A New Project

 

"Lion Gardiner in the Pequot War," Charles Stanley Reinhart

 

On September 1st, on their Patreon Discord, Little Wars TV kicked off their 3rd annual "Fall Army Painting Challenge (APC)."  The challenge has inspired me to start a new project, which, in turn, inspired me to dust off "Lost in the Grants" again.

The theme for this season's APC is "Forgotten Wars."  The goal is to paint up an army and/or terrain representing a war that is sort of forgotten in history or overshadowed by larger more popular topics like the American Civil War or World War 2.  Basically, any conflict that doesn't get a lot of love amongst the masses interested in such things.

I quickly decided that pretty much any conflict in North America that took place before the French & Indian War falls into the "Forgotten" category.  These are conflicts that aren't covered much, if at all, in modern classrooms, and if they are touched upon, it generally seems to be generalized as whites killing natives for little or no reason.

For this project, I've settled on the Pequot War that took place in New England in the early 1600s.

The what war?  Yeah, that's why it's forgotten.

In the 1630s, in what is now Connecticut, a series of skirmishes took place between the Dutch, English, and several native tribes, culminating in the Mystic Massacre in 1637 in which the Pequot Indian tribe was basically wiped out by English colonists and their Narraganset allies.  One of my ancestors, Captain John Underhill, is often credited with instigating the massacre.  Another of my ancestors, Barnabas Davis, is said to have been drafted by the colony of Connecticut to fight in the war.  Thus, I do have a somewhat personal, though distant, connection with the conflict.  As I've been studying the battles, and the politics behind them, I'm finding that, like most of history, things aren't as black and white as they are often made out to be.  Did the English wipe out the Pequots?  Yes.  With help.  Was it racially motivated?  No.  It was a war of several opposing nations.  Was it horrific?  Absolutely. On all sides.

As I progress through this project, I'll try to share my research and thoughts on this particular forgotten conflict.  Though short, it's an interesting period of history to study, with a few first person accounts left by the English that give a feel for the battles and the reasons for the conflicts.

Battle of Hubbardton in 6mm

With over half the year gone already, I figured I'd better catch up on posting.  I've actually been pretty active on the gaming front in the past few months, especially since the reenacting scene has been pretty quiet due to Covid-19.

Battle of Hubbardton

First up, The Battle of Hubbardton.

Back in the beginning of the year, I watched a video from Little Wars TV about creating a topographical map for wargaming.  At the time, I had been thinking about creating some sort of game to represent The Battle of Hubbardton.  The video put the idea into my head to recreate the battle in 1:1 figure scale (roughly 1,000 troops per side) using 6mm figures.

I started the project by ordering some Continental Line Infantry in light infantry caps from Baccus Miniatures to represent Seth Warner's "Green Mountain Boys" regiment.  Warner was in overall command of the American side of the field that day,  and I'm familiar with the regiment, so I started there.  Never having painted miniatures as small as 6mm, I wasn't sure what to expect.  When they arrived, I was pleased to see how much detail could be sculpted at that size, and after watching a few videos, I discovered that painting them is easier than I expected it would be.  Unlike 28mm miniatures, 6mm miniatures don't need each detail picked out on every figure.  The goal is to represent massed troops, so coat colors and facings became more important than canteen straps and belts.

Warner's in 6mm

Baccus Continental Light Infantry

To give me an idea how they'd look on the table, I painted up just a few figures.  I decided that they were too dark, so I settled on painting the rest of the figures with a brighter green, to represent the green faced red coats that Warner's Regiment was ordered to have when they were formed.

Test Figures

My second order from Baccus was for a group of German line infantry, and some horsemen to act as officers for all units.  The Germans would represent the Hessian unit that came onto the field toward the end of the battle, reinforcing the British regulars and helping to cause the final retreat of the Continentals.

Hessian Line Infantry

Commanders on Horseback

These figures I was able to paint more quickly.  I think I was beginning to become more practiced with the scale.  I also found that I could add detail to the figures, things such as cross belts and helmet plates, by using a set of fine tipped paint pens that I found at our local craft store.

Hessians in Progress

Baron Riedesel's Troops Enter the Field

Unfortunately, this is where this particular project has stalled.  In March, things came to a halt with the arrival of the Corona virus, which has caused global shutdowns and delays, including with Baccus Miniatures.  While they have done their best to keep up, the company has had to shut down their online shopping cart a couple of times, due to staffing and shipping issues.  To their credit, they have been very open with the gaming community about their status, and once things are opened up again, I'll definitely be placing more orders with them to continue this project.

For more information about the Battle of Hubbardton, check out this video done by a friend of mine, Skyler Bailey, on the Seth Warner's Recreated Regiment YouTube channel.

Year End - 2019

2019 saw my first full year of keeping this blog.  Posts are somewhat infrequent and scattered, but I've been able to stick with it.

On the reenacting front, I was able to attend 8 events in kit this year, and one as a spectator.  A couple of the gatherings were private get-togethers, and several were official Warner's Regiment events.  It's difficult to pick a favorite this year, though presenting a talk to the public while having a chicken standing on my head at Hubbardton does sort of stand out.

For sewing projects, I was able to complete an outfit for G to wear, though she keeps growing, so we'll need to do it again this year.  Another yearly ritual seems to be breeches.  This past year it was a pair for a friend.  This coming year I'll need to replace mine again.

On the gaming side of things, we have a few games of Wings of War, plus several board games, but no major games yet.  I did get a lot of painting done (for me), completing about 61 28mm figures, which is an increase from last year.  I also built a few small pieces of terrain.  This coming year I have a couple of focused projects to concentrate on.  The first is the Battle of Valcour Island, using paper-craft miniatures and rules from War Artisan, and the second is a go at a 6mm scale Battle of Hubbardton, at 1:1 figure scale (roughly 1,500 troops per side).  I've found a few guys who may be interested in playing some historical scenarios, so I'm going to put some effort into getting those games going.

Historical research this year was light.  Other than my usual general reading on various events and period crafts, I did get to visit the Vermont State Archives to look through Ira Allen's survey book.  That was a pretty cool moment.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it to the School of Instruction in Pennsylvania, hosted by the Department of the Geographer to the Army.  I'd really like to attend that one day, so I'm going to look into it again this year.

Overall, 2019 was a pretty good year, hobby-wise.  I'm looking forward to continuing in 2020.

HMS Inflexible

1:300 Scale - HMS Inflexible, Lake Champlain - 1776

I enjoyed building the Enterprise so much that I decided to take another ship in the same scale.  War Artisan's Workshop sells a whole fleet of ships that took part in the Battle of Valcour Island.  Each printable ship kit is currently available for $5.00.  I took the plunge and decided to tackle the largest of the British vessels that took part in the battle, the HMS Inflexible.

Inflexible with a U.S. Quarter for scale.

The Inflexible was a 180 ton, 80' long three-masted ship armed with eighteen 12 pound guns.  What amazes me is that she was not built on Lake Champlain, where she fought.  Instead, she was built in Quebec City, then moved in pieces to St. Johns, where she was reassembled and launched.

The Continental Sloop-of-War Enterprise tries to outrun the British.

The photo above gives some idea what the Continental Navy on Lake Champlain faced during the fight for control of Lake Champlain n 1776.  The Enterprise was one of the American's larger ships (a few were a couple of feet longer).

Completed Hull next to the finished Enterprise.

Constructing the hull of the ship was pretty straight forward.  The pieces were printed, folded, glued, and in my case, painted due to low ink on my printer.  I decided to use toothpick bits for cannon this time around, which looked a little large, but from a distance give the impression of a well-armed vessel.

Building one of the masts.

Building the masts and sails was also fairly simple.  The instructions that come with the kit list the sizes of the pieces you need, and each it cut from readily available material.  In this case, I used floral wire, toothpicks, and a bamboo skewer.  Rigging is black thread that's been run through some PVA glue and allowed to dry.

Bow Spirit, Main Mast, and Mizzen Mast in place.

Rigging the Inflexible was the most difficult part of this build.  First, there's a lot of lines!  Next, my thread wasn't really cooperating.  Third, my glue wasn't drying fast enough to keep things in place.  Overall, it took me about a week to complete the rigging, and I'm still not happy with it.  It's loose in places, but really, from a distance, it doesn't look too bad.

So, another build complete.  I'm really enjoying these tiny ships.  I think I'm going to purchase another one soon.

HMS Inflexible, port side.

Continental Ship Enterprise

Enterprise - 1:300 scale paper model.

Over the last couple of days, I made an attempt at trying something different for me.  Generally, I'm not much of a naval modeler, and I don't think I've ever made a paper model before.  Now I can successfully say that I've completed a naval paper model.

Port side, with Quarter for scale.

In May of 1775, Colonel Benedict Arnold and his men, during the opening months of the American Revolution, captured the Canadian port of St. Johns, and with it, the Sloop-of-War George.   The George was renamed Enterprise, and used by the Continental army to secure Lake Champlain.


On the 11th of October, 1776, the Enterprise, along with Arnold's small fleet of recently built ships and gunboats, took part in the Battle of Valcour Island.  The battle ended as a defeat for the Americans, with several vessels sunk, scuttled, or captured.  Enterprise, however, escaped, and made her way back to Crown Point, and later Ticonderoga.

