As mentioned in recent posts, I’ve been steadily working toward completing the Reichsarmee and last week I finally had enough finished to field all the Reichsarmee units present at the Combat of Strehla. For the Prussians I managed to do the first few units of Kleist’s Freikorps, including Kleist himself and for the Austrians I refurbished a few units, sprucing up their bases for the game. As I was on a roll, I also spruced up around thirty pieces of earthworks (breastworks, flêches, redoubts and batteries) that had lain unloved in a box since they were ripped off the terrain-boards for W.A.S.P.‘s Bautzen 1813 demo-game over 25 years ago!
So with the troops and terrain-pieces ready to go, we convened last weekend at the Carmarthen Old Guard‘s monthly Big Game Saturday. I detailed the historical background and scenario for Strehla last month, so I won’t repeat myself here. Follow the link if you haven’t already seen it. As usual, the rules to be used were Tricorn, being my SYW adaptation of Shako Napoleonic rules.
We were sadly a man down on the day, leaving only three players. I had hoped to lead my beloved Reichsarmee to a glorious victory, but instead took the Prussians, while Andy and Kirk took the Reichsarmee. Bah.
Having initially set up the troops in their ‘map’ positions (as shown in the first few photos below), each side made some minor adjustments to their deployment, as permitted in the scenario. The map after redeployment looked like this (below):
Above: The battlefield as seen from the south (the same orientation as the map above). Although it’s not that obvious in the photos, the first contour of the larger hills is actually formed by a layer of polystyrene placed under the terrain-cloth. The second contours of the Dürren-Berg and Otten-Berg were then placed on top of the cloth. I decided to leave off the very small ring-contours of the Liebschützer-Berg, Sittel-Berg and Latten-Berg.
I’ve also just noticed that the hamlet of Zausswitz (represented by the large house in front of the main Reichsarmee corps) is in the wrong position; it should be further out to the west, due south of Sahlassen. Ah well, it didn’t make any difference to the game.
Above: The view from the western edge of the battlefield, with the Austro-Imperial flanking columns in the foreground, aiming to assault the Prussian outpost on the Dürren-Berg.
Above: The view from the eastern edge of the battlefield. This flank of the battlefield was anchored on the wide River Elbe and the large riverside town of Strehla.
Above: Zedtwitz’s Austro-Imperial cavalry division forms the right flank of Zweibrücken’s Main Corps, comprising two Austrian and two Imperial cuirassier regiments. However, while this deployment made good sense during the approach-march, they’re now stuck facing Strehla and the entrenchments, with the Elbe blocking any attempt at a flanking move. The very first order transmitted by Zweibrücken during the game would be to order Zedwitz to move his cavalry to the centre.
Above: Zweibrücken’s Main Corps consists of seventeen Reichsarmee battalions and five Imperial auxiliary battalions. While they do look pretty, they are mostly bloody awful! Two batteries from the Reichsreserveartillerie have deployed in front of the army, but they are heavily out-gunned by Hülsen’s Prussians, who have 36 heavy guns (six batteries in game terms)!
Above: Another shameless view of my very pretty Reichsarmee. Zweibrücken and his staff observe the Prussian lines and wait for the flank-attack to start.
Above: On Zweibrücken’s left, Guasco’s Grenadier Corps has deployed onto the Otten-Berg feature and is meant to be launching an assault on Clanzschwitz and the Dürren-Berg beyond. However, he has deployed his guns and seems content to wait while the gunners do their work.
Above: The crest of the Otten-Berg was fortified during the previous century by Gustavus Adolphus’ Swedish Army. However, the old earthworks were not occupied by the Prussians and will play no part in this battle.
Above: Guasco’s Grenadier Corps includes a dazzling array of colours, including as it does, grenadier companies from 24 different regiments; most in bearskin caps, but some wearing Prussian-style mitre caps. Historically these were organised into six four-company ad hoc grenadier battalions, but as these were very weak, I’ve rationalised this into four battalions for game purposes; one Austrian and three Imperial. Guasco’s Corps also includes the Austrian Pallavicini (2 bns) and Sachsen-Gotha (1 bn) Infantry Regiments, the Imperial Hohenzollern Cuirassiers (with some attached Austrian elite Carabinier and Horse Grenadier companies) and a detachment from the Reichsreserveartillerie. However, it’s just occurred to me while looking at this photo that I completely forgot to deploy the battalion of the Sachsen-Gotha Regiment on the table! 🙂
Above: On the western edge of the battlefield, the Prince of Würzburg’s Reserve Infantry Division is deploying onto the Liebschützer-Berg feature, above the hamlet of Liebschütz. Würzburg has the Austrian Luzan and Macquire Regiments (1 bn apiece), another Austrian grenadier battalion and the Imperial Kurtrier (1 bn) and Pfalz-Zweibrücken (2 bns) Regiments. However Würzburg, like Guasco, has opted to halt his infantry while his gunners (limited to just a few battalion guns) soften up the Prussians on the Dürren-Berg.
Above: On Würzburg’s left, Kleefeld’s Auxiliary Corps is made of sterner stuff. Kleefeld had the Imperial Blau-Würzburg Regiment (2 bns), two Grenzer battalions and a weak grenadier battalion under his command. His mission is to circumvent the Dürren-Berg position via the Laas woods and attack the Prussians from the rear.
Above: On the extreme left flank, the Prince of Nassau-Usingen, Colonel of the Austrian Pfalz-Zweibrücken Chevauxléger Regiment, has been tasked with cutting off the Prussian lines of retreat. For this task he has his own regiment, reinforced by the Austrian Baranyay Hussars and the Pfalz Kurfürstin Dragoon Regiment.
Above: So to the Prussian side of the battlefield: At Strehla the southern end of the town is prepared for defence and occupied by the Wunsch Frei-Infanterie. The Manstein Grenadier Battalion meanwhile, has occupied the hamlet of Klein-Rügeln, supported by battalion guns. The Wunsch Frei-Infanterie Jäger Detachment, the Prussian Feldjäger-zu-Fuss and elements of the ex-Saxon Hauss Fusiliers are deployed as picquets along the stream-bank.
Above: The bulk of Hülsen’s Prussians (9 battalions) are dug in behind a strong line of entrenchments on the high ground just to the west of Strehla. This position was built by Prince Henry’s of Prussia’s corps during the previous year’s campaign.
Above: The main Prussian position is very strong in heavy artillery and will be a very tough nut for the Imperial troops to crack.
Above: Another view of the Prussian entrenchments. I must say that I’m really pleased with how the refurbished entrenchment models look! 🙂
Above: The Prussian regular cavalry forms up to the west of the earthworks. This consists of the Kleist (or ‘Green’) Hussars (HR 1) and the Schorlemmer (or ‘Porcellain’) Dragoons (DR 6). Both regiments had ten squadrons apiece, so were very large and are represented by two tactical battalions (only two Prussian dragoon regiments had ten squadrons; most had five squadrons). Dragoon squadrons were around one-third stronger than hussar squadrons, so the dragoon battalions are large 16-figure units. However, I don’t yet have one of the two large dragoon regiments painted, so I’ve used two different regiments to represent the Schorlemmer Dragoons.
Above: To the rear of the regular cavalry regiments are two embryonic regiments of Kleist’s new Freikorps; the Dragoons in green coats and bearskin caps and the Hussars, in their nausea-inducing uniform of orange-red and vomit-green. These are the two most recently-raised units in the army and are the most recently-painted units on the table… They’re doomed…
Above: Out on the far Prussian right flank, Generalmajor von Braun has reinforced his detachment atop the ancient hill-fort of the Dürren-Berg with several battalions and a detachment of 12pdr heavy artillery, in response to the detected Imperial flank-march.
Above: In front of the Dürren-Berg, the hamlet of Clanzschwitz has been occupied by the Lossow Grenadier Battalion (IV. Standing Grenadier Battalion) and prepared for defence. On the high ground behind the village, the 12pdr battery, protected by the Lubath Grenadier Battalion (GB 7/30), is positioned to engage Guasco’s Imperial Grenadier Corps on the Otten-Berg.
Above: The view from the top of the Dürren-Berg. From right to left, the position is occupied by the two battalions of the Braunschweig-Bevern Infantry Regiment (IR 7), the Beyer Grenadier Battalion (GB 11/14) and the I. Battalion of the ex-Saxon Hauss Fusilier Regiment (IR 55). After this photo was taken, Braun pulled the 12pdr detachment up to the top of the hill (facing west) and placed the Lubath Grenadiers at right-angles on the right of the line, essentially forming three sides of a square. Braun was later to regret not pulling the Lossow Grenadiers in from Clanzschwitz…
The sharp-eyed will of course notice that the Hauss Fusiliers on the left are incorrectly wearing grenadier-pattern mitre caps. These were actually the very last SYW troops I painted prior to losing my SYW mojo in the late 90s. I needed two battalions of this regiment for a refight of the Battle of Kunersdorf back in the 1990s and painted them according to the Osprey book description of the ex-Saxon regiments wearing grenadier caps to mask the fact that they were rather unreliable… In fact they didn’t even wear the fusilier caps described by Duffy in his book and instead just wore ordinary hats. Ah, well… 🙂
Above: General von Hülsen and his staff wait for the enemy to make their next move. Observing nearby is the ever-present correspondent for the Times of London, Sir Aiden Catey, who has survived numerous cavalry charges, ‘accidental’ bounce-throughs and blatant assassination attempts over the years.
Above: In front of Sir Aiden, a Prussian field-postman accuses a cavalry Flügeladjutant of ‘looking at him in a funny way’.
While observing this amusing altercation, Sir Aiden completely forgot to take watercolour sketches of the opening moves of the battle…
Above: In the meantime, most of the Austro-Imperial commanders on the left wing had opened their packets of orders, turned to their aides and said “Ficken das für ein spiel auf soldaten!”
As described in the scenario, the flank-marching Austro-Imperial divisions are required to roll dice to execute their orders at the start of the scenario. Otherwise they simply sit and engage in an artillery-duel (as per the historical events) until new orders are received from the C-in-C and acted upon. Somewhat remarkably, the dice-rolling exactly mirrors the historical events! Guasco and Würzburg fail to enact their orders, leaving Kleefeld to carry on alone. The cavalry on the left flank executes its orders after a delay.
Above: As Kleefeld’s Grenzer begin to make a nuisance of themselves on the north side of the Dürren-Berg position, the 12pdr battery (in the foreground) opens up on the Hungarian Nikolaus Esterházy Regiment (IR 33). The Austrian battalion gunners return fire, cutting down some of the Prussian gunners, but the Prussians slew their heavy guns around and load canister, quickly annihilating the impertinent Austrian guns.
It’s probably worth mentioning at this point that we had a power-cut for about 20 minutes, so this photo and the next three are a bit gloomy!
Above: On the other side of the Laas Wood, the Prince of Nassau-Usingen leads the Austro-Imperial cavalry forward against the Kleist Freikorps. He orders the Baranyay Hussars to fall back to the second line and the red-coated Imperial Kurfürstin Dragoons (another freshly-painted regiment!) to take their place on the left flank.
Above: Kleist meanwhile, has turned his regular cavalry around and they are now riding to assist the Freikorps. However, the enemy cavalry will get there first!
Above: Nassau-Usingen wastes no time in launching his charge! His own regiment, the blue-coated Zweibrücken Chevauxlégers (ChR 39) charge the green-coated Kleist Freikorps Dragoons with the Baranyay Hussars in support. The Kurfürstin Dragoons meanwhile, hit the Kleist Freikorps Hussars.
Above: Despite having a slight advantage, the initial clash goes badly for the Austro-Imperial cavalry and both leading regiments are beaten off, though with only light casualties. Sensing victory, the Kleist Freikorps follow through, launching a charge on the Baranyay Hussars. However, the Hungarian horsemen prove to be made of stronger stuff and having been unfazed by their retreating comrades, succeed in beating off the impetuous Freikorps cavalry, who fall back over the stream. However, with large numbers of Prussian cavalry bearing down on them, the Baranyay Hussars wisely decide to fall back to rally near Laas, where their comrades will (hopefully) be rallying.
Above: However, disaster strikes as both Austro-Imperial dragoon regiments fail to rally from their retreat and suddenly discover that they have urgent business to attend to in the rear! Despite the loss of over two thirds of his command, Nassau-Usingen manages to keep control of the Baranyay Hussars who despite the appalling odds, prepare to charge again. On the Prussian side the Kleist Freikorps Dragoons managed to rally, but the hussars (being the most recently-painted) headed for the hills.
Above: At Liebschützen meanwhile, new orders arrive for the Prince of Würzburg. Zweibrücken is this time taking no chances and has sent both of his ADCs!
Above: Honour (and the rules…) demands that Nassau-Usingen has no choice but to comply with his orders and therefore leads the Baranyay Hussars once more into the fight. They are met by the Prussian Kleist Hussars who, despite some sniping from Grenzer in the woods, manage to comprehensively defeat the gallant Hungarians.
Above: This time Nassau-Usingen is unable to prevent a rout and his entire command quits the field.
Above: Despite the success of Kleist’s cavalry, the situation for Braun’s infantry atop the Dürren-Berg is deteriorating. On the edge of the woods, the Lubath Grenadiers are getting the worst of a firefight with the 1st Battalion of the Imperial Blau-Würzburg Regiment and Kleefeld’s grenadier battalion (formed from the grenadier companies of Blau-Würzburg and the Grenzer). Braun sent the Hauss Fusiliers across to reinforce the firefight, but they immediately suffered heavy casualties from the Grenzer, who also managed to finish off a section of Prussian battalion guns. With things starting to look dicey on the right flank, Braun orders the Beyer Grenadiers on the left flank to turn about and be prepared to stabilise the situation on the right.
