Portuguese 23rd Line, "2nd Almeida"

The 23rd (of 24 total) Portuguese Line Infantry Regiment was named the 2nd Almeida regiment, and  was recruited in Beira Province and based in Viseu. 

The 23rd belonged to the Southern Military Division, and thus had scarlet piping and turnbacks, and scarlet mixed with dark blue cords on the 1806 shako. 

The 23rd had sky blue collar and cuffs, as seen here. 

Theoretically dark blue trousers were worn in winter and white in summer; it seems the fashion was for the officers to wear the white trousers year round. 

Once again these are 25/28 mm Old Glory 2nd edition British figures painted as Portuguese, with an Adolfo Ramos flag. 

The 23rd formed part of the 9th Portuguese Brigade, along with the previously seen 11th Regiment and the 7th Cazadores. It was attached to the 4th British Division form 1810 onwards. 

Portuguese 9th Line, "Viana"

Here's the next line infantry unit for "Project Portugal",  in the 1806 uniform.

The 9th Regiment was termed "Viana", and recruited in Minho providence. These are once again Old Glory 2nd edition British painted as Portuguese, with the wonderful flags by Adolfo Ramos. 

It belong administratively to the "Northern" Division, although this had little effect on the organization of the army in the field. 

However, units of the Northern Division had yellow piping on the collars, cuffs, shoulder straps, etc., and yellow turnbacks. 

Each Portuguese Line Infantry regiment had 10 companies, divided into 2 battalions. The Grenadiers formed the elite company of the first battalion, and had white plumes like the center companies, and fringed shoulder wings of dark blue mixed with the Division color, here yellow. 

The Light Company was the elite company of the 2nd battalion, and was uniformed as the Grenadiers, except with green plumes. The grenadiers had grenade emblems, the light companies hunting horns, and the Sappers crossed axes on the shakos. The cords on the 1806 Barrentina shako were dark blue mixed with the Division color, here again, yellow. 

The Royal standard was in the Gyronny pattern seen here (interestingly, all the Portuguese flags you see are based upon the warrant describing them and later reproductions, there being no surviving illustrations of same, and only scant fragments of original flags surviving). The regimental color was much simpler, with the field in the Divisional color, here Yellow once again. The cravats on the flags were in the color of the collars and cuffs, so for this regiment would have been mixed dark blue (collar color) and yellow (cuff color). No comment is made as to the color of the flagpoles. I allowed myself a flight of fancy, painting the staves of the sergeant's halberds in the Divisional color, based upon no evidence whatsoever! 

Aleander Leslie's Regiment of Foote

Alexander Leslie was the illegitimate son of George Leslie, and raised as a foster child of the Campbells of Glenorchy.

He entered the service of Sweden in 1608; by 1627 he was a full Colonel, and was knighted by the King of Sweden.

Leslie enjoyed the trust of Gustavus 2 Adolphus, and in 1628 he successfully defended Stralsund as  Sweden entered the 30 Years War. In 1631, he organized the Scottish troops in Swedish service. He was present at the Battle of Lutzen in 1632, where Gustavus Adolphus perished in battle. 

Alexander L:eslie was made a Marshal of Sweden in 1636, and was one of the commanders at the Battle of Wittstock later that year. By 1637, he had returned to Scotland. He lead the Covenanter armies very successfully during the first and second Bishop's Wars, and  was created 1st Earl of Levin by King Charles I in 1641. 

Leslie was senior commander at the Battle of Marston Moor, when the Scottish army combined with 2 Parliamentary armies under Fairfax and the Earl of Manchester decisively defeated the Royalist army under Prince Rupert. He had charge of Charles I when the King surrendered to the Covenanter forces 1646,  subsequently transferring the King to his Presbyterian allies in Parliament.  He retired in 1647, and took no active part in the disastrous Dunbar campaign against Cromwell. 

Figures are by Old Glory, coats are painted Delta Wedgewood Blue, a light to medium grey with a very strong blue tone. 

1st Portuguese Line Regiment , "Lippe"

 

The old Portuguese army was largely destroyed in the French invasion of  Portugal in November of 1807, and had to be recreated when the British arrived in August 1808. 

