Armies in Review: War of 1812 British 2nd (Light) Brigade

   The British 2nd or Light Brigade is one of my favorite commands from the Niagara 1814 campaign.  Made up of the Glengarry Light Infantry and Incorporated Militia Battalion of Upper Canada, and at times a militia "brigade" or two.  Native Indians who served with John Norton often were assigned to this brigade.  Unfortunately I am repainting and rebasing my Indians so they are not here in the picture.

  Commanding the Brigade is Lt. Col. Thomas Pearson from the Royal Welch Fusiliers.  After recovering from serious wounds suffered during the Peninsula War he was transferred to Canada.  Not a popular officer due to his strict discipline, he was a professional and good battlefield commander.  His handling of the Light brigade in delaying the American advance in 1814 prior to Chippewa was a text book example of commanding light troops.

    Dressed like the famous 95th Rifles The Glengarry Light Infantry Regiment carried muskets instead.  A long serving light battalion they were recruited in the Glengarry district of Canada. A well disciplined and hard fighting unit they saw service throughout the war.

   My favorite regiment for the British/Canadian army is  the Incorporated Militia Battalion of Upper Canada.  Made up of long service militia who volunteered for this battalion.  They served as a full time battalion and deserved to be thought of a regulars.  Dressed in Red coats faced green (although many officers wore red faced blue) they were issued belgic shako but many men wore the civilian round hat instead.

  There were two "brigades" of militia with the army at Lundy's Lane.  Called brigades they were actually a collection of understaffed regiments.

  One battalion I painted in green coats with red facings.  I have mixed in round hats and stovepipe shako for a more unusual look on the battlefield.

  The other battalion is dressed in a mixture of civilian clothing, round hats and shakos.  Officers and NCO's are in red coats to mark their superior status.

  Figures from the incredible range of War of 1812 figures by Knuckleduster miniatures. I think that this brigade showed off the variety of figures from this company best.   Great figures and a incredible variety of uniforms.

Armies in Review: War of 1812 British 1st Brigade

   Commanded by Lt. Col. Hercules Scott, the 1st Brigade is made up of the 1st, 41st and 49th Regiments of Foot.  At times I add part of the flank companies I pictured with the 3rd brigade  to round out the command.  The 8th and 49th Regiments are wearing the earlier Stovepipe shako.  I did these to represent their long service in Canada before the war.  While the 41st was also a long service regiment in Canada they were rebuilt after Battle of the Thames and a second battalion joined them.  I field them in the belgic shako.

   Another nice thing about this theater is the wide variety of uniforms you can possibly pick from.  Americans varied year to year.  British head gear also varied from stovepipe to belgic to round hats.  All makes for a colorful and interesting army in your table.

           Colonel Hercules Scott with the 8th Regiment of Foot.

      Colonel Hercules Scott with the 41st        Regiment of Foot.  I think it would be difficult to find a officer with a more military sounding name.

   Although the enlisted men are wearing the older style shako I put some officers in the newer style.  Since they purchased their own uniforms they might have gotten the newly issued caps before the regiment wore out the older ones.

   Again all miniatures are from the wonderful line of War of 1812 figures by Knuckleduster miniatures.  Flags are from Flags of War, who do a wonderful range of flags for this theater.

Armies in Review: War of 1812 American Headquarters Units

Major General Jacob Brown and ADC.  Commanding the American division on the Niagara invasion 1814.

Headquarters troops.  These are regiments not assigned to a brigade command during the game.  Cavalry and Rifle regiment.  Next year I plan on adding a sapper and miner unit.

1st Rifle regiment.  Dressed in summer uniform of green hunting shirt trimed  buff.

Rifle regiment in open or skirmishing  order.

United States Dragoons.

New York Militia Dragoons in fancy uniforms.  Historically this regiment 's uniforms caused a minor panic among militia battalions during the Plattsburgh campaign who mistook them for british!

Volunteer cavalry in hunting shirts and civilian round hats.

Figures are mostly Knuckleduster, with the militia dragoons and the hunting shirts horse from from Old Glory.

Armies in Review: War of 1812 Ripley's 2nd Brigade

  Brigade General Eleazer  Ripley' 2nd Brigade made up of the 1st, 21st and 23rd United States Infantry Regiments with the 5th United States Infantry regiment attached.  Captain Ritchie's United States Artillery battery attached to the brigade.  Although not a famous as Scott's brigade the 2nd under Ripley fought just as well throughout the campaign but did not receive the press Scott's did.

