-white or black, though grey seems to be the most common interpretation; with or without a black garter-strap.
Hats were unlaced and had the green cockade common to Allied light troops; some sources also show green ‘pulls’ in the corners and a green ribbon that appears to function as a chins-strap (though tied up over the hat), as well as the usual sprig of oakleaves. Kronoskaf shows white hat-lace (not described in the text), though I think this might be a mis-interpretation of the light shown along the edge of the hat in the period illustrations shown here.
Some sources show grenadier caps for the corps, suggesting the existence of such companies, though there doesn’t seem to be any evidence for these. They are perhaps confusing them with the other two Hanoverian free corps; Stockhausen’s and Scheither’s? The infantry of both those corps were very similarly dressed to Freytag’s Jäger and in both instances included a company or two of grenadiers, who acted as musket-armed support for the vulnerable rifle-armed jäger, whose weapons lacked bayonets and were slow to load.
Above: The ‘Grothaus/Jung-Bremer’ Regiment of Horse was uniformed in the standard pattern for Hanoverian regiments of horse; namely a single-breasted white coat without lapels or lace, though with cuffs and tail-turnbacks in the facing-colour, which for this regiment was crimson. The horse-furniture was crimson to match and was edged in ‘fancy’ lace. Buttons were brass/gold. Hats had yellow lace, black cockades and were often decorated with a sprig of oak-leaves. Neck-stocks were black. Smallclothes and belts were buff. Cuirasses has ceased to be worn by this time.
Above: The 
Above: The ‘Hodenberg’ Regiment of Horse was dressed largely the same as all other Hanoverian regiments of horse, except that the facing-colour was scarlet and the ‘metal’ colour (buttons and hat-lace) was white.
Above: As previously discussed, the weak two-squadron organisation of Hanoverian regiments of horse (as with those of Hesse-Cassel and most British cavalry regiments of the period) mean that a regiment consists of only six figures and I brigade two such regiments together to make a ‘game’ unit, as shown here.
Above: Hanoverian cavalry carried one square standard per squadron; the 1st Squadron in each regiment carried a white Leib standard, while other squadrons carried coloured regimental standards. Having two standards in a six-figure regiment would look rather ostentatious, so I only give them one standard and usually use a coloured regimental standard, as the white Leib standards look rather boring.
Above: This regiment was raised in 1745, being initially known officially and uniquely as ‘The Fusilier Battalion’ rather than by the name of its inhaber. However, by the start of the Seven Years War, it was routinely referred to as the 
Above: The ‘Halberstadt/Fersen/Ahlefeldt’ Regiment wore the usual British/Hanoverian style of red coat, with lapels, cuffs and tail-turnbacks in a medium blue shade. Waistcoats were a matching shade of medium blue and breeches were dark straw. At the start of the Seven Years War, Hanoverian infantry coats were heavily laced much in the British style, with lots of lace edging around lapels, cuffs and pockets, as well as lots of lace buttonholes. However, in 1759 this was simplified to the style shown here, with seven lace buttonholes on each lapel, two buttonholes beneath each lapel, two buttonholes above each cuff and two buttonholes on each tail-pocket. The colour of the lace matched the button colour, which in this case was white (silver for officers).
Above: The ‘Halberstadt/Fersen/Ahlefeldt’ Regiment. Other uniform details included white gaiters, secured by a buff leather garter (the Hanoverians don’t seem to have used darker colours as campaign dress), buff belts, yellow officers’ sashes, button-coloured hat-lace and small red-over-medium blue pompoms on the corners of the hat and above the black cockade/
Above: The ‘Halberstadt/Fersen/Ahlefeldt’ Regiment. In contrast to the elaborately-laced, reversed-colour coats worn by Hanoverian cavalry musicians, Hanoverian infantry drummers wore much the same uniform as worn by the rank-and-file, though with the addition of facing-coloured shoulder-wings and lace chevrons down the sleeves.
