Granaderos a Caballo de Fernando VII

Or in English, they are the Horse Grenadiers of Fernando the 7th; much akin in name to Grenadiers a Cheval.  Despite the name, this was a Light Cavalry outfit. 

It was a volunteer unit raised September 8, 1808, by Count Fernan Nunez, with three squadrons and 540 men total.

These fine fellows are Perry figures. The unit initially wore bearskin colpacks, but is depicted in shakos by 1810.

It was converted into Hussars on May 1, 1811 (one of 4 Hussar units remaining at that time). They are then shown wearing a similar uniform, but with yellow breaches, and a green pelisse with black fur, laced white.

  The unit continued past the end of the Napoleonics Wars as the  Husares de Fernando VII, but was eventually disbanded in 1825.

Some sources show the borders of the shabraque in yellow instead of white, and some show the plate on the colpack to be brass as opposed to silver. In either case the plaque bore a F-VII monogram.  I have gone with the more standard interpretation. 

The trumpeter's uniform is somewhat speculative, but follows the usual pattern for Spanish Cavalry - red coats with facings as per the regiment. Yellow faced green would be the main other option for the trumpeter's uniform. 

The standard is unknown; I have used one for the Lusitania Dragoons, modified to replace the badge with a gold F VII monogram on a green field, almost certainly incorrect, but it works! I painted over the black cravat of the "Dragoons of Death" for the actual unit. 

Olivenza Cazadores a Caballo

 The first unit of Spanish Cazadores a Caballo (literally "Hunters on Horseback", akin to French Chassuers a Cheval, or German Jagers zu Pferde) was raised in 1762.

In 1802, the green coated Cazadores were converted into Husares, and, amazingly, the 8 yellow coated Dragoon regiments were then converted into green coated Cazadores in 1803.! I wonder who had investments in the uniform production industry?!

  In 1805, those 8 regiments were then converted back into yellow coated dragoons, and the former Cazadores, the Voluntarios de Espana and the Olivenza converted back to Cazadores again! 

More money for uncle Roberto!

The Voluntarios had a similar uniform with sky blue collars, cuffs, and waistcoats, in place of  the red of the Olivecza regiment. A shako was also adopted (officially) at that time.

I have always loved the depiction of the Cazadores a Caballo in the Funken books of the 1970's.  I have thus  chosen to show the unit in their earlier Tarleton style helmets (properly part of the uniform of the 1802-1805 Dragoons!).

The figures used are in fact Perry British Light Dragoons in their earlier uniforms. The chest lace was painted on (easy enough to do), as the Perry's depicted these troopers in their every day uniforms, without the braid. 

The standard is that of the Numancia Dragoons. Even though the Cazadores likely didn't carry standards in the field, mine had to! I chose this flag chiefly because I was too cheap to pay for shipping for just 2 more of the otherwise excellent Adolfo Ramos flags. 

The flag above is taken from the excellent Little Wars site: http://littlewars.se/spanish/dragoons.html

Spanish Light Cavalry Officers

A bit of a teaser, as I am going to post the officer figures before their respective units for a change!

To the left of the picture is an officer of the Cazadores a Caballo. and top the Right belonging to the Brabaderos a Caballo de Fernando VII.  

There uniforms are similar to that of their men aside from the substitution of silver for white in the braiding, piping, and horse furniture.

These are Perry figures.  Their parent units will be coming soon! 

Growing up, my mother always had Morning Glories planted in the flowerboxes on our porch.

She passed on last November, a few months short of age 98. This year, I started a bunch from seed, and then planted them outside in various locations around the fencing that surrounds our pool. 

Their heart shaped leaves and the simple but evanescent beauty of their blooms reminds us that life can be sweet and beautiful, but even with a span of almost 98 years, yet still short in the scheme of things. 

Spanish Grenadier Companies

 

Here are the Grenadiers appropriate to the two regiments painted last month.

These are Perry figures, like those of the main units. 

Regiments portrayed are the Guardias Valonas in blue,  

and the Regimiento de Infanteria de Linea "Leon" in white.

The marvelously eccentric "flammes" on the back of the Spanish grenadier bearskins (actually made of seal skin for the Spanish, apparently) are certainly one of the big attractions for painting the Spanish army of this period!

These companies will serve in one of two combined grenadier units in my Spanish army. 

Regimiento de Infanteria de Linea "León"

Needing to take a short break from painting units for the Wars of the Roses, a new Infantry Regiment is added to my Spanish Napoleonic Army. 

This regiment has its origins dating back all the way to 1695, when a 1,000 man "New Tercio of  León" was raised.

The regiment had red/scarlet facings on the lapels and cuffs, white piped red on the collar, and brass buttons. These are Perry figures. 

