Sunday, January 12, 2025

Portuguese 9th Line, "Viana"

Here's the next line infantry unit for "Project Portugal",  in the 1806 uniform.


The 9th Regiment was termed "Viana", and recruited in Minho providence. These are once again Old Glory 2nd edition British painted as Portuguese, with the wonderful flags by Adolfo Ramos. 

It belong administratively to the "Northern" Division, although this had little effect on the organization of the army in the field. 

However, units of the Northern Division had yellow piping on the collars, cuffs, shoulder straps, etc., and yellow turnbacks. 

Each Portuguese Line Infantry regiment had 10 companies, divided into 2 battalions. The Grenadiers formed the elite company of the first battalion, and had white plumes like the center companies, and fringed shoulder wings of dark blue mixed with the Division color, here yellow. 

The Light Company was the elite company of the 2nd battalion, and was uniformed as the Grenadiers, except with green plumes. The grenadiers had grenade emblems, the light companies hunting horns, and the Sappers crossed axes on the shakos. The cords on the 1806 Barrentina shako were dark blue mixed with the Division color, here again, yellow. 

The Royal standard was in the Gyronny pattern seen here (interestingly, all the Portuguese flags you see are based upon the warrant describing them and later reproductions, there being no surviving illustrations of same, and only scant fragments of original flags surviving). The regimental color was much simpler, with the field in the Divisional color, here Yellow once again. The cravats on the flags were in the color of the collars and cuffs, so for this regiment would have been mixed dark blue (collar color) and yellow (cuff color). No comment is made as to the color of the flagpoles. I allowed myself a flight of fancy, painting the staves of the sergeant's halberds in the Divisional color, based upon no evidence whatsoever! 

24 comments:

  1. Nice addition to the Anglo-Allied Army in the Peninsula!

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  2. Very nice recruits to your Allied army, nice work on them, must admit I rather like the OG 2nd edition figures.

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    1. Thank you, Donnie. They are good sculpts, and close enough for Portuguese

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  3. A great looking unit, nice flags too!

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  4. Very, very nice unit there and the flags really make them pop:)!

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    1. Clothes make the man, flags make the unit! :-)

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  5. Nice work on horse Peter...I used the Warlord plastic Portuguese figures when I was doing them, but the OG 2nd Ed look pretty convincing too!

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    1. God knows where the word "horse" came from....should read " these"....I think 🤔

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    2. I read it as "those"; reminds me of voice-recognition dictation errors, which abound at work!

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  6. Excellent looking Portuguese stand ins and what lovely flags!
    Best Iain

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  7. Very nice unit Peter, Portugal has great flags!

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    1. It does, even if the details we accept turn out to be less than solidly confirmed!

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  8. Great work Peter. How many have you completed now, and how many more to go?

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    1. Thank you, Lawrence. Let's see, that's the LLL,1 Cazadore, and 2 Line posted, with another Line, Foot Artillery, and some officers done but awaiting their turn on the blog. I have 24 Portuguese Dragoons started, then 2 more Line and 2 more Cazadores to go. I hope to finish all the Portuguese by the end of February; failing that, the end of the 1st Quarter at least!.

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    2. That will be a nice-sized and useful collection.

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  9. Great unit with more of those awesome flags

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    1. Thanks, Gary; this one will be the only one carrying the regimental (solid color) flag as well as the King's flag (gyronny pattern). Just how the figure mix worked out!

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  10. Well into your Portuguese for the Historicon game already Peter. Even more so when I read your reply to Lawrence!
    Regards, James

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    1. Added to the 4 Line, 1 Cacadore, 1 Artillery, and one Cavalry unit of Old (Minifigs), I think that will bring the Portuguese up to 14 Infantry, 3 Batteries, and 4 cavalry plus command... about 270 figures.

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