  Before the war Ripley was a lawyer in New Hampshire.  He later joined the United States Army and commanded the 21st U.S. infantry regiment.  Promoted to command the 2nd Brigade he and commanding General Jacob Brown never got along.  At Lundy's Lane his brigade captured the British artillery and held the position throughout the night.  During the siege of Fort Erie he distinguished himself  in defending the first during the British assault on August 16 and also during the American sortie on September 17.  Not as dramatic as Scott, Ripley was more cautious with the lives of his men.

Captain Ritchie's U.S. Battery of Artillery

 1st and 21st US Infantry.  Regimental colors are from Flags of War.  They have a complete line of flags from the War of 1812 that is fantastic.  Highly recommended!

  25th and 5th US Infantry Regiments.

  Details of the uniforms of the 1st, 21st and 25th US Infantry.  They are dressed in the 1814 uniform of blue coats with no facing  and white lace on the collar.  They wear the tombstone shako.

   The 5th United States Infantry Regiment was not assigned to the 2nd Brigade in 1814.  They later served in the Niagara under General Gaines and his reinforcements later in 1814.  Here they are dressed in the mid 1813 uniform of blue coat, red collar and cuffs and white lace.  They wear the tombstone shako.  These figures are from Brigade Games line of War of 1812 figures.

   Here are figure a from Knuckleduster on left and Brigade on right.  Slightly different sculpting styles but the figures look good together in the table top.

Miniatures from Knuckleduster and Brigade Games.  Regimental colors from Flags of War.

Armies in Review: War of 1812 Potter's 3rd Brigade

  Porter's 3rd American Brigade was made up of volunteer or militia battalions.  A battalion from New York and Pennsylvania served with a group of turn coat Canadians in  battalion called the Canadian Volunteers.  To round out the command I added a battalion of militia in hunting shirts and round hats.

General Porter with his brigade.  A nice smug figure of a volunteer or militia commander.

   New York Volunteers in dress uniforms with a mixture of civilian clothing throughout the battalion.

 A militia regiment dressed in round hats and hunting shirts.  Officers are dressed in full dress uniform of blue coat faced yellow. A nice different type of regimental dress.  Figures are from the new Brigade Miniatures War of 1812 line of figures.  They mix in very well with the Knuckleduster miniature figures.  The flags are New York militia flags.

  The infamous Canadian Volunteers.  They are dressed in a variety of clothing and uniforms ranging from regulation United States uniforms, to gray jackets and civilian clothing.  A mixed looking lot!

Armies in Review: War of 1812 Scott's 1st Brigade

Winfield Scott 's 1st Brigade of General Brown's army in the Niagara in 1814 is the stuff of legends.  Today a number of regiments in the United States Army trace their observatory and traditions to these regiments.   The Brigade made up of the 9th, 11th 22nd and 25th United States Infantry Regiments and Captain Nathaniel Towson's artillery battery.

 The man himself leading his brigade in a suitably dramatic pose.

  Dressed in gray jackets as opposed to the blue regulation uniform.

Musicians in reversed colors.

Many officers, who had purchased their own uniforms wore regulation blue.

Captain Towson's battery had a high reputation within the army for professionalism and steadiness under fire.  American guns during the War used iron tubes as opposed to brass ones.

All figures are from the outstanding War of 1812 line by Knuckleduster miniatures in 25mm.  Regimental colors by Flags of War.

Armies in Review 2019

  Once a year I like to review my armies. It gives me a chance to see what I have done, what I need to do for next year and admire what I have.  There is a feeling of accomplishment when looking over your collection.  And anticipation of when next they will take the field in a table top battle.

  My first review was to be my Rev War armies.  On a short day from work I placed  a couple of tables outside and set up the Crown Forces then the American Rebels.  Only when I had taken it down and out away the terrain and figures did I review the pictures.  They were blurry and washed out.  I was most disappointed and post a couple of the better ones to show this.  A bit of a waste of effort.

  My next attempt was indoors and with my War of 1812 collection.  This time I decided to photograph them by brigades.  A small amount of figures at a time but better for the space and picture quality.  Most of my armies have been organized by brigades as they tend to be what a player commands for a table top battle. Usually these to four battalions per brigade.  Since most games have two to four players per side an army of three brigades is very good.  Also, this lets me concentrate on which regiments make up the Brigade.  Usually these are based on a historical order of battle.  The individual regiments are very  important to me as I am fascinated by their histories and stories.  Also, occasionally they are to honour or remember a friend or my time with a reenactment unit.  There have been times in the past where the game goes out the window and we go out of our way to four Frank's or George's old regiment.  Great fun!

  So, I hope you enjoy the next series of posts and my mini review of my collection of fugures.  Thank you for stopping by!