Canadian War Museum early Canadian war exhibits

My visit to the Canadian War Museum 

Ottawa warrior

Ottawa-Huron village 

European armor and matchlocks

Huron and Canadien raiders

Kings Colors, Bourgogne, 58th Regiment 

Mortar

Fragments from siege of Louisbourg 1758

The colours

Loyalist uniform

Camp colours Royal Highland Emigrants 

Back in 1986, we made a reproduction of this for our encampments 

RHE broadsword 

 

Siege of Louisbourg 1758. British assault on the Dauphin Bastion

This coming Saturday, I'm going to have a battle day with one of my reenactment mates. He wants to be the British, Ian wants to be the colonial commander so I will be the French defender.
Pictures will follow

Hamilton deploys his troops to begin assault.

The French positions. My strategy was to see how the British would conduct their attack.

The main British assault came in this area. For some reason, Alistar kept his Rangers in reserve for most of the game and used his Highlanders to do the brunt of the attack.

Once he had taken out most of the French artillery save the lone gun, he began his assault on the King's bastion.

However, my attack went better than planned. The Cannonier-Bombardier took out the Royal Artillery while the 

French regular regiments used the bayonet to clear the area with support from the sailors of the French navy. The MikMaq gave support to Le Compaigne Frances de La Marine. All in all, Wolfe's attack failed, Louisbourg continued to live! Vive La France!

Getting back on track with Blackpowder gamming

Its been awhile since I've had the time or interest to do any work on my 18th century collection. Recently, I was able to get some superglue and start to reglue my metal figures.

Before I ran out, I was able to mount some French Milice, French Regulars, and some Royal Artillery gunners.

Slowly getting troops put together

The RA gunners being escorted by a French officer?!

Saratoga Campaign 1777: Crown Forces

The British troops which took part in the campaign consisted of the

 1st Brigade: 9th, 47th and the 53rd

2nd Brigade: 20th, 21st and the 62nd

Royal Artillery: 1st and 3rd Battalions

Gunner, Royal Regiment of Artillery, 1777 Burgoyne expedition

Before General Burgoyne's 1777 expedition started south from Canada, the British troops modified their uniforms to make them more suitable for fighting in North America. This gunner of the Royal Regiment of Artillery wears the resulting uniform. Coats had their tails cut off short. Separate breeches and gaiters were replaced by one-piece gaiter-trousers. The felt tricorne hat was cut down to make a cap, which was given a crest of horse hair dyed red. A period drawing by Friedrich von Germann, a German officer with Burgoyne’s army, shows all of these details. Visible in the background is a howitzer on a Congreve pattern field carriage. Reconstruction by Gerald A. Embleton. (Parks Canada)


Royal Irish Artillery: 1 company

I shall add my own images of my troops in the coming weeks.

From www.cmhg.gc.ca


Throughout the summer of 1776, British reinforcements continued to arrive. Dozens of ships reached the docks of Quebec to unload tons of provisions, dozens of brass field cannon and thousands of soldiers from Europe. The 9th, 20th, 21st 24th, 47th, 53rd and 62nd regiments arrived, as well as the grenadiers of the 29th, 31st and 34th, accompanied by 500 artillerymen of the Royal Artillery.

Revolutionary War Battle of Princeton Reenactment

 Thanks to Fay Kobland for posting the video.



My own table top recreation will follow later today, unless the laundry keeps me busy

My Monmouth Courthouse 1778 Crown Forces

From Osprey Campaign 135 Monmouth Courthouse 1778 (Osprey Publishing, Oxford, 2004 pg 82-84)

For those who note descripencies, I have only listed the figures of units I have painted.
June 28, 1778

Artillery:
4th Battalion Royal Artillery
Hesse Kasel Artillery
2nd Battalion, New Jersey Volunteers.

First Division:

1st Light Infantry, made up of Light Infantry companies of 4th/5th/10th/15th/17th/22nd/23rd/27th/28th/33rd/35th/38th/42nd

Composite battalions of Grenadiers, made up of the above regiments.

Hessian Grenadiers, made up from companies from Linsing, Lengerke, Minnigerode

3rd Brigade:
15th/17th/42nd and 44th Foot

4th Brigade:
33rd/46th/64th Foot

5th Brigade:
7th/26th/63rd Foot.

Second Division:

2nd Light Infantry, made up of the companies of 40th/43rd/44th/45th/46th/49th/52nd/54th/63rd/64th/1st and 2nd Battalions, 71st Highlanders.

Composite battalions of Grenadiers, made up of the above regiments.

17th Light Dragoons
40th Foot

Jager Korps
Hesse-Kassel Jager (foot) Hesse-Kassel (mtd) Anspach-Bayreuth Chasseurs

1st Brigade:
4th/23rd/28th/49th

2nd Brigade:
5th/10th/27th/55th

Hessian Brigade:
Regiment Von Knyphausen
von Woellworth

Loyalists Corps
Philadelphia Light Dragoons
Maryland Loyalists
New Jersey Volunteers

British Troops of the Seven Years War/French and Indian War: Royal Artillery

 not sure where I got this from, but if anyone knows the artist, please let me know. 

(www.rafm.com) Battalion gun

 Galipoer gun

 These gunners I have painted up as Royal Artillery, Charleston SC Artillery company, Rhode Island Artillery company. The metals are in storage in Nova Scotia.

 (www.plasticsoldierreviw.com) While my plastic RA gunners are a mix of these and

 from the Revell Imperial Artillery from their 30 Years War range.

Battle of Trois Riverie 1776

 From Brendan Morrissey Quebec 1775 Osprey Campaign 128 comes the Battle of Trois Rivieres. This action took place on June 6, 1776. An American force under General Thompson attempted to attack Allan McLean of the 1st Battalion Royal Highland Emigrants. What he found at Trois Revieres was something different. 

The British force consisted of 29th Regiment, 9th Regiment, 20th Regiment, and 62nd Regiment,  Royal Highland Emigrants, Montreal Militia, some Canadien volunteers and Amerindian warriors.

The Americans consisted of a mixed bag of troops from different units in the colonial army. The morale of this group was poor as they had not been paid, the British had sent troops from Halifax, and the war was not going so well for them. 

On turn one, the Americans were led into a swamp by a Canadien farmer, who rightly believed the Americans to be the invaders, not the liberators from British rule. They advanced to engage the British left which consisted of the Amerindian warriors.

The British Light Infantry companies began to snipe at the advancing Americans, but were forced back by formed units of Americans. 

The Amerindians began to take casualties for the American riflemen and fell back to leave the battlefield. The Highlanders and Loyalists then formed the Left of the British line. The centre was then made up of Loyalist militia supported by an RA gun.

The British right consisted of the centre companies of the British regulars as well as a composite Grenadier battalion from all the British regiments.

The Highlanders advance on the left. The Americans form a line to keep up a brisk fire on the advancing British.

Eventually, when the British were able to form line, they poured devasting volleys into the American ranks. The Highlanders and Grenadiers then went in with the bayonet, and drove the Americans from the field. Canada, was saved!

Osprey Publishing - King George’s Army 1740 - 93 (3)

Osprey Publishing - King George’s Army 1740 - 93 (3)




This volume covers the senior regiments, the Horse and Royal Artillery.

Osprey Publishing - New York 1776

Osprey Publishing - New York 1776




Finally, Osprey had a copy of this for sale. It must be a popular text as it has not been for sale on either Osprey or Amazon for quite some time.




Osprey as of the date of this post, has a sale on Campaign titles. So I picked up Fort William Henry and New York 1776.




With these campaign books, I plan on refighting these campaigns in the near future.

Attack on de Vienne house, Beauport, Quebec 1759

This is a fictional battle, but could have happened if the British had been able to ford the Montmorency river further up from the French defences. (All images courtsey of www.cmhg.gc.ca)

Men of the Compagnie des canonniers-bombardiers of Canada move an artillery piece into place

Shown are various ranks of the Canonniers-bombardiers during the mid-eighteenth century. The men serving the cannon are wearing their waistcoats so that they will not be hampered by their coats and equipment. Sergeants and corporals can be recognized by the silver lace stitched to their cuffs, double lace for the former and single lace for the latter. The drummers are wearing the king's livery with buttons of white metal. The officers' uniforms are identical to those of their men, but of better quality. Reconstruction by Eugène Lelièpvre.


The British deployed against the French defences. The British right took some casualties from the French gunners. However, with counter battery fire, and bayonet charges by the grenadiers, the French guns were taken out.The Ottawa warriors then broke, leaving the Canadien milice to hold them back.


In the centre, the British and French guns fired on each other, the French guns held out, but were then threatened by the grenades of the British Grenadiers.

Grenadier officer, 60th (Royal American) Regiment of Foot, 1757-1767

The 60th (Royal American) Regiment of Foot was raised as part of an effort to create units of the British army drawn from the American colonies. The successor to this regiment is still part of the British Army in the 21st century, although it has not recruited in North America for hundreds of years. Grenadiers wore the distinctive pointed cap shown here until these were replaced by fur caps in 1768. The officers and drummers (but not the ordinary soldiers) of the 60th had their uniforms trimmed with lace. Note that grenadier officers carried muskets, unlike most infantry officers. (Library of the Canadian Department of National Defence)


On the French left, the Huron warriors attempted to hold back the British brigade. Eventually with a combination of musketry duels and bayonet charges, the warriors slowly fell back. The Compaigne Franches then came from reserve to hold the line.
Finally, the entire British army bayonet charged the French centre. Knowing the battle to be lost, Montcalm surrendered. Quebec fell, without a direct assualt.

British advance off beach at Louisbourg 1758

This little game involved the British regiments in the Louisbourg campaign advancing towards the Fortress of Louisbourg.
The French sent out detachments of Bourgogne, Artois, Volunteer Etranger, Les Compaigne Franches de La Marine along with gunners from Cannonier-Bombardier. Additional support was provided by milice du Louisbourg.


