Recently painted No 22 U.S 1st Light Dragoons 1812

Once again, another of Posties units I have recently painted, the figures represent the 1st U.S Light Dragoons, for the War of 1812. The figures are Mini-Figs and are based up for Posties GdB rules. We were not sure if the unit carried any flag and what kind of flag it would be, so Postie has put a generic U.S flag, which look good in my opinion!!

On the 12th April 1808 by U.S congress decree, five regiments of infantry, one Rifle, one light artillery and one Light Dragoon were raised, consisting of 8 companies of 54 men. Their sole qualification to join was that they had to be good Jeffersonians. The Federal government equipped and accoutred the new Dragoons as light infantry, as they were unwilling to pay for horses until war broke out!!
In May 1813, during the War of 1812, a British landing party of 1200 men tried to take Sackett's Harbour, the only decent harbour on the American side of Lake Ontario. They were opposed by Brigadier General Jacob Brown, 400 regulars and 250 volunteers. Brown was stubborn and 250 of his regulars belonged to the 1st & 2nd Light Dragoons. Together with some local militia, whom the regulars had to constantly rally fought the British to a standstill ans saved the port.

Recently Painted No 21 Russian Empress' Cuirassiers 1812

Another recently painted unit from Posties Napoleonic collection. Today's subject are the Russian Emperess' Cuirassiers. They are 15mm Essex figures based up for Posties GdB rules. Postie didn't have the flag for this unit so he used a normal Colonel's standard and coloured the badges in pink with a felt tip, which works quite well.  I've struggled to find any info about this unit, but here's what I did find.

In the 1812 campaign, the regiment were in The First Army of the West and were part of the 17,000 men that made up the 5th Corps, The Guard.

5th Infantry (Reserve) Corps: H.M. Grand Duke Constantin

1st Cuirassier Division: General Lieutenant Depreradovitch

1st Brigade: Major General Chevitch

Chevalier Guard Regiment

Horse Lifeguard Regiment

2nd Brigade: Major General Borodin II

Emperor Cuirassier Regiment

Empress Cuirassier Regiment

Astrakhan Cuirassier Regiment

The Battle of Borodino

General Borosdin-II brought two crack regiments of Russian heavy cavalry; the Emperor's Cuirassiers (or Tzar's Own) and Her Majesty the Emperess' Cuirassiers, and threw them at the Saxons. The Astrahan Cuirassiers joined the fight. The Ahtyrka Hussars charged with the utmost fierceness against the flank of the enemy. The clash was very violent. For Fedor Glinka it was an unforgettable spectacle: “What a bloody fighting! What a cram!” (Kak oni rezhutsia! Kakaya tesnota!). It was like a clash of armored knights with a frenzy of cutting and thrusting and the fighters going mental. The most miserable however were those who fell under the hooves where their bodies turned into unrecognized bloody pulp. The Saxons suffered in this "cram" for they have left armor in Germany.

While the whole air was reeking with gun smoke, the earth was shaking from thousands of hooves, the Russian 2nd Cuirassier Division drew their sabers, and strucked the Saxons, Poles and Westphalians from the flank and rear. The Germans and Poles resisted the enemy for a few moments before being driven back.

Recently painted No 19 Lithuanian Ulans 1812

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Until the Campaign of Austerlitz in 1805, there were three so-called horse regiments: Polish, Lithuania and Tartar, and one uhlan regiment, the Grand Duke Constantine Uhlans. In 1807 the horse regiments were renamed to uhlan regiments. The men were recruited from all classes of free Russian and foreign persons who were not subject to the poll tax and not under other service obligations. The length of service was prescribed to be not less than 6 years instead of 25 years !

In 1808 there were six regiments; Polish, Lithuanian, Tartar, Grand Duke Constantine's, Vohlin, and Chuguyev Uhlans. In December 1812 seven dragoon regiments were converted into uhlans. These new units were called by some as the “dragoons with sticks” as they didn’t even receive their new uniforms until the end of 1814.

The uhlans were armed as follow:, Officers, NCOs and trumpeters - curved saber, 2 hussar pistols. Troopers - curved saber, 2 hussar pistols, lance. The flankers, called in ulan regiments karabiniery, were armed with rifles.
The first uhlan regiments were recruited mainly from Poles and Lithuanians living in western Russia. (Poland had a high ratio of petty gentry who owned horses in contrast to Russian peasants and townfolks.)  The uhlans of the new regiments formed in December 1812 were made of Russians and Ukrainians.
Russian generals had mixed feelings about their Polish and Lithuanian cavalrymen. The problem was not their horsemanship and skills with weapon as these were good, but with their commitment to the Russian cause. For example in summer 1812 the uhlan regiments had a lot more deserters and missing men than casualties in combat. For this reason General Bagration, didn’t want the Lithuanian Uhlan Regiment being included in his rear guard.

Recently painted No 17 - Johnson's Kentucky Mounted Volunteers 1812

Under the command of "Old Tippecanoe" William Henry Harrison, a Kentucky regiment of mounted riflemen led by Colonel Richard M. Johnson marched one hundred miles to conquer General Henry A. Proctor's British Regulars at Ontario, Canada, in the Battle of Thames on October 5, 1813. William Henry Harrison, at the time territorial governor of Indiana, received his commission as a Major General of the Kentucky Militia from the Kentucky General Assembly. Richard M. Johnson is credited with killing the great Indian war chief Tecumseh during the battle, he would go on to serve as Vice-President of the United States (1837-1841) under President Martin Van Buren.  The figures are from Minifigs painted for Posties collection by my good self. Hope you like them!!