Buford's Cavalry Division at Gettysburg in 10mm

[Jemima Fawr]

The 10mm ACW project is progressing nicely and I've now got Buford's cavalry on the table.  All I need now is some 'Good Ground'...

http://www.jemimafawr.co.uk/2018/06/23/glory-glory-hallelujah-part-2-bufords-1st-cavalry-division-in-10mm/

[FifteensAway]

Which one is Sam Elliott?

[Jemima Fawr]

Which one is Sam Elliott?

The one on the wrong-coloured horse... 

[Khmorg]

The one on the wrong-coloured horse... 

Impressive work.
And why are all the horses mostly brown ??
This is some kind of a historic Yankee horse breed

[Jabba]

Very nice looking cavalry, need to add some to mine eventually.

[fred]

And why are all the horses mostly brown ??
This is some kind of a historic Yankee horse breed

Can you explain what this means? As a Brit most horses I see are brown, like those shown above.

I'm not painting ACW but do have some cowboys to paint, so would like to understand if late 19th Century US horses looked different, to dark brown.

[Jemima Fawr]

Everyone knows that horse are either Humbrol 70 or Humbrol 160 (unless they're Humbrol 27 or Humbrol 33, of course)...

I hate painting horses...

[Captain Harlock]

I know that during the napoleonic wars, cavalry regiments tried to have uniformity in horse colors (at least untill the point where they couldnt find replacements). Were american cavalry units color coded too?

[Jemima Fawr]

Yes they were.  The U.S. Army Remount Service travelled the Union with a Humbrol colour chart, buying up all the horses in 70 and 160 shades...

OK, that might not be true... 

[Khmorg]

 

Everyone knows that horse are either Humbrol 70 or Humbrol 160 (unless they're Humbrol 27 or Humbrol 33, of course)...

I hate painting horses...

 

I live in the wild (deep) places of Russia. And the word "Humbrol" is not known here. I just mix different colors of artistic acrylic paints ...

[Khmorg]

Can you explain what this means? As a Brit most horses I see are brown, like those shown above.

I'm not painting ACW but do have some cowboys to paint, so would like to understand if late 19th Century US horses looked different, to dark brown.

I have a guide to the breeds of horses. And in it there are breeds of horses from North America black and white.

There are horses of black color.
And there are horses of gray color. And most importantly, horses under the age of 3 years have white spots. These spots are called in Russia "Apples".

I do not know where the Yankees bought the horses. I'm just wondering is this some kind of military breed of brown horses

[Jemima Fawr]

My daughter's four horses are a mixture of Humbrol 70 and 160, possibly with a touch of 64 on the tail of one of them. 

In seriousness, I do the vast majority of my horses as chestnuts (all over brick-red highlight on a darker brown base, some with lighter, more orangey tails and manes) and bays (darker brown with black or dark brown tails, manes and legs.  Then add a few socks and blazes.  I really do hate painting horses...

For SYW and the Napoleonic wars I do try to find out if regiments had a specific horse colour.  E.g. the Prussian Army of the 18th Century tried to keep the blacks and bays for cuirassier regiments, the chestnuts and lighter bays for dragoon regiments and the 'Polish' horses (i.e. every other bugger) for the hussars.  Then you have specific regimental horse colours, such as the Scots Greys on greys (I did various types of grey for them), the Grenadiers a Cheval on blacks, the Mousquetaires du Roi on greys and blacks, depending on squadron, trumpeters on greys for various nations (piebalds for the trumpeters of Saxon SYW chevauxlegers)...

But by and large, I find painting horses to be dull, dull, dull... And I've got six Confederate gun-teams to do tonight... Yawn...

[Jemima Fawr]

Here ya go... Just to prove that I can do other horse colours when provoked...

[FifteensAway]

The below, copied from a Truewest online posting and pasted here, ought to help answer the question about US Cavalry horses.  It started with a reader sending in a question:

"Which type of horse and saddle were the most liked and used by the U.S. Cavalry?"

"OCTOBER 1, 2005 by MARSHALL TRIMBLE

Let’s talk about cavalry saddles first. During the 1850s, Capt. (later Gen.) George B. McClellan was an attaché in Europe, where he observed saddles used by the Hungarian cavalry. McClellan improved on this saddle, presenting the War Department with a model that had an open slot down the middle, which went over the horse’s backbone, and two side bars that were joined by a high wishbone pommel and rounded cantle. The saddle tree was first covered with shrunk-on rawhide, before it was covered with black leather to prevent chafing. This saddle, with minor variations, was used by the cavalry until 1954.

The cavalry horse, according to government specifications, weighed between 900 and 1,100 lbs, was four to six years old and standing about 15 hands. They had to have a good disposition and a regular, easy gait. Eastern, well-bred horses were more common at first, but the army later used the Western breed as they were better adapted to arid lands. Cavalry horses were mostly solid colors, no pintos or piebalds. The long established custom was for each regiment to have as many troops as possible with horses all the same color. The horses were mostly browns, sorrels, chestnuts and light, dark and blood red bays. At one time, the cavalry had gray or “white horse” troops, but this practice was abandoned because they were too easy to spot at a distance. Buglers still rode grays for easy identification in battle. Due to the excellent care of these horses, many were still in use after 25 years of service.

Cavalrymen became very attached to their mounts. Horses suffered high casualties in battle, and reports have stated that troops broke down and wept openly when their horse was killed in battle.

Marshall Trimble is Arizona’s official historian.

His books include The Arizona Trilogy and Law of the Gun."

And maybe McClellan should have stayed in the saddle business given his later exploits.

[Jemima Fawr]

Cheers!  I did wonder whether or not to stick the trumpeters on greys, but couldn't find any information or relevant photos on U.S Cavalry practice, so did them on chestnuts and bays, like the rest.