Monday 24 February 2020

The Legacy of the Machault

The Machault was sunk in the Battle of Restigouche in 1760 but now yields an insight into the material culture of New France.

Friday 21 February 2020

Fife and Drum miniatures on the workbench

Go here to see 'greens' of Mohawks and Saratoga Brits. Excellent miniatures for the Revolution.

COMING SOON: MOHAWK INDIANS! Richard recently finished 14 Mohawk Indians that we will be adding to the Fife and Drum AWI figure range. Click on the Work Bench tab to view all of the new greens (click on the "More" drop down menu and then select and click the "Work Bench" tab.

These should be in production by the end of March 2020, hopefully in time for the Seven Years War Association convention on April 2-4, 2020. 

The story of Butler's Rangers and the settlement of Niagara

By E. Cruickshank.
https://archive.org/details/storyofbutlersra00cruiuoft/page/n6/mode/2up

the chief requisites of a good ranger being, as General
Haldimand subsequently remarked,"to shoot well,

to march well,
and to endure privation and fatigue,"

Joseph Brant painting by George Romney 1776

His Majesty's Indian Allies

His Majesty’s Indian Allies is a study of British-Indian policy in North America from the time of the American Revolution to the end of the War of 1812, with particular focus on Canada.
 This is a good book I have. Get it here

Wednesday 19 February 2020

Wolves from Niagara Mike Phifer

Anybody read this book on Butler's Rangers? Looks interesting.
https://heritagebooks.com/products/101-p4319

An interesting painting

A painting of a young Piankeshaw man
An original watercolor, framed and attached to the mat background, an inscription on the mat in French: "Jeune Sauvage de la NATION DES PYANKASHAWS au pays des Illinois. Desine d'apres l'original. An 9. Par le C.en Portier Ing.r de la Marine." (A Young Savage from the Piankeshaw nation, Illinois country. Conceived after the original. 1801. By Citizen Portier, Naval engineer.)

Wolves of the Mohawk Valley Don Troiani

Natives, captives, and Butler's rangers. Buy the print here

Tuesday 18 February 2020

Raiders of the Mohawk Orlo Miller

Anyone read this? Looks fun.
A romanticized account based on the true life experiences of Daniel Springer, who served in the Rangers along with his older brother, Richard.

Saturday 15 February 2020

302015501 - Woodland Indian Tribes

Available from North Star in the UK. Warlord Games in the US
Contains:

  • 24 plastic multi-pose Woodland Indians with a variety of armaments and equipment
  • 2-page background guide including construction details

Models supplied unassembled and unpainted

The Burning of the Valleys Kindle

"The Burning of the Valleys" by Gavin K. Watt describes the coordinated Autumn 1780 attacks on New York State by three columns of English regulars and their loyalist and Native American allies. The attacks were designed to remove all of New York north and west of Albany from playing any further part in the American Revolutionary War.
Kindle edition
I liked this book. I based a series of events around the themes in this tome.

The killing of Jane McCrea Don Troiani

This event was a major propaganda coup for the Patriot cause. Read about it here

Friday 14 February 2020

Pulaski's Legion by Ed Dovey

Interesting unit. Wiki

WSS 1/72 French

If you are into 1/72 then these figures look like they will do for Queen Anne's War Compagnie franches de la Marine.

Also see my Pinterest page Compagnies franches de la Marine the early years

Coming soon from Crann Tara

charging French

Hurons
Facebook here where there are more figures. Webpage here

Washington at Monongahela 1755 by JOB


Braddock Road Chronicles

 Published by Heritage books. It's a great book if you have an interest in the Braddock expedition.
Braddock Road Chronicles, 1755 (From the Diaries and Records of Members of the Braddock Expedition and Others Arranged in a Day by Day Chronology) - Andrew J. Wahll. In 1755 Maj. Gen. Edward Braddock was put in charge of constructing a road from the Potomac River at Wills Creek (Cumberland, MD), to Fort Duquesne (present-day Pittsburgh) at the forks of the Ohio River. His object was to take the fort and thereby launch the conquest of French-held North America. Although Braddock was killed not far from his goal in the grisly clash known today as Braddock's Defeat, the route that he opened ultimately became a highway for western emigration, and part of it was incorporated in the National Road. The making of the Braddock Road was an engineering marvel that tested the abilities and endurance of its builders.

The remarkable detail contained in this compilation is too vast to mention here but includes descriptions of forts, personnel, food, Indians, clothing, lodging and more. Carpenters, artificers, shoemakers, tailors, wagonmasters, farriers, nurses, cooks: nothing less than a traveling city was required in the construction of the Braddock Road. Personal journals and official military reports and correspondence are gold mines for anyone who studies the people, events and daily life of the past. The material collected here is extracted from the records of British army regulars (including Braddock, St. Clair, Gage and others), colonial militia (Cresap, Croghan, Gist, Washington, etc.), camp followers, American colonists (Burd, Hamilton, Franklin, Dinwiddie, Delancy, etc.), French-Canadians (Contrecoeur, Dumas, Lotbinier, etc.) and newspapers. The ultimate battle is described firsthand. Short biographical sketches, a chronology and a list of sources round out this comprehensive study. These fascinating accounts are enhanced with informative annotations. Maps and illustrations are included.

Thursday 13 February 2020

Nouvelle-Framce boardgame

Redcoats Yankees and Allies

A great little book from the late 90s. Joe Lee illustrations
Redcoats, Yankees, and Allies: A History of the Uniforms, Clothing, and Gear of the British Army - Brenton C. Kemmer. Illustrated by Joe Lee. The vital Lake George - Lake Champlain corridor, always a strategic link between New England and Canada, is the geographical setting of this study of the uniforms and clothing of British and Yankee soldiers and their Native American allies during the French and Indian War. Historians and reenactors alike will consider this book indispensable! Brief historical sketches of the British campaigns of 1755-1760 provide ample background information. A general description of the military clothing, gear and equipment issued during this period is followed by detailed descriptions of the items worn and used by the different groups: Yankee Provincials, Rangers and Light Infantry, Redcoats, Indian allies, and auxiliary troops. Thirty-three excellent illustrations by well-known artist Joe Lee greatly enhance this volume. Sixteen informative appendices include: marching order and parade dress of the British army, descriptions of "small clothes," regimental lace, facing colors, examples of markings, clothing and gear issuance of 14 regiments and two Ranger units, and a description of British musicians' coats and gear. Includes a glossary and an index of names, places and subjects. (1998), 2007, 5½x8½, paper, index, 180 pp.  101-K0905 ISBN: 0788409050

News from Galloping Major

A figure for pack SYW/FIW F8 Fusiliers standing, halted on the march 1, of the Les Francais Kickstarter.
https://kickstarter.com/projects/63158181/les-francais

Monday 10 February 2020

Keith Rocco - the 62nd at Freeman's farm Saratoga 1777


The painting depicts an action during the First Battle of Saratoga, the Battle of Freeman’s Farm.
This work was used for a wayside sign installed at this very spot at Saratoga National Historical Park in New York State.
Another detail showing the right wing of the 62nd Regiment of Foot.
Detail: Lying on the ground is 17 year old Ensign Henry Young. Poor Henry was shot in the leg (not sure which leg, but it was between the ankle and knee) in the course of the battle - it was a mortal wound. A wounded Royal Artillery matross steadies himself against a tree on his way to the rear. The tree has been ‘girdled’, removal of a section of it’s bark. Mr. Freeman used this method to quickly kill trees. They would later be felled to clear more pasture land.
See more of Keith's work here http://keithrocco.com/
Keith Rocco Facebook

The 62nd at Saratoga by Don Troiani

Lovely illustration of the 62nd. Don Troiani webpage here.
Article on the 62nd at Freeman's farm here.