I decided to do something a bit different with this post. I’ve been to many, many museums over the years and have walked many battlefields. I even used to run battlefield tours to Normandy for cadets and regular military personnel. However, I’ve never posted any of them on this blog. A recent conversation with Willz of this parish, regarding his wonderful model forts for his forthcoming 1762 Siege of Havana game, led me to think of the very similar forts and batteries utilised by the defending Spanish forces during 
Even those brave souls who venture away from the beaches might still be completely unaware of the fascinating military history of the island and the truly excellent little 
This little gem of a museum is housed within the 19th Century Almeyda Fort and is completely free to visit. The museum is normally open from 0900hrs to 1500hrs, except on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, when the hours are shortened to 1000hrs to 1400hrs. It’s closed on Mondays. There’s free parking and an excellent restaurant on site and it’s only a relatively short walk from the centre of Santa Cruz. We always tend to park in the underground car park at the Plaza de España and walk to the museum while the girls go and do something ‘more interesting’.
Above: The harbour of Santa Cruz (aka Santa Cruz de Tenerife, to avoid confusion with many other cities and towns of the same name), photographed in 1890, shortly after construction of the Almeyda Fort was completed in 1884 (and which can be seen just to the right of the bay). Tenerife was always a major hub of Spanish transatlantic trade and a major sugar-producer in its own right, having been attacked numerous times by the English/British Royal Navy, starting with Sir Francis Drake (El Draco) in 1586, who notably attacked the fortified sugar-plantation manor at Adeje, near the southern tip of the island. El Draco‘s landing site is still called the Baranco del Inglés (Ravine of the English) and is reasonably well known to tourists as the spot where paragliders land their terrified passengers on the beach.
The Battle of 
Above: Anyway, back to the museum… Here’s a close-up of the previous photograph, showing the freshly-completed Almeyda Fort in more detail. The fort consisted of a main half-moon (‘D’-shaped) casemated battery, surrounded by half-octagonal outer works, surrounded in turn by a ditch and earthen glacis (on the near slope of the glacis can be seen the zig-zag remains of 18th Century infantry breastworks and the Santa Isabel Battery). These outer works mostly consisted as infantry positions, though included another casemated battery facing the sea. However, artillery technology had progressed rapidly during the thirty years it took to build the fort and when completed in 1884, Almeyda Fort was already obsolete!
Above: This photo from 1908 shows that Fort Almeyda had been heavily modified in the intervening 18 years to make it more useful in the modern era. As can be seen, the earth glacis had been removed from the northern side of the fort (i.e. the side facing the camera), with the spoil then then used to fill the ditch on the seaward side, thereby making a far thicker glacis that would hopefully capable of stopping modern naval artillery shells. This new glacis therefore buried the embrasures of the seaward battery and a new battery, consisting of modern breech-loading guns in open positions, was therefore established on top of the former casemated battery.
Above: My Beautiful Assistant Ian here for scale, in front of the original half-moon inner works of the Almeyda Fort, which now forms the core of the museum.
Above: This photo is taken from much the same angle as the old photos, showing the former casemated battery on the left. The open-topped gun-positions on top of the casemates were at some point enclosed within four concrete casemates, as can be seen here and in the aerial view at the top of the article.
Above: The old, curving casemates of the main fort hold a magnificent collection of artefacts and models, arrayed on two floors, as well as numerous other side-rooms, the central ‘cloister’, the outer courtyards and the old outer-works and outbuildings. It’s a lot to pack in to just four hours!
Above: The museum houses a magnificent model of Nelson’s attack, showing Santa Cruz exactly as it was in 1797, complete with all the fortifications. Here, Nelson’s fleet bombards the shoreline, but things have clearly already gone horribly wrong ashore!
Above: The southern suburb of Santa Cruz. The dark-coloured line marks the position of infantry breastworks. The small redoubt at the point of the breastworks on the left is the San Telmo Battery. Further to the left and out of shot, is the the small rectangular San Francisco Battery (part of which can still be seen in a ruined state today, next to the modern opera house) and the magnificent 17th Century Castillo de San Juan Bautista (aka Castillo Negro or ‘The Black Castle’). The large building with the tall black and white tower is the convent of La Consolación (now known as the church of La Concepción), where 350 British troops and sailors managed to hold out until the surrender.
