The Green Mountain Boys

 The more I read about the background to this unit, the less involved I suspect they were in the general "revolution" - but I liked the uniform, and they are painted now - and they certainly took some part in the hostilities! See below what I am referring to - I suspect this will be unknown to most readers - possibly even some in the US itself!

The original Green Mountain Boys were a militia organized in what is now southwestern Vermont in the decade prior to the American Revolutionary War. They comprised settlers and land speculators who held New Hampshire titles to lands between the Connecticut River and Lake Champlain, an area then known as the New Hampshire Grants, that is now modern Vermont. New York was given legal control of the area by a decision of the British crown and refused to respect the New Hampshire titles and town charters. Although a few towns with New York land titles, notably Brattleboro on the Connecticut River, supported the change, the vast majority of the settlers in the sparsely populated frontier region rejected the authority of New York.

When the American Revolutionary War started in 1775, Ethan Allen and a troop of his men, along with Connecticut Colonel Benedict Arnold, marched up to Lake Champlain and captured the strategically important British military posts at Fort Ticonderoga, Crown Point, and Fort George, all in New York. The Boys also briefly held St. John's in Québec but retreated on word of arriving British regulars.

In Summer 1775, the Green Mountain Boys became the basis for the Green Mountain Rangers, a regiment in the Continental Army that selected colonel Seth Warner as its leader. Some of the Green Mountain Boys preferred to remain with Ethan Allen and were taken prisoners along with Allen in August 1775 in a bungled attempt to capture the city of Montreal. Among them were Congressman Matthew Lyon and Lieutenant Benjamin Tucker.

Vermont eventually declared itself an independent nation in January 1777, and organized a government based in Windsor. The armed forces of the Vermont Republic were based upon the Green Mountain Boys. Although Vermont initially supported the American Revolutionary War and sent troops to fight John Burgoyne's British invasion from Quebec in battles at Hubbardton and Bennington in 1777, Vermont eventually adopted a more neutral stance and became a haven for deserters from both the British and colonial armies. George Washington, who had more than sufficient difficulties with the British, brushed off Congressional demands that he subdue Vermont. During the Haldimand Affair, some members of the Green Mountain Boys became involved in secret negotiations with British officials about restoring the Crown's rule over the territory.

For the Green Mountain Boys, I have reverted to the Warlord hard plastic figures.

Quite a striking looking uniform, and I like their flag, too!

I have assumed reversed colours for the musicians, as this seems to have been a standard feature of American units.

I really do like the faces on the Warlord figures!

The variety of poses possible from the kit is nice, too.

My next unit will be another 18 Perry miniatures, this time wearing the peaked cap and painted to represent Henleys regiment, to the left of the image below

Thanks, once again, to Uncle Google, here is some info on this unit:

Henley's Additional Continental Regiment was raised on January 12, 1777, with troops from Massachusetts and New Hampshire at Boston, Massachusetts for service with the Continental Army. The regiment saw action at the Battle of Monmouth and the Battle of Rhode Island. The Regiment was merged into the 16th Massachusetts Regiment on April 9, 1779.

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Latest Addition to the AWI Patriot Forces

This is a regiment of Perry plastic AWI American infantry, painted to represent the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment in the early stages of the conflict. 

Details are taken from the excellent 8 pages of uniform information that comes with each pack of the Perry figures, and the flag was found using Google - may be speculative and was actually sized a bit too small for my 28mm figures, so some of the detail is a bit "soft" after I enlarged it a bit, but after this photo session, I doubt anyone will notice!

The relevant sheet of uniform data - my unit is the top left one!

The flag sheet I found "somewhere" purporting to show standards of multiple PA units - I just picked one I liked!

I did a side on view to show off the flag!

And the next unit off the blocks? it is going to be the Green Mountain Boys!

I have gone with this image for inspiration - many others show the unit with red lapels too, but this one, and another older one I have a copy of, indicate only collars, cuffs and turnback's were red, with the lapels the same dark green as the coat - so I have gone with that version

An interesting history, as pulled from Britannica, and shows things were not all black and white on the Patriot side of the war, either!

