AWI Militia Flag

Pennsylvania Associator Flag

I found this nifty looking militia flag on the Revwarlist group today and like it so much that I think that I will paint a new American militia battalion, using Fife & Drum Miniatures of course, and give it this flag.

One of the re-enactor units in Pennsylvania apparently use this flag for their unit. In Pennsylvania, the militia were called "associators". Perhaps the most famous of these regiments was the Philadelphia Associators commanded by John Cadwalader. They gave a good account of themselves in the Trenton-Princeton campaign in early 1777.

The canton has the thirteen red and white stripes found on several flags in the Pennsylvania-Delaware area near Brandywine battlefield. In fact, several similar flags of this style were called Brandywine flags, as they seem to have first appeared at this battle.

From Wikipedia:

The Brandywine flag was a banner carried by Captain Robert Wilson's company of the 7th Pennsylvania Regiment. The company flag received the name after it was used in the Battle of Brandywine, 11 September 1777. The flag is red, with a red and white American flag image in the canton.^[1]

Other stories indicate that the flag may have actually flown earlier, at the Battle of Cooch's Bridge in Delaware on 3 September 1777.^[2] Captain Wilson may have also brought it to the Battle of Paoli on 21 September and the Battle of Germantown on 4 October.^[3]

The 7th Pennsylvania Flag may have been one of the first American flags to feature stars and stripes, although it was a militia company's flag, not a flag of Washington's army.^[4] The Flag Resolution of 1777 defined the official flag of the United States as having 13 stripes and 13 stars, although the specific pattern of the stars was not specified. Many variations existed. The flag shown in the canton of the Brandywine Flag uses a 4-5-4 star pattern, and was probably patterned after a Hopkinson-style United States flag.

The Brandywine Flag is currently displayed in Philadelphia's Independence National Historical Park,^[3] and was featured on a 33¢ postage stamp issued in 2000, as a part of the US Postal Service's Stars and Stripes series. The colors and pattern on the stamp may have been altered for aesthetic purposes.

Perhaps GMB Designs or The Flag Dude will add this flag design to their product list. 

Minden SYW Highlander Pix

Minden SYW Highlander Firing Line Figures

Reverse View

Here are a couple of pictures, a little blurry I'm afraid, of Frank Hammond's new Minden SYW Highlander firing line figures. I painted these last evening and found them a joy to paint. These may well be some of Richard Ansell's best work on the range, here to date. There are a total of eight figures in the firing line set: Officer standing with claymore in the ground, piper/drummer/standard bearer all standing, standing firing/kneeling firing; standing at the ready/kneeling at the ready to complete the set.

As I said in my earlier posting today, you could also paint these as Jacobites for the Forty Five by painting them in grey, brown, blue, green etc. and use them to augment the Jacobites in the Cran Tarra Jacobite range, also sculpted by Richard.

Highlanders are probably my favorite wargame figures so I am sure that I will have to find some way to get a unit of these guys into either my SYW or AWI armies.

British Army on Campaign Circa 1777

Light Infantryman - by Don Troiani

I have posted some drawings that depict the appearance of the British soldier during the American War of Independence, showing how they would actually look while on campaign. Gone is the formal look of the 1768 Clothing Warrant, with the long tail coat, tricorn hat, and knee britches. Also gone is the knapsack, replaced by a blanket roll that is attached to the back via a "tumpline". All of the uniform and kit changes were adapted by the soldiers for comfort and practicality while operating in the terrain that was North America at that time.

40th Foot Defending the Chew House - Battle of Germantown (Osprey: Philadelphia Campaign of 1777)

The Osprey picture is probably the only drawing that I have seen that correctly draws in all of the elements of the adapted British uniform. The figure with his back to us in the foreground wears the tumpline upon his back.

Loyalist soldier in 1777 - by Don Troiani

Minden SYW Highlander Firing Line Figures

I primed a batch of Frank Hammond's new Minden Highlanders in firing line poses yesterday and painted a sample of the standing firing and the advancing or "at the ready" pose and the finished result is really sweet! I will add a couple of pictures later today. I hadn't planned on having a Minden British SYW army, but now I'm sort of at sixes and nines over this issue because I have to have a unit of Highlanders in one of my armies.

I may paint these as the 84th Royal Highland Emigrants for the AWI period and use them for the American Revolution as part of a hypothetical Loyalist brigade in my British 1777-78 army. They did not participate in the Philadelphia Campaign, but they look too nice not paint and complete.

It also occurs to me that these figures could also be painted as Jacobites for the '45 Rebellion. That would look cool too. I imagine that this was part of Frank's thinking when he commissioned the figures to be made -- they make for a nice add-on to the Crann Tara figures that Graham is building up. All of these figures were sculpted by the talented Richard Ansell, of course.

71st Highlanders

Advancing

Here are some pictures of the greens for the AWI 71st Highlanders that Bill N.  commissioned for his own collection of figures. They are "Perry Compatible" and "Eureka Compatible" as well, noting that they were designed by the same sculptor (Alan Marsh) that does the Eureka range of AWI figures. Bill plans to offer these for sale after they go into production. It is a nice looking set of figures that fills a hole of figures that had not previously been available for the AWI in the Southern Theatre.

Casualties

Firing Line #1

Firing Line #2

Kneeling firing

Peninsula War Preparations

94th Regiment (The Scotch Brigade) - Connoisseur Miniatures

I spent a good part of the afternoon cleaning, assembling and priming two more sections of Royal Horse Artillery for our re-fight of the Battle of the Coa Bridge in November 2012. I currently have four 6-pounders/crew/limber teams in Captain Hew Grant's RHA Battery. Two more sections will complete the battery and give the redcoats (i.e. The Good Guys) a better chance of stopping the French (i.e. The Opposite of The Good Guys). Just kidding - I like to play the French equally as much as the British in the Napoleonic Wars, it's just that I lean a little bit more towards the British.

Each RHA section consists of one 6-pounder, 5 crew men, a 4-horse limber team with 2 drivers and 2 troopers sitting on the limber carriage, so it is no small matter to assemble and paint a section of RHA. I think that works out to 15 separate pieces for the complete section. That is like painting a small battalion.

I also primed two more companies of the 5/60th Rifles, which will bring my Rifles contingent up to 48 figures (4 companies of 12 figures). When combined with Bill P.'s rifles (24 of the 95th and 12 Cacadores), we will have a converged battalion of 72 Rifles. I promise you that they will not be wiped out in our next game. After 3 or 4 games with the Rifles, I have some better ideas of how to use them and where to deploy them in order to take advantage of their talents and skills. 

Finally, I have one more company (12 figures) of the 94th (Scotch Brigade) Regiment to paint, which will give me 84 figures in 7 companies.

The Bad Guys

Meanwhile, Bill P. is busy recruiting for the 5th Regiment and I think that I recall him saying that he has the regiment up to about 48 figures so far. It looks like the whole regiment will be available for our replay of the Coa scenario. (Yes, I know, there weren't any "line foot regiments" in Crauford's Light Division at the Coa, but we can only use what we have available). Slowly, but surely, the British forces are building in strength and I expect that we will reach some degree of parity during 2013.

Incoming!!!!

Today was Christmas in September here in Hesse Seewald, as everything that I had purchased recently all arrived on the same day in a bit of harmonic convergence.

First there were the lovely new figures from Minden Miniatures including the two ladies and gentlemen civilians on horseback, some French artillery crew to man some of my Fife & Drum French artillery, and the Highlander firing line figures. The standing firing Highlander is particularly outstanding. I might have to start building a SYW British army soon.

Next was a package from Elite Miniatures. Wow, talk about fast service! The box arrived in two days!  This load includes a set of Napoleonic British Royal Horse Artillery (3 complete guns with limbers and crew and limber horses) and Royal Artillery, the field or foot variety - three 9-pounders. All of this is going to build out my Peninsula British army.

Finally, Battlegames #31 arrived, and I have to say that this is one of the best issues that Henry Hyde has put together. Every article is interesting and worth the read. I've slowly started my way through the magazine. I would like Jon Sutherland to introduce me to those gentlemen who spend about fifty thousand British Pounds per year on their wargaming hobby. I have some things that I'd like to discuss with them. :)  Mrs. Sutherland has another fascinating piece on making Arab market stalls - she makes it look so easy. Sam Mustafa gets his turn at touting the benefits of his new Maurice game and this article provides some fascinating inside info on why Sam developed the game in the way that he did.

More later, I've got to get to bed.