Portuguese General Staff and Battalion Colonels

The Tennant collection includes eight battalions of Portuguese infantry and three regiments of dragoons, so I felt like I needed to beef up the chain of command a bit.  Most pressingly, I need Colonels for the infantry battalions.  I have since discovered that Portuguese command figures are few and far between in terms of availability.  I was able to pick up a general staff set and mounted colonel as part of an infantry command set from Hagen.  These are now unavailable, but may pop back up soon at a partner site.

https://www.black-watch-miniatures.de/

The Colonel in British Uniform is an SHQ figure that is still available.

 

From left to right: Colonel Maxwell Grant of the 6th Portuguese infantry regiment in British uniform, General Beresford and Portuguese Brigadier, and an un-named Portuguese Lieutenant Colonel to lead the 2nd battalion of the 6th Portuguese line.

The Hagen Portuguese General Staff set does not specify Beresford, but with such a large Portuguese contingent in the army, he seemed the logical choice for the model in this little vignette.  He has joined Wellington now as part of the General Staff.

Beresford actually attained the rank of Field Marshal in the Portuguese army, but I was unsure when that rank was given, so in this vignette he appears in the uniform of a full General (I think - information on uniforms and personnel of Beresford's staff was a bit hard to come by online, though I think there are some Ospreys that may give more detail than I had access to).

The map was a mystery for quite some time as I at first mistook it as flash and almost discarded it.  Glad I came to the realization before I did so as it makes a nice little figure.

Beresford's leadership and reforms of the Portuguese military earned him a great deal of Wellington's respect, so much so that despite his lack luster record as a field commander, Wellington appointed him second in command of the allied army.

The sculptor of this vignette "borrowed" the scene from a cover on one of the Osprey titles covering the subject I suspect.

The uniform of Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Maxwell Grant is conjectural.  He served apparently concurrently as a major in the 42nd Black Watch Highland Regiment while commanding the 6th Portuguese line Battalion.  It was apparently not unusual for British officers in Portuguese service to wear their British Uniform when in need, so I chose to represent him here in the uniform of a Lieutenant-Colonel of the 42nd with a small concession - a Portuguese cockade on his hat.

Beresford tried to arrange appointments of British and Portuguese officers so that they served over and under someone of the other nationality.  The Brigade is led by Charles Ashworth, so Maxwell's appointment would be an exception to this, though his immediate subordinate I have depicted as a Portuguese national as would be expected.

I always struggle with the color of the British command sash.  I want it to be differentiated from the color of the coat, but I am afraid this time it went a bit too purple (not so much I felt inspire to repaint it though!).

The identity of the Lieutenant -Colonel of the 2nd battalion of the 6th Portuguese Line is a mystery and so I have opted to just label him a a generic Portuguese Lt. Col. for now, pending further research.

This figure by Hagen Miniatures was the best of the castings, being nice and clean with good detail.  The stove top shako also fits in well with the Hinton Hunt castings used for the rank and file.

Nicely animated and a lovely horse to boot, I am hopeful I can obtain a few more of these to help lead the remaining six battalions of Portuguese!

 

 

 

 

 

I Need Your Help!

If you have any of the following figures lying around unused, please contact me at David.L.Crenshaw@Gmail.com as I would love to be able to complete some planned battalions:

Der Kriegspielers 17 - French Fusilier Grenadier (9)

Der Kriegspieler 12 - 1812 Legere Firing (8)

Hinton Hunt BN 254 - Count Von Alton (1)

 

Thanks!!!!