Monday, June 25, 2018

Spanish Light Infantry battalion 1st Cataluña, 1805 uniform


As I was finalizing my orders of battle for the Talavera Campaign and battle, I found that I needed a third unit of Spanish Light Infantry. 


I decided to do this unit, the 1st Cataluña battalion, wearing the later 1805 uniforms, when all battalions of Light Infantry had dark blue coats. 


Light Infantry facings, 1805  (per Osprey by Rene Chartrand)

Battalion
Cuffs and
Tunbacks
Lapels
Collar
Piping
Buttons
1st Aragon
Scarlet
Scarlet
Scarlet
White
Pewter
2nd Aragon
Scarlet
Scarlet
Blue
White
Pewter
1st Cataluna
Yellow
Yellow
Yellow
Yellow
Brass
2nd Cataluna
Yellow
Yellow
Blue
Yellow
Brass
Taragona
Yellow
Blue
Yellow
Yellow
Brass
Gerona
Yellow
Yellow
Yellow
Yellow
Pewter
1st Barcelona
Yellow
Blue
Yellow
Yellow
Pewter
2nd Barcelona
Yellow
Yellow
Blue
Yellow
Pewter
Barbastro
Scarlet
Blue
Scarlet
White
Pewter
Vol. de Valencia
Crimson
Crimson
Crimson
White
Pewter
Vol. de Navarra
Crimson
Blue
Crimson
White
Pewter
Campo Mayor
Crimson
Crimson
Blue
White
Pewter

Funken gives a similar table, but has blue piping for the following regiments:  2nd Aragon, Barbastro,
Navarra, and Campo Mayor.

And for yet another, slightly different scheme see the diagrams on the Little Warts site.


I have, in fact, followed his scheme for this unit (white piping, brass buttons), although it is hard to see in the pictures.


 I wanted the unit in a "firing" pose for Light infantry, and figures that had plumes on their bicornes (these light infantry units had green plumes instead of the red plumes common to almost every other Spanish uniform). 


Thus, when I was ordering my Hussars, Generals, and Militia from Eagle Figures this spring, I threw in a unit of these guys. The figures, and especially plumes, are slender, and at least 1/3 of the plumes had broken off in shipping (although there were 2 extra figures in the order as partial compensation). Choosing durability over appearance, I epoxied the broken plumes on in a "swept back" fashion. I think they look tolerable. 


The flag is from an old Orv Banisek  (? spelling) flag sheet, and is that of the Macarquibir Regiment.

15 comments:

  1. The Spanish contingent is good sized now, eh!

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    Replies
    1. It stands at a little over 400 figures now! Aside from a handful more command figures, this army is pretty much complete.

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  2. Replies
    1. Thanks, Jon. Not quite as flashy as the green Hussar style uniform, but still attractive!

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  3. Great looking light infantry men,compl com with plumes at a jaunty angle!
    Best Iain

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    Replies
    1. ThanKs Iain; Lemons and lemonade, as the saying goes!

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  4. Another splendid and colorful addition to the Peninsular war!

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    Replies
    1. As always, thanks for the kind words, Phil!

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  5. Great looking regimt, and your painting guides are always appreciated!

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  6. Thanks, Jake. I have to add the Spanish to the index page. I also don't recall if I did the facings for the Line Infantry regiments that were not Swiss or Irish. If not may have to add them separately.

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  7. Nicely done Peter and the plumes look quite natural and sympathetic to the rest of the unit. I had a few plumes fall off some Eagle hussars from memory, but gave up trying to stick them back on.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Epoxy, paint, and not looking *too* closely work wonders! :-)

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    ReplyDelete
  9. Lovely looking unit Peter! :) And yes sturdiness over other considerations is a must for me!

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    Replies
    1. T^hanks, Mark! Yes, that is a key difference between wargames figures and collector items; ours will be handled as part of their function! A certain amount of wear and tear is inevitable, but we would like to keep it to a minimum!

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