Big Brothers VI

The delay was to allow me to finish off two squadrons this month and bring you the first half of:

3^e Régiment de Cuirassiers

In May 1635, Timoléon de Sercourt d’Esclainvilliers' company of light horse was integrated into Cardinal Duc régiment, fighting as part of that unit at the Battle of Rocroi (1643). 

Around the same time the unit was retitled régiment d'Esclainvilliers and then, c.1656, régiment Commissaire général cavalerie. After nearly half a century of service – mostly in Flanders – the regiment became 3^e régiment de cavalerie in 179, fighting at Valmy and Marengo, before becoming 3^e régiment de cuirassiers c.1802.

The 3^e régiment de cuirassiers fought at Austerlitz, Jena, Eylau, Friedland, Eckmühl, Essling, Wagram, as well as sending a detachment to Spain. Along side 1^r and 2^e cuirassiers this detachment formed the1^r regiment provisoire de grosse cavalerie, which eventually became the 13^e régiment de cuirassiers.

For the invasion of Russia, Col Charles Eugène Lalaing d’Audenarde commanded the regiment under Général de brigade Bertrand Bessieres as part of 1^r divsione de grosse cavalerie.

Serving France through the Franco-Prussian, First and Second World Wars, as well as in Algeria, the regiment was finally disbanded in 1998 as part of the general reorganization of the French Army that followed the end of conscription.

In 1812, they were dressed in traditional Cuirassier garb, with red collars pipped blue, blue cuffs pipped red, red cuff flaps, and red turnbacks.

So, aside from collar colour, the easy way to distinguish these boys from 2^e régiment de cuirassiers is in the colour of the musicians' sheepskins, which are the more traditional black.

Wot no cuirassiers

So May is nearly over and still no sign of a cuirassier squadron...

Well, there's still the weekend to go :-)

2016 - For Mother Russia!

As I reached the half way point on my 2015 project, thoughts naturally turned to next year. The Twins have not yet got to Württemberg, so I decided to focus on doing the mainstay of the opposition to Ney's Corps at the Battle of Valutina-Gora (more on which another day), Konovnitsyn's  3^rd Division.

3^rd Div – Generalmajor Pyotr Konovnitsyn

1^st Brigade – Tuchkov III

·      Muromsk Infantry Regt

·      Revel Infantry Regt

2^nd Brigade - Voeikov

·      Tchernigov Infantry Regt

·      Selenginsk Infantry Regt (having swapped with Kaporisk)

3^rd Brigade – Prince Chakoffski

·      20^th Jæger Regt

·      21^st Jæger Regt

Grenadier Brigade

·      2 combined grenadier battalions; 1 company each from the four Line and two Jæger regiments in the Division

Artillery Brigade – Tornov

·      III Heavy Battery (three 12pdrs and a licorne)

·      V Light Battery (three 6 pdrs and a licorne)

·      VI Light Battery (three 6 pdrs and a licorne)

Cossack Brigade – Generalmajor Karpov

·      Guard Cossack Regiment (two units of twelve horsemen)

Each regiment will consist of two 32-figure battalions drawn from Wargames Foundry (see above) with staff, mounted troops, and artillery coming from the Perry Twins, and flags from GMB. There are also some extra skirmishing stands in the pile for the Jægers.

Steve Hall has agreed to paint some of the line companies, whilst I crack on with the command and elite companies. So there’s a good chance we can crack this one in a year – less the Guard Cossacks as they remain on the Perry wish list J

Général de brigade Bruno

Adrien François Bruno was born in India in 1771. He joined the 4^e regiment de hussards in 1193 (aged 16), making lieutenant two years later, captain in January 1798, and gaining squadron command in 12^e regiment de hussards in 1801. Shortly afterwards, he was promoted to major and joined 10^e chasseurs à cheval.

After stint on secondment to the Dutch Army, Bruno returned on 11 November 1810 as a général de brigade and was given temporary command of 5^e division de cuirassiers before gaining a cuirassier brigade for the invasion of Russia, taking command of the 1^re division de cuirassiers after his commander, général de division St. Germaine, was wounded. Thereafter, Bruno commanded various light cavalry brigades and was captured after the Battle of Dresden.

Here he is modelled with a trumpeter from 3^e règiment de cuirassiers: the unit which made up his brigade. Unlike the musicians of the 2^e règiment de cuirassiers, those of the 3^e 

seemingly had the more usual black sheepskins over their shabraques. But more on the 3^e règiment de cuirassiers later...

