September 28, 2013

The Duke of Schomberg's Horse

Just finished a squadron of the the Duke of Schomberg's Horse...

This is yet another unit for which we have no real information on the uniform or the flag.If you remember my discussion on officer sashes from my Featured Regiments post on De La Melonière's regiment of foot there were a number of choices I could have made for the sashes of the officers. This time I went with white. Schomberg's horse was composed mainly of 'French gentlemen from good families' according to Matthew Glozier's book The Huguenot Soldiers of William of Orange and the Glorious Revolution of 1688. To me it seems more likely that these sort of soldiers would be more educated and likely to remember their past and thus more likely to adopt the white sashes of tradition. The flag is simply based on the Duke of Schomberg's coat of arms (and is available from the LoA shop). I trimmed away the gold fringe on a whim. The grey coats and red facings of the troopers could be used for dozens of other regiments with a flag swap.

For Beneath the Lily Banners, you must designate your cavalry as either Bullet or Blade to represent the two prevailing tactical doctrines of the time. Bullet cavalry advanced slowly and fired pistols before engaging in close combat while Blade cavalry drew their swords and charged! The main of William III's army employed Bullet tactics, but the Huguenot horsemen were all veterans of the French army which favored Blade tactics. I've chosen to call the Huguenot regiment Blade (and signified this by modeling them with swords instead of pistols) for the Irish theater, with the idea that the newly formed regiment was probably more naturally inclined to their old training.

I have a second squadron on the painting table now...

5 comments:

  1. They are terrific. love the ground work too.

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  2. Love the painting, the flag and the unit composition/characterisation. These are awesome (and put my painting to shame HA).

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