Above: Moving further along the coast, we see the large, rectangular La Concepción Battery, which is attached to the front of the massive, fortified Customs House (Casa de la Aduana). The yellow-painted building to the left is the Artillery Headquarters, which was also fortified and defended by Spanish troops. Near the top of the picture, to the left of the ravine, is the black tower of the convent of Santo Domingo, which represented the high-water mark of British penetration into the town.
Above: Right in the centre of the waterfront is the principle fortification defending Santa Cruz, the Castillo San Cristobál and the new dock, tipped with a half-moon battery. The wall projecting at 45 degrees from the right-hand bastion of the fort is where El Tigre was positioned, being sited to enfilade the beach. The fort was demolished at the start of the 20th Century and most of it is now an underground car-park, topped with a large public square called the Plaza de España. However, the two seaward bastions were excavated and revealed about 20 years ago; as mentioned above, you can go underground to see them, along with the gun El Tigre and a very nice exhibition about the Battle of 1797.
Above: North of the Castillo San Cristobál is a beautiful ornamental gateway (which is still in situ), which leads on to an avenue of trees and the rectangular Rosario Battery. A little way inland, with the large square in front and botanic gardens behind, is the convent of San Francisco, which also acted as a defensive strongpoint.
Above: Further still along the beach is the half-moon San Pedro Battery, which was a far more considerable fortification than most of the batteries.
Above: Defending the northern exit from the beach are two more batteries; the Santa Isabel Battery on the left and the San Antonio Battery on the right. The Almeyda Fort was built immediately behind the Santa Isabel Battery. There’s another very small battery, the El Pilar Battery at the apex of the upper breastwork, just in front of the small, isolated house. At the extreme right of the photo is a complex of infantry positions covering the flank, which extend inland, along a ravine from the round tower of Castillo de San Andrés, which guards the mouth of the ravine (and which still exists in a ruined state).
Above: The southern portion of an 18th Century map of the defences.
Above: The central portion of the map; note that the dock had not yet been built and there are a few batteries missing, so this probably dates back to the early 18th Century (possibly the time of Jenkins’ attack of 1706).
Above: The northern position of the map, showing the Castillo de Paso Alto, defending the northern end of the line.
Above: A model of the Castillo San Cristobál and the new dock.
Above: An architect’s plan of the Castillo San Cristobál before the dock was built.
Above: An architect’s drawing of the Castillo San Cristobál, including the new dock.
Above: A model of the San Pedro Battery.
Above: An architect’s drawing of the San Pedro Battery.
Above: A model of the Castillo de Paso Alto.
Above: A model of the La Concepción Battery. This was typical of most of the battery positions; a simple, rectangular structure with a few administrative and accommodation buildings and low defensive walls facing the sea and flanks, but lacking defences on the landward side.
Above: An architect’s drawing of the San Miguel Battery – another rather formidable structure.
Above: A model of the convent of Santo Domingo. This was the high-water mark of the British assault in 1797. The dark brown pinewood balconies, doors and window-frames, with whitewashed walls and dark volcanic masonry are absolutely typical of old Tenerifean architecture.
Above: Another painting of the Battle of 1797, showing the British assaulting the dock and Castillo San Cristobál.
Above: Spanish gunners fire from one of the northern forts, with the Castillo San Cristobál in the distance. San Pedro? Unfortunately, I didn’t take a close-up photo of the information plate.
Above: The Ordenanza (‘King’s Colour’ equivalent) of the Guía de Isora Militia Regiment. The arms are from the first half of the 18th Century and the reigns of Phillip V (1700 to 1746) or Ferdinand VI (1746 to 1759).