I've occasionally had issues with Perry metal horses being a little week at the fetlock, but have found a solution in superglue. I now put a dollop of superglue where the fetlock/hoof meets the base and this seems to strengthen it up nicely.

Ball Buttoned Gunners

Artillery support to 1^st Heavy Cavalry Division came in the way of 1^st and 3^rd companies of 5^th Horse Artillery Regiment (5eme régiment d’artillerie à cheval).

First up is 3^rd company, resplendent in their Hussar-type uniform of French blue with the red trim of an elite unit. These models by Alan Perry are dressed in the 1812 uniform. Although many units did not receive it until a year or two later, they will not be out of place in my c.1812 force.

French artillery regiments were administrative units comprising of six, later eight artillery companies. Each company consisted of between six and eight guns of which two would typically be howitzers. Companies were paired to form artillery squadrons and each regiment also had a depot company. By 1812, horse artillery companies were normally equipped with four six-pound guns and two 5.5” howitzers, and artillery pieces would normally operate in pairs. French officers used the term battery to describe the tactical grouping of artillery in battle and a battery could consist of gun pairs from several different companies. See this piece on the use of artillery at Auerstadt by Robert Burnham, for example, http://www.napoleon-series.org/military/organization/France/Artillery/c_3rdCorpsartillery1806.html

Black Powder traditionally calls for single models to represent batteries, but I’ve come to prefer two models for reasons both aesthetic and historical. Napoleonic artillery units, even horse artillery, took up a lot of space. Single gun batteries just seem too nimble in BP, especially when deployed without limbers. Moreover, two gun companies makes it easier for me to form batteries suitable for other gaming systems, such as General de Brigade.

As to the title, that harks back to the nickname for members of the Royal Horse Artillery, who to this day wear ball buttons on their dress uniforms.

Big Brothers V - End of Phase 1

The completion of the Brigade commander and his staff officer brings the first part of my 2015 Heavy Cavalry Division challenge to a close.

2e Regiment de Cuirassiers

To recap, 23 Cuirassiers were created in 1635 from an Ordnance company of Cardinal Richelieu and were initially called Cardinal-Duc. However, in 1643 they were renamed the Royale-Cavalerie and in 1791 the 2e Regiment de Cavalerie. Their name changed once again in 1802 when the Regiment became the 2e Regiment de Cavalerie-Cuirassiers and, finally, in 1803 they take on 2e Regiment de Cuirassiers.

In 1812, 2e Cuirassiers were led by Colonel Pierre Rolland, but came under the command of Général de Brigade Bruno. Despite being wounded in October 1813 Rolland went on to command his own brigade a month later, having been made Commander of the Legion d'Honneur earlier the same year. A former Hussar officer, Adrien François Bruno also survived the invasion of Russia. He took command of the 1st Heavy Cavalry Division after Borodino, but his career was curtailed when he was captured in 1813 after the battle of Dresden.

Here, Bruno is represented by Alan Perry's 28mm L'Heritier model.

As you can see, I've made a start on their commander and the 3e Cuirassiers and 1e Chevau Légers are all prepped for painting. The box to their rear contains two batteries of horse artillery, 9e Cuirassiers, and associated commanders.

Finally a plea to anyone going to Salute who might be willing to part with the event special sculpted by the Twins...

Big Brothers IV

With the final squadron of the 2e Cuirassiers I decided to try out some different tones on the horses.

The officer is mounted on a black. Many blacks are a very dark brown. So I've used that as the highlight with an even lighter brown around the mouth and sheath.

As always, the trumpeter is on a grey. However, rather than the near white of the others, this one is on a dappled grey. All grey horses are born chestnut, bay, or black and fade over time to grey. They can retain their dappling for many years, sometimes not completely greying out until their teens.

As we have not yet accomplished my dream of living next to the stables, overlooking the horses as they graze. I use photos of t'internet as a handy reference. In the case of the trumpeter's mount, I used the one below, but allowed the light grey/white dapples to accentuate the highlights somewhat more than one the real horse. If enough people are interested and like my results, I'd do a specific post on how I paint horses sometime.

You'll note that I've also gone for darker tones than my norm on two of the troopers, based on this example of a faded black:

Once I've completed the brigade command stand, I'll post up a picture of the full regiment.