Grenadier command

Clinton's wing at Long Island included a brigade of 4 grenadier battalions under the command of Major General Sir John Vaughan. 3 of those battalions (at least) will feature in the Long Island game and I thought it might be nice to add a vignette of officers to go with them. Such a vignette would come in handy for other larger battles which featured a brigade of grenadiers. I had bought the Perry standing grenadier command pack on a whim a few years ago. One of the officers found his way into my Cornwallis command stand but I left all the others in the spares box. So this is the balance of the pack, save for one of the drummers. I originally planned to base them all on quite a large coaster-shaped base, with some fencing in the background. But I realised that a base that size would be much bigger than the proper brigade and divisional command stands and this did not seem right.

I tried to find the regiment (if any) of which Sir John Vaughan was colonel, but had no success. Therefore the figures wear the uniform of the senior regiment in the brigade, the 4th Foot, whose grenadier company was in the first battalion. Mollo has an illustration of a pioneer of the 59th Foot who has a red front on the cap, but the text does not explain whether this was a pioneer distinction or particular to the regiment. I ignored this and kept the cap as close as possible to the grenadier mitres, mainly to help the group to blend in with each other. The officer is not supposed to be Vaughan himself, as I will have a mounted general figure as the official brigade commander for morale purposes etc.

Here is a potted history of Sir John Vaughan that I found from sources on the net. At the time of Long Island he was newly promoted, having been Major General since 1 January 1776. He was involved in Clinton's Charleston Expedition in June 1776, then participated in Long Island and was wounded at White Plains in October 1776. He returned to England for winter 1776-77 before returning to the Americas and being promoted to Major General on 29 August 1777. He led the assault on Fort Montgomery on 6 October 1777 and then commanded troops on raids up the Hudson. He captured Verplanck's Point on 1 June 1779 and returned to England later that year. He was named Commander of the Leeward Islands in December 1779. He led an unsuccessful attack on St. Vincent 1781 but captured St. Eustatius in February 1782. Whilst in the West Indies, Vaughan appointed a certain Captain Thomas Picton as his aide-de-camp.

4 figures. Painted August 2008. Tree-stump by Redoubt Miniatures.