 The Green Mountain Boys began in 1770 at present-day Bennington, Vermont, as an unauthorized militia organized to defend the property rights of local residents who had received land grants from New Hampshire. New York, which then claimed present-day Vermont, disputed New Hampshire’s right to grant land west of the Green Mountains. The Green Mountain Boys stopped sheriffs from enforcing New York laws and terrorized settlers who had New York grants, burning buildings, stealing cattle, and administering occasional floggings with birch rods.

The Green Mountain Boys immediately joined the Revolution, and on May 10, 1775, fewer than a hundred of them, under the joint command of Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold, captured Fort Ticonderoga. Eventually they became part of the Continental Army and served in the abortive offensive against Canada. Reorganized despite an ongoing conflict with New York over jurisdiction, the Green Mountain Boys took the field against General John Burgoyne in 1777, playing central roles at the battles of Hubbardton and Bennington. The latter action, which destroyed a detachment of Burgoyne’s army as it sought to forage for supplies, was crucial to Burgoyne’s eventual defeat.

Other Green Mountain Boys, under Allen’s mercurial leadership, continued an internal war against “Yorkers,” a campaign Allen is said by some accounts to have pursued to the point of negotiating for Vermont’s return to British allegiance. His resignation from the Vermont militia in 1781 rendered the subject moot, and Vermont in 1791 joined the union as its 14th state.

Recently Painted (and Blooded!) 12th (Prince of Wales) Regiment of Light Dragoons

 In 1751, the regiment was officially styled the 12th Dragoons. In 1768, King George III bestowed the badge of the three ostrich feathers and the motto "Ich Dien" on the regiment and re-titled it as the 12th (Prince of Wales's) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons. A young Arthur Wesley (later Duke of Wellington) joined the regiment as a subaltern in 1789. The regiment took part in the siege of Bastia in April 1794, which took place in Corsica, in the French Revolutionary Wars. Pope Pius VI was impressed by the conduct of the regiment and ordered that medals be awarded to its officers.

The regiment landed at Alexandria in March 1801 and, although its commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Mervyn Archdall, was seriously injured in skirmishes, it saw action at the Battle of Alexandria later in the month. The regiment, under a new commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel John Doyle, captured 28 officers and 570 other ranks of the French Dromedary Regiment (French: Régiment de Dromadaires) in an action in the Egyptian desert in May 1801. It took part in the siege of Cairo securing the city in June 1801 and then participated in the siege of Alexandria taking that city in September 1801. The regiment next deployed for the disastrous Walcheren Campaign in autumn 1809.

In June 1811 the regiment embarked for Lisbon and, under the command of Colonel Frederick Ponsonby, took part in the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo in January 1812, the siege of Badajoz in March 1812 and the Battle of Villagarcia in April 1812 in the Peninsular War. It also undertook two charges at the Battle of Salamanca in July 1812 before taking part in the siege of Burgos in September 1812, the Battle of Vitoria in June 1813 and the siege of San Sebastián in autumn 1813. The regiment next advanced into France and supported the infantry at the Battle of Nivelle in November 1813. The regiment marched through France and arrived in Calais in July 1814 from where it returned to England.

The usual useful uniform guide that comes with the Perry plastic box set!

In the Waterloo Campaign, the regiment was attached to Sir John Vandeleur's light cavalry brigade. At the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815, the regiment charged down the slope to support the Union Brigade of medium cavalry. Ponsonby fell, dangerously wounded, in the melee.

In 1816, the 12th Light Dragoons was armed with lances after the cavalry of Napoleon's Army had shown their effectiveness at Waterloo and were re-titled 12th (The Prince of Wales's) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (Lancers). In 1855, it reinforced the Light Cavalry Brigade in the Crimea after the Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava. In 1861, the regiment was renamed 12th (The Prince of Wales's) Royal Regiment of Lancers It was stationed in India between 1857 and 1860 in response to the Indian Rebellion and in Ireland from 1865 to 1870, before fighting in the Second Anglo-Afghan War in the late 1870s.

Thanks, Wikipedia - perhaps, one day, I should actually contribute when you hand round your virtual begging bowl??!

Now, here are probably far too many images of my version of the above, dressed for the Peninsula in their smart Tarleton helmets. SAs mentioned, they were "blooded" in our Sunday game, and acquitted themselves admirably, defeating and driving off a charge by those much-vaunted French lancers!

I really do like the Perry plastic figures, particularly the cavalry, for the ability to create twelve (or more) totally individual poses, simply by altering the way the head is looking and the position of the torso and sword arm.

These chaps jumped ahead of the queue by dint of being required for last Sunday Napoleonic game at Barrys - now, they are safely tucked away in a cardboard box file, and I am back on my AWI project - more of which anon!

Sunday Napoleonic's at Barry's Place

 Seven of us (three per side plus GM Chris as umpire) for today's Sunday game. We all started off on an equal footing, each player had 2 cavalry units, a standard battery of artillery and an infantry command - on the British side, Mark and Rick had four battalions each, while as their Portuguese allies, I had six battalions - opposite us, Paul, Barry and Nick had similar numbers of cavalry and artillery, but with five battalions of infantry each.

There were three BUA that were worth 2 VP each, one each nearest a starting edge and one equidistant in the centre between Rick and Nick, and each side also gained points for each enemy unit killed.

To add some interest, Chris had included the ability for each side to bring on up to six reinforcements during the game - the side that did NOT win a contested initiative, could roll for a reinforcement of either three cavalry or three infantry units, the CinC deciding where they would arrive. Sides had the option to decline to contest the initiative, IF they preferred to roll for reinforcements - of course, if both sides wanted the reinforcement option, they had to roll for initiative, but hope to "lose"! The reinforcements were relatively easy to gain - a roll of 1 failed, anything else was a success.......wait, you will see later!

I was so excited (and busy, as I was providing the bulk of the Allied troops) that I forgot to take an image of the bare table, but here it is after the first turn - Allies on the left.

Mark, on our right flank, had the "close" BUA in his sector

My Portuguese, in the centre, had Barry opposite, with the French "close" VP, on the other side of a shallow river!

Nicks command on the French right, opposite Rick, our CinC, on our left.

Here are Barry's Bavarians, about to occupy the church in a U-shaped bend in the river

Paul was French CinC and on their left, opposite Mark.

Bavarians nearest the camera with my Portuguese in the distance.

Ricks command (all my figures) advance confidently.

A view from the other end of the table, with Nick bottom left and Rick bottom right - Nicks troops got to the centrally located BUA (and VP's) first.

My Portuguese force supported by two units of British Light Dragoons, one of whom was only assembled and painted over the last week, and completed around 9pm Saturday, in anticipation of this game!

The first clash between the French lancers (Nick) and British dragoons (Rick)

And yes, as is often the case, Ricks dice rolling let him down!

And the bloody lancers broke through and popped one of the exposed British infantry battalions - we were off to a great start ...NOT!

View from behind Nicks position

After several turns, both sides had been able to call up reinforcements although I think already, Rick had managed to roll a 1 on one occasion and fail to get them on our side (Paul had no such problems, the French got all their reinforcements on, and they went to both wings, as Barry was in a pretty secure position in the centre, behind a river!) On our left, Rick and Nick had both added three cavalry regiments, and a significant square off of mounted troops had developed.

One the right, Mark faced Paul, who had rolled well on activation and had two time and a half moves in the first three turns, so had his cavalry right up in Marks face!

After an initial attempt to ford the river, my light dragoons redeployed to the left to support Rick.

Paul had also received a reinforcement of three units of cavalry - and, again, rolled up some time and a half moves to get them across the table in record time!

The French already held two of the three VP BUA's, and Paul was about to eject Marks Brits from the third :(

The Bavarians did not have a lot to do!

Against the run of atrocious dice, Rick managed to guide the Scots Greys to a victory against Nicks cuirassiers - huzzah!