Above: A portrait of Lieutenant General Antonio Gutiérrez de Otero y Santayana, defender of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. He’s wearing the uniform of the ‘Africa’ Infantry Regiment (6th in order of seniority among Spanish line infantry regiments), indicated by the black lapels and cuffs, while collar with black piping and yellow metal. This portrait dates from the 1790s and was probably painted from life.
Above: There is also this modern portrait of Gutiérrez, though I’ve no idea whose uniform he is wearing. Perhaps one of the local militia regiments, or merely an artistic fancy? Gutiérrez is also listed as being commissioned into the ‘Del Rey’ (1st) Infantry Regiment, but they had purple facings, not light blue. The red waistcoat also seems unlikely. However, he is shown wearing the Order of Alcántara, which was awarded for his bravery at Santa Cruz. There are sadly some other fanciful modern paintings showing fantasy uniforms for both Spanish and British, which aren’t worth showing here.
Above: A captured jack from HMS Emerald, which had been used by one of the landing-parties as a colour. HMS Emerald was a 36-gun frigate of the Amazon Class and 90 of her Marines and crew, including Captain Thomas Troubridge fought ashore, with 17 being killed. Note the rather rough, non-standard design of this jack. Perhaps knocked up at last minute, specifically to act as a rallying-point for troops ashore?
Above: Another jack, similarly captured from one of the landing parties, or possibly recovered from the sunken HMS Fox. This jack is of far better quality and of the standard pattern.
Above: A modern reconstruction of the uniform of the Santa Cruz Militia Regiment.
Above: An 18th Century Sencilla, attributed to the regular ‘Canarias’ Infantry Battalion. However, as there are none of the usual corner-medallions showing the regimental crest, it could honestly belong to any regiment.
Above: An 18th Century Ordenanza of the La Laguna Militia Regiment. Note the corner-medallions showing the regimental crest of the El Teide volcano. This style, incorporating the Ragged Cross of Burgundy normally seen on the Sencilla, was carried in the mid-18th Century, being typical for Spanish regiments of the Seven Years War and the early part of King Carlos III’s reign. However, it’s not inconceivable that this type was still being carried by militia units in 1797.
Above: An 18th Century Ordenanza of an unknown regiment. The arms are from the first half of the 18th Century; from the reigns of Phillip V or Ferdinand VI.
Above: Another unidentified Ordenanza. I think these are probably from the reign of Carlos IV (1788 to 1808) or Ferdinand VII (1808 to 1833).
Above: And yet another unidentified Ordenanza from the first half of the 18th Century and the reigns of Phillip V or Ferdinand VI.
Above: The sinking of the cutter, HMS Fox.
Above: The surrendered British forces parade on the Plaza de la Candelaria and march past Castillo San Cristobál, back to their boats. 
Above: A model of the same scene. The memorial at the bottom of the square is still there, though the cross was removed during the early 20th Century.
Above: The muzzle of a Spanish gun with a very distinct direct hit from a Royal Navy roundshot.
Above: These are the casemates that were already obsolete when Fort Almeyda was finished in 1884. They were then buried between 1890 and 1908, in order to provide a thick earthen glacis to protect the modern breech-loading battery on the roof. These casemates have apparently been massively upgraded since our last visit and are now filled with artefacts and exhibitions.
Above: A cuirass which once belonged to the French 3rd Provisional Heavy Cavalry Regiment (formed from elements of the 5th, 9th, 10th, 11th & 12th Regiments of Cuirassiers). However, the regiment was destroyed on 21st January 1810 at the 
Above: Part of the museum’s magnificent smallarms collection.
Above: It was somewhat refreshing to be positively encouraged by the supervising staff to pick the weapons up and play with them!
Above: The uniform of the Colonel of the ‘Princesa’ Hussar Regiment, circa 1833.
Above: The museum houses an amazing collection of model artillery and artillery-vehicles that was donated from a private collection sometime around 2010.
Above: Who doesn’t love a collection of models…?
