Saturday 30 December 2023

1st Regiment of Life Guards

 Just about scraping in to 2023! Here, finally, are a troop of the 1st Life Guards to round off the year. I've been very busy doing yet another regiment of French line at 1:1 but realised around November I was never going to finish them for the end of the year so switched to these lovely Victrix figs instead. 



Here we have 36 men of Lind's Troop. The Troop had a nominal strength of 65 but, with (typically c.15%) non-combatants in the rear, plus the casualties from Genappe on 17th June, this number may not be far off. 



Both Life Guard regiments suffered devastating losses over the two days' fighting - and Lind's Troop had 28 casualties from 65 - with 10 killed in action, 3 died of wounds, and another 15 wounded, many of them very seriously. 

The 1st Life Guards comprised a large Yorkshire element: from left to right above - 
Privates Joseph Bradley (Rudby, Yorks) killed in action; John Higginson (Bradfield, Yorks) killed in action; Christopher Potter (Birstall, Yorks) killed in action; Joseph Liley (Shelley, Yorks) lost his left leg; Thomas Fell (North Dalton, Yorks) died of wounds at Brussels; Peter Seargill (Silkstone, Yorks, killed in action; Stephen Cliffe (Kirkeaton, Yorks), musket ball in left arm "by which both the bones of the left arm were fractured with great consequent debility."



All of the British Household cavalry would have been an extremely formidable sight - these men were, by the standard heights of men in 1815, absolute giants. In a period when, in the average population, fewer than 2 men in 100 were 6 foot tall, a staggering 22 men of Lind's Troop alone were that height or taller. The rest were at least 5'10.
It must have been like seeing a basket ball team crossed with pugilists. Mounted on large horses fresh from London, their sheer size and power must go some way to explaining their devastating impact on the French cuirassiers. 




Many men were injured not in direct combat with the enemy but from the fall when their horses fell killed or wounded. Numerous men suffered either fractures or crush injuries - above, for example, we see Private Thomas Gardner (Ulverton, Lancs) who was discharged in 1818 aged 28 "spitting of blood from the lungs by a fall from his horse on his chest at Waterloo". In peacetime he found employment as the drill sergeant of a militia unit only to be killed in 1821 by another fall  - The Westmoreland Gazette reports "On Monday night, as Thos. Gardner, drill sergeant of the Furness Cuirassiers, was returning from exercise at a quick pace; his horse came in contact with a gate which crosses the road leading from Firkrigg to Bardsea, by which it was thrown down with such violence as to fracture the skull of the rider and occasion his instantaneous death."





Many of the Life Guards were long-serving soldiers and had seen service in Portugal and Spain. Above are Privates Joseph Waddington (Thornton, Yorks) who had enlisted in 1799 and was 39 years old in 1815; James Billen (Morton Magnus, Somerset) enlisted 1798 and around 46 years old at Waterloo; and Moses Hercod (Berne, Switzerland) enlisted 1800 and aged 43 at Waterloo.  The oldest man in the Troop was Corporal of Horse William Usher (Stourbridge, Worcs), born 1766 he was discharged in 1816 aged 49  in consequence of "decayed constitution from Service abroad".


Despite the advantage of height and weight, the brigade suffered dreadful carnage in the medieval slaughter of close up, hand to hand, fighting. Some of their wounds are of particular interest as they reveal what happened to the British heavy cavalry as they galloped on, failed to regroup, and were consequently overwhelmed by clouds of French line lancers. Above, for example, is Private John Wilson (Douglas, Isle of Man), who suffered a fractured skull and lance wound in shoulder. 







All figures are Victrix - beautifully detailed figures and a pleasure to paint. I have misplaced their carbines (I put them "in a safe place"!) so will attach them when they turn up. I also added gauntlets using green stuff. 

Saturday 9 September 2023

8e Régiment de Cuirassiers

 A squadron of the 8ème cuirassiers


Onwards, then with this project within a project – to produce a squadron of each of the 4 regiments of L’Heritier’s 11th Heavy Cavalry Division. The division was made up of two dragoon regiments – the 2nd and 7th – and two cuirassier regimets – the 8th and 11th. I feel I’ve come back to my origins – this obsession began as a child in the 1970s with Airfix cuirassiers charging Airfix highlanders.


French squadrons were commanded by a Chef d’escadron and comprised 2 companies, each led by a captain. L’Heritier’s cuirassiers (the 8th and 11th) were heavily involved at Quatre Bras and suffered significant casualties. It’s therefore difficult to imagine that either regiment was able to field more than 50-60% of it’s total strength at Waterloo two days later. Sources give a nominal strength of around 300 men divided into 3 squadrons, so that would mean the regiment had been reduced to maybe 3 squadrons of 50 men each at Waterloo. Therefore, the Perry figures shown here probably represent more like 2 squadrons on 18th June.




