Tuesday 27 September 2011

Recently Painted No 32 Hompesch's Mounted Rifles






During the Napoleonic Wars, Great Britain raised regiments from European countries to augment the crown forces fighting the French around the world. One such regiment was The Hompesch Mounted Rifles.




Hompesch Mounted Rifles, also known as Hompesch Light Dragoons, were raised by Ferdinand de Hompesch, in Sept 1796 three companies were posted on the Isle of White,  these formed the basis of a new corps “Hompesch Mounted Rifles”, from 9th January 1798. The unit consisted of Swiss, German, Belgian, Royalist French and Dutch, in four troops of 114 men each. They were sent to Ireland from April in 1798, to counter the Irish Rebellion of 1798, where they received their mounts, they were engaged against the Irish rebels at Wexford, and  a small detachment fought at The Battle of Vinegar Hill on 21st June. They also took part in the pursuit of a small French force helping the Irish in August of that year, earning themselves a savage reputation.  In July 1800, 164 officers and men were sent from Ireland to participate in abortive raids on Ferrol and Cadiz, in Spain. A detachment of 179 men were sent to Egypt until being sent back to Cork, Ireland to rejoin their regiment in mid 1802. The unit some 450 men strong were then transferred to Portsmouth and disbanded on 28th September 1802.
The figures are from Posties collection, painted by myself and are from Minifigs range.

Ray














22 comments:

  1. Man that's some name for a unit and they look rather special Ray.

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  2. Nice work Ray, I was glad to help with these.

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  3. colourful little buggers..well done

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  4. Wow, Fran did a great job on these Ray, your lucky to have mate like this.

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  5. Very smart Ray. I'm really enjoying the history you're adding to the Blogposts....so much so, I've nicked the idea myself!

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  6. Oh yes, very nice! The Hompesch Mounted Rifles would make a wonderful and colourful Colonial unit too!

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  7. Unusual unit and interesting history. Mini Figs are sometimes tricky to paint but you have done a good job there.

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  8. Very nice looking unit. Thanks for posting.

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  9. Really nice looking figs. Do you happen to know if they dismounted to use their rifles? Or did they fire and reload on horseback? Or fire one volley and charge? I'm no expert at all on black powder warfare, but I find the combination of rifle and horse unusual and interesting.

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  10. I am now interested in this unit. The actions that you describe them in seems to be skirmish sized. To you have any references to the actions that they participated in Ireland? I would like to read more about them.

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  11. Cheers for all your comments guys!!!
    @ Bard - As far as I can make out they did a bit of both, dis-mounting to fire when needed and charging into melee as well.
    @ Chris - Here's a few links for you:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vinegar_Hill
    http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=205891
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/irish_reb_01.shtml

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  12. Very nice, Ray. I quite like the pose with the arm in the lower guarde position.

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  13. Excellent work, Ray. I've never seen Hompesch's modelled before! (John from Ontario)

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  14. I heard a rumor that you didn't get Lurker a birthday gift? Say it isn't so.

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  15. Nice paintjobs mate. I love people who put down some background or facts as I wouldn't have a clue with most historical stuff.

    Keep up the great work!

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  16. Nice post and great looking unit!

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  17. great great painting....

    http://dioramanet.blogspot.com/

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  18. Lovely uniforms. Impressive brushwork as always, Ray

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