The British advanced with the 1st, 22nd, 28th, 35th, 40th, 48th, 60th, 78th, with Gorehams, James Rogers and Danks rangers. 2 guns of the Royal Artillery were also in support.


The French attempted to ambush the collum but were unsuccessful. The rangers and grenadiers were able to break open the French ambush while the 78th advanced straight onto the French. Eventually with brisky musketry taking out the French gunners, the French pulled back to the safety of the fortress walls. The British were then able to establish their camp.

Old Fort Niagara - French and Indian War 2009 - British Assault the Fort

all credits to Full Circle studios

Battle of Minden August 1, 1759

This is one of the most famous battles of the British Army. Private 20th Regiment of Foot  (britishbattles.com) Below are some of the British Grenadier companies.

(britishbattles.com)


(britishbattles.com) One of the Grenadier companies of the British Army.


 The Hanoverian Regiments of Sporcken's
brigade : von Hardenburg's and the Foot Guards
(britishbattles.com)


 The 25th Regiment of Foot fires volleys on the French horse (britishbattles.com)

Drummer, Brunswick Infanterie-Regiment von Specht, 1776-1777

Infanterie-Regiment von Specht was one of the regiments of German mercenaries hired from the duchy of Brunswick that arrived at Quebec in 1777. It accompanied General Burgoyne's expedition south in 1777. Amongst the various German states of this period, it was still common for infantry drummers to wear a uniform in the colour of their colonel's livery. This drummer wears the yellow and red livery of the von Specht family, whose patent of nobility from the Holy Roman Empire dated from 1662. The use of this uniform in Canada is proved by surviving tailors' bills submitted by the regiment to the British authorities. Reconstruction by Derek Fitzjames. (Parks Canada)


More shots to follow of this battle refought coming soon.

Siege of Ft. Beausejour 1755 Part 1

Today, Ian and I played out the British advance on Ft. Beausejour. I posted the video on my japanesehighlander channel
Gunner, Royal Artillery 1755
Private, 45th Regiment, one of the British regiments used in the attack.
I have refought this battle in the Spring of 2018.

Battle of Whitemarsh 1777

The Battle of Whitemarsh-Edgehill December 8, 1777

 

 

Objectives:

 

CROWN FORCES: To drive Washington’s army out of their entrenchments

                  To surround Washington’s army and destroy it.

 

 

 

AMERICAN FORCES: To keep the Crown forces from breaking into the trenches.

                     Try and not lose the army.

 

 

 

TURN SEQUENCE:

 

1.    Impact phase: Make all of your charges this turn. Try to contact and break your enemy. Each side checks morale to see if they can charge, and withstand a charge.

2.    Manoeuvre phase: Move your soldiers where you want them to go. Reform any units which failed morale at this time.

3.    SHOOTING phase: Both sides shoot with infantry and artillery. Cavalry also fire at this time. Check morale of each side after all firing has stopped. Hits scored result in units being taken off the table. All units hit on a 4 and up. If a one or two is rolled, regular troops may rerole. Militia MAY NOT. It takes two hits to take out a unit.

Units inside the fortifications will need to be hit 3 times to be removed.

4.    MELEE phase: Bayonet and sword hand to hand combat. Roll dice to see which group wins. Higher roll wins, lower roll is removed from table.

 

THE BATTLEFIELD:

 

The battlefield is made from one of my camping tables. The terrain is made up of a plastic piece which is raised, giving the impression of a hill. The table top has rivers, roads, woods, grasslands modeled. There may also be some trees used. The Americans get fortification pieces which will be set up on their side of the board.

This battle was refought by us on Sunday, November 24, 2013,

The Americans were commanded by Trevor and Jessica. Jessica is actually from Pennsylvannia and was tickeled pink to read in my book all the places she went as a child. When she I had accidently shown her my wargamming shots in the summer coming back on the bus from my companies summer assignment, she mentioned that her old hobby was playing warhammer! Trevor was also a sci-fi gammer back in the day, hence my kitchen party this year was a chili feed and wargame.

I took the British as Ian decided he wanted to play video games with his older brother, and didn't know he could join us.

The Americans began their advance by moving their cavalry forward as well as their light infantry and riflemen. The British countered this by advancing their Jagers and Lights forward. The British then advanced by column towards the American defenses. The American artillery began to fire on the British units. The Royal Artillery had some guns with their advances as well as a massed battery.

The American position was well founded. Their trenches on Edgehill held their main guns. Washington had decided to meet the British head on. The American militia held fast suprisingly. The riflemen and light infantry however were eliminated.

The river in front of the American position acted as a barrier. Ian had set up the table terrian. There were three positions the British could cross. This channelled them into a killing ground. The Royal Artillery was eventually able to counter battery fire the American guns. All of their guns were lost. The British Grenadiers then began to charge across the bridge but were kept from crossing. The Hessians were able to cross and make a foot hold. However, after a two-and-a-half hour fight, the game was called as a historical draw.

Pictures to follow. Color plates from www.juniorgeneral.org