Perry Miniatures make a pack of the 16th Light Dragoons skimishing on foot. The 16th Light Dragoons Regiment was formed in 1759 and arrived in New York in September 1776. A dismounted squadron was formed to act as light infantry either in support of the mounted troopers or independently on its own initiative. Six troops of dragoons arrived from America and it seems that 33 men from each troop were drafted into the dismounted squadron, which mustered 198 all ranks. By late 1778 the regiment was badly understrength and the men of the 16th were drafted into the 17th Light Dragoons. The American and British armies both contained various "legions" which combined mounted and infantry elements; the loyalist British Legion, commanded by Banastre Tarleton, was one of the more famous (or notorious) of such units. The dismounted element of the 16th Light Dragoons fought at Monmouth in 1778 but that aside I am not aware of any further details of their service record. If the dismounted troopers transferred to the 17th Light Dragoons alongside their mounted comrades I assume that they continued to fight in the South later in the war. These are mounted as first grade skirmishers on 25mm x 50mm bases. Painted spring 2004. 6 figures.
4 comments:
Good Morning Giles,
Good looking dragoons there! There was an interesting article on Tarleton in the March 1981 Military Modeling. You migth like to track it down as it seems right up your alley.
Best Regards,
Stokes Schwartz
Giles,
At the start of the war, regiments of foot and horse were expanded (or augmented). In the case of the two light dragoon regiments, this involved adding more men to the six mounted troops, but also raising six new "troops" of dismounted men intended to act as light infantry. The 16th formed their dismounted division in March 1776, six months before arriving in America. I'm not sure what happened to the 17th, but their extra manpower arrived with more horses in Ocotber/November 1776. These were the first legionary corps employed in the AWI.
When the 16th returned to England, their mounted troopers were drated into the 17th, but the dismounted men went to a variety of units - some to the 17th's dismounted troops, but most to the Volunteers of Ireland or Cathcart's (later the British Legion). One or two NCOs even went into the Light Infantry battalions - one became Sgt Mjr of the 1st Bn.
RtL
Giles,
Could you recommend any literature on the British and Hessian uniforms, please? I'm less interested in the finer details - who had what lace - than in the broad picture - who had what colour facings and the like.
Theo
the bad press on Ban was started by American settlers who were sore at losing every battle against Ban. Howe said"If I had had two of him we'd have won the war"
Post a Comment