After reading Tom G's Gallery post the other day, with his ancestor participating in the Battle of Agincourt, I knew I would need to up my game for the post I was planning in the same Gallery.
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| The undercoated figures awaiting further attention |
So here it is, 13 x 28mm mounted Scots Dragoons, dating form 1685, where they fought for James II against the invasions lead by the Duke of Monmouth and the Duke of Argyll and their rebellious Whig followers.
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| The finished troop, charging up the Muir Dyke |
My ancestor, John Whiteford, was the Ensign in Captain William Cleland's Troop of the Scots Dragoons and together they are documented as having fought at the Battle of Muirdyke (to be fair it was more a skirmish and definitely not on the scale of Agincourt!).
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| A cracking read if anyone is interested in the period |
This is not the right place to go into the details of the Argyll Rebellion but you can Google it or refer to the great new book on the subject matter by Stephen Carter 'Fighting for Liberty', to find out more.
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| Another view from the right flank, John Whiteford is carrying the flag (ensign) |
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| ... and from their left flank. |
However, to be brief, it was the northern part of a twin invasion of England and Scotland, designed to usurp James II from his throne, it was backed by the scheming William of Orange and remembered more for the southern invasion of England by the Duke of Monmouth.
Now, one of my other interests happens to be family history and I was well aware of John's involvement with the Scot Dragoons, as I had seen copies of muster rolls from 1685 and 1686 with his name on them. So with the AHPC being announced and the inclusion of the Gallery of Ancestors, it seemed like perfect timing to do some of these little guys.
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| Found on Pinterest - can't find any details or original source |
Having made that decision , I then spotted a cool picture on the internet (see above) that depicted the Scots Dragoons at just this period and this made it a definite must do for me!
So the Scots Dragoons, better known (by Napoleonic times) as the Scots Greys - were so called, not necessarily because of the colour of their horses but because their Colonel (one 'Tam Dayell of the Binns') opted to keep them in Grey uniforms, some say it was to save paying for the more expensive red cloth recommended for the Scots Army at that time, other say it was to enable the dragoons to more easily sneak up on Covenanter insurgents that they had spent years helping to suppress in the West for Scotland.
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| A motley group of Dragoons, armed with swords, pistols and carbines |
As Dayell was also the General in command of James II's Scots Army, he got his way. I'll have to do a figure of Old Tam as well some time - an interesting character, an English Civil War veteran who fled the county when Cromwell put a price on his head, he entered service with the Russian Army where he became known as 'The Moscovite Devil' during his actions against the Turks.
Anyway, I digress.
These figures are 28mm Front Rank and I have pulled together a somewhat motely group to reflect their status, I have also changed around some of the hats to add variety and given them a mix of pistol, sword and carbines to reflect the style of warfare that they were involved in. Namely counter insurgency and harassing Argyll's columns of march.
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| Three more Dragoons from the unit |
Clelland's troop fought at Muirdyke, 18th June 1685, along side Major Ross' troop of the Royal Scots Horse (who were in red!) and some Lanarkshire Militia and together they repeatedly charged and attacked a stone enclosure, a top a hill, defended by some of Argyll's most experienced men, including many veterans from Dutch service.
Ultimately the Whig rebels won the day, holding out to night fall and then slipping away under cover of darkness, but the Scots Dragoons gave a good account of themselves, the militia ran away when the going got tough and the Scots Horse lost heart leaving the main fighting to the Dragoons.
If anyone is interested in refighting the battle for any of the major actions of the Argyll Campaign I recommend the League of Augsburg / Warfare Miniatures 4PLay series, specifically - 4P017 'The Campbells are coming! Argyll Rebellion 1685', which can be purchased for less than the price of a beer!
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| Click for more details |
During the course of the battle, Captain Cleland was killed, its interesting to note that Cleland was wearing a scarlet jacket at the battle - at this time officers could largely dress as they pleased. Accounts of the battle describe how he was stripped of his jacket and it was used as a banner by the rebels to further provoke the Royal troops.
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| The unfortunate Captain Cleland, before he lost his jacket |
As ever these figures were undercoated white, I tend to paint the horses first and then the men, before going back to tidy everything up and apply washes and or dips.
In this case I used dip, as it gives the horses nice shaded effect and provides a tougher varnish finish, I have done Cleland in a red coat but opted to keep John Whiteford in grey, as a lowly Ensign his pay may not have stretched to a fancy red coat and I can't see a record of him serving after 1686...
The ensign he carries is speculative, there is no known description of the Scots Dragoons' for this period so I have taken the liberty of adapting a flag from a different Scottish dragoon regiment's ensign of the same approximate period and used a thistle as the troop's symbol. As I do not glue flags in place on my figures, it will be easy to change if needed some time in the future.
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| Close-up of Ensign John Whiteford |
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| From the other side, I'm not hugely happy with the flag, it may need replacing... |
Additionally you may be wondering why I have painted a Drummer and a Trumpeter for this unit - again it will allow future flexibility as I can now deploy the unit as a generic troop of Horse (who used Trumpeters as musicians) rather than using the Dragoon's Drummer figure.
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| Dragoon Drummer and Horse Trumpeter, allows flexibility in table top deployment of this unit |
I will also now need to think about painting up a dismounted group of these guys, I'll have to dig through the unpainted pile of metal to see if I have any suitable figures...
Basing was done in my usual manner using fine sand, static grass and then grass and flower tufts to represent the heather and moorland found in south western Scotland...
