As the battle report will form part of the text of THE PORTABLE NAPOLEONIC WARGAME book, I'm only going to give regular blog readers a taste of what happened. However, it would do not harm to show what the opposing forces look like.
The British troops (General Badger's Brigade)
The American troops (General Halsey's Brigade)
The British troops (General Badger's Brigade)
The American troops (General Halsey's Brigade)
Bob,
ReplyDeleteYour Dutch Belgian foot and artillery make good proxies for US troops. Not sure about the cavalry in classical helmets - troops in shakos would be better.
But having British Hussars as their opponents will make it easy to distinguish the two sides in black and white photographs - the Duke commented that at distance it was not colour, but the shape of a man's cap that aided identification.
Regards, Arthur
Arthur1815 (Arthur),
DeleteI did think of using some of my Prussian cavalry in shakos to represent the US Dragoons, but decided that in black and white they might look rather indistinct. I know that the uniforms worn by both sides in my battle aren't 100% accurate, but if it doesn't bother me, it shouldn't bother most people.
All the best,
Bob
Bob,
ReplyDeleteFor what it's worth, American Light Dragoons did wear horse-hair helmets (more or less similar to those worn by French Dragoons). The Boston Hussars did wear shakos, while most militia light dragoons wore Tarleton helmets; unfortunately, so did Canadian militia dragoons, as did the British Hussars when they first arrived in Canada!
But as you said, does any of this truly matter?
Best regards,
Chris
Chris,
DeleteThanks for the very useful uniform information. I'm tempted to create a small US Army for the War of 1812 ... but for the time being I'm going to use substitutes.
All the best,
Bob
Both forces look great. I'm looking forward to the game report.
ReplyDeleteMaudlin Jack Tar,
DeleteThe battle report will be included in the book ... but I will try to give a flavour of it in a future blog entry.
All the best,
Bob
That gives me a good idea of the flavour of things and fills me with an even greater sense of anticipation. When do you hope to have them ready for publication?
ReplyDeleteAlan
Tradgardmastare (Alan),
DeleteI hope the photos that I will be including in a forthcoming blog entry will tantalise you even more!
The planned publication date is set for the end of November/beginning of December, but as with all things, delays might occur.
All the best,
Bob
Bob,
ReplyDeleteI have not in the past had any great knowledge of the War of 1812...though learnt something about it tonight through 'Wikipedia'...seems that Armies of 10 to 20,000 were involved between 1812 to 1814 and in the beginning the Americans were not having it all their own way...seems most of the engagements were around the Great Lakes area. An Interesting period you have chosen. Good fortune with your Project. Best wishes. KEV.
Kev Robertson,
DeleteWhen I was in the US, a lot of the guides spoke about the War of 1812 as being the final chapter of the US's struggle for independence from a Great Britain. I was told all about the British fleet being forced to 'run away' from New York and the Battle of New Orleans ... but no mention of the various attacks on Canada that failed and the attack on Washington that led to the burning of the White House!
The land war is small enough to be refought as a tabletop campaign by a wargamer with only a modest figure collection ... and with the addition of some simple naval rules, it should be possible to relight the entire war.
All the best,
Bob