On this day - The Battle of Bladensburg, August 24th 1814

On this day the Battle of Bladensburg, August 24th 1814 took place. An interesting account of the battle can be found  [here]. The following photos, taken by my brother, are from the museum at Shrewsbury castle.

Standard of the 1st Harford Light Dragoons, US Army

taken by the 85th Regiment at Bladensburg

Army 'Small' Gold Medal

Awarded to Colonel (later Sir) William Thorton, 85th, for his gallantry in the battles of the Nive, 9-13 November 1813. Only 896 of these medals were ever awarded, 34 for the Nive.

Col. Thorton was captured by the Americans at Bladenburg in 1814 but was released in time to command the 85th at New Orleans, where he was severely wounded. He died in 1840.

Modified Dragoons, (Warlord) - Part 6 of 6

This final model as I wanted an alternative to the drummer available in other sets. The figure is as usual the plastic firelock figure from Warlord. The trumpet is taken from the Warlord cavalry set, all the detail was removed leaving just the instrument itself.

WIP

The musket was taken from another spare Warlord set with the other hand cut away. The cuff and the strap for the musket were made from added using greenstuff.

This is the final figure for my dragoon group. I wanted an alternative to the drummer available in other sets. The figure is as usual the plastic firelock figure from Warlord. The trumpet is taken from the Warlord cavalry set, all the detail was removed leaving just the instrument itself. Due to my heavy handed efforts I managed to break off the mouthpiece. I decided it wasn't worth the time to repair it so left it as it appears here. 

This is the final figure for my dragoon group. Now, eagle-eyed smarty pants readers may have spotted an apparent oddity with my figures from this mini-series Players of Lion Rampant will know that the units consist of either six or twelve figures and Pikeman's Lament follows the same numbering system. However if you add up the number of figures in this group there are actually seven figures in total. Now this is either because it's easier to transport infantry figures rather than a large bulky cavalry group to play at the local store or I wasn't playing attention and made too many. I'll let you decide is more likely. 

I do have another ECW project on the go at the moment but I'm making (very) slow progress with it. I currently have more than enough figures (for myself and an opponent) to play a standard 24 point game of The Pikeman's Lament so I'm under no particular pressure to get these done.

Modified Dragoons, (Warlord) - Part 5 of 6

Although dragoons are normally only depicted with muskets they could also be armed with pikes (see the link in the original post). To represent this figure is portrayed as a pikeman using the ubiquitous plastic firelock figure from Warlord.

The arms were taken from a Perry plastics set (WoTR I think). Gaps in the shoulders were filled in with greenstuff. Using the same material the sleeve cuffs were also added. 

WIP

Looking at the figure in the state show above I kept on thinking that something didn't quite seem right. As the figure represents a pikeman I realised I had to extend the shaft. To do this I used a spare polearm.

Little tip: whenever you have to join two rods/bars of plastic together cut the shaft at a diagonal angle (45 degrees if you can, using the lines on your cutting board as a guide). this increases the surface area and helps form a stronger bond than the usual perpendicular cut.