Saturday 28 September 2013

Tuesday 24 September 2013

A Soldier-Like Way

the Material Culture of the British Infantry 1751-1768,
the French & Indian War era,
by R. R. Gale

This book includes the complete series of Grenadier paintings by Swiss painter David Morier, published for the first time in full color
This book looks good - find out more and get it from here

F&I war for Black Powder

Over here are pictures and a report

Monday 23 September 2013

Battle of the Hook farmhouse

This is interesting - in preparation for the Revwar reenactment (October 18-20 Gloucester, Virginia
) of the Battle of the Hook they are building a farmhouse to destroy - here are some of the photos - of the original and the facsimile. Battle of the Hook Facebook page.

Two Edward Pennys


This painting of a redcoat is reckoned to be the best source of information on the redcoat of the SYW and it has a doppelganger. Edward Penny wiki

Another Francis Cotes redcoat

Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith (1723-91) 1764


British officer

Colonel Alexander Campbell (1737–1785) by Francis Cotes Date painted: 1763

Hessians

Jacobite stuff


Been covering the Jacobite rebellion on my Wars of Louis Quatorze blog - photos of the weekend's event at Prestonpans and some European stuff here

Photo of me

Found this old image from about 2005.

Thursday 19 September 2013

First Saratoga

This small  in significance victory - the Battle of Freeman’s Farm - for the Brits was today in 1777. Wiki here

Shirley's and Pepperrell's

From the wiki:
Two regiments were raised locally with funds supplied by the British Crown, entering the army list as the 50th (Shirley's) and 51st (Pepperrell's) Regiments of Foot. Both regiments took part in the disastrous British campaign of 1755/56. Overwintering near Lake Ontario, the force occupied three forts, Oswego, Ontario and George, collectively known as Fort Pepperrell. Surrounded and besieged by a French force under Montcalm, both regiments surrendered after the local commander was killed. A fair number of the prisoners were massacred by the Indian allies of the French before they reached Montreal. Both regiments were subsequently removed from the army list.
Thanks to Thomsomfeld.- more on the 50th/51st here

Monday 16 September 2013

Celesticon 2013 report

There's an excellent M&T siege of Fort William Henry at Jay's Wargaming Madness' blog. Just scroll down a bit and there it is. Excellent job folks

Brown's Raid photos

Siege of Savannah

Started today. Wiki

Battle of Harlem Heights

Today's battle is fought in 1776. Wiki here
 As we noted before there was an error when the British got their light infantry hornists to play the fox hunting call 'Gone Away' - Washington being a keen fox hunter.This served to anger the retreating rebels to be galvanised to further action. 

Sunday 15 September 2013

"The Artillery never gained more honour"

THE BRITISH ARTILLERY
IN THE 1776 VALCOUR ISLAND
AND 1777 SARATOGA CAMPAIGNS


Specific details here 
Picture (Portrait of Captain William Congreve with his Son William, c.1782 Philip Reinagle, ) and article here  on Lieutenant James Hadden of the Royal Artillery

Corps of Marines

Lieutenant George Belson (1763–1855), Corps of Marines, outside the Guard Room of the Marine Barracks, Chatham

George Belson was commissioned into the Corps of Marines as a second lieutenant on 6 May 1778 and served with the Chatham Division.
In 1791 Belson was appointed to Barrack Master of the Royal Marines at Chatham and four years later he became captain on half-pay. He continued to serve in this post at the same rank until 1832 and died in 1855, aged almost 90.

Brown's raid photos

This weekend's event at Fort Ti continues. Here's a couple of pics from yesterday - love the Royal Artillery in the Saratoga uniform - very picturesque. I like the fact that these guys carry a firelock too - shows dedication...

Saturday 14 September 2013

Battle of Devil's Hole

 250th anniversary event.
The Battle of Devil's Hole, also known as the Devil's Hole Massacre, was fought near Niagara Gorge in present-day New York state on September 14, 1763, between a detachment of the British 80th Regiment of Light Armed Foot and about 300 Seneca warriors during Pontiac's Rebellion (1763–1766). The Seneca warriors killed 81 British soldiers and wounded 8 before they managed to retreat.

