The 1st battalion of the 62nd (Royal American) Regiment of Foot was, in true British tradition, made up largely of Germans (many former prisoners of war), Swiss and Irishmen. The regiment became the 60th Foot only very late in 1757. The colonel of the regiment at the time of the Saindoux campaign was John Campbell, Earl of Loudon, also the commander-in-chief in North America.
This force comprises half of Queen’s Company of the 1/60th and is is led in person by Captain Archibald Queen, a confirmed bachelor.
Captain Queen
Lieutenant Wilhelm Neiswanger, whose impressive talent is much admired by his captain, and the languid Ensign Ernst Eidelberger are the other two officer present.
Lieut. NeiswangerEnsign Eidelburger
Sergeants Koch, Longrod and Johnson always stand ready to do their duty and are very popular men with the ladies. Koch once served under Frederick the Great as a lieutenant in the Geist Grenadiers. Longrod fled Bohemia after an encounter with Francesca von Pfalz-Sulzbach, the Princess-Abbess of Essen led to him bashing the Bishop of Worms. Johnson, alias John Stone, is an Irishman serving under an assumed name.
Sergeant KochSergeant LongrodSergeant Johnson
Drummer Banghard is a musically inclined German-speaking Pennsylvanian. He delights in rudely awakening his comrades with his beloved instrument.
The men are a rough lot, but good soldiers in the main, well-drilled and fearing Captain Queen’s floggings more than any enemy.
Skirmishers OutRank and FileOnward 62nd
In Sharp Practice terms the force comprises 79 points:
From the Milice du district de Trois-Rivières. The Canadian militia supplied a good deal of the relatively small amount of men available to the French in America.
The company is led by the intrepid Capitaine de Milice, Alain Terieur, a man of vast wilderness experience. Not always the steadiest, and unsuited to going toe to toe with regular troops, if fighting in their preferred style, which mimicked that of the natives, they could be formidable opponents.
The Intrepid Capitaine Alain Terieur
Terieur is assisted by Lieutenant Felix Lechat, a whiskery fellow with cat-like reflexes, and the remarkably clean-shaven Enseigne Daniel Laroux, whose vanity of appearance is matched only by his modesty concerning his toilet arrangements.
Lieutenant Lechat and Enseigne Laroux
The dour Sergent Grincheaux is the last of the company’s official complement of leaders.
Sergent Grincheaux
Three young scions of the nobility from the Compagnie Franches de la Marine are along to prove their mettle, the agile De Grenouille, d’Inse (who is often slow on the uptake) and Bonnet (easily identified by his red hat).
De Grenouille, Bonnet And D’Inse
The rifle-armed Boniface Tournage is widely regarded as the best shot in the Trois-Rivières.
And Another One Bites The Leaf-Mulch
The men are all Canadian born and first-class woodsmen.
Wild Men Of The WoodsEven Wilder Men Of The WoodsYet Wilder Men Still Of The WoodsStill Wild Men Of The WoodsMore Wild Men Of The WoodsThe Chap In The Hood Is Especially WildAnd You Won’t Get Much Wilder Than These
In Sharp Practice terms the force comprises 94 points:
Leader Status III (Capitaine Terieur)
Leader Status II (Lieutenant Lechat)
Leader Status II (Enseigne Laroux)
Leader Status II (Élève Officier de Grenouille)
Leader Status I (Élève Officier d’Inse)
Leader Status I (Élève Officier Bonnet)
Leader Status I (Sergent Grincheaux)
Marksman Boniface Tournage
Seven Groups of 6 Milice Canadienne
It is unlikely that the entire company will be fielded at once. Terieur’s men often act as scouts and skirmishers for other French forces, or fight alongside the natives.
‘ the generallity of those who are to be Enlisted, are of those loose, Idle Persons that are quite destitute of House, and Home, and I may truely say many of them of Cloaths’
– George Washington describes his regiment.
The Virginia Regiment was one of several British regiments raised in the colonies.
This company is led, in the absence of the sadly anaemic Captain Bland, by Lieutenant Launderville, rumoured to be the bastard offspring of the late Justice of Westmorland County Court. Like his better-known, higher ranking and legitimate half-brother, he has a scarcely justifiable reputation for integrity and has invested heavily in the Ohio Company.
Lieutenant Launderville
Launderville has two officers beneath him, the rather intemperate Lieutenant Nutter and, at the very bottom of regimental seniority, young Ensign Bumgardner. Nutter and Bumgardner are from the lower reaches of polite Virginian society, but are gentlemen nonetheless.
Lieut. Nutter and Ensign Bumgardner
The company has four sergeants. Fear is well known to all the soldiers in the regiment and his old red coat proves his long service in the ranks. Forcam is foul-mouthed but much liked. The Irishman, O’Rear delights in proclaiming he is the man who put the gin in Virginia. Sergeant Toombs is a grave fellow.
The Sergeants Four
Drummer Akin can beat the Retreat as well as any man in the army, as Colonel Washington delights in recounting.
Akin, Drumm.
While about half the men have smart new blue jackets and white-laced hats, some of the rest are still clad in their worn out old red coats and a substantial number have scarcely an item of military dress to mark them out as soldiers. While things are not quite as bad as in 1754, when Washington wrote ‘they are now Naked, and cannot get credit even for Hatts’, overall they have an unprepossessing appearance. Desertions and sickness have reduced the ranks well below their theoretical number.
Skirmishers OutVirginian LineMore Viriginian LineYet More Virginian Line
In Sharp Practice terms the force comprises 73 points:
Leader Status II (Lieutenant Launderville)
Leader Status II (Lieutenant Nutter)
Leader Status II (Ensign Bumgardner)
Leader Status I (Sergeant Fear)
Leader Status I (Sergeant Forcam)
Leader Status I (Sergeant O’Rear)
Leader Status I (Sergeant Toombs)
A Musician (Drummer Akin)
Six Groups of 8 Provincial Regiment of Foot Line
Three Groups of 6 Provincial Regiment of Foot Skirmishers
This demi-compagnie is led by Capitaine Hubert Taffin de Givenchy, flower of the nobility of France and the very picture of a fashionable yet professional fighting soldier.
Capitaine de Givenchy
Lieutenant Pierre Cardin and Enseigne Christian Lacroix assist Capitaine de Givenchy. Cardin, a grenadier officer, has grown old in the service and is hoping for as long and bloody a war as possible so that he might one day reach the rank of captaine, which has become giddy height of his ambition. Lacroix wields a spontoon, an implement to which French officers of the time were very much attached.
Cardin et Lacroix, Deux Bons Hommes des France
Sergent Bacon is a salty old veteran who has several times been cured of various unpleasant social diseases.
Bacon, Un Homme Moins Bon de France
The rank and file serve for a pittance, but look very smart in their white and blue coats. To de Givenchy’s disgust a few of the more slovenly soldiers have taken to wearing their forage caps instead of cocked hats – a ridiculous trend, and quite as silly to de Givenchy’s mind as the notion that grenadiers should wear mitres or bearskins rather than just a decent moustache.
De Givenchy has with him some native allies led by the unspeakable Quatoghees and Pemedeniek. How far these savages may be trusted is debatable, and as for their attire, ‘Mon cher, il n’y a pas des mots.’
In Sharp Practice terms the force comprises 56 points:
Leader Status III (Capitaine de Givenchy)
Leader Status II (Enseigne Lacroix)
Leader Status I (Sergent Bacon)
Three Groups of 8 Regiment of Foot Fusiliers
Leader Status II (Lieutenant Cardin)
Two Groups of 8 Regiment of Foot Grenadiers
with another 20 points to flesh it out provided by some Huron allies:
Leader Status I (Quatoghees)
Leader Status I (Pemedeniek)
Two Groups of 6 Huron War Party
The French fusilier figures are by from AW Miniatures and were a very kind Christmas present supplied ready-painted (painting by Andrew from AW Miniatures. The Huron are Conquest Miniatures. There’s a fairly considerable size difference between the two (AW are quite large like Redoubt and Galloping Major), Conquest are noticeably smaller if seen side by side, but they’re fine in separate groups.
The Huron, as the French knew them, or the Wyandot, as the English called them, or the Wendat as they called themselves, had settled in the Ohio Valley by about 1700. The nation was a confederation of clans, of which the Bear People were regarded as the most senior.
This war party is led by Catchawatchecka who has numerous warriors vying for leading positions in the band, including the Canadian, Hercule Babel, who has become his right hand man. Babel is a talented linguist whose ability to get his tongue round the more delicate details of local customs delights of many of the tribe’s young maidens. Canadian officers often spent time living amongst the natives and frequently wore native garb, but Babel has kept his moustache, a conceit which tickles the fancy of many more of the tribe’s more impressionable womenfolk.
Catchawatchecka and Babel
Adyughkannorwn is the next most important of the warriors. A man of many accomplishments, he has not a few feathers to his cap.
Adyughkannorwn Showing His Best Profile
The three other most prominent warriors are Anastase, Tacharian and Tahaddy.
Anastase, Tacharian and Tahaddy. Three of the Bravest Braves
The rest of the band are all fiery and independent spirits who very much enjoy setting fire to settlers’ cabins and indulging in Canadian-supplied spirits when opportunity offers.
Two Groups of WendatTwo More Groups of WendatEven More Wendat Ready To Get Things All Fired Up
In Sharp Practice terms the force comprises 75 points:
Leader Status III (Catchawatchecka)
Leader Status II (Babel)
Leader Status II (Adyughkannorwn)
Leader Status I (Anastase)
Leader Status I (Tacharian)
Leader Status I (Tahaddy)
Six Groups of 6 Huron War Party
A Movable Deployment Point
A Dummy Movable Deployment Point
Note that for the Saindoux Campaign, Natives are fielded as Skirmishers, not as Tribes. This better reflects their style of warfare.
The Compagnies Franches de la Marine were named for their captains. This force is based on the historical composition of a Compagnie Franches de la Marine, but has no direct historical counterpart (unlike the Half-Company of the 42nd (Highland) Foot) and, following Fat Lardy tradition, I have used names chosen more for comic effect than for any historical versimilitude.
This demi-compagnie is led by Lieutenant Jacques Clozeau (formerly in the employ of Nicolas Berryer, the lieutenant général de police), assisted by Enseigne Olivier Maudit, and a cadet, Hugo Igor. All these gentlemen are of Canadian birth, unlike the poor wretches they command, who are the sweepings of the French gutters.
Eleve Officier Igor Points, Liuetenant Clouzeau and Ensigne Maudit are Unimpressed
The demi-compagnie also has the veteran Sergent Grondement to rely on.
Sergent GrondementDefenders of New FranceMore Defenders of New FranceEven More Defenders of New FranceSkirmishing Defenders of New France
Clouzeau’s force lacks numbers, so he has brought his trusted Huron allies, Tobacco and Hahwhendagerha (seriously, these are real Huron names not made up ones like most of the French) with a small war party along too.
Hawhendagerha Points, Tobacco is Enthused.War PartyAnother War Party
In Sharp Practice terms the force comprises 47 points:
Leader Status III (Lieutenant Clouzeau)
Leader Status II (Enseigne Maudit)
Leader Status I (Élève Officier Igor)
Leader Status I (Sergent Grondement)
Three Groups of 8 Compagnie Franches de la Marine Line
One Group of 6 Compagnie Franches de la Marine Skirmishers
with another 28 points to flesh it out provided by some Huron allies:
Leader Status II (Hahwhendagerha)
Leader Status I (Tobacco)
Two Groups of 6 Huron War Party
A Scout
Two Dummy Movable Deployment Points
The Compagnie Franches de la Marine figures are by from Conquest Miniatures, as are Hahwhendagerha and Tobacco. The other Huron are from Redoubt Enterprises; very characterful models but also slightly but noticeably larger than the other figures I’ve used (across all forces – they are bigger than the Redoubt Highlanders too). I have previously mentioned the rather annoying delays and lack of communication that Redoubt seem to specialise in, but I’m going to do so again because other very small manufacturers seem to be altogether more professional in that regard. I’d recommend their figures, but expect to wait weeks for them to arrive.
He has gone on a swift sailing ship
With her tall sails raised up high on her
On a dark ocean, full of fish and foam . . .
– Callum Mac an Fleisdeir, A Song to Allan MacLean of Coll
Captain James Murray commanded Reid’s Company of the 42nd (Highland) Foot in 1757. Although at this time companies were named for their notional commanding officer, often another man commanded, and his company, named for him if he were major or captain, would be taken over temporarily by another; such were the tangled webs of nomenclature woven by the system of seniority in the British army of the time.
A full company is a bit too large a force for a normal game of Sharp Practice, but a half-company is a pleasing size for a game, allowing some additional supporting units without things getting out of hand. More pleasingly still, a half-company was a recognised tactical sub-unit and were often used independently, for instance, as garrisons or, more romantically, as raiding columns such as that commanded by Lieut. Quintin Kennedy of the 44th Foot, who took a half-company of the 42nd Foot deep into French-claimed lands in the summer of 1756.
Lieut. Kennedy, 44th Foot
Happily there is an extant muster roll for Reid’s company, so the names and status of all the men are known. Now this muster roll is actually from 1758, but it provides enough historical flavour for my purposes, so I’m using it for my highland half-company in the Saindoux Campaign. The officers at least are the same, as the excellent second volume of Sons of the Mountains by Ian McCulloch reveals. Buy both volumes of this superb work here rather than paying over the odds from allegedly ‘specialist’ shops.
Capt. Murray himself will command this half-company, assisted by the junior of his two lieutenants, David Milne. Milne’s name is persistently spelt wrongly as ‘Mill’ or Mills’ in the rolls, a tradition with which I shall continue.
Capt. Murray and Lieut. Mill
Two of the company’s four sergeants, McAndrews (or M’Andrews as he appears on the rolls, officers seem to have been Mc- but the other ranks were invariably M’-) and Watson. The sergeants of the 42nd were loathe to swap halberd for musket and it was not until directly ordered to in 1759 that they abandoned their fearsome badge of office in the field.
Sergeants M’Andrews and Watson
The drummer, one of two in the company, is Alan Campbell and there is also a piper, Walter M’Intyre. Although it’s sometimes thought that pipers were always supernumerary and unofficial, in fact various highland battalions were allowed them, in varying numbers, as an official part of the battalion, and many were ‘on the footing of a Drum.’
Drummer Campbell and Piper M’Intyre
A chaplain was available to the 42nd, and he may, from time to time, put in an appearance. Adam Ferguson was ever to be found ‘in the hottest of the fire, praying with the dying, attending to the wounded, and directing them to be carried to a place of safety.’
Doctor Adam Ferguson
Forty-eight men make up the rank and file of the half-company. Two corporals, an unknown number of gentleman volunteers (there were always a large number of these in a highland battalion of the time, as more men sought commissions than were available and many of those opted to serve in the rank and file whilst messing with the officers, hoping to be nominated to fill any vacancy in the officer ranks) and of course the bulk being private soldiers, who nonetheless often regarded themselves as gentlemen in a highland regiment, often being the sons of tacksmen, the second rank of highland society after the clan chiefs.
Sons of the Mountains
In Sharp Practice terms the force comprises 59 points:
Leader Status III (Capt. Murray)
Leader Status II (Lieut. Mill)
Leader Status I (Sergt. M’Andrews)
Leader Status I (Sergt. Watson)
Musician (Drummer Campbell)
‘Holy Man’ (Piper M’Intyre)
Six Groups of 8 Highland Regiment of Foot Line
with another 16 to flesh it out provided by a Leader Status II (Lieut Quintin Kennedy) and one Group of 6 Regiment of Foot Skirmishers (chosen men of the 44th Foot). The single remaining point will allow the Rev. Dr. Ferguson to appear as a Physic.
The figures (except Lieut. Kennedy who is from Galloping Major) are by Redoubt Enterprises. They are rather nice models and there’s a decent number of poses available. The big downside is that unfortunately Redoubt aren’t very speedy at dispatch, neither are they especially good at answering emails or the phone, although they do sometimes pick up. To my mind they are the best models for highlanders in the earlier part of the war, although the North Star Military Figures highlanders look good, and are in more of ‘campaign dress’. I’d be tempted to use Redoubt for the Line and North Star for Skirmishers, perhaps.
The Saindoux Campaign, 1757 