The Regimiento de Santiago, originally painted by Richard "Dick" Tennant, as part of his Spanish contingent, are now finished and have a new Colonel, complete with the obligatory Spanish cigar, to lead them into battle.
I was despairing of trying to figure out the why's and wherefores of the 6 Spanish regiments Dick painted, but a quick search through my email led me to this statement about them. Dick was just as meticulous with his notes as he was with his painting!
More pictures below!
***********
Spanish Troops
In 1812 the troops depicted had been part of the 6 th (Galician) Army of General
Castanos. For the campaigns of 1813 Wellington combined the armies of Galicia,
Castile and Estremadura into the 4 th Army under General Giron. These troops
formed the 4th (Galician) Division, General Baracena, later Espelata.
10th Regt of Guadalajara
2nd Regt of Asturias [56th of the Line]
Voluntarios de Asturias (Line)
6th Regimiento de Marine
Regt de Santiago (provincial militia)
[Cazadores] Voluntarios de la Coruna
There is no data as to how they were brigaded.
Caçadores is the plural of caçador, the Portuguese word for "hunter". It has also
been used to designate each one of the elite light infantry soldiers of the Portuguese
Army. Galician is a Romance language (i.e., from Latin) spoken by about 3 million
people in Spain's north-western region of Galicia. Although it's most closely related
to Portuguese—which is spoken south of the border—it shares many similarities
with Castilian Spanish, including sounds and spelling.
The Galicians were the only Spanish Troops permitted by Wellington to remain after
1813 with his army in France; the rest were sent back over the border to Spain.
The drill manuals of the Spanish infantry were basically a translation and
modification of those of the French. There were six companies to a battalion and
they fought in three ranks.
The uniforms are of the sort provided by Britain. For the units I painted earlier I
based the colouring on Spanish Armies of the Napoleonic Wars (3) by Rene
Chartrand with illustrations by Bill Younghusband. With image C3 he described the
(Trotter) pack as being yellow, with white straps; I believe that rather than the basic
leather being dyed black, it was left in the plain un-treated tan colour. My earlier
units simply had the Trotter pack in black with white straps.
6th Regimiento de Marine
I had managed to find a website about Spanish Marine battalions, but I was not sure
of the authenticity of the illustrations. I wanted them to stand out from the other
Line battalions so decided to give them black cross-belts; the pack, including straps
and the musket sling are in a buff/light tan colour. Whereas the Line battalions had
coloured tapes on their shakoes, the marines have black leather; there was no
distinction (grenadier, centre & light) between companies which have red plumes.
The rest of the uniform is totally blue with brass buttons.
[Cazadores] Voluntarios de la Coruna
This battalion has the blue uniform with scarlet collar, cuffs and turn-backs; the
lacing down the front of the jacket and on the shoulder-straps is white. All the
leather fittings are buff/light tan, with pewter buttons: all the plumes and shako
tapes should be green. Being cazadores they have a bugler, rather than a drummer,
and are not carrying a standard into the field.
I found that I have two tins of Humbrol 74 Linen in my stock. One is darker than the
other and closer to the buff/light tan I wanted for the leather; I used the lighter one
for the linen haversacks.
Painting sequences
I have found that when painting belts, straps and shako embellishments after the
background colours it is difficult to ensure that the vertical edges are properly
covered. Therefore it is better to paint these first and then paint the background
colours up to the horizontal edges.
Collar, cuffs & turn-backs – 60 Scarlet
Belts, straps & backpack (excluding 2 belts below the backpack) – 74 Linen/darker
Haversack – 74 Linen/lighter this can also be white
Water-keg – 71 Oak
Coat & trousers – 104 Blue
2 belts below the backpack & repair edges – 74 Linen
Blanket-roll and spats – Light Grey
Faces & hands – Flesh 61
Moustache, sideburns & musket – Brown 10
Shako tapes & plume – Mid-Green 101
Shako – Black 33
Shako peak, cartridge box & boots – Black 21
Musket butt & sling buckle – Brass 54
Shako & cartridge box badges & musket – Aluminium 56
Edging – Mid-Grey
Base – Green 80
And here they are:
 |
| As usual, the figures have all been repaired and any chipped paint (there was a lot) matched and filled in. The figures are highlighted and then received a light brown dilute ink wash, and then a final highlight where needed. As a last step they get a Windsor and Newton oil based clear gloss protective coat and shiny new bases. |
 |
| Dick Tennant's line work is second to none! |
 |
| I was pleased this toothpaste tube flag survived the journey! |
 |
| Dick mentions the untanned backpacks in his notes, but the brown ink wash really helped to give them a more realistic tone of weathered leather. |
 |
| The yellow gloves and cigar are right out of the illustrations in Phillip Haythornthwaites book on the Peninsular war. |
 |
| Unfortunately the all too often seen backside of the Spanish leadership. Well led troops in the Spanish army had some amazing staying power, but the quality of leadership appears to have been highly variable. |
 |
| I'm much more fond of the later Spanish uniform than I thought I would be. They make for a formidable looking regiment! |
 |
Couldn't resist picking up a copy for myself to see what Dick was basing his uniforms on.Next up, 6th Regimiento de Marine |