The Saratoga campaign uniform in the Von Germann pictures

Friedrich von Germann was a captain of a regiment from Hesse-Hanau, one of the many German auxiliary troops hired by George III to fight in the American Revolution. He arrived in Canada in 1775, served in the southern campaigns, and was present at the surrender at Saratoga.
During the war, he painted a series of watercolours of American, British, and German soldiers. The New York Public Library’s drawings are most likely 19th-century copies of von Germann’s watercolors, possibly by the artists E. Sack and Kail (whose names appear on the drawings). They were commissioned by the New York historian William Leete Stone to illustrate a personal copy of his translation of the famous Hessian commander’s writings, “Memoirs, and letters and journals, of Major General Riedesel' from here




Friday 7 February 2020

Last of the Mohicans redcoats

I have a Facebook group 'Seven years war living history' and this subject came up yesterday. Who were the Redcoats in LotM? It should be the 35th but apparently the director Michael Mann didn't like the orange facings that this regiment (35th) should have had as it clashed so made them have the buff you see here based apparently on the 48th regiment.
The above group from one of the early scenes are the 60th Royal American regiment.
Also in the movie there are Highlanders, grenadiers. There were no Highlanders at Fort William Henry but it's only a movie. The above image is from this page where there are more production pics.
Close-up of the '35th' uniform

Wednesday 5 February 2020

Old Fort Niagara event

Celebrate the season at Winter Woods Battle, Feb. 15! Lots of activities for everyone who loves: the outdoors, the indoors, historic buildings, history, quill & ink, tinsmithing, shelter-building, re-enactors and drinking hot chocolate in the woods.
https://www.oldfortniagara.org/e…/100187/winter-woods-battle

New series on the French infantry of Louis XV

NOW SENT TO PRINTERS
MC-010 and MC-011 French Infantry of Louis XV Part 1 and 2.

This is the first part of this lavishly illustrated study with over 385 colour illustrations of the French Infantry of Louis XV (1720-66). France rebuilt their army after the War of Spanish Succession (1700-14) before being involved in the War of Polish Succession (1733-35), War of Austrian Succession (1740-48), Jacobite Rebellion (1745), French Indian Wars (1754-63), and Seven Years War (1756-63).

PART ONE deals with the 35 Regiments that made up the ‘Les Vieux Corps’, ‘Les Petits Vieux’ and the Royal Regiments. Their Colonel’s and Ordnance flags were normally more ornate than the other Provincial French Regiments, often with the use of the fleur-de-lis. The 105 illustrations of flags include seventy by Chaligny (1771) and the regimental number relates to the post 1763 reform of the army when 22 regiments were disbanded. The author decided to simply present the illustrations and where possible resolve the inconsistencies. The precise details of uniforms are
difficult to sort out with the distance of time and these have been highlighted rather than reconciled by the works of Pengel and Hurt. The remaining colour illustrations include 94 uniform, 114 schema, 76 details of uniform and weapon by Lucien Rousellot, Lucien Mouillard, Gudenus, Alfred de Marbot, Henry Boisselier, Hans Brauer, Hans Knötel and Friedrich Schirmer.

PART TWO deals with the 61 Provincial Regiments. The 125 illustrations of flags include 62 by Chaligny (1771) and the
regimental number relates to the post 1763 reform of the army when 22 regiments were disbanded. The author decided to simply present the illustrations and where possible resolve the inconsistencies. The precise details of uniforms are difficult to sort out with the distance of time and these have been highlighted rather than reconciled by the works of Pengel and Hurt. The remaining colour illustrations include 50 uniform, 187 schema, 44 cuff and pocket details by Lucien Rousellot, Lucien Mouillard, Gudenus, Alfred de Marbot, Henry Boisselier, and Friedrich Schirmer.

Part 2 that also contains the Index and References for both parts.

The subsequent parts will cover the foreign infantry regiments, light infantry, militia, the guard and the cavalry.

Garnison de Québec. Compagnies franches de la Marine

www.lagarnisondequebec.com