Seeking a bit of differentiation form the other Spanish regiment that I had painted with red facings, I used Delta Ceramcoat "Poppy Orange" here. It still looks pretty red/scarlet in bue, although the differe3nce in color can be seen in contrast with the red plumes. 

The Colunella (Colonel's flag) flag bears the shield of Leon in the corners - a red (originally, purple) Lion on a white field. 

The Kingdom of León was of course joined to Castile at the time of the Reconquista of the Iberian peninsula from the Moors, forming the foundation of modern Spain. 

Renaissance Reconnaissance, Part 1 - The Spanish; Boxes #1 - #4

    I have the numbers and identification of all my painted troops, etc., recorded and tallied in detail on the "pages" of this blog. Some are in need of another periodic updating now, usually done every 3 to 6 months. This is of course a clear indication of an obsessive personality trait. :-) 

    All that is, except one era... my Renaissance troops. The explanation for this is pretty simple. Most troops of this era are fairly generic. That's a plus with regard to collecting and painting them, but a detriment when it comes to counting and documenting them. The recent "Off the Shelf" reorganization of my collection created an opportunity to assign the figures to semi permanent boxes  for the long haul, and in so doing to finally complete their census (now if only they could be taxed to pay for their upkeep and support!). 

    I decided to lead (in both the pronunciations of the word!)  the process off with the one part of the Renaissance roster that is instead pretty distinctive, namely the Spanish. The bulk of these figures are the wonderful Hinchliffe Spanish, really dressed more for the later, Armada era, but so wonderfully iconic. Many of the sculpts convey such a wonderful, subtle attitude of arrogance suited to the nation of the Conquistadors and the wealth of the "Siglo de Oro". Most of these figures were painted when I was a Resident in Family Medicine, circa 1982 - 1984. The remaining figures are Essex with a very few by Redoubt as well. If nothing else, they will illustrate the process, as well as verifying and updating the current tally. 

The Spanish are housed in four 8.1 L Really Useful Boxes; really closer to three, the 4th box simply housing a Camp element. Box #4 might eventually be used strictly for a number of Camp elements of various factions. 

Box #1 contains all of the Spanish cavalry, some commanders, and a few LI Crossbowmen. 

16 LC/MC Genitors, 12 EHC Spanish Knights on metal barded horses, 18 EHC Lancers ("Elmeti"),

12 HC Mounted Arquebusiers, 4 LI Crossbowmen, and 5 mounted commanders.

Box 2 has about half of the infantry; Tercios/Collunellas and supporting troops. 

64 MI/HI Pikemen, 48 Arquebusiers,

12 HI Halberdiers, 24 HI Swordsmen, 12 LI Crossbowmen.

Box 3 contains the rest of the infantry, and all of the Musketeers. 

32 MI/HI Pikemen, 12 MI Arquebusiers, 8 LI Arquebusiers, 8 LI Crossbowmen,

 8 LI Swordsmen, 24 LI Musketeers, and 24 vMI Musketeers.

Box #4 at present simply contains the Spanish Camp vignette. Perhaps some more camps will be added in the future? 

Celtiberian General, Horse and Foot

The two-pack of Spanish (Celtiberian) generals from Crusader was the other big attraction of the Crusader purchase. 

If finding a variety of Roman Generals can be challenging, finding Carthaginian officers other than Hannibal is even more so. 

These fine fellows could command Spanish foot and horse contingents within a Punic army, or an all Spanish Army. 

I gave them black cloaks like the Scutari are said to have worn.

They are very welcome additions to the command strata!

Napoleonic Spanish Army completed!

With less than a week to go before Historicon, the very last of the figures for my Spanish Napoleonic army are done. A final parade review will have to wait until after the convention, though!

The bulk of these bases are Front Rank Spanish Generals that I ordered a few months ago, with a few other odd figures thrown in here and there

This base has a Spanish Lieutenant General on hiorse, with a Brigadier General on foot, and a left over Eagle Figures light infantrymen (painted as a member of a different regiment with crimson facings, as opposed to the yellow of the unity I did last month). 

Two Front Rank figures - a Sopanish Brigadier (silver lace and trim), and a major General (gold lace and trim).

The plumes on the hats of Spanish generals are generally red, but I gave the Major general a white one for variety. 

The fine black ink pen was used to pick out some detail on the saddle blankets and epaulets.

I used different shades of red on the saddle blanket, the pants, and the sash for some contrast.

A Staff Officer/Light Cavalry general, and a Brigadier on foot. 

The mounted officer is Front Rank once again. 

I am not entirely sure as to manufacturer the Brigadier on foot. 

Another Front Rank Lieutenant General (3 bands of gold braid on the cuffs).

I mounted the last of the spare Eagle infantrymen firing on a base for possible use as a marker. 

Once again, some detailing was done on the gold braid etc with the ink pen. 

Viva España!