I have rebased my 1818 Royalists on big bases, so I took the opportunity to do a photo shoot including some units I’d not featured before. This is the army that won at the Battle of Cancha Rayada (19 March 1818) and lost to San Martin at the Battle of Maipo (5 April 1818). For those interest in the earlier armies I’ve also got the Royalist army for 1817.
Generals
Brigadier General Mariano Osorio
Mariano Osorio commanded at the Battle of Rancagua (1 Oct 1814) when a Colonel and at the Battle of Maipo (5 Apr 1818) as a Brigadier General. The figures are from the specialist pack RS-006 Royalist General Osorio. John Fletcher characterises Osorio as “poor; coward, low initiative” hence the pose with the backward glance. I wasn’t too accurate with Osorio’s uniform – I gave him the red trousers of a Field Marshal (Mariscal de Campo) only because, well, they look better but also because the Alternative Battle of Chacabuco features Field Marshal Marco del Pont.
Cavalry
1818 featured another pretty range of Royalist cavalry uniforms. Shame the quality of the troops wasn’t so hot.
Arequipa Dragoons
1 Squadron. Fought at Cancha Rayada and Maipo. John Fletcher (2005) has the Arequipa Dragoons in a conventional Blue Spanish uniform. However, Rolf Grein proposes an alternative uniform. White jacket with red collars and cuffs. Blue trousers. Blue forage cap with white band and red piping. Unfortunately, Rolf had forgotten his sources but in the interests of having an interesting looking unit I followed his lead.
The only figures I know with cap are Argentine from Grenadier Productions:
Grenadier Productions AC-04 [PS005] Argentina Granadero a Caballo Cavalry (cap/saber)
Grenadier Productions AC-06 [PS006] Argentina Granadero a Caballo Cavalry (cap/command)
I missed this unit out when I painted the rest – I can’t remember why now. So although I painted the other units, Martin Boulter from Silurian Wargames Limited painted these guys.
Chillan Dragoons
1 Squadron. Fought at Cancha Rayada and Maipo. The figures are Grenadier Products Cavalry with jacket (no tails).
Grenadier Productions MC-01 [PRNS-008] Cavalry (Jacket)
Grenadier Productions MC-02 [PRNS-009] Cavalry (Jacket Command)
Lanceros del Rey
1 Squadron. Another interesting unit, being armed with lances. They look more impressive than they performed. Fought at Cancha Rayada and Maipo. Figures are:
Grenadier Productions AC-02 [PS001] Argentina Granadero a Caballo Cavalry (shako/lance)
Grenadier Productions AC-03 [PS003] Argentina Granadero a Caballo Cavalry (shako/command)
Frontier Dragoons
2 Squadrons. Fought at Cancha Rayada and Maipo. In order of battle for Alternative Chacabuco – which is why they feature in my Royalist army for 1817.
The figures are Grenadier Productions Cavalry in Short Coats w/sabers. The figures lack lapels so I just painted them on regardless.
Grenadier Productions MC-05 [PRNS-004] Cavalry (Coat)
Grenadier Productions MC-06 [PRNS-005] Cavalry (Coat Command)
Infantry
Generally the infantry of the latter army wore white single breasted jackets. This is exactly what the Royalist infantry figures from Grenadier Productions are for:
Grenadier Productions RI-01 [RNS-001] Royalist Infantry (Fusileros)
Grenadier Productions RI-02 [RNS-002] Royalist Infantry (Elites)
Grenadier Productions RI-03 [RNS-003] Royalist Infantry (Command)
Arequipa Regiment
White uniform. A significant proportion of the rank and file were black. Fought at Cancha Rayada and Maipo.
Burgos Regiment
White uniform. According to Fletcher (2005) the 2nd Battalion of the Burgos Regiment fought at Cancha Rayada and 1st Burgos fought at Maipo.
Infante Don Carlos Regiment
White uniform. Fought at Cancha Rayada and Maipo.
Conception Regiment
Unusually for my 1818 infantry these guys are in a blue jacket and white trousers (Fletcher, 2005, p. 30). Aside from the black straps the unit looks like Chiloe. I highlighted the black straps with a dark grey to make them stand out from the surrounding “black” shadow of the Black Undercoat method. Another unit using figures from Fantassin / War Modelling EN-17 Spanish Infantry with French Style Shako and Fantassin / War Modelling EN-22a Spanish Infantry Command (shako).
Fought at Cancha Rayada and Maipo. Were likely to have been the garrison at Talcahuano – which is why they feature in my Royalist army for 1817.
Grenadier Battalion
The Royalist Granadero and Cazadore battalions were composites built from the flank companies of the 4 battalions in the army: Burgos, Arequipa, Infante and Concepcion.
Cazadore Battalion
The Royalist Granadero and Cazadore battalions were composites built from the flank companies of the 4 battalions in the army: Burgos, Arequipa, Infante and Concepcion.
Zapadores
Shako and blue uniform. 1 company. Given the small size of this unit I put it on a half size stand.
Artillery
I’ve painted the eight stands necessary for Chacabuco. All of them have a 4 pounder guns and two crew. The figures are RNS-009 Royalist Artillery Crew and PRNS-012 4lbr Field Gun (Long Barrel) (2 guns). I’ve also painted two 8 pounder guns and two howitzers, all with 3 crew each.
Acknowledgements
I painted the majority of the figures using the Black Undercoat Method of painting and based them using Sand, Flat Earth paint, and Dry Brushing on Big Bases. The one exception is that Martin Boulter from Silurian Wargames Limited painted the Arequipa Dragoons.
Most figures are the 15mm range from Grenadier Productions. The exception are the Cazadore de los Andes; they are from Fantassin/War Modelling.
Generic Spanish Flags are from War Flag however the flags of specific units were by Miguel Landeros and are available on the Yahoo Group: Liberators 1810-1830.
Uniform guides were the books by John Fletcher of Grenadier Productions (Fletcher, 2005, 2006) in particular the illustrations by Prof. Julio Luqui Lagleyze and Cesar Puliafito that appear in Fletcher (2005, p. 28 – 36).
References
Fletcher, J. (2005). Liberators! Volume 1: The War in the South. Grenadier Productions.
Fletcher, J. (2006). Liberators! Supplement 1: The War in the South. Grenadier Productions.
Liberators 1810-1830 Yahoo Discussion Forum
Luqui Lagleyze, J. M., and Manzano Lahoz, A. (1998). «Los Realistas» (1810-1826): Virreinatos del Perú y del Rio de la Plata, y Capitanía General de Chile [Hombres en Uniforme No 5]. Quiron Ediciones. [Spanish]
Pueyrredon, M. (1947). Memorias inéditas del coronel Manuel Pueyrredon. Buenos Aires: Editoril kraft.