Monday, May 24, 2010

Brigade of Guards

Coming off the workbench at the moment are the battalion companies of the British Brigade of Guards. I have primarily used the Minfigs' American Marines pack to depict British this unit. The minis come with the cut-down round hats turned up on one side, like those worn by reenactors portraying this unit (cf. Brigade of Guards' picture gallery). The only problem is that these minis come with a backpack/blanket roll configuration that is not accurate to this unit.

A Completed Battalion (click to enlarge)

The Guards saw extensive service throughout the war, beginning with the invasion of New York. The Guards participated in the battle of Long Island (August 27, 1776), and served in a reserve capacity at the subsequent battles of White Plains (October 28) and Fort Washington (November 16). In the following months, the brigade saw service in New Jersey, most notably at Short Hills (June 26, 1777). The brigade also participated in the 1777 invasion of Pennsylvania and the 1778 retreat through New Jersey. During these campaigns, the brigade was instrumental in breaking the American line at the battles of Brandywine, (September 11, 1777), and Monmouth (June 28, 1778). The last major battle in which the brigade served in the northern theater was Springfield, New Jersey (June 7, 1780). The following year, the brigade was active in the southern theater, most notably at Guilford Courthouse (March 15, 1781) and Yorktown, where it was captured (October 19, 1781).

4 comments:

  1. Looking good. I've got a batch of these figures undercoated and ready to go for the same unit. And have had for over a year now! Maybe this will prompt me to get them done!

    Andy

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  2. I look forward to seeing more of your AWI, whether it's this or another unit.

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  3. AD - very nice work there, and good to see someone putting their Guards in the correct hats! We've been lobbying Alan Perry to make some particular guards figures in 25mm for some time now (and didn't the light company wear something different again?), but I have no idea if he'll ever make them. So to date, the only figure of a Guardsman in the round hat is in the interrogation vignette (AW100).

    Best wishes

    Giles

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  4. Coming from you that's high praise! You're right that the lights wore different headgear (caps). So too did the grenadiers (again, evidently some kind of cap). I haven't made up my mind yet as to which figures I'll use for those companies.

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