Continental line gun carriages

 

  What color should you paint your Continental line cannon carriages?  The answer is a surprising depends.  Depends on the year and they type of carriages.  Gray, red brown and finally blue are all correct, depending on the date and type of carriage.

  According to Harold Peterson's "Book of the Continental Soldier" iron guns and all other iron were to be painted black. This was to prevent rust.  At the start of the war gun carriges were painted grey similar to the British Royal Artillery.  Returns from quarter masters suggest the actual shade of grey varied depending on the paints available.  

  In Charles Wilson Peale painting of Washington at Princeton the cannon is painted a grey color.  

  In the Battle of Princeton painting by William Mercer in the first-round there is a grey carriges gun.  Off to its left there is also a red brown carriges on another gun.  Perhaps thus was a French Valliere system carriges as these were usually painted red brown in French service.

  After 1780 there are many returns for blue paint.  We see many carriges are now painted blue.  These are carried forward to the post war years and is standard practice for the army during the war of 1812.

  What about waggons?  For military service waggons there are returns for grey and also red brown waggons.   Interestingly an Hessian office from Stirn's Brigade on Long Island mentions using captured waggons to carry tents and baggag; "little chariots painted red."

Sailing

 Today I am off sailing in the lake.  In the video my ship is dead, #99.  I definitely have a lot to learn about sailing but it is great fun and very relaxing.  

Saint David's Day and The Royal Welch Fusiliers

 

1st March 1775;  This being St. David's Day the officers of the 23rd Regiment, or Royal Welch Fusiliers, dinned together according to the custom.  All the General & Staff Officers, the Admiral, and several other person's were invited to dine with the Regiment...."

From the diary of Lieutenant Frederick MacKenzie.

The "custom" was on each Saint Daivid's Day following dinner the regimental goat with the drummers and fifers are led around the mess table.  The drum major has a silver plate with raw leeks and the mess sergeant carries a loving cup filled with champagne. They halt by the newest joined officer who then stands on his chair with his left foot and places his right foot on the table and eats a leek while the drummers play a continuous roll.  Once he has consumed the leek he is handed the loving cup and before drinking toasts "And Saint David!"  All present who have not eaten a leek, including guests are expected to do so. Similar ceremonies occurs in the sergeants and the other ranks mess.  This custom, described as "ancient" in 1775  is still observed in peace and during war time up to the present time.

To all today I wish a Happy Saint David's Day to the Welch, and to all Royal Welch Fusiliers both past and present!

Chatterton Hill October 1776 Game

 

 

Slowly putting together a game based on the Battle of White Plains, in particular the fighting around Chatterton Hill on 28 October 1776.  Sadly there is a tremendous amount of misinformation about the battle and its been interesting researching and trying to figure out who was where and who was involved.  I will be doing a future post on what I can put together about the battle based on primary (first person) accounts later.

  First off here is the order of battle I put together based both on first person accounts and casualties returns per regiment.  Part of the problem here is there were two British columns and two separate American delaying forces.  One retired back to Chatterton hill while the second fell back to the main American line.   Most wargames scenario books have a number of units that did not take part in the fighting on Chatterton hill.  One unit never mentioned was the Independent Loyalists companies that became  The New York Volunteers.  Two companies were assigned to each column. They definitely suffered casualties so might gave been there at the battle.  If I do add them they will be dressed in the loyalist uniform British were just sending;  green coats with white facing's and round hats.  I have most of the figures ready except for the Hessian Grenadier battalions.  RSM Ltd miniatures have castings which are very decently priced.

Crown Forces:

Hessian Line Brigade:  Colonel Rall

Rall Grenadier Regiment (Dk blue coat, red cuff no lapel)

Knyphausen Fusilier Regiment (Dk Blue coat, Black cuff, black lapel)

Lossburg Fusilier Regiment:  (Dk Blue coat Orange cuff,  Orange lapel)

Lieb Musketeer Regiment  (Dk Blue coat, Yellow cuffs Yellow lapels)

2nd British Brigade: General Leslie

5th Regiment of Foot (Gosling Green facings)

28th Regiment of Foot (Yellow facings)

35th Regiment of Foot. (Orange Facings)

49th Regiment of Foot (Green Facings)

Hessian Grenadier Brigade: Colonel von Donop

Grenadier Battalion von Linsing

H-C Lieb (Dk Blue coat, Yellow cuffs Yellow lapels)

 H-C Mirbach M. (Dk Blue coat,  Red cuff, Red lapel)

H-H 2nd Lieb Gren Rgt (Dk Blue coat,  Red cuff, Red lapel)

H-H 3rd Lieb Gren Rgt (Dk Blue coat, Red cuff, Red lapel)

Grenadier Battalion von Block

H-C Wutgenau M. (Dk Blue coat, Red cuff no lapel)

 H-C Prinz Karl M. (Dk Blue coat, Red cuff, Red cuff)

 H-C Trumbach M. (Dk Blue coat, White cuff,  White lapel)

H-C Donop M. (Dk Blue coat,  Straw cuff, Straw lapel)

Grenadier Battalion von Minnigerode

 H-C Erb Prinz F (Dk Blue coat Rose cuffs,  Rose lapel)

H-C Ditfurth F. (Dk Blue coat,  Yellow cuff, Yellow lapel)

H-C Knyphausen F. (Dk Blue coat, Black cuff, Black lapel)

H-C Losberg F. (Dk Blue coat Orange cuff,  Orange lapel)

American Forces:

Here are the American forces who fought on the hill.  I have used faculty returns as well as first person accounts to determine who I think were there.

Ordered to fortify Chatterton hill Washington sent Brook's and Graham's Massachsetts Militia regiments out.  Using fences and stone walls they created a good position for themselves.  Colonel Haslet was then sent out with his Delaware regiment and two guns from Hamilton's New York Artillery company to support them.

Earlier Washington had sent a number of regiments out to harass the two advancing British coloumns.  From Colonel Douglas's brigade the 1st  and 2nd Connecticut State regiments  harassed the left column under General von Heister.  He detached Colonel Rall with his regiment, the Knyphausen and Lieb regiments to push them back.  

Finally Washington sent Brigadier McDougall's brigade to support the hill.  The Brigade was made up of the Smallwood's Maryland regiment, 19th Continental, 1st and 3rd New York regiments.

Haslet's Brigade:

Delaware Regiment

Mosley's Massachusetts Militia

Brook's Massachusetts Militia

New York Artillery

Spencer's Brigade:

1st Connecticut State Regt.

5th Connecticut State Regt.

Skirmishers

McDougall's Brigade:

Maryland Regiment

19th Continental Regt.

1st New York Regt.

3rd New York Regt.

Finaly;  if anyone out there has done convention type games in the past and have advice please feel free to pass this on to me.

Park Service cuts 1,000 jobs

 

 "The U.S. Forest Service is firing around 3,400 hires while the National Park Service is terminating about 1,000 under Trump's push to cut federal spending.

The cuts represent 10% percent of the U.S. Forest Service workforce and 5% of Park Service employees.  They are part of  Elon Musk's campaign to radically cut back the U.S. bureaucracy.”

This year when parks are opened for limited hours or most programs are cut back you know why  

Update:  time to fight back!!