The British chose William Carr Beresford to lead the army, with a rank of Marshal in the Portuguese Army. Unusually, he was moderately fluent in Portuguese. His efforts over time greatly increased the size and effectiveness of the Portuguese army, from roughly 25,000 men in 1809 to 50,00 in 1812; by that time Wellington acknowledged that the Portuguese troops were every bit as good as the British. 

The 1st regiment had a dark blue collar and white cuffs. Belong to the Center Division organizationally, it had white piping, turnbacks, and white mixed with dark blue cords on its shako. 

The King's color is by Adolfo Ramos flags. The figures are Old Glory 2nd edition British painted as Portuguese. 

The Regimental color would have been white, for the Center Division. 

The 1st Line regiment was brigaded with the 16th Line Infantry, and, from late 1810, the 4th Cazadores. That particular Brigade spent most of the war in independent actions.

Scots Artillery and Swordsmen

 

 

The Old Glory pack of Scots Artillerymen has a huge 30 figures in it!

I painted about half of them earlier this year; this is the other half!

I probably now have more Scots ECW Artillery than I will ever need!

Still, I had 'em, so might as well paint 'em!

Obviously, they need some guns to serve.

Viola, here they are! I actually painted all of the ordonnance back when I did the first batch, so I had 3 extra guns. 

I will eventually need another 2-4 pieces so that every crew has a gun to serve!

I also made this small unit of Scots swordsmen. 

Once again, it was formed from spare figures. 

More Tartan practice!

Waste not, want not -spoken like a true Scotsman! :-)

Loyal Lusitanian Legion

The Loyal Lusitanian Legion was first formed in England in 1808, initially raised from Portuguese who had fled the country as a result for the French occupation in late 1807 and early 1808. 

The Legion was to consist of 3 battalions of 1,000 men, a battery of 6 guns, and some cavalry; it does not appear that the later were ever raised. There was initial talk of red uniforms, but that choice was unpopular with the Portuguese, so dark green uniforms reminiscent of the British rifles were ordered. 

When the core of the Legion arrived in Oporto in August 1808, it recruited additional men in Portugal. Most but not all of the officers were British. The Legion was paid by the United Kingdom, and fought at Alcantara, Talavera, and Busaco. It was commanded by Colonel Robert Wilson, who was given the rank of Brigadier General in the Portuguese army as well. Much of its service was  spent in independent actions behind the French lines or supporting the Portuguese and Spanish militias. 

The LLL was disbanded in May 18111, and used to form the new 7th, 8th, and part of the 9th Cacadores. 

The flag was taken from the internet; I cannot vouch for its accuracy, but it looks good at least!

The figures themselves are Old Glory 2nd edition British line, painted as the Legion. There is an excellent account of the Legion's history and actions on The Napoleon Series, here.  

Marques Argyll's Regiment of Foote

Archibald Campbell was the 8th Earl of Argyll, later Marquess of Argyll, and the Chief of Clan Campbell (March 1607 – 27 May 1661).

 

He was the de facto head of Scotland's government during most of the conflict of the 1640s and 1650s, aka the Wars of the Three kingdoms.

As such, he was the main leader of the Covenanter movement that fought for the establishment of Presbyterianism in opposition to the preference of King Charles I.

He is often remembered as the principal antagonist to the the Royalist general, James Graham, more commonly known as the 1st Marques of Montrose, during the English Civil War.

A  flag of this general description is known to have been carried by his regiment at one point. 

The coats were painted with Deco Art Americana "Mississippi Mud"... pretty well approximating the color of dried mud!

Major General Holburn's Regiment of Foote

My second new regiment of Scots Covenanter Foote.

With the bright blue and yellow accents, they almost look like they could be TYW Swedes!

Looking for new "shades of grey", I used Delta CC "Rain" for the coats of this regiment. 

Buff colored belts maintain the blue/yellow theme... 

as does the flag. 

Old Glory 25/28 mm figures once again; not much opportunity for Tartan on these particular figures. Must be Lowlanders!