Saturday 10 July 2010
Friday 9 July 2010
Sardinians Skirmishing in the Crimea
By Colonel George Cadogan.
The main battle the Sardinians were heavily involved with was the Tchernaya.
THE ARMIES OF EUROPE - By Major General GEO.B. McCLELLAN
The whole book by this important observer in the Crimea is up on google books. There's lots of useful stuff - just been reading about the Chasseur d'Afrique saddle in detail. Excellent reference.
Sardinian infantry in review
Been looking for pictures of the line infantry of Sardinia - not the Bersaglieris but the basic footsoldier - came up with this one by Cadogan showing them in review for Canrobert - Chasseurs d'Afrique in attendance.
Thursday 8 July 2010
Sardinian army and navy of 1854
Interesting page and article By Mark Conrad
Also this article from the same source on Sardinian Army Uniforms 1843-60 taken from this book.
My Italian is worse than my French but this page seems to have all the Sardinian uniform regulations - this image is from that site.
This page on the Sradininan army of 1854 is also very useful covering the right time frame
McClellan on the Sardinian army in the Crimea
Interesting essay by this American observer on the 'Italian' forces in the Crimea.
Charge of the Lancers (1954)
Crimean veteran dies in 2004
I am telling you no lie...see here for the oldest surviving witness of the bombardment of Sebastopol who died in 2004. BBC News item
Turkish infantry
Infanterie turque de l'armée d'Omer Pacha, Crimée, 1855
Auteur :
Vanson Joseph-Emile (1825-1900) Général de l'Armée française - painted in the late 19thc.
Turkish infantry in 1/72
As I mentioned before - on the History in 1/72 blog one of the projects is the Turkish Army of the Crimean War - with many new castings created specially. On the blog now is the work in progress of the sculpts and you can see they have achieved a perfect match with plastic 1/72s - no easy feat - check it out and see what I mean.
Rifle Brigade in 1853
litho. pl. by Vincent Brooks after Alken. The weapons they have in this image look shorter than the rifle carried in the photo below - or perhaps they are officers' weapons.
Minié rifle
As far as I know this was the gun the Rifle Brigade were using when they went to the Crimea
Wiki article on this type of gun here
Rifle Brigade in the Crimea
See the Thin Red Line's reconstruction of the Rifles uniform in 1855 here
I would have thought this might be a popular subject - and there's a useful book 'Rifle Green In the Crimea' which the Crimean War Research Society has one copy for sale for £28. They say:
By George Caldwell and Robert Cooper. An account of the Rifle brigade in the Crimea 1854-56 with a full medal and casualty roll and details of weapons clothes and equipment. Illustrated throughout and includes and includes a 24 page plate section in B&W of RB soldiers and equipment, medal groups etc. Last copy. Hardback, 351 pages. (1994). Article on the brigade in the Crimea here
The wiki on the Rifle Brigade in the Crimea says
When the Crimean War broke out in 1853 the Rifle Brigade sent two battalions which fought at the Alma, where one of the battalions led the advance across the Alma River, Inkerman and at the Siege of Sevastopol. The regiment won eight Victoria Crosses during the Crimean War, more than any other regiment.
Comment moderation
I have put this on, not because I don't trust you or I'm feeling censorious' but it's the only way I can be sure of reading the comments - otherwise I often miss them, and as they're the main form of feedback they are useful - so keep on commenting...
Wednesday 7 July 2010
La Crimée By Anatoliĭ Nikolaevich Demidov
This French language book from the 19th century looks interesting - and illustrated too. My French is not great but there's section Souvenirs d'un officier des Zouaves so it gets my attention.
To give you a taste
Les zouaves se livrent souvent à ces mascarades, qu'ils aiment beaucoup, ou à des plaisanteries analogues, surtout lorsque la maraude a été productive. Quelques jours après la bataille de l'Alma, pendant que l'armée marchait sur Sébastopol, au passage du Belbeck, ils traversèrent un riche village abandonné par les habitants, et dont les jardins étaient abondamment pourvus de légumes et de fruits. Le soir, on fit bonne chaire au bivouac, car les choux, les navets et les raisins étaient en abondance. Quelques zouaves eurent la fantaisie d'aller pendant la nuit visiter un château assez éloigné. Ils en rapportèrent une belle glace surmontée d'un trumeau représentant des bergers et des bergères de l'école de Boucher. Ils eurent la plaisante idée de placer cette glace à l'entrée de la tente de leur colonel, sous un berceau de verdure, afin, comme ils le lui avouèrent plus tard, qu'il pût, une fois au moins pendant la campagne, faire sa toilette du matin dans un boudoir.
To give you a taste
Les zouaves se livrent souvent à ces mascarades, qu'ils aiment beaucoup, ou à des plaisanteries analogues, surtout lorsque la maraude a été productive. Quelques jours après la bataille de l'Alma, pendant que l'armée marchait sur Sébastopol, au passage du Belbeck, ils traversèrent un riche village abandonné par les habitants, et dont les jardins étaient abondamment pourvus de légumes et de fruits. Le soir, on fit bonne chaire au bivouac, car les choux, les navets et les raisins étaient en abondance. Quelques zouaves eurent la fantaisie d'aller pendant la nuit visiter un château assez éloigné. Ils en rapportèrent une belle glace surmontée d'un trumeau représentant des bergers et des bergères de l'école de Boucher. Ils eurent la plaisante idée de placer cette glace à l'entrée de la tente de leur colonel, sous un berceau de verdure, afin, comme ils le lui avouèrent plus tard, qu'il pût, une fois au moins pendant la campagne, faire sa toilette du matin dans un boudoir.
16th Lancers
Been looking at the list of groups attending the Salute for Heroes multi period event 24 & 25 July in Suffolk and saw this group will be recreating the Lancers at Aliwal in the 1840s. Looks like they also do 1914. Excellent. Also at this event will be a large ACW battle and much more. See here for more info on the event
Watch slideshow of 16th Lancers' WW1 identity at an event last year
Watch slideshow of 16th Lancers' WW1 identity at an event last year
ACWS (UK)
We haven't had much ACW recently so here's a slideshow of really excellent photographs of this UK based group at a recent event.
Tuesday 6 July 2010
Partisans and Irregulars of the Franco-Prussian war
First let me thank Scott from the I like the Things I like blog for finding these. They are uniform plates depicting the ephemeral groups, such as Franc-Tireurs that fought on in the Republican phase of the war of 1870-1. I think they are fascinating and it is a really interesting subject not least for the reason that I think they'd make great reenactment subjects. Imagine it - a skirmish campaign in the woods against the Germans. I wonder how expensive a chassepot would be?
Württemberg Infantry 1866
French-influenced uniform which would cause confusion in the Franco-German war.
Chassepot - Fusil modèle 1866
40mm Crimean War
Do any sculptors read this blog? It seems there are no figures for the scale of 40mm for the Crimean war. Now this may mean noone wants any but I reckon they'd go down well.
Bazaine in Mexico
Le général Bazaine attaque le fort San-Xavier lors du siège de Puebla le 29 mars 1863 (mort du général Laumière)
by
Beaucé Jean Adolphe (1818-1875)
The Age of Bazaine
Holding every rank in the French army from fusilier to Marshal we could easily categorize the period of the 19th century as typified by this man. Fought in the Algeria, Crimea, Italy and Mexico. He was made a scapegoat for the disaster of 1870-1 but escaped to Spain. He is revered to this day by the Foreign Legion who recognised him as a man of courage.
Emhar 19th century in 1/72
Emhar listing at Plastic Soldier Review where this image of Prussians is from.I have to admit that I am quite a fan of these figures. They have a couple of sets for the Franco-Prussian war and a couple for the Crimea - with two - Zouaves and French infantry that cover both. They are moulded in a hardish plastic that has a memory so many of the poses are specifically designed to be bent into a pose. Quite groundbreaking stuff really but Emhar doesn't really promote its products that well - there's no website or place for people to send in their photos so they seem to be not as popular as they could be. I've only painted the French 1854-70 infantry and they were excellent with separate backpacks that fit on a peg. Must get some more.
Monday 5 July 2010
Freikorps 15mm
If you were to ask me what 15mm figures are good for this period I would probably say Freikorps 15 - they have been around for a long time but they are very well researched (the range was originally masterminded by then owner Cameron Robinson who reenacts the ACW) and cover pretty much all of the mid 19thc. They also do a Maximillian expedition range - a comprehensive ACW range and a Plains war collection...so pretty much all bases covered although there's no Crimea, or Ottomans. As you can see from these Chasseurs d'Afrique the cavalry are one piece castings which I like. Also the artillery are again well researched.
Sunday 4 July 2010
La Moncelle (Sedan) 1870
Top image from this page where there are more photos of 1870.
Bottom pic from Armchair General. Supposedly the first actual combat photos - certainly worth a close look. Shows German skirmishers. This would make a suitable subject for a diorama maybe.
Needle Gun
Wiki here on the firearm adopted by the Prussian army that transformed European warfare forever.
1866 footage
If you can't wait here's some film from previous 1866 reenactments. The battle footage starts about 1:30 in. More on this page
Civil War reenactment
Article in Time magazine on ACW reenactment around the world. It's an interesting overview and it's posted as a 4th of July tribute. I reckon I saw my first ACW reenactment at the American Museum in Bath in about 1974 - maybe earlier - if I remember rightly there was a lot of pistols.
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