Early 1700s, or late 1600s - Spanish and French in Caribbean?

[Mako]

Just curious to see if there's any chance that the same Marlburian's, and/or War of Spanish Succession government troops can be used for battle in the Caribbean, and/or South-Eastern (Florida, GA, and the Carolinas), and Gulf Coast of the USA?

From doing a bit of reading, and looking at photos on-line, it appears their dress may be somewhat, if not very similar, and that some troops wore mainly white, or light gray uniforms, with cuffs colored in either blue, or red.  Looking to have them represent French, Spanish, and Cuban troops from the period.

Some stockings are white/light gray as well, to match their overall uniforms.  Others are red.

Seems as if in some cases, undercoats (sorry, don't know the correct term) may be in blue.

Looking to get more bang for my buck, from figs to oppose pirates, in the last quester of the 17th Century, to around 1720, or so.  Would be nice just to be able to swap out flags/standards, as needed.

Also, would like to know the difference between Fusiliers and Grenadiers for the period, other than the obviously different Grenadier hats, and the fact the latter carry grenades.  Don't know what ratio there would be for Fusiliers vs. Grenadiers in the various armies of the period, so if anyone can shed some light on that, it would be appreciated.

I'd also like to know how effective/ineffective the olde style grenades were, from back in the day, for skirmish, and/or line battles, if there's any info available from the period, on that.

Of course, in some cases, scenarios will be fictional, so that also seems to make this a bit easier too.

[AdamPHayes]

The Caribbean has joined the European theatres in the ongoing “Battle for Britain” campaign set in 1693, run by the League of Augsburg. Some useful posts on the blog that might help with some of your queries.

http://leagueofaugsburg.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/battle-for-britain-inside-caribbean.html

Also a friendly and helpful bunch on the associated forum Fighting Talk...

http://www.leagueofaugsburg.com/fightingtalk/index.php

[SteveBurt]

I've been using Malburian figures as local militia or regulars for pirate games for years, and nobody has complained.

[Jeff965]

Front Rank figures painted up as Spanish troops for the Caribbean to take on those dastardly pirates. Figures based and in the collection of Mr Malamute and painted by yours truly. Hope this is what you were looking for.

[Malamute]

I was thinking of posting those Jeff.

The uniform is correct for the period. The figures are practically spot on.

[Mako]

Those look really great!

Thank you for sharing your photos.

[Arthur]

Also, would like to know the difference between Fusiliers and Grenadiers for the period, other than the obviously different Grenadier hats, and the fact the latter carry grenades.  Don't know what ratio there would be for Fusiliers vs. Grenadiers in the various armies of the period, so if anyone can shed some light on that, it would be appreciated.

I'd also like to know how effective/ineffective the olde style grenades were, from back in the day, for skirmish, and/or line battles, if there's any info available from the period, on that.

The average infantryman of the period was called a musketeer, not a fusilier : fusiliers were a different type of infantry who owed their named to the fact that they were armed with fusils i.e flintlock muskets) while most musketeers were issued matchlocks until the late 1680's. Fusiliers were originally raised to guard the army's train of artillery and powder supply (hence the issue of flintlocks) and were organised in separate units which by the 1690's had evolved into regular infantry regiments while retaining the fusilier title : think the Royal Fuziliers and Scots fusiliers in the English army, or the French Fusiliers du Roi (who were effectively an artillery regiment and not infantry proper). In the English army, they wore low mitres or cloth caps to set them apart from the bog-standard musketeer regiments, though by the early C18th their headgear was all that differentiated them from the rest of the infantry as they were used in the exact same manner on the battlefield.

By 1700, infantry battalions/regiments in all armies were normally composed of a number of musketeer companies (commonly ten to twelve but that number would vary from army to army) and one grenadier company. The latter was considered an elite company and given the pick of the bravest and most experienced soldiers. On the battlefield, grenadiers were supposed to steady their parent battalion by providing an example through bravery and cool demeanour under fire. They would also be used to attack and carry entrenched enemy positions when the need arose. This was pretty much the only instance where they would get to hurl their grenades, which were not designed to be used against infantry in open battle but rather to be thrown into enemy positions when assaulting earthworks and entrenchments.



 

[Patrice]

Most of the French troops available in the Caribbean would be "Compagnie Franches de la Marine" raised by the Navy.

The 1690 "ordonnance" about these companies doesn't mention grenadiers, but the presence of grenadiers is mentioned in other sources, so it was probably their captains who decided if they needed some and how many.
As Arthur says, grenades would be effective against a fortified enemy, not much in open battle - in which a grenadier company would still be an elite unit even if not using grenades.

The marines had the same uniform as other French infantry, with blue socks, blue breeches, blue cuffs.



In our games :



In addition to regular troops there would be local militias. In long-established colonies they would wear an uniform quite similar to regular troops. In other places they could be dressed in civilian clothes and you could well use "pirate" figures for them (as in St-Domingue c.1700 where many French civilians were part-time privateers anyway!)
Note that militia cavalry also existed ("dragons-milice") probably landowners and rich civilians who came on their own horses.

Another pic from our games: Spanish marines "Tercio Nuevo de la Armada del Mar":