Elizabethgrad Hussars II

Onto the lead rank, which was issued lances prior to the campaign of 1812, but not, in the case of this regiment, pennants it seems.

The squadron includes a non-commissioned officer on the left flank, an officer, and his trumpeter (mounted on a grey, as was the norm).

Those armed with lances have stowed their pelisses and, if you've ever tried using a lance whilst wearing one, you'll understand why!

So here's the month's efforts, a standard size unit of Russian Hussars for Black Powder - twelve down, thirty six to go...

True Scale Napoleonic Hussars

Regulars here may know that we have a horse, Cosmi, who has been helping me learn to ride over the last few years. Naturally, as someone interested in military history, I've also been working towards mastering mounted skill at arms. Last Saturday saw me at Action Horses near Hull for training with my British Napoleonic reenactment unit - the 15th or Kings Light Dragoons (Hussars).

After scaring some cabbages myself, I dismounted to take a few pictures of the chaps in action, which I thought you might enjoy. It was a training session, so please excuse the odd irregularity in dress and equipment:

Plenty more photos of this marvellous unit can also be found  on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/15THLIGHTDRAGOONS/

We'll be in full rig for a skill at arms display at the Light Dragoons Tricentenary next month. So more photos in due course...

Elizabethgrad Hussars c.1812

My first batch of Russian Hussars. These are painted to represent the Elizabethgrad Regiment - second rankers. No lances, so pelisses are worn by all ranks.

28mm figures made by Perry Miniatures

3rd Battalion, The Murom Infantry Regiment

I'm a little ahead of schedule with the lead companies of 3rd Battalion, The Murom Infantry Regiment.

Details are virtually identical to those of 3rd Battalion, The Reval Infantry Regiment less the epaulettes, which in the case of Murom Regiment were white.

In terms of the elite company, that means red over yellow pompoms for the grenadiers and yellow over red pompoms for the sharpshooter platoon.

The sword knots of third battalions are distinguished by a red central band, edged red in the case of the elite company and white in the first company. As with the other line companies, the first company sport yellow within red pompoms.

28mm miniatures from Foundry with colours by GMB, mounted on Warbases

I hope everyone is enjoying their (Easter) long weekend...

Skirmishing Jägers II

This time we have the skirmish stands for 1st Battalion, 20th Jägers.

Again, I've limited myself to four stands as I intend to keep the command and, potentially, the elite companies formed. However, I may return to this unit later on to add skirmish stands for the elite company.

2nd Company

3rd Company

1st Battalion, The Murom Infantry Regiment - 1st Company

Feels like I'm on a bit of a roll now, but largely it's down to the preparation work done in the last couple of weeks.

Anyway on with the 1st company:

And the battalion so far:

1st Battalion, The Murom Infantry Regiment - Elite Company

After a pretty unproductive February, I back in the saddle with the first batch of figures for the Murom Infantry Regiment.

28mm miniatures by Foundry as usual.

Tuchkov III

The first of my brigade commanders is that of the 1st Brigade in 3rd Infantry Division, Pavel Alekseyevich Tuchkov. He is represented here by a Perry mounted officer in conversation with to a colleague by Foundry.

Pavel Tuchkov was born in Vyborg in 1776. He followed his two elder brothers in the army to serve as a sergeant in the Bombardier Regiment in 1785, quickly rising to serve as his father’s adjutant. He became a shtyk-junker in 1788, a captain in the 2^nd Bombardier Regiment in 1791, and gained his majority in early 1797. A year later he was elevated to Lieutenant Colonel and took command of the Life Guard Artillery Regiment, picking up the Order of St. Anna around the same time. He joined the Order of St. John of Jerusalem in 1799 as a full Colonel and was made a Major General the next year. He retired in November 1803 whilst commander of the 9^th Aetillery Regiment, but returned to the colours in 1807 to command the Wilmandstand Musketeer Regiment.

He led 1^st Brigade of 17^th Division in 1807, but did not participate in the campaign of that year. In 1808, he was in Finland and, after holding Sandö and Kimitoön, joined Bagration for his advance on the Åland Islands in 1809. Tuchkov retained his brigade in 17^th Division in 1810 when it formed part of the 1^st Western Army, but in early 1812, his had command of a brigade in 3 Infantry Division within his brother, Nikolay’s III Infantry corps. In the face of the French invasion, he commanded 1^st Western Army’s rearguard as it withdrew to Smolensk and was dispatched to hold the critical road junction at Valutina Gora (Lubino). He was captured late in the day whilst leading a counter attack by the Ekaterinoslav Grenadier Regiment, having received a bayonet wound to the abdomen and a number of sword cuts to the head.

Bonaparte interviewed Tuchkov on 25 August 1812, and tried to persuade him to take a peace proposal to the Tzar. An offer he declined, but he did agree to write to his elder brother. He was finally released in 1814 and, after a six-month leave, joined the army for its advance into France in 1815. He finally retired on 21 February 1819 after twenty-five years service and entered the Senate. He became a Privy Councillor in 1840 and died on 5 February 1858, in St. Petersburg.

Taken from the Russian Officer Corps of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, 1795-1815, by Alexander Mikaberidze.

Skirmishing Jägers

The last of the figures I completed in Aarhus before to moving to Odense were some skirmish stands.

These are based on Foundry's firing line in forage caps, but with the odd head swap and the grenades filed off the ammo pouches. Unlike that of line battalions, jäger webbing was black, including the sling, and the have green trousers to match their coats. Facing are also green, discretely piped in red with a line red strip down the outside of their trousers - as per this image:

They are painted up to represent the 8th and 9th companies (i.e. 3rd battalion) of 20th Jägers in winter dress and their sister skirmishing companies from the 1st battalion will be following the next line battalion. So their pompoms are red with a yellow centre and forage caps have blue piping on the crown.

As the senior of the two jäger regiment, they sport yellow epaulettes.

If better organised, I'd have got a gold pen to write the unit number on the rear of the pouch. Instead, I had to do it with a brush - so some are better than others.

3rd Battalion, The Reval Infantry Regiment

As many will be aware, by 1812 Russian Infantry Regiments consisted of three battalions: two field battalions (1st and 3rd) and a depot battalion (2nd). The elite companies from a division's various 2nd battalions were sometimes also mobilised to form composite grenadier battalions. In the case of the 3rd Infantry Division, these served with the division, but more on that another day.

Next up is the 3rd battalion of the Reval Regiment, sometimes referred to as the 2nd field battalion.

Unlike 1st battalions, 3rd battalions carried two 'coloured' flags. The other main distinctions were the colouring of the shako pompoms, sword knots, and banding on field caps. The latter had white bands on the crown in 1st battalions, but sky blue in the 3rd. I'll save pompoms and sword knots for a later post.

Although I've been sticking with Black Powder of late, these are based according to Peter Gilder's Grand Manner Rules, which would also allow them to be used in General de Brigade etc. As you can see, the four companies each consist of eight figures, but the two platoons of the elite company have been based separately to allow them to form up on either flank when in line. This also allows the command company to sit squarely in the centre when in column.

Whilst I painted the first and elite companies, the second and third companies were beautifully painted by Steve Hall of Hallmark Figure Painting

Finally, a rear shot of the first and elite companies: