Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Pikes, Muskets and Flouncy Shirts => Topic started by: vodkafan on May 26, 2018, 07:48:12 PM
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Quick question, did the British field any dragoons in the French Indian War?
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Quick answer: No. There was no British cavalry in North America during the French & Indian War. Of course there was British cavalry with the Allied army in Europe during the Seven Years War, which was the same war on the old continent.
Slightly more complicated answer: There were very small numbers of Provincial mounted troops here and there in British North America.
There were a dozen or so Virginia Light Horse scouting for Braddock's army in 1754. Best guess is that they were dressed similarly to other Virginia Provincials at that time, blue coats faced red, it's hard to say how they were armed.
There were a couple of dozen mounted Georgia Rangers who patrolled that colony's frontiers. Officially they had a blue dragoon style uniform with broadswords and pistols, but I suspect they wore frontier clothing and carried muskets and pistols when on patrol.
Without looking anything up...some of the more established colonies like Massachusetts and New York may had a fancy-dress troop or two of militia cavalry to escort the governor on parades. I think the Philadelphia Light Horse Troop of the Pennsylvania Associators dates to the F&IW. These units didn't serve on campaign in the F&IW, but might theoretically have been called out if a French invasion fleet had ever hove to in Boston harbor.
I can't recall specifics, but I expect that small numbers of mounted provincials served as scouts and couriers wherever the war was active.
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OK thanks for the info!
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SYW Project has some info on Rangers and Provincial units which might be worthwhile checking out:
http://www.kronoskaf.com/syw/index.php?title=British_Army#Light_Troops
South Carolina Provincials - ”the Carolina Regt. was, on the 17th Dec., only 400 strong; that the Rangers, or Light Horse, then consisted only in 510 privates, effective; that the Lt. Gov. did not expect that the Province could furnish above 1,200 provincials, but that he had taken great care that none were mustered but men of able bodies & fit for such hard service” (Mays, 174. Amherst to Grant, January 14, 1761)
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The Virginia Blues had a small mounted troop that served with Braddock, called Stewart's Light Horse, Virginia Light Horse, and also Horse Rangers. They led the column on the approach to Fort Duquesne and got slaughtered, 5 survived.
This site gives the starting complement as 3 officers, 2 sergeants, 33 rank and file:
https://www.britishbattles.com/french-indian-war/general-braddocks-defeat-on-the-monongahela-in-1755-viii/
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There were other mounted troops in Canada serving the French, a police force of sorts that was used primarily for messengers. They wore some sort of blue bonnet. Not British, of course.
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That would be the Corps de Cavalerie for New France, they did see some action:
http://www.kronoskaf.com/syw/index.php?title=Corps_de_Cavalerie
I've got the Redoubt mounted and dismounted figures on my painting table:
https://www.redoubtenterprises.com/product-category/colonials/french-indian/corps-de-cavalerie/