Freihusaren von Glasenapp

In 1759, von Glasenapp, who had been in Prussian service, offered his services to the duke of Württemberg who was trying to hire light troops. On February 27, 1760, they came to an agreement and he then raised a squadron of 158 hussars on his estate at Holtmuhl. The unit was disbanded on February 7 1761 when the duke of Württemberg retired from the war. Soon afterward, the entire unit entered Prussian service as Glasenapp light dragoons.

The flag is fictional as is the regularity of their uniforms. Kronoskaf says they were badly equipped and they don’t appear to have performed brilliantly in the war

Gorcy Hussars

This Wurttemberg Hussar regiment was first raised in 1735 with a one squadron strength and was known as the Leibhusarenschwadron. Then in 1758 a further three squadrons were raised and the new regiment was renamed Hussars von Gorcy under it’s new French Colonel Johan Baptist Gorcy de la Martiniere. Wurttemberg was getting large subsidies from France to increase it’s army so it’s not unreasonable to guess that Gorcy (who hailed from a village of the same name in Lorraine close to the Luxembourg border and probably spoke both French and German) raised these extra three squadrons from both Frenchmen and Wurttembergers.

I think the colour scheme of green and red makes this a very attractive looking unit. Also, I wanted to comment on painting cavalry as this is a harder job than it might look at first glance. I always try to put different horses on each base and also different poses of cavalrymen. So no two combinations are the same. This involves no small amount of planning so that also no two horse colours are next to each other! This applies to hussars and dragoons – with cuirassiers I don’t mind so much as I like them all on black horses and, preferably, standing poses.

Lastly, the flag is a fictional creation. These Hussars were never issued flags.

Luckner's Hussars

Back again after a long break. That's because I've moved to Thailand and I'm posting this from the beautiful tropical island of Koh Samui. I've rented a house here and will be spending part of the year here and part of it back in France. So the last few months have been spent moving painting stuff and looking for a place to live. This is a tourist island so if you are in the area, say hello.

Back to painting. This is the first unit painted under these sunny skies and I'm back on familiar ground with Luckner's Hussars, a unit I painted back in February 2009. Last time I used Eureka 28mm figures, this time I've used Foundry Hussars and I must say these are lovely figures, full of character, and a sense of movement. As usual with Foundry, there is quite a lot of flash on the horses but once that has been cleaned up, they paint up nicely. This uniform was, by the way, the later and more well-known uniform with white and red being the dominant colours – the earlier uniform is rarely illustrated and was green and red. On that posting back in 2009 there is also a useful biography of Luckner himself – a man who rose to become a Marshal of France and lost his head, literally, in the Revolution.

Next week, and for quite a few weeks thereafter, I will be embarking on a large project – the Wurttemberg army of the SYW.

Beaufremont Dragons

Here is another French SYW dismounted dragoon regiment, this time with the rather unusual facing colour of 'ventre de biche' or fawn on their cuffs. Figures are by Foundry again.

There will be a pause now on this blog as real life gets in the way of painting! More news soon................

Languedoc Dragons

French SYW dismounted dragoons by Foundry. Horrible figures (cartoon faces and hands, strange body tilt)
as is often the case in the later Foundry ranges but, if you want dismounted dragoons, there are not many options available. Nonetheless they look half-decent when painted up and are quite useful in a French army of the period as dragoons were often found without their horses. Besides being useful because they were trained to have a role 'on foot', they were often dismounted so as to give their horses up to their more distinguished cavalry brothers.

French SYW: Royal-Carabiniers (whole regiment)

Here is the whole regiment on my table ready for action. Total of 10 squadrons and 40 figures.
Figures by Foundry although there are some Front Rank horses mixed in with them.

French SYW: Royal-Carabiniers

This was a super-large and elite regiment of French cavalry. It consisted of 10 squadrons and was normally fielded together in it's own large brigade. I have painted half of it so far (20 figures shown) and the other twenty will be done this week. When finished I'll try to photograph the whole unit together as it will look rather impressive.

This is from Kronoskaf: “On June 23, the regiment took part in the battle of Krefeld where it formed the reserve of cavalry under the marquis de Poyanne. The Comte de Gisors, at the head of his regiment, charged the Hanoverian lines and managed to break through the first two lines and was fighting the third when retreat was ordered. While trying to disentangle his unit from the Hanoverian lines, Gisors was shot through his left side. At this battle, from a total of 1,329 men, it lost 700 troopers killed or wounded and 69 officers.” That was about 50% casualties!