Blenheim in 15mm (Finally in the correct Thread?)

[Major Weenie]

Righto,

So I've already posted Danes & Turks Sort-of-Kind-of under this Subject,
along with questions about Bavarian drummers,
but as it's all part of my (probably never-ending) 'Paint Both Sides At Blenheim' project...

Maybe everything should just be under this Thread.

OK,
1.) I was painting away on a unit of actual English foot,
and had reconciled myself to several stabs at the drummer's mitre,
and had just finished a rather poor "G" in the "G R" on the front of the mitre,
and then I thought... This shouldn't be a "G" (for George) this should be an "A" (for Anne).

Right?

2.) Much to my surprise the Allied Order of Battle lists 1 Swedish battalion.
OK...
2.a.) Would they have dispensed with their 1/3 pikes ?
2.b.) Would their drummers have reversed colors on their jackets?
I found an image online of a Swedish drummer in yellow coat with blue turnbacks an stockings...
but the blue is light/medium enough that it might be the facing colors for that regiment.

I am, once again, perplexed.

Any help would be greatly appreciated,
MW

[WFGamers]

Hi,

1: I am not sure here - my book on the English/British is on loan. If I remember correctly I think that no one is really sure what the grenadier caps looked like at this time. But it certainly would be AR rather than GR, assuming they used this idea.

2: I guess here you mean the Oxensteirna regiment/battalion. This was a unit in the Dutch army composed of Swedes (actually mainly from the bits of Germany Sweden owned at the time) and so was organised like a Dutch unit. The other problem is that this unit was not at Blenheim, it was up in the Meuse area. Another problem as it is possible that Dutch units had 1/6 pikes at this time. In short we can only be certain the Dutch got rid of all their pikes in 1708.

Finally to add to the problems it is not certain what uniform they had or what the drummers looked like. The best guess seems to be they were in blue with red cuffs trimmed with orange. No info on the drummers.


I hope this is some help.

[clibinarium]

Nice example of an officer's cap, showing the Anne cypher;

http://www.nam.ac.uk/online-collection/detail.php?acc=1960-05-158-1

From the few caps I've seen from around this time, its not unusual for them not to feature the royal cypher, but some sort of regimental heraldry instead.

[Major Weenie]

Many Thanks,

Finally returned to check on the replies.

1.) The image of the Mitre does have the AR cipher, but down on the band at the bottom, and in an unusual sort of RAR kind of decorative thing.  The good news here is that I don't need to paint a recognizable AR higher up on the front.

2.) "Heraldric Devices" instead of the Royal Cipher.  Yep, my amateurish cruising of the Internet seems to indicate the same thing.  So, just maybe, I can get by with something 'decorative,' in 15mm, and then walk away.

And it doesn't even need to have the leaping horse on it... Because that's Hanover... Right?

Oh, and (amusingly) during my Internet searches the #1 match pointed at this very thread on the LAF.  Funny Thing Life.
MW

[Major Weenie]

Well,

This was 'supposed' to be a photo of the 1st Regt of Food Guards, but...

As I was fiddling with the flag, I noticed that I had painted the hat tape the wrong color.
Should be a nice crisp YELLOW line around the edge of the hat.
And I painted it WHITE.

So Back to the work table.

However, this does bring up the question.
Every British Army mitre that I've seen has WHITE tape/piping.
Does this mean that the tape/piping on the drummer's miter should be YELLOW too?

Thanks for any info.
MW

[WFGamers]

MW,


Again I haven't got the relevant book to hand but I think the tape/piping on the drummers mitre would be yellow if the unit has yellow. Normally it is the same for everyone within a unit but can vary from unit to unit.

So more repainting I am afraid But having done it in white you will be an expert this time & I am sure do it better. So think of painting them in white as a practice run

[Major Weenie]

An ex-girlfriend used to refer to me as "A Big Fat Idiot,"

Can't argue with her this time.
I was cleaning up the spare room, and found the Osprey book on "Marlborough's Army,"
And there in the color illustrations by Angus McBride...
A picture of a 1st Foot Guards grenadier, in a blue mitre with yellow trim.
And on the front a device that looks a lot like the modern collar tab for the Coldstream Guards.

Funny Thing Life,
MW