Napoleonic Help Requested - 28e Régiment de Chasseurs à Cheval

[von Lucky]

I've had my toe dipped in the Napoleonic waters for a while and I think it's time to take a swim. Like many, I have steered clear of painting this period, as the uniforms are daunting. But I want to paint a 15mm army in 2016.

Sorting through all my unpainted lead I think I can almost field 800 points for a FoG:N army. Will only need either some French Chasseurs à Cheval or Hussars (as I plan on fielding a 1813 French infantry corps with Danish allies) to make it list legal.

Davout had the 30th light cavalry brigade under Captain Carré in northern Germany in 1813.

They consisted of:
28th chasseur à cheval regiment (2 squadrons)
17th Lithuanian uhlan regiment (3 squadrons)

If I wanted to field the 28th, would the uniform be:



And AB Miniatures codes be:
http://abfigures.com/81-cavalry
Elite chasseur, sword (AB-IFC05a)
Elite chasseur, carbine (AB-IFC05b)
Elite chasseur officer (AB-IFC06)
Elite chasseur trumpeter (AB-IFC07)

There's a lot of online resources for this period, I'm having problems finding the right one. Seeking help from more knowledgeable people.

[baxterj]

VL, almost there. That is either an elite coy officer or just an ordinary coy officer wearing a colpack. The ordinary coy troopers would be wearing shakos, so use AB-IFC01a. I'm a 1:20 unit man, so not familiar with FOGN - let me know the scale and I will help you work out what you need.
John

[von Lucky]

Excellent, thank you. I will stick with the shakos then (with the officer getting a colpack) as there's only 4 stands in the unit.

[huevans]

The elites were 1 company (1/2 a squadron) and they were the 1st company of the regt. If your source numbers the squadrons involved, check if the 1st squadron was present.

The only real difference between the Knotel illustration and the AB figures is that the latter represent the pre 1812 uniform with the cutaway front, laced waistcoat in facing colour and longer coat tails. Great figures.

I have the 13th and 10th C-a-C.

Facing colours were sometimes indistinct shades of dark red and - according to Knotel - sometimes those slight shade variations disappeared under dirt, fading and poor quality dyes on campaign. As a result, your 28th (amaranth facings) could likely also double for the 10th (crimson facings) or the 25th (madder red facings).

[Arthur]

Most orbats list the 28th Chasseurs as having two squadrons in the field in August 1813 : they're the first and second, so the elite coy was present and one of your four stands may therefore be composed of figures in colpacks while the troopers in the other three will have shakos.

If you're picky about uniforms, the AB figures won't do for 1813 as they're wearing the long-tailed habit-surtout which was seldom worn on campaign after 1808, having been replaced that year by the short-tailed Kinski coat (habit à la Kinski in the original French).

The new 1812 regulation Bardin coats were not issued until the spring of 1813 and it's anyone's guess whether the 28th was one of the units which received them. So it's either Kinski coats or 1812 habit-vestes for the 28th in 1813 rather than long-tailed habit-surtouts if you want to be correct about such things. Of course, you can cheerfully use the AB figures if you don't care about such uniform details.

And while we're nit-picking, amaranth has a slightly dark pink hue to it if you are anal enough to want to nail that particular colour.    

 

[huevans]

Amaranth has been represented as a type of bright, intense "bubble gum pink" colour. However, Paul Dawson provided me with a photo of a preserved lancer kurtka with amaranth facings which had faded to a type of dark crimson and lost its pinkness.

Knotel's 28th artwork appears crimson, not pink.

[Arthur]

Yes, these rather esoteric colours can be a source of endless debate and puzzlement : good luck to anyone fearless enough to attempt to determine the exact difference in hue between cramoisi, amaranthe, capucine and garance, especially in a pre-industrial age when vegetal dyes tended to fade easily because of exposure to sun and rain.

Personally, I wouldn't lose too much sleep over the exact hue of amaranth but painters can certainly have fun with their colour palette if they are so inclined.

[von Lucky]

Thank you gentlemen. The army will be my first, so I'm not going to be too precious on detail (the whole reason I have held back for so long). I have decided to go for the look and feel of the 15mm army on the table instead of being too exact on individual uniforms (hell, AB doesn't make Danes, so there's a bit of fudging regardless). Painting in 15mm means the colours will be off anyway - but I will brighten the colour of the facing to be more pink than crimson.

I really appreciate each of your efforts in replying.