Saturday, 30 May 2015
Revamped SYW British Guards Brigade
Thursday, 28 May 2015
Prussian SYW IR4 (both battalions) Kalnein
That latter regiment had 3 battalions, unusually, and so I have grouped it in with IR6 the Grenadier Guard which only had one battalion.
These were for eBay but they are already sold. Next up IR 5. Then IR 3, I and II and then 3,III and 6.
Austrian IR 14 Salm-Salm
As a brief aside, the Prince was rather a scoundrel as he had 18 illegitimate children.
Sunday, 24 May 2015
WAS in Italy (6): l/Schulemburg (Sardinian)Infantry Regiment
The plan (when was the last time I stuck to a plan?) is to paint a small number of units for the Piedmontese/Sardinian, Austrian, Neapolitan, Modenese and Spanish armies, roughly in the proportion of those present at the battle of Campo Santo. But not necessarily those present at the battle - as I explore these forces I might find some ever prettier ones with nicer flags!
This regiment was present at the battle (at least one battalion) and actually it was raised in Saxony. The Piedmontese army appears to have been only about 50% Italian in composition - the infantry at least - the remainder coming from the Swiss Cantons and German states.
Information on the uniforms is a bit sketchy but it comes mostly from
http://vial.jean.free.fr/new_npi/archives/archiv.htm
To paint these units you need to fill in the gaps - for example we know nothing about the drummer's uniform but in the WAS reversed colours was very common. Ditto nothing is known about the grenadier bearskin.
Lastly the figures used were mostly Crusader 28mm SYW Russians. These are very good generic figures useful for many nations and with minimal straps. But for the grenadiers at the end I had to use Austrians from the same manufacturer. The officer is from Black Hussar, the NCO from Foundry.
Thursday, 21 May 2015
Revamped Hanoverians now with finials
Wednesday, 20 May 2015
WAS in Italy (5): Battle of Campo Santo February 8th 1743
Battle
of Campo Santo: February 8th 1743
The Spanish
began to deploy at 3am on the 7th. De Gages had 33 battalions (averaging 400
men each) in 4 brigades of 6 battalions, one of 4, and one of 5. Their left was
the expected point of attack, so it was reinforced and anchored on the Panaro.
Occupying a large farmhouse on the extreme left were the Parma Brigade (5 bns),
followed by the Walloon (Guards) Brigade (6 bns), extending the line a quarter
mile from the river. The Castile Brigade and the Spanish (Guard) Brigade (both
6 bns) ran parallel to the river in front of Campo Santo. Nine squadrons of
cavalry, angled back to the river, covered the Spanish Guards’ right flank.
Here, light troops
occupied
another farmhouse. The remaining two brigades were in reserve. The vital
bridges were behind the center of the position.
Nothing
happened on the 7th, so the Spanish continued to sort out the mess at the
bridges and dig in. Von Traun was expecting them to retreat to Bologna and was
content to let them go, but if they remained in place, he was resolved to
attack. Now, as noted, the Spanish would have retreated, but the bridges were
clogged. So it appeared to von Traun as if they were intending to maintain a lodgement.
He called a council of war. The Piedmontese commander, d’Aspremont, was eager
to attack despite the enemy’s superiority, and the normally cautious von Traun
was in agreement. He too had his accusers at Court whispering he was incapable.
It would also help to cement the alliance if a little Piedmontese blood were
spilled.
It was now
too late in the day to attack. Besides, von Traun was hoping for a consignment
of heavy artillery from Mirandola. So the assault was timed for the 8th.
On the
morning of the 8th, the Allies formed for battle in two lines. The Austrian
intent was to engage the strong Spanish left with light troops, which they had
in abundance, and strike the weaker right flank with the bulk of their army.
The cavalry, on their far left, would sweep along the Panaro, while the
infantry in the center engaged the Spanish Guards and its associates. This
deployment entailed a speedy march, including a canal crossing (the Fiumecello,
running parallel to the Panaro), to avoid the Spanish observing what was afoot.
The movement succeeded.
Von Traun’s
men were in position around 1:30 in the afternoon. They were deployed parallel
to the Spanish, but offset so that the center of their line was opposite the
right flank of the Spanish. Earlier, von Traun’s Croats had begun harassing the
enemy left, successfully pinning the Parma and Walloon Brigades for most of the
day. The general advance began at 2pm, but due to the presence of many ditches
it took two hours to advance a thousand yards (many of the later battles in
this theatre began with the units advancing in columns, but here the
by-the-book linear style was followed).
Though
operationally von Traun had initiated the attack, it was the Spanish who began
the actual combat. At 4pm, the Spanish Guards, led by General Macdonald, plus 6
battalions from the reserve, advanced to meet the enemy, extending their line
to the right until it rested on a pond. An extra battalion was stationed on the
right of this pond.
[By moving
in close, the Austrians had forced the Spanish to try and drive them away.]
