Recently Painted No 35 Russian Litovski Lifeguard 1812

 "The French blasted canister at us and then their cuirassiers charged. Our battalions were formed in squares, and they surrounded us on all sides. We allowed them to come closer and then fired at 50 paces, killing and wounding many of them. We shouted Urrahhh! and charged the cavalry with bayonets. The [French] cuirassiers fled." (- an officer of Lithuanian Lifeguard Regiment) 

The 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions

Trying to find info about the three battalions of The Litovski (Lithuanian) Lifeguard proved to be damned difficult I can tell you. So I'll firstly explain the figures are from Essex and are part of Posties fine collection painted by myself a couple of months back. 

I did find out that they were in the,

5th Infantry (Reserve) Corps, commanded by H.M. Grand Duke Constantine

Guard Infantry Division: Major General Ermolov, on 12 July 1812 appointed as Head of Staff of the 1st Western army. He was replaced by General Lieutenant Lavrov

1st Brigade: Major General Baron Rosen

 Preobrazhenski Lifeguard Regiment (3)

Semyenovskyi Lifeguard Regiment (3)

2nd Brigade: Colonel Udom

Ismailov Lifeguard Regiment (3)

Lithuanian Lifeguard Infantry Regiment (3)

3rd Brigade: Colonel Bistrom III

Lifeguard Jager Regiment (3)

Finland Lifeguard Regiment (3)

Guard Artillery Equipage

2 Guard Position Batteries

2 Guard Light Batteries

2 Guard Horse Batteries

The 1st

The 2nd

The 3rd

Lastly a quote from Officer Udom

 “… the Lifeguard Lithuanian Regiment was sent to the Second Western Army of General of Infantry Prince Bagration near the village [of Semeyonovskoie] … On regiment's arrival to this site, the enemy made a strong attack on our battery and, upon being informed by Artillery Colonel Taube, I led the II Battalion of the regiment and drove the enemy back, which, however, was soon reinforced and compelled our entire line to retreat for 50 paces. The enemy showered us with cannonballs and canister and attacked with cavalry. My three battalions were arranged in squares awaiting cavalry and despite being surrounded by a superior enemy, they met him gallantly.
They allowed the French [cavalry] to approach to close range before delivering a battalion volley, and, yelling 'Hurrah!'; they drove the enemy, inflicting heavy losses. Our soldiers were so incensed that no prisoners were taken. We lost no wounded on that occasion. The enemy … made a second attack on the regiment, but was met with equal courage and fled to the right, while the height was occupied by the enemy skirmishers. To counter them, I dispatched … the II Battalion to drive the enemy back and capture the heights. Although this was accomplished with considerable success, the enemy was reinforced with several columns in this direction and supported the skirmishers, which made it impossible for my regiment to capture the heights. … I was wounded in the right hand by a bullet. So the regiment was left in the hands of Lt. Col. Schwartz, … [he] charged with the I Battalion to the mentioned heights and, having sent out skirmishers, he captured it. Both sides suffered heavy casualties ... The enemy, meantime, was reinforced again.
My regiment had lost too many people by now and on the order of General Vasilchikov … the regiment retreated, fighting back, to the woods, where it dispatched skirmishers for cover and then joined a battalion of the Lifeguard Izmailovsk Regiment. … In this battle, the regiment had 143 NCOs, 53 musicians, 1,543 privates, 1 non-combatant. The regiment lost up to 400 killed and about 443 wounded, with 130 missing in action. “

 Udom to Lavrov, 31 August -12 Sept 1812 Borodino

Recently Painted No 34 Arggh!! The Pirates are a comin'

Throughout history, there have been people willing to rob others transporting goods on the water. Thousands of pirates were active from 1650–1720. These years are sometimes known as a 'Golden Age' of piracy. Famous pirates from this period include Blackbeard (Edward Teach), Henry Morgan, William 'Captain' Kidd, 'Calico' Jack Rackham and Bartholomew Roberts.

In the 17th century, buccaneers lived on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola and its tiny turtle-shaped neighbour, Tortuga. At first, they lived as hunters, and shot wild pigs with their long-barrelled muskets. Their name came from the special wooden huts called boucans where they smoked their meat.

Later, the governors of Caribbean islands such as Jamaica paid the buccaneers to attack Spanish treasure ships and ports. Some of the largest scale raids were led by the Welsh captain, Sir Henry Morgan. Although raids began in this way, with official backing, the buccaneers gradually became more and more out of control, eventually attacking any ship they thought carried valuable cargo, whether it belonged to an enemy country or not. The buccaneers had become true pirates.

These blagards were paint'd by meself, from Peter Pigs range of minis, I raised the banners from Warflag, choosin a pretty little number for each unit,  they be painted for me hearty Postie, who's got a great looking ship for 'em to sail the seven seas in. But 'es gonna use'um for priviteers to fight the darstadly English for the War of 1812, as e says they did fight at The Battle of New Orleans in 1815, commanded by Jean Lafitte and his older brother Pierre!!! And yes.... I will keep on taking the tablets????

Ray

Jean and Pierre Lafitte

Recently Painted No 33 French Napoleonic Generals

After the horde of Russian infantry I painted up for Postie, he very kindly gave me more Napoleonics to paint up!! This time the figures were French Generals and an assorted bunch of leftover figures that I had to paint up in various French uniforms, basically to use as Aid de Camps. They took ages to paint up, as each figure was a separate unit. However they were fun to paint instead of all that rotten Russian green!!!! Most of the figures are from Essex, with the odd AB or Old Glory (I think).
Also I've just been gluing up some of the 18th century wagons I bought at Salute, Mr Magister Militum has got his own back on me after I nearly tramples him to death on Sunday. One of the wagon packs I bought has the wrong wheels, solid not spoked, its not the end of the world, I'm sure they would still have been found in America during the FIW, but its not what I wanted..............anyway back to the painting!!!!

Ray