Tarleton's Quarter

Carl Aemilius Ulrich von Donop (1732-1777) was a member of a noble, military family.  He had seen action in the Seven Year's War and was a personal adjutant to the Landgrave of Hesse-Kessel, which no doubt helped when he lobbied the Landgrave for a decent command position with the American expeditionary force.  By this stage he was Chief of the jaeger corps.  Three of the Hessian grenadier battalions were brigaded together under von Donop's command.  In that capacity, he fought at Brooklyn, Haarlem Heights and White Plains, and was then effectively given command of the New Jersey garrison. 

I'm half-way through my Hessian commanders series, so this is brief interlude on something else.  I first blogged about the Queen's Rangers back in 2007.  The regiment was raised in New York in 1776 by Colonel Robert Rogers, of F&IW fame.  Rogers soon handed over command to a British officer, Colonel French, who in turn was succeeded by Major Wemyss, and in late 1777 the regiment came under the command of Major John Simcoe (who was only 25 at the time).  The regiment was initially organised into 11 companies of around 30 men each, one of which was a highland company.  This was recruited largely from Scottish loyalists in Virginia.  Apparently the highland company was renowned for its discipline and combat skills, so it was often used for guerrilla skirmishing and scouting. A muster roll from February 1780 shows the company commander at that time as one Captain John Mackay (and confirms that the company had a piper, as you'd expect).

These figures are from the Eureka Miniatures French and Indian Wars range.  I bought them ages ago and painted up the 3 skirmishers back in 2005.  I intended the other 4 figures to go on a standard infantry base to add to the rest of the regiment, but for whatever reason never got around to it.  So here is the highland company, in both skirmish and close order.  These are very much "on campaign" figures, with Indian leggings and tomahawks, and Indian braided canteen covers..  I put the Eureka Miniatures highlander officer on my General Burgoyne command base (which, like most command stands, I never blogged about).  I think these figures make a good addition to a Queen's Rangers unit. They do, perhaps, look a bit "F&IW"; but I think the figures work for the loyalists in campaign dress.  The alternative would be to use some of the Perry AWI highlander figures.  Since I bought the Eureka figures the North Star "Muskets & Tomahawks" range has also come out (in early 2020, I think, because I bought the "pre-order" deal and it then got stuck in my work office mail room for the duration of Lockdown).  These are a bit bigger than the Eureka figures.  You have a fair bit of choice now if you want to model the highland company.  Given the company's paper strength was around 30-40 men, you don't need many figures.  I wanted the option of both skirmish and close order.

In terms of scenarios, Brandywine and Monmouth require units of 20 and 22 figures respectively.  The outlier battle is Spencer's Ordinary of June 1781, which appears in volume 2 of the Caliver scenario; I participated in a game of this battle back in 2008 (see report and photos here).  This requires a total of 64 Queen's Ranger infantry figures, including 6 for the highland company (and also 22 cavalry figures, including the dragoon troop).  The highland company is classed as "light infantry" with an "elite" rating. So what I probably should have done was painted 6 highlanders, in two skirmish stands of 3 figures each.  Oh well...that's what happens when you paint and base the figures and only then look at the scenario books!

7 figures.  Painted 2005 and August 2024. 

Maximilian von Westerhagen was the Colonel of the von Ditfurth Regiment from 1778 onwards.  This regiment fought at White Plains and Newport.  Westerhagen appears in the scenario for the latter as a brigade commander (hence why I wanted a personality figure to represent him).  The regiment also participated in the siege of Charleston in 1780, where it remained until 1782.  I haven't yet painted this unit, as it only appears in one "British Grenadier" scenario: Newport.  I haven't been able to find out anything substantive about the regiment's colonel.  It seems that Westerhagen was awarded the Hesse-Kassel "pour la vertu militaire" in 1781, a military award modelled on Prussia's "pour le merite". But it looks like pretty much every senior officer in the Hessian Americas corps received this award at some stage between 1777 and 1783.  

This is another figure from the Eureka Miniatures Russian Revolutionary Wars range, one of two officers "with lapels".  The standard uniform for the Ditfurth Regiment was "sulphur yellow" cuff, collar and lapels, with white waistcoats and breeches and silver lace for officers.  Now I've painted the its colonel, I feel I should add the Ditfurth fusiliers to my collection... 

1 figure. Painted August 2024.

Friedrich Wilhelm von Lossberg (1720-1800) was one of the general officers in the Hessian corps.  Rodney Atwood, in his invaluable book "The Hessians", says that he came from "an old soldier family which had migrated from Thuringia in he seventeenth century to escape religious persecution". When he arrived in America in October 1776 he was a colonel in command of the First Brigade of the Second Hessian Division, which was under the command of Lieutenant General Wilhelm von Knyphausen. He became a major general in 1779 (or 1780, depending on what book you read) and then a lieutenant general in 1780 (or 1781, ditto), before ultimately commanding all German forces left in North America in 1782 once von Knyphausen had left.  As he was nominated for general command before the Hessian contingent arrived in America, von Lossberg did not personally command any Hessian regiments during the AWI.  However, in 1780 he was appointed as chief of the von Mirbach Regiment, which was consequently renamed the Jung von Lossberg Regiment.  "Jung" means "young", as Friedrich's older brother, Lieutenant-General Anton Heinrich August von Lossberg, was already the chief of the existing von Lossberg Regiment, which in turn was renamed Alt von Lossberg (or "old").  One way of remembering the different between these two regiments is that von Mirbach/Jung Lossberg was a musketeer regiment, whereas (Alt) Lossberg was a fusilier regiment.

1 figure. Painted August 2024.

Rhode Island was the first of the thirteen colonies to formally renounce its allegiance to George III, in May 1776.   The colony then proceeded to raise various regiments of troops as an "army of observation".  The 1st Rhode Island Regiment began life in 1775 as "Varnum's Regiment", was then adopted into the Continental Army as the 12th Continental Regiment, was re-designated the 9th Continental Regiment in 1776 and then on 1 January 1777 became the 1st Rhode Island Regiment.  What became the 2nd Rhode Island Regiment followed a similar path: raised as "Hitchcock's Regiment" in May 1775 it joined Continental service as the 14th Continental Regiment, then becoming the 11th Continental Regiment in 1776.  A year later it was re-designated the 2nd Rhode Island Regiment.  In February 1778 the 1st and 2nd Rhode Island Regiments merged, and a new 1st Rhode Island Regiment was formed largely of freed slaves.  These units appear to have been consolidated into the "Rhode Island Regiment" in 1781.   A third unit, "Church's Regiment", was also raised in May 1775 but was disbanded at the end of the year and its men transferred into the other 2 regiments.  A further unit, "Richmond's Regiment", was raised in October 1775 and was taken onto the Continental establishment later that year.  The unit appears to have been discharged early in 1777.  There are also references to another short-lived regiment, "Babcock's" or "Lippitt's Regiment", which was raised in 1776 and disbanded in January 1777.  

The uniform colours I used for this battalion were taken from the leaflet that comes with the Perry boxed set of Continental infantry.  This has dark blue coats faced yellow for the "1st State Regiment" in 1777.  I confess I'm not entirely sure which of the five regiments above it is supposed to be.  Uniforms changed from year to year in the 1775-8 period and it may be that the blue faced yellow coats were issued to the 1st Rhode Island Regiment in January 1777, or were unique to one of the other units.  I've seen references to the 2nd Rhode Island Regiment starting off with brown faced red coats and then changing into white hunting shirts in June 1778.  So I'm a bit confused as to this unit's identity but, to be honest, I don't really mind since I like the blue faced yellow coats and this is something different to the more ubiquitous blue or brown faced red.   What is clear is that this painted unit is not the later-war "Rhode Island Regiment" in the famous all-white uniforms and fancy leather hats.  I painted these figures with 1776-78 very much in mind.

I painted these figures a good while ago and then forgot about them.  A photo of them appears in the fourth "British Grenadier!" scenario book to accompany the Newport scenario.  I wanted to use up all my remaining metal "marching" figures, so there are a number of different packs and manufacturers represented here.  At one end is a base of four of Eureka's "ragged Continental" figures - this is the company that hasn't received its new uniform issue yet (but are still marching proudly).   

The blog's been quiet recently for various reasons.  I have some more AWI cavalry to post about shortly and then...Napoleon in Egypt week!

20 figures.  Painted December 2014 to February 2015.  Flag by GMB.

A unit of North Carolina Light Dragoons was first raised in April 1775.  Originally a militia unit, the regiment was the attached to the Continental Army and was present at Brandywine and Germantown.  The regiment was disbanded in 1779 but then re-organised alongside other existing militia units into a new regiment on the NC State establishment under the command of Colonel François DeMalmedy, a colleague of Pulaski who was seeking employment in the South as a cavalry commander.  The regiment fought in various engagements in the southern theatre, including Stono Ferry, Cowpens, New Garden Meeting House and Eutaw Springs.  At some stage after the last engagement DeMalmedy was killed in a duel by another officer.  The regiment seems to have dissolved as a result of the loss of its colonel and the troops were reassigned to other units.

I painted this unit simply to use up my remaining Eureka "ragged Continental cavalry" figures.  I hunted around for a cavalry unit I didn't already have (or which I intended to do with Perry figures) for a while before I came across the North Carolina Light Dragoons.  This unit is not specifically referenced in any of the published "British Grenadier!" scenarios, but I suspect it falls within the 20-figure "militia cavalry" at New Garden.  Information on the uniform for this regiment is very thin. I found one un-sourced reference to dark blue coats faced red, and there's a Don Troiani painting of a "rifle dragoon" in a hunting shirt and tarleton helmet (which is very similar to my Dabney's Legion), but that was it.  I went with the Eureka "jockey caps" because I had those left over and wanted something different to the tarletons/crested helmets/floppy hats that I've been painting recently.

So this is the end (probably) of Eureka's cavalry figures in my collection.  This range has served very well for both American and Loyalist units and I now have 70 of these figures - 52 Americans and 18 Loyalists.  I raved about these figures when they first came out and I can't recommend them too highly.  Even with the more recent Perry Continental Dragoon releases, these figures still have something special to add, as the separate hats/helmets and the mix of coats and hunting shirts enable you to create pretty much anything you like, particularly for state, militia and legion troops.  I confess to a preference for the charging figures, as with the other swords-shouldered pose it's sometimes difficult to put floppy hats on the figures' heads.  I do have one Eureka figure left, which I'm hoping to turn into a personality of some sort.

Currently on the workbench are Perry cavalry and something a bit different, as per the final photo below....

4 figures.  Painted May-June 2017.

Many Loyalist units were raised in the South and these figures represent generic Loyalist cavalry. I like to give my units specific regimental designations, so I'm calling this one the South Carolina Dragoons, even though it's designed to cover a variety of units.  Finding specific information on these sorts of units is difficult.  The Royal Provincial website lists 3 units of "South Carolina Light Dragoons" but provides no details.  The site also refers to a unit of "North Carolina Independent Dragoons".  These units seem to have be raised in 1781 and operated either as scouts or mounted infantry.  We do know that at least some of the South Carolina Loyalist cavalry was commanded by Major John Coffin, formerly of the Loyalist infantry regiment the New York Volunteers. 

I wanted something for use in two "British Grenadier!" scenarios: the "South Carolina Dragoons" at Eutaw Springs (8 figures) and the "New York Dragoons" at Hobkirk's Hill (6 figures).  It's possible that these two units are in fact the same, as there is speculation that whilst the "New York Dragoons" are recorded as having been at Hobkirk's Hill this unit may have been confused with the infantry New York Volunteers and that the cavalry present were from South Carolina.  I thought that if dressed in proper cavalry uniforms the troopers might have sought to emulate British regiments like the 16th and 17th Light Dragoons.  So tarleton helmets seemed appropriate, although chum Brendan Morrissey suggested to me that floppy hats would probably have been worn as well as, or instead of, metal helmets.  I decided to use more Eureka "ragged Continental" figures (which I've used for other Loyalist cavalry units, the East Florida Rangers and  Emmerich's Chasseurs).  Options for facings colours included blue, which would have been suitable for a New York unit, and yellow, which was more suggestive of South Carolina as it's known that some of the infantry Loyalists had yellow facings.  Given that I have the blue-faced 16th Light Dragoons in a similar uniform, I decided to go with yellow.

I'm almost there with British and Loyalist cavalry now - just the 17th Light Dragoons in their northern theatre dress and the British Legion left to do.

8 figures.  Painted April-May 2017.

Casimir Pulaski was born in in Poland in 1745 and began soldiering at an early age. In 1777 he met Benjamin Franklin and Lafayette in Paris, who then introduced him to General Washington.  Pulaski seems to have started off with some sort of staff or advisory role but was then made a brigadier general and given command of all American cavalry.  He spent the winter of 1777-8 training and outfitting the cavalry units but in March he resigned his command and suggested to Washington that he form an independent legion of cavalry and light infantry. This idea was approved by Congress in March 1778 (see below) and Pulaski's Legion was born.  Many of the recruits were German deserters and British PoWs, officered by Polish and French expatriates (apparently thirteen Polish officers served under Pulaski in the legion). In October 1778 the Legion and some other troops were attacked at what became known as the "Little Egg Harbor Massacre" and lost 30 men.  In February 1779 the Legion was sent to the south and Pulaski was instrumental is lifting the siege of Charleston. The Americans then moved onto their own siege of Savannah. By this time French forces had arrived and on 9 October 1779 the allies made their disasterous attack on the town. Seeing the French infantry falter, Pulaski galloped forward with his legion to rally the men but was mortally wounded by cannon shot. He died two days later, on 15 October 1779.  His Legion was disbanded the following year and the men transferred to Armand's Legion.