The Austrian
cavalry now crossed the Spanish right in order to take the infantry in flank,
but were exposed to the Spanish squadrons only 300 yards away. Without
hesitation the 5 right-hand Spanish squadrons charged. Two Sabaudian squadrons wheeling
to flank this movement were countered by 2 of the Spanish squadrons peeling off
on the left, and the remaining 3 Spanish squadrons crashed into the Miglio
Cuirassiers before they could form line. That regiment was routed from the
field. The Austrian second line, 8 squadrons of the Berlichingen Cuirassiers,
in turn attempted to flank the Spanish horse, but took heavy fire from the
enemy battalion posted on the right of the pond, which had been lying down in
concealment. Three Spanish squadrons brought over from the left wing then charged
and routed the cuirassiers.
Fortunately
for the Austrians, after seeing their much-vaunted cavalry chased off the
battlefield, the Spanish horse lost control and wasted itself in a pursuit,
leaving the infantry to slog it out. When they eventually did return, they
merely reformed on their old position and took no further part in the action.
At some
point, the Austrian artillery opened up. Initially, the heavies from Mirandola
did the talking, but von Traun’s field pieces soon had their say. By 4:30 in
the afternoon, both sides
were close
enough for muskets. Galled by artillery fire, the Spanish charged with the
bayonet, driving back the Austrian infantry on its exposed right flank.
D’Aspremont brought up one of his Piedmontese regiments and stabilised things,
but both he and his second in command were wounded, d’Aspremont mortally so.
Von Traun was everywhere in evidence, having two horses shot out from under
him.
By 6pm
darkness had fallen and both sides took a breather. De Gages only had 4
battalions in his reserve, and his left was still pinned. At 7pm, the
Piedmontese general, the Baron Leutrum*, later famous for his defence of Cuneo,
led an attack by 4 Sabaudian battalions from the second line, supported by 3 Austrian
battalions. Capturing an entire Spanish battalion near
the pond
(possibly the isolated one), they forced the rest back to their start line. The
brigadier commanding the Walloon Guards led 3 of his battalions against the
Austrian right but was
recalled by
de Gages: wrongly, for de Gages now ordered 2 of the Castile battalions to help
them. In the darkness, the Castilians mistook the Walloons for Austrians. 200
men were
killed
before order was restored.
[*Karl
Sigismond Frederick Willeim Leutrum. Born Karlhaunsen, Baden, 1692, died Cuneo
(as the city governor) 1755. Probably the best Piedmontese commander of the
18th Century.]
After
failing in an attempt to storm the Spanish fieldworks, von Traun ordered a
withdrawal back to the near side of the canal. He fully intended to renew the
attack next day, but by then de Gages was gone. The Spanish quietly began
crossing the Panaro at 3am on the 9th; by dawn there were only a few mountain
guns to be moved across. De Gages’ men reached
Bologna on
the 10th.
The Battle
of Campo Santo cost the Spanish 3,464 men (23%) and the Allies 1,751 (14%).
This was the bloodiest battle of the war to date, and seemed even more so from
the small numbers involved. Both sides claimed victory. The Austrians, with the
better case, because they had repulsed the enemy and were ready to go a second
round, the Spanish because they had retained the field at the end of the day.
To
be continued……….
Austro-Sardinian Army: (Nafziger)
Commanding
Officer: Feldmarschal Graf Traun
lst
Line:
Demonstration Group:
Partisian Formation
l00 Havor Hussars
Brigade:
FLM Graf Schulenburg,GFW Baron Pestaluzzi
Alt-Wallis Infantry Regiment (3)(4
guns)
Roth Infantry Regiment (2)(2 guns)
Brigade:
FLM Marquis Pallavicini,GFW Graf Novati
Deutschmeister Infantry Regiment (2)(2
guns)
Traun Infantry Regiment (3)
Brigade:
GL Count Aspremont,GM Chevalier Cinzano,Brigadier Cumiane
Artillery (Sardinian)(5 guns)
l/Schulemburg (Sardinian)Infantry
Regiment (l)
l/Diesbach (Sardinian)Infantry
Regiment (l)
Savoy (Sardinian)Infantry Regiment (2)
(5 guns)
Brigade:
FLM Graf Pyersberg,GFW Graf Petrusati
Miglio Cuirassier Regiment (6)
Savoy Cuirassier Regiment (2)
300 Havor Hussars
Brigade:
4 Fortress guns
Slavonier Infantry
Mounted Slavoniers (zu Pferd)(2 sqns)
3
Brigade:
Mounted Maroser (zu Pferd) (2 sqns)
Slavonier Infantry
200 Reiters
2nd
Line:
Brigade:
Combined Austro-Sardinian Cavalry (4
sqns)
Brigade:
GFW Neuhaus
Diesbach Infantry Regiment (3)
Brigade:
GFW Graf Colloredo
Piccolomini Infantry Regiment (3)
Brigade:
Brigadier Baronleutrom
2/Diesbach (Sardinian) Infantry
Regiment (l)
l/Rehbinder (Sardinian) Infantry
Regiment (l)
Piedmont (Sardinian) Infantry Regiment
(2)
Brigade:
FLM Graf Ciceri,GFW Graf St. Pierre
Berlichingen Cuirassier Regiment (3)
Queen's
(Sardinian) Dragoon Regiment (2)
FLM =
Feldmarschallieutenant
GFW = Generalfeldwachtmeister
Hispano-Neapolitian
Army
Spanish:
Lieutenant General de Gages
lst
Line:
Right Wing: LtG Duke de Atriasco,MdeCs
J. de Silva & de Croix
Brig de Silva
Carabinier Regiment (3)
Reyna Cuirassier Regiment (3)
Center Right: Lieutenant Genral R.
