Thursday, February 5, 2026

Rhode Island State Infantry

This the first of a number of Patriot units wearing "hunting shirts". I decided this unit would be a Rhode Island Sate Line Infantry regiment, chiefly because I had the flag and it went well with the white uniforms!

There was also the issue that I had no units from Rhode Island as yet; just like the Continental Congress, I have to try to be fair to all the colonies (and the Republic of Vermont). 

As noted previously, at one time George Washington had recommended Hunting Shirts as the national uniform. 

While more common in the Mid-Atlantic and especially  Southern regions, they were became common as military dress in New England as well. These are Brigade Games figures.

The flag by Adolfo Ramos has 13 starts for the 13 Colonies, plus the Anchor emblem (dating back as far as 1664 as an emblem of the Colony) and motto, "Hope", both seen on the present day seal and flag of Rhode Island. It is believed that these were probably inspired by the biblical phrase "hope we have as an anchor of the soul", contained in Hebrews, Chapter 6, verses 18 and 19

Illustration of Riflemen in Hunting shirts; note the variety of hues. 

Another illustration including some wearing Hunting shirts. 

An interesting video about the history of the Hunting Shirt. 

24 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Probably the most common color, but we will be seeing them in many other colors as well!

      Delete
  2. Very nice Johnathon,, they would of stood out that is for certain

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Matt. Aside from the flag, this is pretty much what Morgan's Rifles would look like.

      Delete
  3. Nice unit Peter - I considered white for my hunting shirt unit but went with the gaudier mauve/purple in the end!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Keith, and the purple unit is yet to come! :-)

      Delete
  4. Nice mix of models and the illustrations.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Joe. The history of the hunting shirt, as covered in the video, is pretty interesting by itself.

      Delete
  5. Do you paint in your sleep !? another fine looking unit

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Gary. LOL, no, but the 1st Quarter has always been the most productive for painting. It's too cold to do much else! Also, as noted, I'm planning on running games with these finer fellows the end of March and again in July, which provides extra motivation. A "snow day" and MLK day in January helped, too!

      Delete
  6. Another excellent looking unit!
    Best Iain

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great looking unit. I like the white jackets.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Richard. The hunting shirt is pretty iconic for the patriots during the Revolution; it was both a garment and a political statement!

      Delete
  8. The amount of figures you pump out is truly staggering!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If I get motivated (and planned games are big motivator, as noted previously, I can paint about 80 figures per month tops. I am probably running about that pace with this project. In an average year, I paint about 3,000 points, which equate to 600 28 mm infantry or equivalent. I believe at one time Joe said something like "They will have to pry the paintbrush from your cold, dead fingers", LOL! Anyway, all or most of these fellows should be coming to Historicon in July.
      On the other hand, if you want to see truly amazing productivity, c\heck out Lawrence's blog (below)! :-)

      Delete
    2. Looking forward to playing with these at Hcon. What rules are you using?

      Delete
    3. I'll use FoB3 for sure; may do I [the same] game with large unit Rebels and Patriots; I will be using those rules at HAVOC the end of March. We'll see how that goes.

      Delete
  9. Another lovely unit Peter. I have to admit that I'm not a huge fan of the hunting shirt in general, but you have done these beautifully and the flag really sets them off.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. These were actually super easy to paint; the "magic wash" did all the work of detailing them. It would likely be more "historical" to mix the figures in hunting shirts in with others in different attire, but but I like more uniformity in the uniforms of my units, even for ragged rebels!
      When I first got the figures from Brigade games, they didn't have command figures in bunting shirts, so I went with standard continental command sets. Of course, shortly after that, they released command sets in hunting shirts. I got those, and the surplus command then became cadre for for additional Patriot units. Can you say "mission creep"? :-)

      Delete
  10. You've done a good job on those Peter. Shading on the backs of the coats as well as the tassels looks good.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Chris. Nothing brilliant on my p[art, just good sculpts (by Hicks) and the Magic Wash!

      Delete