1st Portuguese Line Regiment , "Lippe"

 

The old Portuguese army was largely destroyed in the French invasion of  Portugal in November of 1807, and had to be recreated when the British arrived in August 1808. 

The British chose William Carr Beresford to lead the army, with a rank of Marshal in the Portuguese Army. Unusually, he was moderately fluent in Portuguese. His efforts over time greatly increased the size and effectiveness of the Portuguese army, from roughly 25,000 men in 1809 to 50,00 in 1812; by that time Wellington acknowledged that the Portuguese troops were every bit as good as the British. 

The 1st regiment had a dark blue collar and white cuffs. Belong to the Center Division organizationally, it had white piping, turnbacks, and white mixed with dark blue cords on its shako. 

The King's color is by Adolfo Ramos flags. The figures are Old Glory 2nd edition British painted as Portuguese. 

The Regimental color would have been white, for the Center Division. 

The 1st Line regiment was brigaded with the 16th Line Infantry, and, from late 1810, the 4th Cazadores. That particular Brigade spent most of the war in independent actions.

Scots Artillery and Swordsmen

 

 

The Old Glory pack of Scots Artillerymen has a huge 30 figures in it!

I painted about half of them earlier this year; this is the other half!

I probably now have more Scots ECW Artillery than I will ever need!

Still, I had 'em, so might as well paint 'em!

Obviously, they need some guns to serve.

Viola, here they are! I actually painted all of the ordonnance back when I did the first batch, so I had 3 extra guns. 

I will eventually need another 2-4 pieces so that every crew has a gun to serve!

I also made this small unit of Scots swordsmen. 

Once again, it was formed from spare figures. 

More Tartan practice!

Waste not, want not -spoken like a true Scotsman! :-)

Loyal Lusitanian Legion

The Loyal Lusitanian Legion was first formed in England in 1808, initially raised from Portuguese who had fled the country as a result for the French occupation in late 1807 and early 1808. 

The Legion was to consist of 3 battalions of 1,000 men, a battery of 6 guns, and some cavalry; it does not appear that the later were ever raised. There was initial talk of red uniforms, but that choice was unpopular with the Portuguese, so dark green uniforms reminiscent of the British rifles were ordered. 

When the core of the Legion arrived in Oporto in August 1808, it recruited additional men in Portugal. Most but not all of the officers were British. The Legion was paid by the United Kingdom, and fought at Alcantara, Talavera, and Busaco. It was commanded by Colonel Robert Wilson, who was given the rank of Brigadier General in the Portuguese army as well. Much of its service was  spent in independent actions behind the French lines or supporting the Portuguese and Spanish militias. 

The LLL was disbanded in May 18111, and used to form the new 7th, 8th, and part of the 9th Cacadores. 

The flag was taken from the internet; I cannot vouch for its accuracy, but it looks good at least!

The figures themselves are Old Glory 2nd edition British line, painted as the Legion. There is an excellent account of the Legion's history and actions on The Napoleon Series, here.  

5th Portuguese Cacadores

I have had a small Portuguese contingent of Minifigs for 3 decades... long before I had British to go with them. Having finished by British army, I have found that I don't have nearly enough Portuguese  on several occasions - my two Talavera 1809 Snappy Nappy Campaign in a Day events, and again when I ran Fuentes de Onoro at the Fall "Historicon" in 2022. 

Both times I used my Minifigs Brunswickers to stand in for the extra needed Portuguese. Not the worst expedient, but I decided that I needed to augment my Portuguese force, and started acquiring the needed figures

I didn't want the figures to dwarf either my existing Minifgs Portuguese or my Old Glory British figures. A few years back, Brigade games in the Us acquired a range of Portuguese figures that looks like they would match my existing figures reasonably well in size.  It turns out these are Paul Hicks sculpts, but very different in style from the Spanish that he sculpted expressly for Brigade games. or his other Brigade games figures for that matter. 

This unit is painted wearing the earlier Cacadore uniform, anachronistically wearing the later "Stovepipe" style shako. Considering the difficulties of supplying units in the field, plausible least!

The earlier uniform for this unit had red collar and cuffs piped green, brown turnbacks piped green, and yellow braid on the chest. There will be quite a few more new units of Portuguese marching off the  in the coming months. This is in part spurred for the fact that it looks like Kevin and Mike will be  designing the 2025 Snappy Nappy Campaign ins Day event, and it will be set in the Penisnsula.  

 

Marques Argyll's Regiment of Foote

Archibald Campbell was the 8th Earl of Argyll, later Marquess of Argyll, and the Chief of Clan Campbell (March 1607 – 27 May 1661).

 

He was the de facto head of Scotland's government during most of the conflict of the 1640s and 1650s, aka the Wars of the Three kingdoms.

As such, he was the main leader of the Covenanter movement that fought for the establishment of Presbyterianism in opposition to the preference of King Charles I.