Macdonald, MdeC de Carvajal
Brig Romero
Spanish Guard Infantry Regiment (6)
Center or Castillan Brigade: LtG
Ramirez, MdeC de Valdecanas
Brig Macdonald
Castilla Infantry Regiment (2)
Flanders Infantry Regiment (2)
Lombardy Infantry Regiment (2)
Center Left: LtG Mariani, MdeC Count
Jauche, Brig Count Grossberg
Walloon Guard Infantry Regiment (6)
Left Wing: LtG Beaufort, MdeC de la
Torre, Brig de Castro
Sagunta Dragoon Regiment (3)
2nd
Line: LtG Count Sayve
Right Wing: MdeC de Crevecour, Brig
Duke de Arcos
Reyna Dragoon Regiment (3)
Center
Right or Queen's Brigade: MdeC de Gravina, BrigJ. Pacheco
Reyna Infantry Regiment (2)
Corona Infantry Regiment (2)
Guadalajara Infantry Regiment (2)
Artillery:
MdeC Pignarron
Center
Left or Irlanda Brigade:MdeC de Villadrias, Brig de Burke
Irlanda Infantry Regiment (2)
Ibernia Infantry Regiment (2)
Left
or Parma Brigade: Brig A. Bessler
l/,4/Bessler Infantry Regiment (2)
Wirtz Infantry Regiment (l)
Parma Infantry Regiment (2)
Mountian Fusilier Infantry Regiment
(2)(883)
Reserve:
Mountian Fusilier Regiment (2)
Hussar Free-company
Italian Free-company
Albanian Free-company
MdeC = Maistre de Camp
Austrian IR10 Jung-Wolfenbüttel and converged Grenadier BTN
The regiment was raised in Stuttgart in 1710 as regiment “Prinz Heinrich von Württemberg”.In 1716, it took part in the campaign against the Turks. It then served in Italy. During the War of the Polish Succession, in 1735, it served on the Rhine.
In 1740, prince Ernst Ludwig von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel acquired the regiment. Its recruiting area was the south west area of the Holy Roman Empire. The regiment was called Jung-Wolfenbüttel to distinguish it from regiment 29 belonging to Duke Carl von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern which, for the same reason, was designated as Alt-Wolfenbüttel.
Its conservative uniform may reflect the fact that it's inhaber was the other side of Germany in Brunswick!
By the SYW the regiment should have dropped the red waistcoat and the drummers should have ditched the reversed colours and had issued white coats. But the uniform has retained many older fashioned features which suggests (my theory) a difficulty in communicating orders from Vienna. No SMS from Vienna "Hey Dudes, time to ditch the red" and for this reason its stands out as a pretty regiment. Also, to reflect this 'conservatism' I have given them the green Non-Imperial 1743 flags which were issued to a few units although we don't know for sure which. Certainly upon resumption of the Imperial dignity Vienna ordered these humiliating flags replaced but flags were costly and it took time.
Lastly we have here the grenadier companies converged from the four regiments we have painted in this recent 'surge'.
Monday, 18 May 2015
Prussian SYW IR2, both battalions, on ebay
http://www.ebay.com/itm/111674021539?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649
http://www.ebay.com/itm/111674022578?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649
New painting service and new website
Wednesday, 13 May 2015
Austrian IR56 Mercy-Argenteau
Monday, 11 May 2015
SYW Prussian IR1 for sale eBay
This is the start of a new project. The target is to
paint every single regiment of Prussian Infantry of the Seven Years War –
musketeers, fusiliers, grenadiers and garrison regiments So over the new few weeks I will be putting up
here the first six regiments (12 battalions of 24 figures) and continuing on
after that. The sequence is IR1, IR2, IR4, IR5,IR3 (3 battalions) and IR6 (one
battalion).
Each battalion is 24 figures of 25/28mm from the German
manufacturer Black Hussar whose figures are the best available anywhere. One
officer, two standard bearers, one NCO, one drummer and 19 rankers in each
battalion.
Here is IR1 von Winterfeldt, 1st and 2nd battalions. There are four bases, each 2” x 1.5” so
ideal for many rules including Maurice.
On eBay
Plus two French battalions you have seen recently: