The first of the four units of Spanish Line Infantry that I completed this month takes the stage at last!
Regimiento de Infanteria València was first raised in 1658, ranking it as the 13th such unit in the Spanish army. Valencia is the the third largest city in Spain, and was founded by the Romans in 138 BC. It was reconquered from the Moors in 1238. It served briefly as the Capitol of Spain under Joseph Bonaparte in 1812, and again in 1936 - 1937 under the Second Republic. Located on the Mediterranean coast, it is famous for orange trees and Paella!Among a great many other sights, it contains the Chapel of the Holy Grail.
In 1791 the unit was wearing white coats with scarlet cuffs and lapels, both with buff piping, buff collars, and Pewter buttons.
Along with the other Line regiments, in 1802 the uniform was changed to deep sky blue coats with black collars, cuffs, and lapels, and red turnbacks. I used Delta Ceramcoat "Bluejay" as the facing color on the white coats. Note the various items hanging from the packs of these obviously veteran campaigners!
This change of dress proved highly unpopular, and in 1805, a return to the white uniforms was ordered. The new scheme had the regiment as I have painted it here - white coats and breeches, sky blue lapels, collars and cuffs, piped white, white turnbacks piped sky blue, and pewter buttons. This was the uniform worn, at least officially, when the French invaded under Napoleon in 1808.
The drummer wears the King's Livery - a dark blue coat with red facings piped white.
These are Miniaturas Dos De Mayo 28 mm figures from Spain; they will be equipped with Adolfo Ramos flags, also from Spain.
The Valencians are sharp dressed men, for sure! The white Spanish uniform with colored lapels and facings if one of my favorites. The white uniform with sky blue lapels is a handsome one.
ReplyDeleteBest paella I ever had was on the southern coast of Spain; Nerja to be precise.
I could uses some Spaniards for my 28mm Peninsular War project; some day perhaps.
Tell me more about Miniaturas Dos De Mayo figures. I am unfamiliar with them. Not your Old Glory standard.
Great job, Peter!
I agree re: the 1805 Spanish uniforms, and the sky blue faced units in particular. Although my parents owned a condominium in Spain and spent winters there for about 15 years, I have yet to visit, which I shall have to rectify some day!
DeleteYou definitely DO need some Spaniards for your Peninsular project; not really complete without them, just as without them, Wellington would have been more of a nuisance than a real threat to the French!
As to Miniaturas Dose de Mayo, that is a story to be related in an upcoming post.
Excellent keep them coming Peter! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mark; there are three more to come in the next week or two!
DeleteVery nicely done, great facings!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Phil!
DeleteGreat job Peter. I love the 1805 uniform, and especially those with the sky-blue facings. Given that it was already three years old by the time Napoleon invaded, I suppose it is not surprising the British-supplied gear started making an appearance from 1809 onwards. A real pity, as I think the early Spanish uniforms were very stylish.
ReplyDeleteYour own magnificent Spanish are of course a primary inspiration for my own army, Lawrence!
DeleteWith no King, no central government, no finances and quarreling regional juntas, it is no surprise that the Spanish troops were more or less happy to wear whatever uniforms they could get. Of course, that doesn't mean*my^ Spanish won't be much more fussy, LOL!
Great looking unit Peter. White and blue are such a fetching colour combination and these look very nice indeed.
ReplyDeleteThank you kindly, Carlo!
DeleteExcellent looking work. Given your predilections for the Austrian army, there seemed little doubt you could pull off an excellent white uniform.
ReplyDeleteOne advantage of painting white uniforms is that it is easy to keep the facing colors bright!
DeleteVery nice indeed
ReplyDeleteThank you, Garry!
DeleteMagnificent unit!
ReplyDeleteDos de MAyo will launch the range again, together with more units!
@Jonathan Freitag you need to be careful with the paella. the really good stuff has rabbit instead of chicken!
ReplyDeleteNice paint job on these figs.
The weird thing about the Peninsular War is that the Brirish think the could have won without the Spanish and the Spanish think they could have won without the British. But in truth they needed each other in order to defeat the French.
It's great to see more Spanish troops. I have 6mm and 15mm. And I long to get 28mm too!