Here are the first six (of twelve) hard plastic British dragoons, assembled from the Warlord box kit called The Household Brigade.
I decided to paint them as the 5th Dragoon Guards, because I noticed in my Haythornthwaite book "Wellingtons Military Machine" that the 3rd and 4th Dragoons, plus the 5th Dragoon Guards, were brigaded together at the battle of Vittoria in 1813 and commanded by Ponsonby. Fortuitously, I have already painted the other two dragoon regiments!
I then noticed today that the same brigade played a pivotal part at the battle of Salamanca, when under the command of Major General Gaspard Le Marchant
Brief history of the relevant period:
Renamed Second Irish Horse in 1746, the regiment then became 5th Regiment of Dragoon Guards in 1788. On the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in 1793, it was posted to Flanders where it fought at the April 1794 Battle of Beaumont. The unit returned to Ireland and helped suppress the 1798 Irish Rebellion, including the battles of Arklow, Vinegar Hill and Ballinamuck.
In 1804, it was retitled 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Regiment of Dragoon Guards after Princess Charlotte, later simplified to 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Dragoon Guards.
Posted to Spain in 1810, it was part of Le Marchant's brigade during the Peninsular campaign. The Battle of Salamanca in July 1812 is considered one of Wellington's greatest victories and Le Marchant's attack as the 'single most destructive charge made by a brigade of cavalry in the whole Napoleonic period.' The regiment celebrated 'Salamanca Day' until its dissolution in 1922; the tradition continues among several units of the modern British army.
The 5th Dragoon Guards at Salamanca
Seeing British cavalry in the area, French General Maucune formed his 5eme division into squares, the standard formation to receive a mounted attack, but a poor choice when also defending against infantry. With their two-deep line, the British infantry of Leith's 5th Division easily defeated Maucune in a musketry duel. As the French foot soldiers fell back, Cotton ordered John Le Marchant's heavy brigade (5th Dragoon Guards, 3rd and 4th dragoons) to attack them.
The left wing of the French army was on the point of being defeated by the 3rd and 5th divisions of Anglo-Portuguese infantry when Le Marchant's dragoons charged in and destroyed battalion after battalion with the heavy cavalrymen's weapon, the sword, an exercise which had been designed by Le Marchant. Many of the French infantrymen sought the protection of the British infantry to escape the sabres of the dragoons. Le Marchant, knowing he had achieved a magnificent success having crushed eight French battalions, was leading a squadron when he was shot in the spine and killed. William Ponsonby succeeded to command of the brigade.
And here is the first half of my version of this regiment, wearing the "old" uniform of bicorne hat.
As always, the trumpeter is mounted on a grey horse!
The officer is a metal figure, but he rides one of the standard plastic horses that come in the kit
Apparently, the 5 Dragoon Guards were mounted on bay horses, so that's how I have painted them.
Not bad - not as good as the Perry figures, in my opinion, but simpler to put together and the Perry's have decided only to do the British heavy cavalry in metal, so I can have these for around £15 or buy 12 Perry metal figures for around £32 (plus postage and packing) - not a hard choice for a tight Scotsman (I might get another regiment of the Perry metal figures too, at a later date!)
The other six are assembled and primed, so should put in an appearance here in the next few days.