Above: Würzburg’s Reserve Infantry Division finally advances past the Hungarian Nikolaus Esterházy (on the left). The Prussian 12pdrs on the Dürren-Berg have inflicted massive casualties on the Hungarians and have knocked out another Imperial battalion gun section, but the Prussian 12pdrs have finally been silenced by the combined fire of the 1st Banal Grenzer and the remaining Austrian battalion guns. The loss of the 12pdr battery is a massive blow to Braun.
Above: With the defeat of the Austro-Imperial cavalry, Kleist considers leading his cavalry in a wide ride around the woods, to overrun the Imperial left flank. However, this request is vetoed by Hülsen, who orders the incredulous Kleist to resume his defensive posture in the centre. While his hussars rally following their combat (all the while being sniped by Grenzer), the dragoons turn about to resume their former positions.
Above: The reason for Hülsen’s caution soon becomes apparent; Zedwitz’s Austro-Imperial cuirassier brigade have arrived in the centre, having marched from their former position on the right flank. To add to Kleist’s problems, the Schorlemmer Dragoons are reporting that they are suffering a constant trickle of casualties from the Imperial heavy guns at Zausswitz. However, the Imperial infantry are also getting a pasting from long-range Prussian heavy artillery fire.
Above: As Würzburg’s division advances, the jaws start to close on the Dürren-Berg.
Above: Even though the situation is turning in their favour, Kleefeld and Würzburg still need Guasco’s Grenadier Corps to join them in crushing the Prussian position. But where are they?!
Above: Guasco has spent all this time stationary on the Otten-Berg, observing the fall of shot as his artillery hammers the Prussian Lossow Grenadiers in Clanzschwitz. However, Guasco’s two right-hand grenadier battalions have been suffering heavy losses from long-range Prussian artillery fire. But as it happens, an ADC has just arrived at Guasco’s headquarters, demanding that the Grenadier Corps advance at once on the Dürren-Berg!
Above: It’s entirely possible that the battle for the Dürren-Berg may well be over long before Guasco’s grenadiers arrive! The Austrians are moving into position for a massive, coordinated charge, but for now seem content to trade volleys. However, they don’t have it all their own way, as the 1st Battalion of the Hungarian Nikolaus Esterházy Regiment is broken by fire from the 1st Battalion of the Braunschweig-Bevern Regiment.
Above: At Clanzschwitz, the Lubath Grenadiers, having suffered heavy losses from Guasco’s artillery, make a break for it and attempt to march to Braun’s aid. However, Würzburg spots the move and sends his grenadiers and remaining battalion guns to interdict their march.
Above: At long last, Guasco’s division starts to move forward. Having driven the Prussian grenadiers out of Clanzschwitz, Guasco’s artillery switches its fire to the Dürren-Berg.
Above: The situation for Braun’s Prussians on the Dürren-Berg is grim. On the right flank, the ex-Saxon Hauss Fusiliers, under intense pressure from the Grenzer in the woods, perhaps unsurprisingly, break and run. Rather more alarmingly, the 2nd Battalion of the Braunschweig-Bevern Regiment, ordinarily a good, solid unit, were holding their own against the Austrian Macquire Regiment to their front despite losses caused by ‘overs’ from the earlier artillery duel. However, the sudden storm of shot from Guasco’s artillery finally breaks them. The Beyer Grenadiers wheel into line on the left flank to hold the line, but the sudden loss of two battalions (on top of the previous loss of two artillery units) demoralises Braun’s command.
[Note the Stagger/Disorder marker next to Braun’s figure. In game terms, Demoralisation of a command means that a -1 modifier is applied to all morale, formation morale and melee rolls and any retreating unit will immediately flee the field.]
Above: Another view of Die Kleine Rund-Spitze. In the background, Kleist’s cavalry are returning to their original positions, but are being battered by Imperial heavy guns and Grenzer. But where is the Imperial cavalry threat…?
Above: Kleist curses foully in Low German, as it soon becomes apparent that the enemy cuirassiers are content to sit and wait for the artillery and Grenzer to soften up the Prussian cavalry!
If you’re interested, the two leading regiments are the Austrian De Ville (red flag) and Bretlach Cuirassiers, while the second line is formed by the Franconian Bayreuth Cuirassiers (red flag) and Kurpfalz Cuirassiers (white flag).
Above: As expected, the main Prussian position remains completely un-engaged. It would be suicide for a good army to mount a frontal assault on these earthworks, let alone a poor-quality one like the Reichsarmee! The Prussian heavy guns have done some damage to the Imperial lines, but nowhere near enough. In the meantime, the Manstein Grenadiers, garrisoning the outlying fortified village of Klein-Rügeln, have been taking a pasting from Imperial guns.
Above: At last the Imperial infantry begin to move. The Imperial Right Wing has formed columns to the right (indicated by the MDF arrows) and is marching off to the flank, over the Reussen-Berg. Although they’ve attracted a lot of long-range gunnery, only one unit, the 4th Battalion of the Kurmainz Regiment, has been broken by the artillery and casualties are otherwise light.
Above: Two excellent units lead the columns; the Hessen-Darmstädt Regiment (single-battalion regiment with Swiss-style flag) leads the 1st Line, the remained of which is formed by theKurmainz Regiment. The 2nd Battalion of the Pfalz Garde-Regiment zu Fuss (blue flag) leads the 2nd Line, followed by the two battalions of the Pfalz Effern Regiment and two single-battalion Köln regiments; Nothaft (Leib) and Wildenstein.
Above: The Imperial Left Wing remains stationary for the time being. The 1st Line is formed from the three battalions of the Kurbayern Regiment (nearest the camera), then the 1st Battalion of the Swabian Alt-Württemberg Regiment and the two battalions of the Rot-Würzburg Regiment. The 2nd Line is formed from two battalions each of the Swabian Rodt Regiment, the Swabian Baden-Baden Regiment and the Mainz Lamberg Regiment.
Above: Back at the Dürren-Berg, Würzburg and Kleefeld, increasingly frustrated at the dogged resistance shown by Braun’s Prussian infantry, order a general assault. On the left, the 1st Battalion of the Blau-Würzburg Regiment charge out of the woods, but are stopped dead at the wood’s edge by the fire of the Lubath Grenadiers. The pattern is repeated all along the line, as the surviving battalion of the Bevern Regiment halts the charge of the surviving Hungarian battalion and the Beyer Grenadiers throw back the Luzan Regiment. On the right of the Austrian line, the Macquire Regiment look certain to capture the last detachment of Prussian battalion guns, but they are frustrated by the Lossow Grenadiers, firing in support of the gunners.
