1st Pennsylvania battalion 1776

  Sometimes you paint certain regiments for historical reasons.  They fit a historical order of battle or were for a particular battle.  But no, not this time.  I painted this regiment only because I really like the uniform.  Back when I first found a copy of Charles Lefferts Uniforms of the American Revolution his watercolor of the 1st Pennsylvania Battalion 1776 jumped out.

   Only later did I find out he made a error.  While he thought the uniform was a brown coat faced buff, it most certainly was brown faced green.  A very unusual combination but one that is very attractive.  So I just had to paint this regiment.

   The 1st Pennsylvania Battalion raised in November 1775 and commanded by Colonel John Bull.  In 1776 Colonel John Philip Dr Haas assumed command.  Under this officer the battalion saw service with the main army under Washington including fighting 1st Trenton and Princeton.  On October 25, 1776 the regiment was redesigned the 2nd Pennsylvania Regiment.

  The figures are all Old Glory miniatures, second edition.  These are a great improvement in the original figures.  The regimental colors were photocopied off the internet.

More Continental line Infantry

  Next up on the painting table....more Continental Line Infantry!

  These will be for Stirling's and Fermoy's brigades during the e meme and winter of 1776.  I have changed the 1st Pennsylvania for the 3rd as I wanted the brown faced green uniform.   Otherwise here are the units with the brigades;  Delaware Regiment (Blue faced red with round hats), 1st and 5th Pennsylvania battalions (Brown coats faced green and faced red, mixed hats), the Pennsylvania Rifle/Musket battalion (Hunting shirts and coats Blue faced white),  the German battalion (Hunting shirts) and the 1st Continental Regiment (green hunting shirts).

  Figures are second edition Old Glory miniatures.  They come in regimental packs of 30+ figures.  And with a Old Glory Army card are very cost effective.  These are all second edition miniatures and a great improvement in the original miniatures.

"Men who are Determined to be Free": The American Assault on Stony Point, 15 July 1779

The Battle of Stony Point was a  exciting but forgotten battle of the American Rev War.  A  little midnight July 16, 1779, the American Corps of Light Infantry overran the British position at Stony Point on the Hudson River. In twenty-five minutes American forces captured over 500 British troops, fifteen artillery pieces, and over 100,000 continental dollars’ worth of goods. It was a victory celebrated at the time and made General Anthony Wayne's reputation.  But today few but enthusiastic buffs know about it.  Sadley, fewer have taken the time to write about.  But those that have have done outstanding works and include Don Loprieno’s The Enterprise in Contemplation: The Midnight Assault on Stony Point, and Henry P. Johnston’s The Storming of Stony Point on the Hudson. Because these are difficult to find books the reading public has had a difficult time finding good material to learn about this fascinating battle.  "Men Who Are Determined to be Free" corrects this and provides the reader with a handy reference to this battle.  



      The author begins his coverage of the by describing the strategic situation in 1778. While this may feel somewhat unnecessary to some. I think it relates  the battle to the time and explains why both sides operated  as they did.  It explains the creation and development of the American Corp of Light Infantry.  It also tells the tale of how Anthony Wayne was picked for the assignment, and why he may have been the most experienced man for the job.  Lastly it explains the strategic and operational constraints that Sir Henry Clinton and the British were under.  Already the French alliance with America was hovering a effect.  British troops were being striped away for operations elsewhere and Clinton just did not have the manpower sir William Howe once had.  Not did he have Howe's operational freedom.



   The book contains a good amount of pictures, including many of the modern  battlefield. Throughout the book the reader can follow operations by the numerous maps.  Unlike many military history books this one does contain many useful ones.  Both the author and the publisher should be transistor this.


   Lastly, the book is a very good read and full of ideas for a miniature battle.  The details of night fighting and the confusion it causes is discussed.  How to translate this to the table top is another matter and one I have been working on for Refighting Lundy's Lane.  

Stone Walls

  It is the little things you add to your table top that brings it alive.  It is also terrain features which add tactical nuances to a scenario.  Fences, both wood and stone are common terrain items for my Rev War and War of 1812 battles.  I have plenty of split rail fences I picked up at Cold Wars many years ago.  Now I needed some stone walls for my terrain.  This is especially true as I want to fight Pell's Point later in the year and they play a prominent role their.

  I picked up a bunch of stone walls on Amazon recently.  Three pieces with gates and thirty straight wall pieces.  At about six inches per wall, that is a bunch of walls!  But, like books, beer and ammunition you can never have too many walls.  These were paid for by a gift card I got from work as a reward for a job well done.  Or at least customers who wrote to the company thought I had done a good job.

  These come unpainted so first thing I did was prime them in a flat black.  A quick dry brushing  of grays and Light tan and presto!  Ready for the table top.

  In New England stone walls are everywhere.  It's a very rocky geologic area.  Farmers will tell you there are two harvests each year. In the spring you get rocks.  In the fall you get more rocks and sometimes a few vegetables.  What do you do with all those rocks?  Build walls!  You line the road in front of your house with them.  Otherwise in wet weather horses and wagons looking for good traction come up on your property. Soon your front yard is now part of the riad!   You build walls to mark your land boundaries. France make good neighbors.   You wall in your crops to protect them from the wondering animals.  Walls are everywhere and super useful both in real life and on the table top.

St. David's Day

   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 David'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.

Past glory: game night Crimean War

   Well here is a surprise for me.  While visiting AJ's blog I came across a YouTube video he did of one of my Crimean war battles.  Here are a few pictures from that game.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FZgdpocxTYY

   I had never seen this before and was delighted when I discovered it.  Thank you AJ! I am always amazed by all the very clever things you come up with.

The March to Richmond game

  Club game day and it is a big, American Civil War spectacular.  Infantry, artillery, cavalry, a fleet of ships and a observation balloon. Here is the scenario for the game:

  "McClellan has landed his army at Fort Monroe on the peninsula. He now must get his siege train in position to bombard Richmond and take the rebel capitol. With naval assets available, the Union players will need to fight their way up the peninsula to Richmond. the Confederates must stop the Federals and protect the capitol."

   The table for this game was over 20 feet long.  There were twists and turns and all sorts of interesting terrain.  Off table was the James River.  Both sides ships were extremely nice models mounted on moveable tables.  A most amazingly clever idea!

Richmond.

Unimpressed observers.

  Both sides set up on the far table with the majority of their troops.  The Southerners had some river batteries to protect the water front.  The Northerners had two transport ships which could hold a division each.  These could land anywhere  along the river.  If they landed in the waterfront by the piers they could land the entire division plus guns.  Otherwise only a brigade at a time and no artillery. The Federals had two transport ships and two casement iron clads while the Confederate head a single iron clad ship.

  Both sides set up the majority of their forces on the far table.  The Federals planned on using their artillery superiority to blast through the Confederate lines.  This was a long process and sounded better then it worked.  This front was a neat grinder and both sides were locked in a see saw action which saw heavy casualties but little movement. 

Naval action.

Shore batteries

Confederate division moves to stop the naval landing.

 This caused the action to move to my front with a battle between ironclad ships and shore batteries. The heavy guns of the shore batteries blasted the ships and kept them at a distance.  But the two Federal ironclad hanged up on the line Confederate ship and eventually sank her.  But not before a transport was sunk.  This meant the Federals could only land a single division.  Which they did  behind enemy lines and within sight of the outskirts of Richmond.  But the Southern commander had held a infantry and cavalry division in reserved for just this eventuality.  So the landing party was stymied.

In all it was a very fun game and a visual spectacular.  Thank you to Ralph. For all the hard work you put into this.  The game saw 25 club members participate.  The game lasted from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM.