Skinners and Cowboys - Westchester in the AWI

[Grumpy Gnome]

Brilliant! This post adds to my “missing Upstate New York” Halloween nostalgia. 🎃

[FreakyFenton]

Great stuff!

[Gangleri]

Brilliant! This post adds to my “missing Upstate New York” Halloween nostalgia. 🎃

"Upstate" New York is a mysterious place.  Once you set foot north of Yonkers, you never know what might happen!

Bringing you another Tory unit today, one that needs no introduction, the Queen's Rangers.  They had a lengthy service record in the war but in particular they are of interest to me because of their participation in the Stockbridge battle mentioned earlier and because of an action in Mamaroneck, just a short distance from my home, during Howe's movement towards White Plains in 1776. A force of Rangers occupied the village in support of Howe's advance from lower Westchester but were overwhelmed in a daring night attack by Col. Haslet and his Delaware regiment.


Here they are.  I relied much on Baron von Wreckedoften's knowledge of the real uniforms given the confusion/misinformation about this unit's appearance.  In keeping with the autumn theme they are in winter dress: shortened coats of green trimmed green, with green waistcoats.   I used Perry British infantry in short coats/broad hats with the feathers and lace trimmed off, as well as some Brigade miniatures and kitbashed Perry American/British plastics.


Officer and drummer.  I couldn't find any information on the drum design so chose a simple royal cipher.


Some conversions.  On the left is an attempt to show someone wading through shallow water, achieved by cutting off the feet, scultping some ripples, and applying repeated coats of gloss modpodge.  On the right is a Ranger in a Scotch bonnet - maybe seconded from the Highland company.

Till next time.

[commissarmoody]

So the tall cap we see them wearing in art is incorrect?

[Cat]

"Upstate" New York is a mysterious place.  Once you set foot north of Yonkers, you never know what might happen!

I recall a conversation with a friend from Long Island who was insisting that Sleepy Hollow was "Upstate"
 
Me: "It's inside the northern edge of Westchester County, it's on the Metro North Hudson Line!"
 
Her: "Oh, well I suppose then."
 
: 3

[Ruire]

So the tall cap we see them wearing in art is incorrect?

Not exactly - rather it didn't appear until 1780. The attached hussar company had (different) caps pretty early on since they had gotten a bit of red-on-red fire and that might be part of the confusion.

[CapnJim]

More nice looking chaps.  In that batch, I particularly like the guy wearing the tam.... 

[genew492]

I lived in Westchester from 1961 through 2018. Folks from the Island and New York City often called anyplace north of The Bronx "upstate". We in the lower hudson valley and the real upstaters always got a good laugh out of this.

[Gangleri]

Hi, folks.  Time for another characteristically delayed update.

First up is a set of Hessian mounted Jaeger from Brigade Games.


Mounted Jaeger seem to have been relatively common in the war, much like their counterparts on foot.  They were intended to function as scouts and explorers.  However, they were equipped as cavalry rather than mounted infantry, with sabers, tall boots, etc., possibly to their irritation when they had to dismount and fight on foot with their rifles, slung at their sides when on horseback.

Notably, they participated in the skirmish at Edgar's Lane (1778) in what is now Hastings.  A local tavern owner and Patriot agent, Peter Post, cultivated the image of a reliable Loyalist in order to spread misinformation. On one occasion, he directed a Hessian foraging party through a defile, assuring them it was safe, though he knew that men of Lee's Legion lay in wait.  In a brief, sharp action, the Continentals ambushed the Hessians, firing into them as they passed.  12 mounted Jaeger at the front of the column attempted to charge Lee's men but were counter-charged by Lee's dragoons. More than 20 of the 80 Hessians were killed in the attack and subsequent pursuit, and others captured.  Some days later, Hessian cavalry caught Post and beat him badly, which long after was regarded as a terrible misdeed, though to my mind he got off much better than he had a right to expect.


It's good that somebody makes these (and there's also a neat set of horse-holders), but I did not particularly enjoy painting them.  Some sculpting was needed to correct small omissions in the uniforms, and the horses don't quite meet the standard of the Perry mounts.  They are a bit spindly, and one of the sculpts is noticeably shorter than the others.

I also have some more civilians.  These all seem hale, hardy, and unconcerned, but I hope to add some in more distressed poses in time.

Perrys with a Brigade Paul Revere in the back, standing in as a local citizen warning either side, or maybe just his neighbors, of an approaching force.

Some conversions. Fairly normal from the front...


but from the back...

The Brigade Indian came with a second musket over his shoulder, which I altered into a gunstock club.  And the other fellow is one of the American dragrope men.  Formerly, he was holding his lower back after his exertions, but I have turned him into an unfortunate soul about to meet his maker in front of a firing squad.  Deserter? Mutineer? Pour encourager les autres? Who knows.



More infantry to follow, eventually.

[CapnJim]

Great job on all that.  Well done!

[FreakyFenton]

Great job on all that.  Well done!

+1 to that and great painting. Also like the snippet of history you've provided about the Hessians.

[Gangleri]

Hi, folks.  Long time no post, but that doesn't mean I haven't been working.  I have a few units nearing completion but didn't want to post until they were fully done.  Now I present the first of them, the 9th Massachusetts.


The 9th Massachusetts was a fairly distinguished regiment, coming out of the Massachusetts Line and created during the 1777 reorganization from the remains of two "Continental" regiments.  They were quite active throughout the Northern theater and also assisted in guarding the Westchester Highlands.  Most pertinently a company of the 9th was stationed near Young's Tavern when it was attacked during the famous raid in midwinter of 1780, where they were badly cut up.


Uniforms seem to have been blue faced white with buff or white trousers, white hat feathers, and green or even plaid waistcoats.  I have also given them the white-in-black cockade issued after France joined the war.


More casualties.

And some buildings.  First an outbuilding, perhaps a storage shed or even a smokehouse ready for plundering.


Also a burned-out barn, surely a common site in that theater and in all wars.


Depending on where the fire burns, wooden buildings often collapse just as much, or more, than they burn away, so I tried to capture that.



And lastly a little bit of local color, a sturdy Dutch bouwer with his scatter-gun.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53269734267_5fd6ed8a9b_w.jpg

This is a slight conversion from one of Bloody Miniatures's Puritans.  The clothing is deliberately somewhat anachronistic as the Dutch, especially in more remote spots along the Hudson, were known to hold to their old customs and habits, including their dress.  There is even a wildflower in the Northeast called "Dutchman's breeches" because of the similarity to the baggier breeches common among the old Dutch settlers.  These Bloody Miniatures sculpts are just a delight to paint.

More to follow soon.

[Grumpy Gnome]

Looking good mate!

[CapnJim]

Yeah - that stuff does look good.  Well done!

[Cat]

Great looking progress!