Steven's Chilean Army for the South American Wars of Liberation

This is the Chilean element of San Martin’s Army of the Andes from my 1817-18 Chilean Project.

Roland Davis painted all the figures. Except where noted all figures are the 15mm range from Grenadier Productions. Roland uses the Black Undercoat Method of painting and basing style based on XF-52 Flat Earth (see Flock page for more detail). Flags are based on my best guess Flags for 1817-18 Chilean Project. 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).

Roland also painted the Argentines. I’m painting the Royalists although very, very slowly.

The Full Array

For the Chileans I’ve now got all the infantry and cavalry – five infantry battalions, two cavalry squadrons and some staff. Just the artillery to go.

Including the Argentine element I’ve now got quite a lot of Patriot figures painted up. Nine infantry battalions (+2 if you move the Grenadier and Cazadore companies into separate battalions), eight cavalry squadrons, two generals and three brigadiers.

Liberators-209 Patriot 1818 The Full Array - Argentine on left and Chilean on right — Liberators-209 Patriot 1818 The Full Array – Argentine on left and Chilean on right

General Staff

Bernard O’Higgins was the main-man for this period of Chilean history. I’ve used two figures from PS-014 General O’Higgins – O’Higgins himself on the horse and the charging guy. The standing officer is from PS-015 Patriot General San Martin as I wanted San Martin to get the standard bearer.

Liberators-422 Chilean 1818 General Bernardo O'Higgins — Liberators-422 Chilean 1818 General Bernardo O’Higgins

Liberators-423 Chilean 1818 General Bernardo O'Higgins - Left — Liberators-423 Chilean 1818 General Bernardo O’Higgins – Left

Liberators-345 Chilean 1818 General Bernardo O'Higgins - Right — Liberators-345 Chilean 1818 General Bernardo O’Higgins – Right

Cavalry

In a discussion on the Liberators 1810-1830 Yahoo Discussion Forum, John Fletcher expressed the opinion that all references to Chilean Cazadores a Caballo, Chilean Horse Cazadores or Chilean Escort Cazadores, are the Caballeria Cazadores de la Escolta Directorial. Check out Patriot Cazadores a Caballo in the 1817-18 Chilean Campaign. He recommended getting two squadrons for the Chilean campaign.

So I did. And they look great. The base figures are PS002 and PS003 Argentina Granadero a Caballo Cavalry (shako) although Roland had to add the epaulettes. Nice bit of putty work that.

Liberators-347 Chilean 1818 Caballeria Cazadores de la Escolta Directorial

Liberators-413 Chilean 1818 Caballeria Cazadores de la Escolta Directorial

Liberators-419 Chilean 1818 Caballeria Cazadores de la Escolta Directorial - Command — Liberators-419 Chilean 1818 Caballeria Cazadores de la Escolta Directorial – Command

Liberators-417 Chilean 1818 Caballeria Cazadores de la Escolta Directorial - Command - Left — Liberators-417 Chilean 1818 Caballeria Cazadores de la Escolta Directorial – Command – Left

Liberators-420 Chilean 1818 Caballeria Cazadores de la Escolta Directorial - Command - Right — Liberators-420 Chilean 1818 Caballeria Cazadores de la Escolta Directorial – Command – Right

Liberators-421 Chilean 1818 Caballeria Cazadores de la Escolta Directorial - Command - Back — Liberators-421 Chilean 1818 Caballeria Cazadores de la Escolta Directorial – Command – Back

Liberators-414 Chilean 1818 Caballeria Cazadores de la Escolta Directorial - Trooper — Liberators-414 Chilean 1818 Caballeria Cazadores de la Escolta Directorial – Trooper

Liberators-415 Chilean 1818 Caballeria Cazadores de la Escolta Directorial - Trooper — Liberators-415 Chilean 1818 Caballeria Cazadores de la Escolta Directorial – Trooper

Liberators-416 Chilean 1818 Caballeria Cazadores de la Escolta Directorial - Trooper - Left — Liberators-416 Chilean 1818 Caballeria Cazadores de la Escolta Directorial – Trooper – Left

Line Infantry

Unlike their Argentine compatriots the Chileans had a standard infantry uniform. The figures are all using PSU-003 Chile Infantry 1817-1823 UNIT PACK. The only difference between line battalions was the flag. I’ve got some battalions with the flag of the transition (the tricolour) and some with the Lone Star flag. See Flags for 1817-18 Chilean Project.

Liberators-342 Chilean 1818 Infantry Battalion with Lone Star Flag

Liberators-343 Chilean 1818 Infantry Battalion with Tricolour Flag

Liberators-442 Chilean 1818 Infantry Battalion - Command — Liberators-442 Chilean 1818 Infantry Battalion – Command

Liberators-443 Chilean 1818 Infantry Battalion - Command - Right — Liberators-443 Chilean 1818 Infantry Battalion – Command – Right

Liberators-444 Chilean 1818 Infantry Battalion - Command - Back — Liberators-444 Chilean 1818 Infantry Battalion – Command – Back

Liberators-445 Chilean 1818 Infantry Battalion - Command - Left — Liberators-445 Chilean 1818 Infantry Battalion – Command – Left

Liberators-446 Chilean 1818 Infantry Battalion - Grenadier — Liberators-446 Chilean 1818 Infantry Battalion – Grenadier

Liberators-447 Chilean 1818 Infantry Battalion - Grenadier - Right — Liberators-447 Chilean 1818 Infantry Battalion – Grenadier – Right

Liberators-448 Chilean 1818 Infantry Battalion - Grenadier - Back — Liberators-448 Chilean 1818 Infantry Battalion – Grenadier – Back

Liberators-449 Chilean 1818 Infantry Battalion - Grenadier - Left — Liberators-449 Chilean 1818 Infantry Battalion – Grenadier – Left

Liberators-450 Chilean 1818 Infantry Battalion - Cazadore — Liberators-450 Chilean 1818 Infantry Battalion – Cazadore

Liberators-451 Chilean 1818 Infantry Battalion - Cazadore - Right — Liberators-451 Chilean 1818 Infantry Battalion – Cazadore – Right

Liberators-452 Chilean 1818 Infantry Battalion - Cazadore - Back — Liberators-452 Chilean 1818 Infantry Battalion – Cazadore – Back

Liberators-454 Chilean 1818 Infantry Battalion - Cazadore - Left — Liberators-454 Chilean 1818 Infantry Battalion – Cazadore – Left

Liberators-455 Chilean 1818 Infantry Battalion - Fusiler — Liberators-455 Chilean 1818 Infantry Battalion – Fusiler

Liberators-456 Chilean 1818 Infantry Battalion - Fusiler - Right — Liberators-456 Chilean 1818 Infantry Battalion – Fusiler – Right

Liberators-457 Chilean 1818 Infantry Battalion - Fusiler - Back — Liberators-457 Chilean 1818 Infantry Battalion – Fusiler – Back

Liberators-458 Chilean 1818 Infantry Battalion - Fusiler - Left — Liberators-458 Chilean 1818 Infantry Battalion – Fusiler – Left

Coquimbo Cazadore Battalion

One infantry unit did have a significantly different uniform … the Coquimbo Cazadore Battalion. The figures are PS-010 Chile Infantry 1817-23 Command and PS-009 Chile Infantry 1817-23 Cazadore. All stands are cazdores.