It was the 8ème cuirassiers who caused such carnage among Halkett’s brigade at Quatre Bras, taking a colour from the 69th (South Lincolnshire) Foot. Pattison of the 33rd Foot writes:

 "A large body of French cuirassiers…dashed in amongst them [the 69th], when a terrible sabring ensued.  One of the officers (Volunteer Clarke) who carried the regimental colours was hacked and cut in a fearful manner.  Notwithstanding this he preserved the standard; but the other colour was wrenched from the hands of the officer who bore it, and carried off as a trophy of success."

Looking at the casualties of the 69th, there is no obvious candidate for who the unfortunate unnamed officer was. Only one Ensign of the 69th was wounded – Edward Hodder – but he received his wound at Waterloo. Presumably, then, the Ensign who lost the King’s Colour, had the pole snatched from him but escaped the cuirassiers’ sabres. Trumpeter Jean Baptiste Charonnet of the 8ème describes the savage, frantic struggle:

“The three sides of the square of the 69th was literally marked out by the dead. In the middle of the square the Lieutenant-Colonel and the Colour bearer were lying on the ground making no movement, the latter still held the Colour in his hand, for which he was killed.  Cuirassier Henry jumped to the ground and snatched the Colour. In order to mount his horse as quickly as possible, he passed his precious trophy to Brigadier Borgnes who was close to him. Borgnes galloped away, taking the Colour with him, followed by Henry, who had been able to remount his horse. Borgnes arrived in front of the regiment, and was saluted by the Cuirassiers with loud cheering." (From Franklin's French Forces at QB)


It's interesting that Charonnet describes the Colour bearer of the 69th being killed – it’s possible that it was being carried by a lieutenant rather than an ensign, in which case a possible candidate is Lieutenant Edmund Wightwick, who died of his wounds the day after Quatre Bras - the only fatality among the junior officers of the 69th.


Of immeasurable help in this research has been this book by Olivier Lapray - I really cannot recommend it enough. This is a proper history book by a proper historian i.e. based on painstaking research unearthing new data from original sources (rather than, say, books on the subject which merely rehash the same oft-repeated memoirs and letters). This marvellous tome lists every officer who served in all 14 cuirassier regiments during the First Empire, and provides biographical info for each man. In addition to this colossal achievement, there are a wealth of wonderful illustrations – portraits, drawings, photos of original equipment, and very helpful charts and diagrams of formations and uniform distinctions.


The 8ème were commanded by Colonel Antoine Laurent Marie Garavaque who rode a black horse at Waterloo. 


All three Chef’s d’Escadron were wounded - Henry Guillaume de Bassoncourt at Quatre Bras, Pierre Bisson and Gabrielle Gadrad at Waterloo. Three lieutenants and four sous-lieutenants were also wounded, all of them except one at Quatre Bras.

Chef d'Escadron Henry Guillaume de Bassoncourt - wounded at Quatre Bras





 



Thursday 15 June 2023

French 2nd Dragoons

 Happy Quatre Bras Day!

Here are the French 2nd Dragoons - I did these a year or so ago, but have only just got round to taking some pics. The plan is to do Lhéritier's 11th Cavalry Division - so that's 2nd and 7th Dragoons, and 8th and 11th Cuirassiers. 




At Waterloo, the 2nd Dragoons were commanded by 
Colonel Planzeaux, and numbered around 550 men in the field. Not the best choice for Quatre Bras as I don't think they were engaged on the day! My hazy understanding is that the 1st Brigade (the two Dragoon regiments) did not arrive in time to take part, but the 2nd brigade (the two Cuirassier regiments) certianly did and were heavily engaged. 


The 2nd Dragoons consisted of 4 squadrons in 1815, each probably of just over 100 men. This lot here then only represent a quarter - another 3/4 to go!




The eagle-eyed will doubtless already have spotted that they are all sans carbine/musket/fusil. I will add them some day soon, hopefully. 



At Waterloo on the 18th June all four regiments were thrown at the allied squares in vain,



All figures are Perry plastics, an absolute joy to paint. 




Impossible to get a decent photo of the whole unit!

Next up - the 8th Cuirassiers. I've nearly finished the first squadron, and will try to post for Waterloo Day.

Thursday 11 May 2023

French artillery battery

Back after a long break! For a number of reasons have not done any painting since 2021 and wasn't sure I'd ever get back again. But all good now, and back to the project. I'm currently working on Cuirassiers and Hanoverians but in the meantime I'm going to post some pics of my last few projects from 2021. This is the first of these: a battery of French artilley. I'm aware there should be 8 guns - I'll add them one day!


Figures are a mix of Perry, Victrix and a few others. 













Here are some more - the sun was a bit bright, it's better to take photos on a cloudy day.







Next up, some French staff, or some French dragoons, I think. Will try to post them soon.