In July of the next summer, with the British seizing Fort Ticonderoga and moving against the Continental Army, Enterprise was used to help evacuate the residents of the fort south to Skenesborough (now Whitehall, NY), while the main body of the army retreated across the Lake into what is now Vermont.  The evacuation fleet, unfortunately for the Americans, was overtaken by the British, and Enterprise was run aground on the 7th of July, 1777, to prevent her capture.

Posing with a Vermont commemorative coin.

The model that I built comes as a free printable download from War Artisan's Workshop.  This ship is part of the site's Great Lakes 1:300 Scale collection.  Having never built something of this scale before, and not knowing much about naval building and ships in general, I actually found this to be a pretty enjoyable build.  There are certainly some fiddly bits (tweezers would have come in handy), but taking is slow and careful resulted in a very nice model that looks cool on my desk, and seemslike it is actually robust enough to be used for wargaming.

Now, do I purchase the other models and refight Valcour Island?

Operation Ransom Guard

Demonstrating in downtown St. Albans.

Last month, on August 11th, a few of us from Warner's Regiment took part in the Vermont National Guard's "Operation Ransom Guard" in St. Alban's, Vermont.

The event was hosted by 1st Squadron, 172nd Cavalry Regiment of the Vermont National Guard.  The Guard unit was celebrating their history, including doing demonstrations of battle tactics.  Our unit, as well as a Civil War unit and some modern units were invited to demonstrate the unit's historical beginnings and tactics, to show both the public and the current Guard members their origins.

The event was a day-long sort of picnic/party on the green in the center of St. Albans, where the Cavalry is based.  The main event was a short ceremony, combined with tactical demonstrations by the units.  Warner's led off the tactical demonstration by marching onto the field, firing a couple of volleys at close order, then spreading out to open order.  Once in open order we moved across the field, firing as we advanced, then demonstrated an orderly withdrawal.  After the withdrawal, we advanced again, this time at a charge.

Our unit was followed by the Civil War cavalry, who were in turn followed by a number of modern guard units, including cavalry mounted on humvees.  It was interesting to see how modern tactics have evolved, but how they are also basically the same as what Warner's uses on the field as infantrymen.

One of the guardsmen in attendance captured our performance on video, which he posted to his Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/getincamo/videos/384300505604263/?t=43

Simple Alidade

Taking a break from clothing and painting minis (yes, I'm still very slowly working on wargaming bits), I worked on a  small project yesterday that will help me increase, by practice, my understanding of 18th century surveying.

Alidade and Plane Table in use.

The alidade was a simple tool, used in conjunction with a plane table, to lay out lines in the field while surveying, thereby creating a map during the survey, as opposed to after.

Alidade and Cutting Board...er... Plane Table.

Most of the period alidades that I've found images of online are made of brass.  To keep things simple, I made mine from scrap wood leftover from other projects.

Sights folded.

The build was pretty quick.  The base and sights were cut to length.  I cut down one edge of the base to make it easier to run a pencil/pen along.  With the sights clamped together, I drilled and cut slots in the center.  The sight arms are attached to the base with small hinges, like original alidades, to allow for folding, making storage and transportation easier.  The sight lines are just thread held in place in tiny grooves at the top and bottom of the wood.

Sight Line.

Samuel Wyld, in his 1725 book, The Practical Surveyor, describes the use of the alidade (which he calls an Index):

"Assign on the Paper a Point, or stick a Pin at 0, (to represent the Hole in the Ground or present Station) to which Point, apply the fiducial Edge of the Index, and turn it about, keeping the Edge close to the Point or Pin at 0, till through the Sights you see the Hair cut a Staff or Mark, set up exactly in one of the Angles, as at then by the Edge of the Index, draw a Line from the Point 0 towards the Angle a, with the Point of the Compasses, without regarding the Length, so it be long enough."

I think this will make a good practice set up.

In other words, look through the sites toward a point, then draw a line on your paper.


Now I need to get back to work on a tripod and a chain for measuring.

Recalling Silhouettes

A recent post on the Historic Trades Preservation Special Interest Group on Facebook reminded me of project that I worked on last summer.  Something that I'd like to revisit at some point: Silhouette Portraits.

His Excellency, George Washington in silhouette.

Popular in Europe in the mid 1700’s, Silhouette portraits, or Shades, didn’t become popular in America until the 1780s, then they really took off in Victorian times. Between 1775 and 1778, a gentleman by the name of Johann Casper Lavater published a book in Germany on the subject of Physiognomy (defining a person’s personality based on their facial features). In that book was an engraving of a “Device for taking Silhouettes.” Lavater would use the silhouettes as part of his studies into the then science of physiognomy.

