A big dump of remaining Confederation of the Rhine units and the last of the British /KGL cavalry.
As I come to the end of painting units from the Confederation of the Rhine a word on the madness of my hobby is perhaps warranted. The units that I have painted were primarily engaged in small skirmishes, convoy protection and action against the Spanish guerillas - although some were in larger battles, particularly early in the war. At the scale I play, few of their actions are likely to see the tabletop. However, after I read about the units in the wonderful series of books by Digby Smith, I was taken by their variety both in origin and uniform. Hence I decided to add them to my forces. If they do not see the table in many historical refights, I expect I will bring them to the table when playing some what-if actions.
Onto this week's contribution.
First up is the 4th Regiment of the Confederation of the Rhine - three battalions composed of contributions from five Saxon states. The 3rd battalion being a light battalion is dressed in green. There is some uniform variation within the battalions given their mixed origins. I was unable to find any information on colours used and given the numerous states there may not have been battalion colours. So to outfit these battalions, I have used flags from states that comprise the battalions - Sachsen-Gotha for the 1st and 2nd Battalions and Sachsen-Weimar for the 3rd.
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| 3rd Light Battalion on the right |
Next is the 6th Regiment of the Confederation of the Rhine - two battalions, with the 1st from Schwarburg and the 2nd from Waldeck and Reuss. Again we have uniforms that vary by contingent and colours that I have added from the states of origin.
Then we have the Princes' Battalion. This was raised from six different small states of Thuringia whereby each house was to provide a company, consequently there is some variation in uniforms worn in the battalion. They were ordered to the Peninsular in January 1809 where they were engaged in small actions and, like many other units, worn down to eventually become ineffective. In 1810, the remaining troops were absorbed into the 5th and 6th Regiments (shown above). They are unlikely to have had a battalion colour so I have used one from the House of Rudolstadt who provided the 2nd Company.
The next is the Frankfurt Battalion. This entered the Peninsular in late 1808 after being mobilised by order of Napoleon in August 1808. I have painted it in the white uniform that it entered the Peninsular with - it it believed to have changed to blue coats after the Battle of Medellin in March 1809. There is also very little evidence or information on the colour that they carried so I searched for a Frankfurt colour that was used at another time.
This cavalry unit fits the category of why do I bother. It is the Nassau Chasseurs a Cheval and only ever had two squadrons in Spain. I know this now that I have done some research on it - but at the time of purchasing the figures a few years ago I didn't look to see how many squadrons were raised - I just saw a regiment listed so purchased enough to do the four squadrons. It was also only involved in skirmishes and small actions - but I am a completist and as I had the figures I painted them. They did not carry a colour into the Peninsular - but that wasn't stopping me.
Lastly there is the one additional Light Dragoon regiment for the British / KGL troops. This is the 1st KGL Light Dragoons which are uniformed essentially the same as the two British Light Dragoon regiments I painted a few weeks ago. This ends the Light Cavalry I need for the Allies in the Peninsular with three regiments in total.
Points
4th Regiment - three battalions each of 36 figures @ 0.5 points per figure = 54 points
6th Regiment - two battalions each of 36 figures @ 0.5 points per figure = 36 points
Princes' Battalion of 36 figures @ 0.5 points per figure = 18 points
Frankfurt Battalion of 36 figures @ 0.5 points per figure = 18 points
Nassua Chasseurs of 20 mounted figures @ 1 point per figure = 20 points
1st KGL Light Dragoons of 20 mounted figures @1 point per figure = 20 points
Total = 166 points
From Millsy:
Like you Richard I've always been captivated by the minor nations and allies in the armies of Napoleon. So often maligned they did an awful lot of the dirty work and received little credit for their contributions. My own "French" armies have always included a healthy number of Confederation, Saxon or Bavarian troops.
Their uniforms are interesting and diverse and depending on scale you can even mix uniforms in the same units because some contingents were simply too small to operate on their own as your Thuringians demonstrate.
I've thoroughly enjoyed your deep dive into these rarely seen units. It'd be great too see them all together in single photo if that's possible.
Great work as always mate and another 166 points added to your considerable tally.
Cheers,
Millsy
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