Then the "Blues" of the Houshold cavalry moved up in support, whilst my Portuguese put artillery and musket fire onto the adjacent French hussars, leaving them in a very fragile condition.

A perfect charge from the Blues after Rick won the initiative - adding up all the factors, charging, elite, catching the French halted and in the flank, Rick was rolling 11 dice to Nicks 4 or 5 - and somehow, he managed to get a draw!

The action was desperate on Marks flank too, with the British recapturing the BUA and then being ejected for a second time1

Having concentrated on cavalry attacks thus far, Nick started moving up his masses (six extra battalions received as reinforcements) of infantry

As the cuirassiers battle the Blues in the background, most of the rest of the French cavalry retire through defensive infantry squares to reform.

Having lost their melee with the Blues, the Cuirassiers were set upon in turn by the Scots Greys and were defeated again and forced to rout beyond the river into Bavarian territory!

Gratuitous "Candy" shot of Nicks beautifully painted command element - Elite Miniatures, I believe.

Another view of the cavalry melee, with my two regiments of light dragoons to the rear of the Blues, in support of Ricks wing.

The Bavarians watch hostilities between Paul and Mark, from the safety of their "demilitarised zone"!

The British infantry on the road were one of Ricks successful reinforcement rolls. In the end, we got 3 of 6 possible reinforcements, the French got all 6 of theirs!

Speaking of which, Paul received three infantry battalions and, once again, got them across the table in double quick time!

Paul's guns line up one of Marks battalions. In the end, Barry, bored with the safety, crossed the bridge with his cavalry and charged the infantry in the rear, despite being in column of route! Given the tactical situation, the formation was not as big a disadvantage as it might appear, and the British infantry were soon no more!

The French cavalry, having reorganised behind the infantry squares, came forward again. I counter charged with my light dragoons, fighting at a disadvantage against dragoons and lancers - but, breaking the curse of the newly painted unit, both my light dragoons prevailed, and the French were driven off again!

Of course, normal service was quickly resumed, and the Blues were dispatched by a flank attack from another unit of lancers.

Barrys bored Bavarians broached the brook to bring the fight to the enemy!

Against my wishes, my Portuguese followed a direct order from CinC Rick to cross the river.

Oh, what a surprise - Nick has MORE cavalry reinforcements!

Rick waiting to meet the newly arrived cavalry.

When the French cavalry was driven back by my light dragoons, they disordered one of the squares, which meant it was no longer a square in good order, and thus did not gain 6 extra dice in melee - my light dragoons were able to break through onto them and a melee took place for several turns, with me rolling 2 D6 to Nicks 1 - unfortunately, we built up casualties at more or less the same rate, so that by the end of the game, each unit was sitting on 4.

This was the last image I took - the game was effectively over, as the score (based on VP held and enemy units destroyed) sat at 19 for the French and 4 for the Allies - what a whipping! In the end, I disobeyed Ricks direct command and did not try to force my way across a river that had a formed unit of cuirassiers waiting on the other side!

This was a fun game and could have gone much better for us if Rick did not have such abysmal luck with the dice. Not only did he manage to roll a 1 for reinforcements three times out of six - statistically, the chances of doing that must be low - 3% maybe (it is 17% to do it once, but he had three attempts, so I think we divide 17 by 3...?? Jon will be able to tell us!), but additionally, on several occasions he got himself into very advantageous positions, but the dice let him down. Even when he rolled well., the dice gods conspired against him - eg he had 7 dice to Nicks 4 in more than one round of melee, rolled four hits - then Nick rolled hits with all four of his dice in reply...ggrrrrr! In the end, it was the constant flow of French reinforcement to the two flanks that overwhelmed us - personally, in the centre, I did not lose any of my original force - but I did not receive any reinforcements, either. 

It was nice to get a significant number of my Napoleonic Brits and Portuguese on the table, and having the newly painted light dragoons do well in their first outing was a bonus. I hope you enjoyed the AAR and the images of our game.