Above: As well as the collection of artillery models, the museum also acquired a massive collection of incredible naval models and other artefacts from a former maritime museum in Puerto de la Cruz.
Above: Another ship. This one’s got a red hull… That’s the limit of my naval knowledge…
Above: More ships… This one has a hell of a lot of guns. Santissima Trinidad, perhaps? The collection also includes smaller models of all the British ships engaged in the battle of 1797.
Above: There’s also a very nice gallery devoted to the Spanish Army’s engagements in North Africa, about which I know even less than I do about naval warfare…
Above: A Spanish Civil War flag from 1936, belonging to the Battalion of Patriot Volunteers of Las Palmas.
Above: Another Spanish Civil War flag, this one being from 1937 and belonging to the ‘Death Battalion’. Contrary to first impressions, this was actually an anti-fascist unit of Italian anarchist volunteers fighting for the Republic.
Above: Mortars, various.
Above: The very attractive cloistered inner courtyard of the main fort.
Above: My Beautiful Assistant Ian models this massive 16th Century gun; one of the museum’s oldest artillery pieces. This gun, named Hercules, saw action in all three assaults on Santa Cruz. Note the mirror above, to enable the inscriptions on the top of the barrel to be easily seen by visitors. The cloister has many other guns, including on my last visit, a German 7.5cm PaK 40, which isn’t in these photos.
Above: The oldest piece in the museum is this mediaeval breech-loader.
Above: A Skoda M1914 100mm Field Howitzer. 
Above: A Deport 75mm Field Gun.
Above: A Maxim-Nordenfelt 57mm Quick-Firing Gun.
Above: A Vickers 75mm Anti-Aircraft Gun.
Above: The legendary 8.8cm FlaK 18 anti-aircraft gun.
Above: A Vickers 5.5-inch Coastal Gun. 
Above: The Vickers 5.5-inch Coastal Gun viewed from the rear.
Above: The Cañón de Montaña de 75/22 M1941 75mm Mountain Gun.
Above: The Cañón Contracarro de 60/50 M1954 60mm anti-tank gun. For a post-WW2 anti-tank gun designed in the era of the British Centurion, US M26 Pershing and Soviet IS-3, this was a very anaemic design. It was apparently capable of penetrating 129mm of armour at 1,000yds, which (assuming that’s at an angle of 0 degrees) is actually inferior to the British 6pdr of WW2.
Above: Naval Reinosa Obús de Campaña de 105/26 M1950 105mm field howitzer.
Above: Vickers Obús de Campaña de 105 105mm field howitzer. This interesting weapon was built under licence by Naval Reinosa and in the original M1922 105/22 version, was widely used by both sides during the Spanish Civil War. However, this is the 1950s upgraded version with a longer barrel and the original wooden wheels replaced by pneumatic wheels for motorised transport. All versions used carriages originally designed for the British 18pdr and 25pdr. I’m not sure what the designation was for this version.
Above: An Oerlikon 20/70 20mm anti-aircraft gun.
Above: An Oerlikon 20/120 Twin-Mount 20mm Anti-Aircraft Gun.
Above: An Oerlikon 20/120 20mm Anti-Aircraft Gun.
Above: An M55 Quadruple Browning .50-Calibre Anti-Aircraft Gun. This is the US M45, but the Spanish had a slightly different mount and called it the M55.
Above: A Spanish Army wagon from the Spanish Civil War. This has since been beautifully restored and along with the helicopters and other vehicles outside, is under a canopy to protect it from the elements.
Above: A two-wheeled wagon from the Spanish Civil War, seen here in mid-restoration.
Above: A 1970s-vintage US M813 truck, again modelled by my Beautiful Assistant.
Above: More Cold War US kit; an M110 203mm Self-Propelled Howitzer. 
Above: Here’s a lovely example of a home-grown Spanish AFV of the Cold War, the VEC (Vehiculo de Exploracion de Caballeria). This vehicle first appeared in the mid-1980s and became the cutting edge of the Spanish Army’s Light Armoured Cavalry Squadrons, replacing the venerable M41 Walker Bulldog light tank and Panhard AML-90 armoured car. While not based on the same chassis, it shares many mechanical components with the Spanish Army’s BMR series of wheeled AFVs. The first 30 of 340 vehicles were armed with Rheinmetall 20mm cannon and the remainder were meant to be fitted with an Oerlikon 25mm chain-gun, though this was changed at last-minute to the US M242 25mm Bushmaster. The last 100 vehicles were fitted with the turrets and 90mm guns from retired AML-90s, being known as the VEC-H90. In addition to the vehicle crew, the VEC also carries two dismountable scouts. This example was lacking its main armament when I took these photos, but has since been fully restored.
Above: Another uniquely Spanish piece of Cold War kit; the Teruel is a multiple-launch rocket artillery system based on a Pegaso truck chassis and carrying 40x 140mm rockets. The Spanish Army only operated a single battalion of these.
Above: The ubiquitous Bell H-13 Sioux.
Above: The Bell UH-1H Iroquis or ‘Huey’. The H model was a stretched version of the classic UH-1B and 60 of them served with the Spanish Army for 52 years from 1971 to 2019.
Above: The M41 Walker Bulldog light tank. These were delivered to Spain from the USA during the 1950s & 60s and equipped the Spanish Army’s armoured cavalry regiments, before finally being replaced in the late 1980s, as mentioned above, by the VEC.
The 18th Century arms-race continues this week, with yet more reinforcements for the Army of Louis XV. You can never have enough French infantry, so here are another eight battalions; four battalions apiece from the 
Above: The 
Above: The Du Roi Regiment was one of the larger infantry regiments in the army, being consistently organised throughout its existence as four battalions. 
Above: The Du Roi Regiment was dressed in the usual off-white, unbleached wool coat (often interpreted as ‘grey’), though was slightly more colourful than most regiments, with blue cuffs, tail-turnbacks, waistcoat and breeches. The exact shade of blue is a matter of some uncertainty, being depicted as everything from ‘French’ or ‘Royal’ blue to light sky-blue. I’ve opted for the medium ‘Turquin’ blue shown in most artistic depictions. 
Above: The Colonel’s Flag of the Du Roi Regiment had the usual white cross on a white field, but the arms of the cross were decorated with fleurs-de-lys and in 1753 had the motto ‘PAR DECORI VIRTUS’ added to the arms of the cross. The ordonnance flags had the same decoration, though with alternating red and green cantons (green uppermost at the hoist). 
Above: The Du Roi Regiment, somewhat unsurprisingly, dressed its drummers in the King’s Livery of blue with red cuffs and smallclothes and lace of mixed silver and crimson.
Above: The 
Above: The Grenadiers de France were organised into four ‘brigades’. These brigades were battalion equivalents, each comprising 12 companies and numbering some 720 men of all ranks when at full strength (which like almost all French units, was rarely, if ever achieved). 
Above: Sources disagree as to whether the Grenadiers de France had whitened belts or if they were just left in their natural colour. I went with natural leather, but should probably have gone with white, as that seems to be the colour shown in most artistic depictions. The cartridge pouch is always shown as natural leather. One thing to note is that the waist-belt for the sword (which for the rank-and-file was of the curved grenadier pattern) was apparently worn over the coat by the rank-and-file and under the coat by NCOs and officers.
Above: The Grenadiers de France as mentioned above, did not have a single Colonel, so there was no Colonel’s flag (some speculative designs are seen in sources and wargames flag-sheets, though these are apparently incorrect). Each brigade therefore carried Ordonnance flags of the same pattern. These had the usual white cross, emblazoned with the Arms of France, with cantons of alternating dark blue and white. Most sources show the dark blue canton uppermost at the hoist, though Kronoskaf disagrees and has it the other way around. The blue cantons were each decorated with 18 fleurs-de-lys, arranged in four rows (5-4-5-4) and the white cantons were each decorated with 18 blue grenades with red flames.