43rd Light Infantry

 43rd Light Infantry (Monmouthshire) First Battalion

One of the latter created light infantry units, in 1803 the 43rd Foot was authorized to dress as the 52nd Light infantry but retained its white facings. 
Like most British light infantry units the 43rd browned the barrels of their muskets to minimize detection when deploying or skirmishing. This unit continued to wear its stove piped shakos after the 1812 regulations were enacted. Their shako was adorned with a the classic light infantry symbols, the brass bugle horn and green plume. After 1811 they wore the standard grey trousers with gators.

The officer's tended to be cavalier in their dress. They wore red hussar style pelisses with light grey fur and silver braiding and ornaments. The photo of a painting of Captain William Napier and the following print gives one and impression of the pelisses worn by officers of the 43rd.

The bugler is shown in reversed colours but should be adhering to the 1812 order of dress that required the red tunic.

My rendition of the 43rd Light Infantry for the Battle of New Orleans.

The figures are all from the Perry metals range. Most fortunately the range models the 43rd Light Infantry as a specific items of their peninsular Napoleonic range.

A good view of a 43rd officer (right hand figure) wearing his pelisse. Also note the pioneer to the left.

The outer two companies or wings were mounted on individual stands so that up to four companies may deploy into a skirmish formation.

A close up of the command base with mounted commander, which is from a mounted light infantry officer set of three from Perry.

The two outer companies are deployed as skirmishers in front of their formed battalion. I think I have painted all British units for New Orleans. So, my next New Orleans projects is some more Louisiana militia.

5th West India Regiment

 The 5th West India Regiment

The 5th West India regiment was one of three regiments that operated of the coasts of America in the fall 1814. Both the 1st (stationed in Guadeloupe) and 5th (Jamaica) were part of the New Orleans campaign and the 2nd (Nassau) off the Georgia coast with Rear Admiral Cockburn's raiding force. The regiments were organized along British lines and made up of black enlisted men with white officers and some white NCOs. The reputation of these regiments against the French during the West Indies campaign was quite good. 

The uniforms of the West Indian regiments was similar to the British regular line infantry with some minor exceptions. The coats were red but unlined and unusually had red collars instead of collars in the colour of the regimental facings trimmed with white lace. Most uniquely the coat had a upper chest plastron in the facing colour. The men's shako was identical to regular line infantry but the officers tended to wear round hats. The trousers were of blue serge and fitted over top their gaiters and secured from rising by fitting under the instep of their shoes.

Main Uniform Sources:
A Scarlet Coat: Uniforms, Flags and Equipment of the British in the War of 1812, Rene Chartrand, Service Publications, 2011, pp 96-98.
Armies of the War of 1812 by Gabriel Espostio published by Pike and Powder Publishing Group, p. 100.
Wellington's Army: The Uniforms of the British Soldier, 1812-1815, Plates by Charles Hamilton Smith and text by Philip J. Haythornthwaite, Plate 46.

Armies of The War of 1812, p. 100.

Here are some photos of my rendition of the 5th West Indian Regiment at 20:1 ratio on 30mm x 40mm MDF company stands.

The light company on the right of the photo is mounted on individual 15mm x 20mm stands with magnetic insets that are attracted to a company base of a thin magnetic sheet . The superb flags are from Flag Dude, which were ordered long before the demise of his mail order business.

The figures are predominantly Old Glory that are full of character with a sprinkling of Perry and Front Rank figures. Strangely, Old Glory did not include flank companies with their West Indian figures. So, FR light and grenadier figures became suitable substitutes. The mounted commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Hamilton, is a Perry Egyptian campaign figure. A superb figure that required only minor surgery to remove his queue.

The 5th West Indian regiment fielded 740 men so at 20:1 with a slight round up this battalion is 40 figures strong and organized into 10 companies.

As always comments and or constructive critiques are most welcome.

Next up, the British 43rd Light Infantry.

 First West India Regiment

Background

By the early 1900s there were eight West Indian regiments in the British army who were paid and employed as regular troops. These units were made up of black men led by white officers and some NCOs, although there were some black NCOs too. They were organized like the British regiments with eight line companies plus grenadier and light companies. Their performance during the Caribbean campaigns against the French was quite good. Three West Indians regiments were utilized in the southern and south eastern coastal areas of the United States. The 1st and the 5th were deployed in the New Orleans campaign and the the 2nd formed part of Commodore Cockburn's raiding force on the Georgia coast.

Uniforms

The uniforms of the West Indian regiments were similar to the British army except for some unique detail differences. Their unlined red coats did not have the horizontal white lace across the chest. Instead, they had a small plastron or false half lapel on their upper chest area in the facing colour of the regiment. In the case of the First it was white and the fifth green. The cuffs and shoulder straps were also in the facing colour. Rather than having the facing colour on the collars, as in British regular regiments, the West Indian collars were red. 

Another unique feature of their uniform were their trousers. They wore gaiter trousers (the pant covered over the gaiter area with a tape on the seams that extended under the shoe instep keeping the trousers neatly in place) of blue serge but could also wear white linen trousers in summer. Their hats were similar to the regulars. They started out with round hats, then stove pipe shakos and in 1814 the Belgic shako.

The officers and most senior NCOs wore the regulation British uniform with white linen trousers or the standard gray. However, instead wearing the regulation shako they preferred to wear the round hat.

References

A Scarlet Coat: Uniforms, Flags and Equipment of the British in the War of 1812, Rene Chartrand, Service Publications, 2011, pp.98-100.

Armies of the War of 1812 by Gabriel Espostio published by Pike and Powder Publishing Group, p.100. (the above uniform plate)

Wellington's Army: The Uniforms of the British Soldier, 1812-1815, Plates by Charles Hamilton Smith and text by Philip J. Haythornthwaite, plate 46.

The Model of the First West Indian Regiment

My replication of the First West India Regiments is largely based on Old Glory Figures supplemented by some Front Rank British regulars. As far as I know Old Glory are the only producers of West Indian infantry.  The War of 1812 series although quite old is one of their better sculpted. Kudos to OG for producing this unusual unit and others in the War of 1812 series.  However, while sculpting the unique aspects of the aforementioned uniform distinctions, strangely, Old Glory omitted the flank companies. Hence the necessity of incorporating Front Rank light and grenadier company figures for this unit and eventually the fifth.

P.S. I am still experimenting with lighting and photography. I will eventually get to an acceptable standard. In the meantime please forgive the substandard photos.

The First West Indian regiment was a large unit of 932 men. So, my unit at 20:1 would equate to 46 figures. However, this replication is downsized to 40.

Note the officers wearing their round hats. The flags are Flag Dude, which were fortunately bought many years ago as part of my long range planning and purchase of figures and flags. 

The mounted commanding officer is from the Perry Egyptian range. A lovely figure that only required minor surgery to remove his queue.  Barely visible behind the flag bearer and to the right of the drummer in the second row of the command group is a Perry officer with a large plume who is also in a round hat with its requisite queue surgery complete.

The Front Rank Grenadier company figures that size well with the OG figure of the first company. Although the Victrix (Brigade Games) metal pioneer is a bit chunky he fits in reasonably well with his OG brethren.

Next up, Mississippi Boatmen.

 First Rocket Troop R.H.A.

The 1^st Rocket Troop, commanded by Captain Lane had five hundred twelve-pounder rockets and forty ‘rocketeers'…The Greatest Fury by William C. Davis, p. 42-43. My version of this troop is a nice set from Eagle Figures. The rocket tripod, troughs and sticks are accurate representations of what the R.H.A utilized at New Orleans, Leipzig and in the Peninsula. However, the figures are very plain with little detail. Complementing the troop are an R.H.A. officer and bugler from Steve Barber Models. These are very nicely detailed figures down to the small RHA crest on their Tarleton helmets. This is another welcome addition to my Battle of New Orleans collection.

For details on the uniforms, equipment and operations of the R.H.A rocket troops see, Uniforms of the British Rocket Troops in the Napoleonic Wars, C.E. Franklin, Autumn 2003, Journal of the Society for  Army Historical Research. Also see British Napoleonic Uniforms by C.E. Franklin. Lastly, Napoleon at War, Number 7, Trooper, Mounted Rocket Corps, RHA, 1814, del Prado/Osprey.

I am still experimenting with new LED lighting and my old digital SLR camera.

I clearly need more practice....a little too much light methinks.

Next up...the First West India Regiment.

Battle of New Orleans - British Units -93rd Sutherland Highlanders

93rd Sutherland Highlanders at New Orleans

The Figures

This unit was completed on 48 individual bases about five years ago but was recently rebased on 30mm (frontage) by 40mm depth MDF bases. I use the 30mm frontage for most of my regular units to portray the shoulder to shoulder spacing that was typical for this period. The figures are mostly Old Glory with a few Knuckleduster added.

The command group with their Commanding Officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Dale mounted. The C.O. is a modified Victrix mounted highland officer. Basically, I sawed off the feather bonnet head ala the 42nd and replaced it with a OG or KD 93rd bonnet. 

This 48 figure unit makes an impressive site on the wargaming table despite my poor photo.

Left front; a view of the six man grenadier company with their white touries atop their bonnets. Front right is number one company (four figures each) and the officer leading the number two company.

Numbers seven, eight and nine companies and at the right a sergeant of the light company.

 The photo right six figures of the light company mounted on individual 15mm by 20mm based for deployment onto to skirmish or open order bases.

A Brief History and Description of the 93^rd Sutherland Highlanders

The 93^rd were formed in 1800 as a regular regiment from the Sutherland Highlanders fencible regiment. They served in Ireland in 1803, where surprisingly unlike most British regiments, they cemented good relations with the local Irish. The 93^rd earned their first battle honour at in the expedition to capture the Cape Colony from the Dutch. They were part of Major-General Baird’s army in the highland brigade along with 71^st and 72^nd Highland regiments under command of Brigadier-General Ferguson. The 93^rd and its fellow highlander regiments distinguished themselves by an amphibious landing while under attack and subsequently defeating the Batavian army (and 200 French marines) on the fields outside Cape Town.[i]

The 93rd Sutherland Highlanders have often been portrayed in cinema and paintings as wearing kilts and full Scottish Highland regalia at New Orleans, not the case. Just prior to leaving their duty station at the Cape of Good Hope for America via Plymouth England, the 93rd were issued “trews” or tartan trousers made of “Government” or “Black Watch sett” cloth. This decision was made in Plymouth while awaiting their departure for America. The tartan was deemed as “ill calculated for severe service” for the coming operation. Besides, they were short of ‘about 200 pairs of hose that could not be supplied in the south of England.’ Coats and equipment were identical in design and cut to those worn by their European counterparts. Interestingly, their sister 2^nd battalion wore the full highland regalia complete with kilts and feathered bonnet and hose. The second battalion was stationed in Newfoundland from June 1814 to October 1815 but saw no action.[ii]

Facings were lemon yellow, and the regiment was issued Hummell or “porkpie” bonnets with wider than normal diced borders bearing a red-and-white checked pattern later so closely and uniquely associated with its lineal successor, The Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders. Caps had a tourie or tuft atop them, red for battalion companies, white for grenadiers, and green for the light company. Officers’ caps bore a white metal thistle badge. Blue-gray trousers had been worn in South Africa, these apparently retained by some officers and supernumeraries.[iii]

Through sheer tenacity the 93rd numbered among the few British troops to actually reach the American parapet through withering fire. In so doing it lost three-quarters of its 1008 men in killed and wounded, an appalling toll.[iv] One American observer characterized them as “firm and immovable as a brick wall.” The 93^rd were part of Maj-Gen Sir John Keane’s Brigade on the far left of the British front on or near levee road. In one of his many bad decisions that day, Major-General Pakenham ordered the 93^rd to traverse the field from left across the front of the American gun line to the right flank exposing the Scotsmen to sustained cannister fire, which cost them heavily.

 

---

[i] The British Invasion of The River plate 1806-1807, Ben Hughes, pp. 3-17.

[ii] A Scarlet Coat: Uniforms, Flags and Equipment of the British in the War of 1812, Rene Chartrand, Service Publications, 2011, pp 83-84

[iii] Armies of the War of 1812 by Gabriel Espostio published by Pike and Powder Publishing Group.

[iv] New Orleans 1815, Osprey campaign Series, Tim Pickles.

Uniform Plates

Ref: Armies of the War of 1812 by Gabriel Espostio published by Pike and Powder Publishing Group, p. 81.

The figure on the left is a sergeant of the Grenadier Company. Note the white tourie (pom pom), which denotes the grenadier company. Ref: New Orleans 1815, Osprey Campaign Series, p. 46.

TBC

Battle of New Orleans - British Units - 3/95th Rifles

 The Third Battalion 95th Rifles

The 95^thare a mixture of Warlord and Front Rank. The Warlord metal 95^th titled “The Chosen Men” are fourteen superb sculpts that are comparable to my favorite Front Rank figures. There are many unique figures including some prone positions. Although you are unlikely to discern it in the photos, the detail of the officer’s lace is incredible.

The figures are based individually on 20mm squares that have a circular magnetic encased in the bottom. This unit is on open order stands but will fit into skirmish and closed order stands as well. The photos are not the greatest. I really must invest in a proper camera and lighting box.