Above: However, Prussian jubilation is short-lived, as the supporting Austrian battalion gunners soon destroy the Lossow Grenadiers with point-blank canister fire! The vengeful Macquire Regiment soon overruns the Prussian guns and wheels left to turn the Prussian flank. A battalion of the Imperial Pfalz-Zweibrücken Regiment reinforces this success. The rest of the Austro-Imperial line charges again without success, but with their flank turned, the Prussians are now doomed.
Above: With his position collapsing, Braun looks behind him, hoping to see salvation in the form of Kleist’s cavalry… However, Kleist has his own problems. His dragoons have suffered heavy losses from Imperial artillery fire while attempting to hold the centre, while his hussars have also suffered losses thanks to stray rounds bouncing through the dragoon lines and the ever-present Grenzer sniping from the woods. Kleist judges that Braun is doomed and that the army will now have to retreat. Hülsen will need Kleist’s cavalry to screen that retreat, so it would be folly to waste them now on a doomed charge.
With a heavy heart, Kleist orders his cavalry to cross the stream, away from the Dürren-Berg. As he rides away, he fancies that he hears Braun’s voice above the din of battle, calling him a coward…
Above: However, Kleist’s assessment is correct… The Austrian and imperial infantry charge for third time and once again receive withering fire from the Prussian defenders as they climb the slopes of the Dürren-Berg. The 1st Battalion of the Blau-Würzburg Regiment this time is completely broken by the fire of the Lubath Grenadiers and they are soon followed by the 2nd Battalion of the Nikolaus Esterházy Regiment, who have dashed themselves to pieces against the indomitable 1st Battalion of the Bevern Regiment! The Italians of the Austrian Luzan Regiment are halted once again by the Beyer Grenadiers.
Above: However, despite having destroyed the enemy to their front, the Lubath Grenadiers are surprised to find themselves suddenly attacked from the rear by the Macquire Regiment, who have charged over the crest of the Dürren-Berg! There is little quarter for the grenadiers as they are completely destroyed. The Beyer Grenadiers meanwhile, are charged in the flank by the Pfalz-Zweibrücken Regiment and are similarly annihilated. The Pfalz-Zweibrücken Regiment has the dubious honour of being judged the worst regiment in the Reichsarmee, but every dog has his day…
The 1st Battalion of the Braunschweig-Bevern Regiment meanwhile, has beaten off every assault and has barely suffered a scratch, but surrounded and alone, they are at last forced to surrender.
Above: With the Prussian cavalry retiring, the Grenzer keep on the pressure.
Above: “Weglaufen!” Thankfully for Kleist, ADCs arrive from Hülsen, telling him to do exactly what he’s already doing… Kleist ensures he gets his orders in writing and deposits them safely in his sabretache for future Courts-Martial…
Above: At last, the Imperial Left Wing, plus Zedtwitz’s cuirassiers, begin to advance past Zausswitz.
Above: The Imperial Right Wing continues its march out to the right flank. Zweibrücken has assessed that the town of Strehla is the weak-point in the Prussian line; it’s only lightly-defended and although fortified, doesn’t have anything like the concentration of artillery that the main line possesses.
Above: The Imperial artillery meanwhile, has massively reduced the defences of Klein-Rügeln (represented by the half-timbered house forward of the main Prussian line). The garrison, consisting of the Manstein Grenadiers are on the verge of breaking and their supporting battalion guns have been silenced.
Above: All that stands between the Imperial infantry and the town is a single battalion of the Wunsch Frei-Infanterie-Regiment and a few companies of Jäger. If they can take the town, the entire Prussian line will be severely compromised.
Above: However, with the fall of the Dürren-Berg, Hülsen has already accepted defeat and with Kleist’s cavalry largely still intact, his army should be able to disengage and withdraw unmolested to the next defensive position at Wittenberg.
Above: An overall view of the final situation. All-in-all a total balls-up by the Prussians… As is patently obvious, I should have been FAR more aggressive with Kleist’s cavalry and give them orders to attack on the right; either from the outset, or as soon as Hülsen could get an ADC to them, once the Austrian flanking cavalry had been defeated. Instead I allowed myself to be distracted by the Imperial cuirassier division, which to be honest, had no chance of making it through the storm of 12pdr shot that would have been heading their way, had they advanced!
As always, I end this game report in wondering if this really is the hobby for me…? 😉
My thanks to Andy and Kirk for making it such a great game!
I actually painted these a few months ago, over Christmas and New Year, in preparation for our January 
Above: HR 4 had a number of other unofficial nicknames, including Bählämmer (‘Bleating Lambs’), due to their distinctive white pelisse jackets. It must therefore have come as relief to later be referred to as Wölfe im Schafspelz (‘Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing’) or simply Wölfe (‘Wolves’) thanks to their impressive fighting reputation.
Above: The reason these are very large 24-figure units, as opposed to my usual 12 or 16 figures, is that most Prussian hussar regiments were very large, comprising ten squadrons apiece. Each hussar squadron started the war with around 115 men, though this number was increased during the war, varying by regiment. In 1759 the Puttkamer Hussars were recorded as having around 145 men per squadron. Most hussar squadrons were around the same strength, though the squadrons of HR 5 and HR 7 attached to Ferdinand of Brunswick’s Western Allied Army were around 25% stronger. Dragoon and cuirassier squadrons were routinely around 25% stronger than hussar squadrons. Tactically, these large regiments usually operated as two five-squadron battalions which would usually be grouped together, though could operate completely independently.
Above: The uniform of HR 4 consisted of a light blue dolman jacket, decorated with mixed light blue & white lace and braid and white metal buttons. Collar and cuffs were the same colour as the dolman. Sources disagree as to whether the barrel-sash was red & white or light blue & white. Breeches were buff and were worn with light blue charivari leggings edged with mixed light blue & white lace. The pelisse was white, edged with white fur and decorated with more mixed light blue & white braid and white metal buttons. Headgear was a plain black mirliton cap, dressed with white cords and a white tassel at the end of the ‘wing’. The sabretache was white, edged light blue and with the royal ‘FR’ cypher in light blue. The carbine cross-belt was white, while the sabre-scabbard and sabretache were suspended from red leather belts. The shabraque was white, edged with light blue vandycking.
Above: Officers of HR 4 had silver buttons and lace, as well as a silver lace ‘frame’ around the breast-braiding, silver edging to the ‘wing’ of the mirliton cap, silver cap-cords, a silver barrel-sash and silver edging to the vandycking on the shabraque. Officers also had a different pattern of sabretache, being light blue with a white or silver zig-zagged edge and a white shield bearing a black eagle, with a gold crown above. Officers also had a light blue rosette on the front of the mirliton and black fur edging to the shabraque. NCOs wore much the same uniform as the rank-and-file, though with the light blue rosette and mixed black & white cords on the mirliton and silver laced edging to the cuffs. Trumpeters had lace shoulder-wings and white lace edging to the ‘wing’ of the cap, as well as a white plume (Bleckwenn shows light blue threads mixed into the white plume).