Laveter's "Device"

Curious about the idea, I blew up a portion of the engraving and used the height of a standard chair seat to determine the dimensions of the Silhouette Frame illustrated. I recreated the frame using hand tools and period woodworking techniques. I used acrylic sheet instead of glass for safety reasons (don't need it falling over on a visitor), but otherwise there's nothing modern in it.

Estimated measurements in inches.

Google SketchUp drawing to determine possible construction.

Construction started in my basement.
Here the curved top piece is being shaped.

Once the weather warmed up, the "workshop" was moved outside.

Cutting the grooves for the glass.

Finished frame, minus finials on top

Stained for a more period appearance.

Testing the device with daughter #2.

 We had a chance to try it out in a period setting (Ethan Allen Homestead, circa 1787), which led to a few discoveries. First we tried setting it up in front of a large window in the house's parlor, but the day was overcast, and the window didn't provide enough light. Next we tried it with a (modern) lamp, which was better. Next step will be to try it out with a candle and mirror setup as shown in the illustration (we didn't have any of those on hand). Turns out, period houses don't necessarily have level floors either, which may explain the platform in the engraving.

Trying the frame out in (almost) period conditions.

Not bad with a modern light.

As I've dug deeper into the subject of Shade Portraits, I've found that later editions of Lavater's book show a more sophisticated frame, fixed to a chair, with an adjustable glass. Other instruments for enlarging and decreasing the outlines were also built, so there's a lot more research I can get into for future experiments.

A more complex version

An artist's reimagining of the scene.

It was fun doing something a little different, and introducing visitors to something sort of artistic. It also didn't hurt that there were fried apples cooking on the hearth in the kitchen next to the parlor, making for a super inviting environment.

Ethan Allen Day - Ethan Allen Homestead

This past weekend, the girls and I attended our first “official” event of the 2019 season with Warner's Regiment. A few years ago, the State of Vermont declared June 23^rd to be “Ethan Allen Day.” For those not familiar with Allen, he's a bit of a folk hero in Vermont for fighting back against New Yorkers who were trying to claim New Hampshire land grants, and also for the capture of Fort Ticonderoga in the days after the start of the American Revolution. His last home was in today's Burlington, Vermont, and the land has been turned into a small museum and education center.

The girls, harassing the museum exhibits.

 Since I was headed to the event as one parent with four girls, we opted to drive up the morning of the event, rather than the night before. We did take our tent, so the girls would have a place to relax out of public view, as well as a base of operations for things like diaper changes.

3/4 of the crew, taking a break.

For this event, the focus was to be on Distaff and civilian activities, with the military playing a smaller part. As such, there were other groups there demonstrating spinning, wood carving, flax preparation and other things. The men, women and children of Warner's also demonstrated sewing, knitting, games, and more. Overall, it was a very casual and relaxed atmosphere.

Relaxing in the shade.

About mid-day, the soldiers from the Regiment demonstrated some close order and open order drill. There is a popular myth that all Revolutionary War battles were men lined up in long lines taking turns shooting at each other in open fields, but the War in the northern theater was a bit different. We demonstrated how men would have gone about moving through woods and broken terrain.

Your humble author, defending The Grants.

Later in the afteroon, a couple of the men taught some basic drill movements to members of the public, who were given wooden practice muskets to learn with. While this was happening, a group of our Distaff members learned basic black powder and musket safety and handling. This was led by a couple of our female members who usually portray soldiers, but for this event chose to take part as Distaff.

Engaging with the public.

By afternoon, my children had hit their energy limits, so I gathered them all up and headed back home. The next morning, they were all still tired, so I returned to the Homestead alone to take part in Sunday's activities, and to retrieve our tent and equipment.

Distaff weapons training.

Sunday started with a short religious service by our Regimental Chaplain. I'm not much of a church-goer, but I really enjoy hearing a sermon while sitting out on the grass, under the shade of a tree, with birds and a breeze as a backdrop.

Sunday services.

The rest of the day brought more drilling and demonstrations, ending about mid afternoon. It was an excellent start to the “official” season.

Sisters strolling the orchard.

Nature girl.

Learning to fire.

Musket training.

Some 18th century gaming.

Projecting confidence.

"Make READY!"

Reflection and relaxation.

  

Out for a walk.

The "official" portrait.

Her fourth season.

The unofficial portrait.

* Photos by myself, Elaina Davis, Crystal Bailey, and Heather Kenyon-Haff