The published "British Grenadier!" scenarios only feature Pulaski's Legion once - 10 figures at Savannah.   I painted Pulaski himself back in 2011, using a Eureka Miniatures "Baron Munchausen" figure.  For his Legion I've used the Eureka "ragged Continental" cavalry figures, wearing brass helmets.  I painted all the figures and horses last year, having picked up some reinforcements from Eureka at Salute 2016.  However, for whatever reason the figures came with the wrong helmets.  I knew that Eureka would have replaced them without any fuss, but I failed to let Eureka know and then eventually this year's Salute was just around the corner.  I'd been mulling over what figures to use for Loyalist South Carolina cavalry, so I thought I'd just order some more figures and re-order the correct helmets.  So I spent last week painted all the helmets and finishing off the basing, even though the figures themselves were painted almost a year ago!  


Pulaski seems to have recruited more men than Congress ordered, as the muster rolls of August 1778 refer to "three companies of horse, armed with lances, and three companies of infantry, a total of three hundred and thirty."   So how many troopers were actually armed with lances and for how long?  Who knows - but the justification for having lancers is there in the archives.  So I decided to give lances to 4 of the rank-and-file figures (which of course meant using the same standard bearer figure 5 times).  The pennants are from Adolfo Ramos - I don't know how authentic they are, but the lances would look a bit bare without them.  My first choice was white over red, but I realised I'd used most of them up on my BAL dragoons, so had to use black over red instead (the only other option was yellow over light blue!).  I think they look ok. 

The legion's flag is well-known and has a complicated design,  Despite there being plenty of information on this flag, no one seems to make it in 25mm but it was pretty easy to download a couple of pictures and make my own (I wasn't going to try to paint it myself from scratch).  It reads "Unita virtus forcior" [sic], which is supposed to mean "union makes valor stronger"; and then, on the other side, "Non alius regit", which means "no other governs".  Apparently the flag was rescued from the Savannah battlefield by a wounded lieutenant and now resides with the Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore.

10 figures.  Painted March-May 2016.

It's been much too long since my last post - usual reasons of too much work and a severe reduction of painting time over the past couple of months.  This is the 2nd New Jersey, a regiment raised at the end of 1775 under the command of Colonel William Maxwell.  It saw action fairly quickly by being assigned to the army investing Quebec.  The regiment returned to New Jersey at the end of the men's one-year enlistment and was immediately reformed.  By this time, Maxwell had been promoted to Brigadier-General and the regiment was assigned to his New Jersey brigade within the division commanded by William Stirling.  Command of the regiment passed to Israel Shreve, whose teenage son had also enlisted.  The 2nd New Jersey was at Brandywine, Germantown and Monmouth.  In 1779 the regiment was part of General John Sullivan's campaign against the Iroquois and was subsequently stationed back in New Jersey, where it saw further action at Springfield in June 1780.  After a further period of "garrison" duty, in August 1781 the regiment marched to Yorktown with the rest of the New Jersey Brigade to bring the war to its end.  In June 1783 the regiment was disbanded.

This unit is the first of two that I painted to use up my remaining "firing line" Continental figures.  The second is a bulking-up of an existing unit that I'll post about at the weekend.  I had intended to paint a Connecticut regiment in brown coats, but information on the likely uniforms of the unit I had in mind has moved on and I'll be using Perry plastic figures instead.  Looking through the "British Grenadier!" scenario books, I noticed that some scenarios require large units where a single Continental regiment is split into "wings"; and so for those units you need forty or more figures wearing the same uniform.  With that in mind, I saw that if I painted this larger 24-figure unit in dark blue faced red coats, with a handful of figures in hunting shirts, then I could combine it with some existing (much older) units such as the 2nd Maryland, the 8th Maryland  and even the very smart Delaware Regiment.  Adding those 3 units to the 2nd New Jersey gives me a largely uniform regiment of 78 figures.  Using up left over figures means that the 2nd New Jersey has representatives from the Foundry, Perry and Eureka ranges.  These are all broadly compatible, of course, although in the command stand the Eureka drummer looks rather well fed and tall next to the more slender Perry officer.  I decided to group the remaining Eureka "ragged" Continentals and the hunting shirt types on the same base, to suggest a company that is awaiting its new issue of uniforms.  There is a second Perry officer on that base simply because I ran out of rank-and-file figures.

The flag is the one usually referred to as "Maxwell's New Jersey" flag.  I've had it for years and was having difficulty finding a use for it, and it seemed appropriate for the 2nd New Jersey to carry.  It certainly makes a nice change from anything with stars and stripes.

On the workbench at the moment are more Continental and Loyalist cavalry, and a couple of other things.  More soon, I hope.  In the meantime, happy Easter to all readers!

24 figures.  Painted January to March 2017.  Flag by "Flag Dude".