Above: Like most other Prussian hussar regiments, HR 6 had ten squadrons and like HR 4 was recorded in 1759 as having around 145 men per squadron. I’ve therefore represented the regiment as 24 figures, grouped tactically into two 12-figure battalions.
Above: The uniform of HR 6 comprised a brown dolman with yellow collar, cuffs, lace and braid with brass buttons, brown charivari edged yellow and a brown pelisse with white fur edging, yellow braid and brass buttons. Breeches were buff. The headgear was a plain black mirliton cap with white cords and a white tassel at the end of the wing. Belts were same as those for HR 4. The sabretache was brown with yellow lace edging and the ‘FR’ cypher in yellow.
Above: Officers of HR 6 had gold lace and braid in lieu of yellow, including a scalloped gold lace ‘frame’ around the breast-braid. Cap-cords were gold and the ‘wing’ was edged and tasselled in gold. Barrel-sash was silver. The officers’ pattern sabretache was brown with yellow vandycking around the edge and a central white shield with black eagle and gold crown above. Another version shows gold wreaths instead of the yellow vandycking. NCOs had the same uniform as the rank-and-file, though with gold lace around the cuffs of the pelisse, mixed black & white cap-cords and a yellow rosette on the front of the cap. Trumpeters had mixed white & yellow lace and braid, lace shoulder-wings, gold cap-cords, gold lace edging to the ‘wing’ and a yellow plume with black threads mixed in.
Above: When Werner was promoted to Generalmajor in 1758, he adopted a tricorn hat decorated with a black cockade and edged with gold lace and white ostrich feathers. He also adopted a red shabraque with rounded corners, silver lace edging and silver ‘scalloping’. The whole ensemble is shown on the right.
Above: After painting HR 6, I vowed I would never paint another hussar… However, I have all the breaking-strain of wet tissue-paper and as mentioned above, I’ve been painting elements of Kleist’s Freikorps for tomorrow’s Strehla game, including Kleist himself and half of the Kleist Freikorps Hussar Regiment. I’ll cover these fellas in detail in a future article, but I couldn’t resist showing them off! 🙂 They were also sometimes known as the ‘Jung-Kleist’ Hussars, to avoid confusion with the regular ‘Kleist’ Hussar Regiment (HR 1), who also happened to have Kleist as their Chef!
Above: The Kleist Freikorps Hussars had possible the most GOPPING uniform of the Prussian Army, being a combination of orangey-red and yellow-green… They should certainly stand out on the table! Galloping alongside is ‘Green’ Kleist himself, who wears the two-tone green uniform of HR 1.
The Scenario
Terrain Notes
Deployment
Prussian Corps of Generallieutenant Johann Dietrich von Hülsen
Above: I profiled the 
Above: If you’re looking for a source of free SYW flags to print yourself, 
Above: Another Imperial auxiliary regiment to recently get a new flag is the II. Battalion of the Pfalz (i.e. the Palatinate) 
Above: This new flag comes from the superb range of uniform plates and flags designed by Frédéric Aubert of 
Above: And so to the new regiments, starting with the 
Above: After Rossbach, the Blau-Würzburg Regiment continued to serve with the Reichsarmee, consistently maintaining its reputation as a solid regiment when so many other regiments failed in their duties. In 1760 the Rot-Würzburg Regiment (along with Mainz-Lamberg) were also assigned to support the Reichsarmee and so both Würzburg regiments fought at the 
Above: The uniform of the Blau-Würzburg Regiment consisted of Austrian-style white coat and smallclothes, with dark blue lapels, cuffs, linings and shoulder-strap and no collar or lace. Buttons were white metal. Neck-stocks were red. Hats had white lace and pompoms and black cockades. Grenadiers wore bearskins with a blue bag, piped white. Officers had silver hat-lace and yellow sashes. Drummers had the same coat, though with dark blue swallows’-nests at the shoulders.
Above: I must confess that my second ‘new’ regiment, the 
Above: Saxony was very quickly knocked out of the war by Frederick’s invasion of 1756, with the Saxon Army being conscripted en masse into the Prussian Army. However, a number of regiments remained within Saxon-ruled Poland and the King of Saxony placed a number of these under Austrian command, namely the 
Above: On campaign the Carabiniersgarde typically wore a pale straw coller (also called a collet or ledercoller), being a tight-fitting buckskin coat with short tails, very much like the style of coat worn by Austrian and especially Prussian cuirassiers. A red waistcoat was worn beneath the coller. A black-enameled cuirass edged with red cloth, was worn over the coller, being secured at the back with white straps. The coller had red cuffs, pale straw shoulder-straps and a strip of red-white-red lace down the edge of both front-seams, which then continued around the edge of the otherwise pale straw turnbacks.
Following my recent flurry of Napoleonic units (namely the 
Above: I must confess that this first unit was painted quite a bit earlier than December! In June last year we were preparing to do our large refight of the 
Above: The subject of Austrian artillery uniform during the mis-18th Century is an insanely complicated subject, with sources being utterly at odds with each other, describing dark brown, light brown, grey, dark grey, ‘wolf grey’ and even white coats. The majority view however, now seems to be that the uniform was brown, being a much paler, greyish shade of brown than the darker, earth-brown shade used during the Napoleonic Wars and FAR paler than the dark coffee-brown shade used during the mid-19th Century. The shade was known as Rehrbraun or ‘Fawn Brown’. There is also some suggestion that the descriptor ‘Wolf Grey’ does actually mean a light, greyish-brown. I use Humbrol 29 Dark Earth, with quite a lot of white mixed in.
The cuffs were Feuer-rot or ‘Fire Red’, being a bright shade of red. There was no collar or lace, apart from the hat-lace, which was yellow. The shoulder-strap was fawn brown, buttons were yellow metal and the neck-stock was black. Gaiters were black and the powder-flask was suspended from a yellow-black cord worn over the left shoulder, the tassel of which often looked like a fringed epaulette on the shoulder. A triangular black primer-box with a brass plate was worn on the belly and on campaign could have a white linen cover.
Above: In January I realised that despite having painted all that artillery for the Leuthen game, I STILL didn’t have enough guns for our forthcoming Kolin refight! I therefore ordered some Austrian 3/6pdrs from Eureka and in a moment of fuckwittery, ordered some more Austrian gunners, despite still having a gigantic stash of Old Glory figures (in the meantime I’ve used my stash to provide crews for all my Reichsarmee and Schamburg-Lippe guns and I STILL have 17 figures left)! Ah well, the Eureka gunners are lovely figures.
Above: The Austrians always painted their gun-carriages a deep yellow-ochre shade that actually seems to have been more yellow than ochre. Ironwork was painted black. The standard Liechtenstein Pattern guns had polished brass barrels.