He is often remembered as the principal antagonist to the the Royalist general, James Graham, more commonly known as the 1st Marques of Montrose, during the English Civil War.

A  flag of this general description is known to have been carried by his regiment at one point. 

The coats were painted with Deco Art Americana "Mississippi Mud"... pretty well approximating the color of dried mud!

Scots Covenanter Forlorn Hopes and foot officers

For King and Parliament has rules for "Forlorn Hopes", small bodies of shot told off to hod davancwe positions or difficult terrain; Each would have 2 bases of 2 figures. 

Single bases could also be used to indicate "attached shot" use by some Horse regiments. 

The singly mounted officers can be used to represent foot Colonels or "Gallant Gentlemen". 

Never let spare figures go to waste - especially for a Scot!  :-)

Major General Holburn's Regiment of Foote

My second new regiment of Scots Covenanter Foote.

With the bright blue and yellow accents, they almost look like they could be TYW Swedes!

Looking for new "shades of grey", I used Delta CC "Rain" for the coats of this regiment. 

Buff colored belts maintain the blue/yellow theme... 

as does the flag. 

Old Glory 25/28 mm figures once again; not much opportunity for Tartan on these particular figures. Must be Lowlanders!

 

Scenario for Rio Gevora, February 19, 1811

    A week from today we'll be playing the Battle of Rio Gevora (or Battle of the Gebora), which took place in February 1811. With Massena's army mired in front of the Lines of Torres Vedras defending Lisbon, Marshal Soult moved his Army of the South from Andalusia into Estremadura, besieging the Fortress of Badajoz. A large Spanish army under the Marquis de Romana was sent to raise the siege. La Romana, however, fell ill and died before the maneuver could be carried out, and command fell to the less capable General Medizabal. The Spanish Army camped on the heights of San Cristóbal, but neglected to follow the advice of Wellington to entrench their position. Soult ignored the force, proceeding with the siege of Badajoz. Heavy rains made the rivers swollen and difficult to cross. As they subsided, Soult dispatched a force under Marshal Mortier to cross the Guadiana river at night, and then the Gevora. The French advanced at dawn. Dense fog concealed the French from the Spaniards until the French were only a mile away. The Spaniards were in their encampments, and had to form upo very hastily to meet the French Advance.

A good account of the Battle and its background is found here on Wikipedia. 

We will use Field of Battle rules, 3rd edition, with my Hand of Cards variant. The scenario is adapted from that by Michael Hopper, with minor changes to suit my tastes and collection. 

Overview of the table, French at the top, Spanish at the bottom of the picture

View from behind the Spanish lines

View from behind the French lines. 

2 regiments each of (recently painted Piano Wargames) Dragoons and Chasseurs hope to sweep around the Spanish right flank. 

The French infantry prepare to attack the Heights of San Cristobal. 

The recently crossed Rio Gevora is well to their rear. 

Special Rules:

Due to the fog, Artillery may not fire until the 3rd initiative. Spanish Infantry may not form square during the entire first turn. 

French:   19 units, 20 MP

Marechal Mortier  LD 12

Brigade Phillipon  LD 12

1 French Legere  DD8  CD 12

4 French Line  DD6  CD 10

Battery 6# Foot Artillery  DD6  CD 12

Brigade Brayer  LD  12+1

4 French Line DD6  CD 10

1 French Legere  DD8  CD 12

Battery 6# Foot Artillery  DD6  CD 12

Cavalry - General de Division Latour Maubourg  LD 10

Brigade Briche  LD  12

3 Hussars  DD8  CD 10

Brigade Bouvier  LD 12

2 Dragoons DD 6  CD 12

2 Chasseur a Cheval  DD6  CD 10

Spanish:  27 units, 27 MP

General Mendizabal  LD 10

Vanguard - General Espana  LD 8

2 Light Infantry  DD4  CD 10

3 Line Infantry  DD 4 CD 10

1 6# Foot Artillery  DD6  CD 10

1st Division - General Garcia  LD 10

1 Light Infantry  DD 4 CD 10

3 Line Infantry  DD6 CD 10

2 Militia Infantry  DD4  CD 8

1 6# Foot Artillery  DD6  CD 10

2nd Division - General Virues  LD 10

3 Line Infantry  DD 4 CD 10

2 Militia Infantry  DD 4 CD 8

1 Battery 6# Foot Artillery  DD6  CD 10

Brigade Madden  LD 10

1 Cazadore a Caballo DD4 CD 8

1 Garochista  DD4  CD 8

1 Granaderos a Caballo de Fernando IV  DD4  CD 8

Brigade Butron  LD 8

2 Heavy Cavalry  DD 4  CD 12

2 Dragoons  DD 4  CD 10

1 Hussar  DD4  CD 8

Another view of the bulk of the Battlefield.