Wiki here

Friday 13 September 2013

Hot Stuff

Lyrics and background to this Redcoat song about the taking of Quebec here

Article in the NY Times about Fort Ticonderoga

Article with photos here

Battle of the Plains of Abraham

Today's anniversary is the decisive battle at Quebec where Wolfe and Montcalm died. Wiki here.
Of course the image is from the old classic Mollo/Macgregor work on the SYW that was a favourite in the 70s.

Thursday 12 September 2013

Lieutenant Colonel William Phillips (1731–1781), c.1764 by Francis Cotes

From the BBC website
Looking commanding here in the uniform of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, William Phillips was described by one contemporary as ‘honest, industrious and irascible’. An able soldier, in 1756 he was appointed aide-de-camp to Sir John Ligonier, Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance (later Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces in Germany). With Ligonier’s influence, he advanced over the heads of fellow officers who had greater seniority.
During the Seven Years’ War (1756–1763), Phillips was posted to Germany in command of a brigade of British artillery attached to the army of Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick. His bold and innovative deployment of the artillery made a major contribution to the Allied victories of Minden (1759) and Warburg (1760). On the conclusion of the war, Phillips was posted to Woolwich in command of a company of artillery for a period. It must have been then that he sat to Cotes for this portrait.
Read about his career in the American Revolution here

55th foot Gary Zaboly


French and Indian War Pennsylvania Rangers

Over at Evil Bob's blog is some nicely painted rangers.

Tuesday 10 September 2013

The Battle of Quebec, 13th September 1759 by David Rowlands.

Royal Artillery - print from here.

Battle of Lake Erie 1813

I don't usually feature naval actions but as this one is a bicentennial I thought you might be interested. Wiki
The Battle of Lake Erie, sometimes called the Battle of Put-in-Bay, was fought on 10 September 1813, in Lake Erie off the coast of Ohio during the War of 1812. Nine vessels of the United States Navy defeated and captured six vessels of British Royal Navy. This ensured American control of the lake for the rest of the war, which in turn allowed the Americans to recover Detroit and win the Battle of the Thames to break the Indian confederation of Tecumseh. It was one of the biggest naval battles of the War of 1812.

Fort Mims commemorative T-shirt

Commemorative T- shirts can be ordered for those who missed out! Send a $15 check to: FMRA to cover postage to 64960 Slaughter Lane Stockton, AL 36579. Include your name, address, number and size of shirts. Add extra postage for more than two per order.

Revwar Reenactment at Ticonderoga

Sept 14-15! Don't miss this real life action adventure at Fort Ticonderoga! Visitor information http://www.fortticonderoga.org/learn/re-enactors/brown_raid/british

Monday 9 September 2013

1812 US forces - UK

This is a new Facebook page for a British group recreating the US Marine Corps in the War of 1812.

Westerham

Reading the messages on New France Old England's Facebook page I think it was pretty wet but this news article proved they didn't fail to impress.

Sunday 8 September 2013

Letter from Baron de Dieskau to Count d'Argenson

 Camp of the English army at Lake St. Sacrement, 14th September, 1755
Text of the letter in English here. 
Dieskau biography here
Image is of the French regulars at Lake George from the Osprey Fort William Henry 1757: A battle, two sieges and bloody massacre (Campaign) Paperback – November 19, 2013

Battle of Lake George 1755

This event took place today. Wiki here. 
A fascinating battle that saw Mohawk fighting Mohawk, French regulars in a daring frontal assault.. the death of a King (Hendrick pictured).all manner of events.

Saturday 7 September 2013

Marine royale XVII - XVIII siècles uniformes équipement armement

English language description here
Large 24 x 31cm format. 280 pages; of which 170 in four-color illustrations. 170g paper.
Full binding, sewn sections, royal navy blue cover with gold gilded headband and French Royal Arms.
Full four-color presentation jacket.
This book from Jean Boudriot and Michel Petard looks worth getting - anybody read it yet?

more Revwar French marines

From here

French Naval Infantry Corporal 1778

By Don Troiani - print available from here. Not sure what troops were in the invasion of Dominica - I am guessing Naval infantry...anyone know?

France's Compagnies franches de la Marine group

 Le Lys Sous L'erable from St. Malo.  Facebook page  https://www.facebook.com/lelyssouslerable