Above: My old Austrian army headquarters group was starting to show its age and most worryingly, the horses were starting to break at the ankles. I therefore needed to do a new staff group in time for the Kolin game. These fellas were therefore done at breakneck-speed on the day before the game. They’re all Eureka figures.
Above: Two staff officers discuss what type of biscuits to have in the Mess during Afternoon Tea. The troops at the back are the newly-painted Pfalz ‘Effern’ Regiment; I’ll cover them in detail in a future article.
Above: With the glue under the flock still drying, Feldmarschall Daun establishes his headquarters atop the Przerovsky Hill, during our Kolin refight. The cloaked general is an Old Glory 15s figure painted by me. The two hussar couriers are Old Glory 15s conversions painted many years ago by Gareth Beamish. The Austrian infantry are Lancashire Games figures, again painted by Gareth, with new flags by Fighting 15s, 
Above: For our Leuthen refight I needed a couple of Hungarian generals (Nádasdy and Forgách). I had some spare senior hussar officers/generals in my stash, which I think came out of the Old Glory 15s Austrian Generals pack back in the 90s, when they had 30 mounted figures per pack (nowadays you get nine figures in the pack and I think they’re a random selection from the original 30).
As I was on a roll with the reasonably obscure 
As briefly mentioned during my discussion of my 
Above: As was the case with their grand-dads during the Seven Years War, the artillery arm of the Swedish Army wore what was quite possibly the most boring uniform of the age…
Above: These are most definitely not the best models in the world, but they look the part with their distinctive Swedish round-hats, resplendent with yellow plumes and cockades! 🙂
Above: There is some disagreement regarding the colour of Swedish gun-carriages. during the 18th Century they had traditionally been painted light blue with yellow fittings (whether yellow metal or painted yellow is a matter of debate), though the fittings were painted black by the time of the Napoleonic Wars.
Above: As mentioned above, I decided to go rummaging through the AB figures Lead Dungeon for my General Stedingk. I wanted an officer in a cocked hat with a tall plume and decided to use a spare British officer figure.
I’m happier with his entourage, however. I used two 1806 Prussian cavalry figures; an officer of hussars wearing mirliton and an officer of dragoons.
It seems that the Mörner Hussar Regiment probably deployed to Germany wearing mirlitons, but then transitioned to shakos (or perhaps the mirlitons were retained for full dress?). Much the same thing happened in the infantry, with round-hats in many units apparently being replaced during the campaign by both French-style and Russian-style shakos.
Above: The third figure in the group is painted as an officer of the Skånska Carabinier Regiment. Nafziger and others list this regiment as being present in 1813 (though not at Leipzig), though other source suggest it may have been converted to hussars in 1807. To be honest, I lost the will to live by this point and given the general blue & yellow scheme, he could be an officer of the Swedish general staff (for whom I’ve never found any uniform information), so what the heck… 😉
With over 2,000 unpainted 
The new uniform was very modern in styling, being a dark green double-breasted jacket with short tails, pointed cuffs, plain shoulder-straps and closed collar, dark green long trousers, a shako with plume and cords, a curved steel sabre and scabbard suspended from a white waist-belt and white cross-belts worn over the left shoulder, supporting a black cartridge-pouch and carbine and dark green dragoon-style horse furniture with curved corners and no holster-covers. All regiments had white ‘metal’, a white full-dress plume, green cords, flounders and pompom and an orange and black cockade fixed with a white strap. Sources show both white and yellow metal chinscales. The pouch-plate and cross-belt buckles were brass.
Officers had silver buttons, shoulder-scales, crossbelt, cords, flounders, waist-sash and shabraque-cypher. They also had a black and orange base to the plume and a silver pompom with orange centre, bearing the imperial cypher in gold. As in the rest of the army from 1812 onward, officers were probably permitted to wear white camelhair sashes, cords, etc, in order to reduce personal cost. NCOs had silver lace edging to collar and cuffs, a quartered orange/white pompom and an orange tip to the plume. Trumpeters had extensive white lace decoration on the jacket, plus a red plume.
But which regiment to paint? During the Spring 1813 Campaign, George Nafziger mentions the ‘Lithuania Chasseur à Cheval Regiment’ serving in Lanskoi’s Hussar Division (Trubetzskoi’s Cavalry Reserve) at Lützen, being brigaded with three hussar regiments. At Bautzen the same regiment is listed with the same brigade (then commanded by Paradovsky) and the Tchernigov Regiment had also appeared as part of Pantschuild’s brigade (Prince Eugene of Württemberg’s Russian II Corps).
Given that the ‘Lithuania Regiment’ is listed by Nafziger as being the first to fight at Lützen and also fought at Bautzen, Katzbach and Leipzig, they would be the obvious choice for painting. However, the astute will by now have noticed that there was no Lithuania Mounted Jäger Regiment! Nafziger has clearly confused ‘Livonia’/’Livland’ with ‘Lithuania’. There was no Lithuania Dragoon Regiment, so there could not therefore have been a Lithuania Mounted Jäger Regiment. There was however a Lithuania Horse Regiment, who in 1807 became the Lithuania Uhlan Regiment, but the Lithuania Uhlans are listed elsewhere in 1813 and the Livonia Mounted Jäger Regiment is completely missing from the orders of battle.
First an apology for it being a bit quiet here this last month! I haven’t managed to do any wargaming since our 
Above: Smallwood’s Maryland Battalion was raised in January 1776 by Colonel William Smallwood as state troops. However, on 6th July of that year the regiment was attached to the Continental Army, where it was brigaded with Colonel Haslet’s Delaware Battalion. This began a long partnership between the two units, who became regarded as something of an elite corps. Both battalions were formally adopted into the Continental Army on 17th August 1776 and Smallwood’s Marylanders distinguished themselves only two weeks later during the Long Island Campaign, where they single-handedly mounted the rearguard against vastly superior numbers. However, the battalion was virtually wiped out in this heroic action and was reconstituted during September by absorbing various Maryland Independent Companies. The unit officially became the 1st Maryland Continental Regiment in January 1777.
Above: Although it seems rather incongruous to have an American Patriot dressed in red, Smallwood’s Marylanders definitely went to war in 1776 dressed in this manner; red coats with buff facings and smallclothes. However, there is good evidence to suggest that some or all of the unit might already have been wearing hunting shirts (variously described as buff or violet) by the time of their heroic action on Long Island. Uniformity probably broke down completely following and the absorption of other units in September 1776 and following the General Order of 1779 they were largely wearing blue coats with red facings, line the 2nd Maryland Continentals shown below (and in the famous painting of the 1st Maryland Continentals at Guildford Courthouse at the top of this article). Other units also wore red coats (often from captured British stocks), with Forman’s Additional Continental Regiment in 1777 having the same combination with buff facings and smallclothes, so this unit can do double-duty.
Above: Smallwood’s Marylanders are 
Above: The 2nd Maryland Continental Regiment had a far shorter history than the 1st Maryland Regiment, having been formed in January 1777 from various Maryland Independent Companies then serving with the Continental Army.
Above: The 2nd Maryland Continental Regiment seems to have worn a blue coat with red facings, white tail-turnbacks, white metal buttons and white hat-lace for much of its existence. This uniform was formalised (with white smallclothes) for all Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Virginia regiments with the General Order of 1779 (with wildly varying degrees of success). I’ve thrown a couple of red turnbacks and hunting-shirts in, along with other items of headgear and unlaced hats to represent ‘vagaries of supply’. The smallclothes were recorded as russet-brown during the regiment’s early days, though buff smallclothes also appear in paintings, as do dark brown waistcoats with blue breeches. Yet another depiction of the 2nd Maryland Regiment from 1781 shows them wearing earth-brown coats and breeches with red facings, white turnbacks, white metal buttons and white waistcoats. I’ve mainly gone with the blue and brown theme, though with a few men wearing randomly-coloured hunting shirts, ‘overhauls’ and ‘American trowsers’.
Above: The 2nd Maryland Continental Regiment is my most recently-painted American unit. I painted it last Autumn, using 
Above: Colonel John Haslet’s Delaware Battalion was raised in early 1776 and in August of that year was assigned to the Continental Army in Long Island, being brigaded with Smallwood’s Marylanders, with whom they were to have a long association. Both battalions fought well during the Battle of Long Island, though the Delawares managed to escape without the catastrophic casualties suffered by the Marylanders and were therefore still fit to fight for the rest of campaign, fighting especially well at White Plains.
Above: The Delaware Continentals are possibly unique in the annals of the Continental Army, in that they somehow managed to maintain a reasonably consistent uniform throughout the war. In 1776 they are recorded as having a blue coat with red facings, white turnbacks and white metal buttons (gold for officers), with white smallclothes. By 1778 they seem to have added yellow hat-lace to the ensemble and seem to have remained dressed much in this manner for the rest of the war, aside from some suggestion of brown breeches. The Delawares were therefore in the fortunate position of almost matching their stipulated uniform of the General Order of 1779.
Above: For the Delaware Continentals I used Perry Miniatures figures and painted the flag myself. As usual, I mixed in a few men dressed in hunting shirts and ‘overhauls’. This was actually the last Continental regiment I painted before my ‘Long Pause’ of 2009. The Perry ‘Ragged Continentals’ pack had just been released at the time, so I included a few of those figures.
Above: These were the very first AWI figures I ever painted; a single pack of eight Militia by 
Above: These fellas are classic Militia, dressed in a wide variety of civilian dress and variously armed. I’ve also added a ‘casually-dressed’ British officer figure (in the blue coat), to make the unit up to nine figures (three skirmisher stands, each of three figures).
Above: The skirmishers needed some formed supports, so I bought more militia from Wargames Foundry, along with a few Continental command figures from Perry Miniatures. This regiment doesn’t represent any particular unit, but has a very slight uniformed ‘theme’ of brown coats, faced red with white metal buttons running through it, though with most still in civilian dress.
Above: My first few units were geared toward the 
Above: Sargent’s Massachusetts Regiment was raised on 23rd April 1775 as Massachusetts state troops. On 14th June 1775 they were adopted into the Continental Army and on 1st January 1776 they were re-named as the 16th Continental Regiment. On 1st August 1779 they were finally re-named again to become the 8th Massachusetts Continental Regiment.
Above: Sargent’s Regiment are carrying a generic ‘Grand Union’ or ‘Continental’ Flag, which came into being on 3rd December 1775 and changed again to the ‘Stars & Stripes’ (with 13 stars) from 14th June 1777. These are all Wargames Foundry figures.
Above: Mollo depicted Sargent’s Regiment in 1775 as wearing this rather nice dark green uniform with black facings, white tail-turnbacks, buff smallclothes and white metal buttons. As with all Continental regiments, these uniforms didn’t last very long and they changed uniform multiple times during the course of the war, so any painted unit is only ever a very brief snapshot of that regiment at any given time.
Above: Like Sargent’s Regiment, Patterson’s Massachusetts Regiment was raised on 23rd April 1775 as state troops and on 1th June 1775 was adopted into the Continental Army. On 1st January 1776 it was re-named as the 15th Continental Regiment. However, on 1st January 1777 the regiment was amalgamated with elements of the 6th & 18th Continental Regiments to become Vose’s Regiment. On 1st August 1779 it was re-named for the last time, becoming the 1st Massachusetts Continental Regiment.
Above: Mollo depicted Patterson’s Regiment in 1775 as having blue uniforms with buff facings, white metal buttons and buff smallclothes. Again, there’s a lot of variation here, with various items of civilian dress and different colours of smallclothes, but the ‘theme’ is blue & buff.
Above: Patterson’s Regiment is again made up from Wargames Foundry figures. The flag is of a generic ‘Liberty Tree’ pattern by GMB Designs.
Above: Dubois’ New York Regiment was raised on 21st June 1776, being assigned to the Northern Department. On 26th January 1777 it was re-named as the 3rd New York Continental Regiment and in May 1779 was sent to the Main Continental Army, staying there for a year before being sent back to the Northern Department.
Above: Mollo depicted the 3rd New York Regiment as having a grey uniform with dark green facings, white metal buttons and grey smallclothes.
Above: Again, the 3rd New York Regiment is made up of Wargames Foundry figures. The flag is a rather fancy New York state flag by GMB Designs.
Above: As was standard practice in the 18th Century, the British massed all the regimental ‘flank’ companies (i.e. the Grenadier Companies and Light Companies) in America into combined elite battalions. Initially one battalion of each type was formed at Boston and fought in the Battles of Lexington-Concorde and 
Above: My 1st Grenadier Battalion was painted in 2005, mostly using 
Above: It’s been a while and I’ve been scratching my head, trying to work out which regiments the combination of facing colours represent, but I think it’s probably representative of the 1st Grenadier Battalion during the New York Campaign of 1776 (4th, 5th, 10th, 17th, 22nd, 23rd, 27th, 35th, 38th & 40th Regiments of Foot).
Above: My 2nd Grenadier Battalion was painted late last year and this time used Perry Miniatures figures throughout. They’re very similar sculpts to the old Foundry figures, but are slightly less ‘corn-fed’ and lack the goatskin backpacks of the Foundry grenadiers. Aside from the backpacks, they appear to be the same sculpts from the neck down. In contrast, the Perry grenadiers in charging and firing poses, as well as the command packs, are completely new sculpts, wearing ‘American trowsers’ rather than the regulation breeches, stockings and half-gaiters.
Above: My 2nd Grenadiers are based on the battalion’s composition for the 1777 Philadelphia Campaign, namely the Grenadier Companies of the 37th, 40th, 43rd, 45th, 46th, 49th, 52nd, 55th, 57th, 53rd & 64th Regiments of Foot, the 71st Highlanders and the Marines. Each battalion’s grenadier company is represented by two figures. However, the Marines formed two battalions in America, so should probably have four figures, but I’ve only given them two. The sharp-eyed will also notice that I’ve temporarily omitted the 71st Highlanders, who had two battalions in America, so I will at some point add another base of four figures for those.
Above: British combined elite battalions always lined up in order of regimental seniority, but not in the obvious way from right to left! This is a classic trap for the unwary figure-painter… The senior regiment would always stand on the right flank (so far so good), but the second-most-senior regiment would stand on the left flank of the line and then the remaining regiments would alternate by flank, working inwards, with the most junior regiments in the centre. So in the 2nd Grenadiers, the battalion was lined up from the right flank to left flank (left to right as we’re looking at them), 37th, 43rd, 46th, 52nd, 57th, 64th, Marines, 71st, 63rd, 55th, 49th, 45th, 40th.
Above: The right wing of the 2nd Grenadiers. As senior regiment, the grenadiers of the 37th Foot (yellow facings) are on the right flank, then the 43rd (white), 46th (yellow), 52nd (buff), 64th (black) and Marines (white). Note that regiments with buff facings also had buff smallclothes, belts and tail-turnbacks. Those items of dress were white for all regiments without buff facings.
Above: The left wing of the 2nd Grenadiers. The officer waving his hat wears the deep green facings of the 63rd, then the 55th (dark green), 49th (green), 45th (green) and 40th (buff).
Above: The 1st Light Infantry Battalion. I painted these in 2005, using Wargames Foundry figures and the mix of regiments was taken from the Philadelphia Campaign of 1777. As mentioned above, the 1st Grenadier and 1st Light Infantry Battalions in 1777 both comprised companies from the 4th, 5th, 10th, 15th, 17th, 22nd, 23rd, 27th, 28th, 33rd, 35th, 38th & 44th Regiments of Foot. When lined up, these would be (from right to left) 4th (blue), 10th (yellow), 17th (grey-white), 23rd (blue), 28th (yellow), 35th (orange), 44th (yellow), 38th (yellow), 33rd (red), 27th (pale buff), 22nd (pale buff), 15th (yellow) & 5th (gosling green). Sadly however, I lined these up in slightly the wrong order when taking the photo! 🙁
Above: Light Companies wore the grenadier-style shoulder-wings, red waistcoats and black belts, along with high-fronted leather caps known as ‘Keppel’ caps. These caps were circled with black-enameled iron chains as a form of protection from overhead sword-cuts and as a consequence are often known as ‘chain-caps’. However, some light companies (such as those of the 4th, 5th, 45th & 71st Regiments) are recorded as wearing light dragoon-style helmets. Wargames Foundry actually do suitable figures for those, but I didn’t realise it at the time.
Above: Most Keppel caps were decorated with white edging and variations on the theme of a crowned ‘GR’ or ‘G III R’ cypher, often with the regimental number. However, some had ‘LI’ and a few had ‘ancient badges’, such as the lion rampant of the 4th Foot, ‘Britannia’ for the 5th, the Prince of Wales’ Feathers for the 23rd and a white castle on a blue disc for the 27th. Some also had coloured cloth ‘turbans’ and some pre-war examples had brass front-plates. As with the grenadier caps, these were expensive items that in reality were probably left in barracks and replaced with slouched hats soon after the start of the war.
Above: The 2nd Light Infantry Battalion was painted late last year, this time using the new Light Infantry figures by Perry Miniatures. These lovely figures are less ‘corn-fed’ than the Wargames Foundry figures, or indeed the earlier figures in the Perry Miniatures AWI range. The headgear is moulded separately, so each pack of six figures comes with six Keppel caps, six peaked caps with plume and six ‘butterfly caps’ or ‘cap-hats’. they’re also wearing the typical campaign ‘American trowsers’, which came in whatever colour of cloth was locally available, but I’ve done all these in white (i.e. linen).
Above: In addition to the formed 2nd Light Infantry Battalion, I also painted a dozen Light Infantry skirmishers for those times when you want to deploy them in their intended role, instead of as elite assault-infantry! I could use at least another dozen skirmishers.
Above: The Light Company of the 55th Foot. I couldn’t find any recorded examples of this regiment’s headgear, so gave them peaked caps with fairly generic white lace edging, crowned ‘GR’ cypher and regimental number ‘LV’.
Above: The Light Company of the 49th Foot. Again, I couldn’t find any recorded examples of their headgear, so went again with the peaked cap, this time with a crowned ‘LI’ inscription (matching a design recorded for the 46th Foot) and the number ’49’. I also gave them a green feather, which wasn’t official at this time, but was increasingly being used to signify light companies.
Above: The Light Company of the 40th Foot are recorded as wearing this pattern of Keppel cap; devoid of lace edging, but bearing the crowned ‘GR’ cypher and the regimental number ‘XL’.
Above: The Light Company of the 64th Foot are recorded as wearing this pattern of ‘cap-hat’ or ‘butterfly cap’, having white lace edging but no white band, bearing the crowned ‘GR’ cypher. Note that the sergeant has yellow lace; as mentioned above, this was a peculiarity recorded for the 64th Foot. His NCO status is also indicated by the crimson waist-sash with facing-coloured (i.e. black) central stripe.
Above: A Light Company of Marines. Two battalions of Marines were formed for service in America and there were probably therefore two Marine Light Companies present, though I’ve only painted a single base of two figures. Their headgear is modelled on a recorded Marine Keppel cap from before the AWI, which had a red ‘turban’ and was decorated on the front with the royal crest in white metal.
Above: the Light Company of the 63rd Foot. One recorded example of a Keppel cap belonging to the 63rd shows it to be decorated with the crowned ‘GR’ cypher and regimental number ’63’. There was no lace edging, but there was a green feather attached on the left side (sadly missing here).
Above: The 2nd Light Infantry Battalion formed up in close order. The line-up and facing colours are exactly the same as those listed for the 2nd Grenadier Battalion above. I could find recorded examples of light company headgear for the 37th, 43rd, 46th, 52nd, 57th, 63rd & 64th Regiments and the Marines, but gave random headgear to the remaining four companies. The 45th were actually recorded as wearing a light dragoon-style helmet, but that option wasn’t included, so I gave them peaked caps. As with the 2nd Grenadiers, I haven’t included the two Light Companies of the 71st Highlanders. The 71st are also recorded as wearing light dragoon-style helmets.
Above: As with their 
Above: A close-up of the right wing of the 2nd Light Infantry Battalion. The 37th (yellow facings) are on the right flank, then the 43rd (white), 46th (yellow), 52nd (buff), 57th (yellow) and 64th (black).
Above: The left wing of the 2nd Light Infantry Battalion, starting with an officer of Marines (white), a horny-bloke of the 63rd (deep green, in reversed musician’s colours), the 55th (dark green), 49th (green), 45th (green) and 40th (buff).