Portuguese 15mm Army

It is always a nice feeling when an army is completed, especially when it has been sitting in boxes for the best part of twelve years in the case of my Essex Miniatures Portuguese. It is probably self-indulgent but I enjoy taking a few parade-ground style pictures before they are packed away:

It's not that they won't be employed on the field of battle, rather that they are unlikely to be used together as a full army, especially as they will normally be operating alongside the British in any games our group undertakes:

All things considered, this was slightly more satisfying to put together than my Essex Miniatures 15mm Spanish army, mainly because there were a few figure variations in each pack of the infantry (as opposed to a single pose with the Spanish infantry) to break things up a little and relieve some of the monotony of painting several hundred figures:

I decided to go with black chords on the jackets of the Cacadores rather than yellow, on the basis of the Rene Chartrand Osprey where he implies that yellow lacing and chords was a relatively short-lived phenomenon, even before the  Cacadores had swapped their Barretinas for the British-supplied stovepipes. This was apparently due to both expense and lack of supply, but I am still wrestling with whether I have done the right thing here, especially as many other examples I have seen are sporting the yellow:

All up, I have counted 603 foot, cavalry and artillery figures, 41 horses (33 of them cavalry), and six artillery pieces:

Now off to do the same thing with some Front Rank 28mm Portuguese, which I am quite looking forward to getting into as I do feel much more comfortable at that scale. Looking at the above, I should probably also consider having the kitchen repainted...

Portuguese Militia

The last of the units for this 15mm Portuguese project; some recently completed Portuguese militia battalions:

As with the line, the militia belonged to the South, Center or North division, with their piping and turnback colours being red, white and yellow respectively. Unlike the regular line however, they had yellow (as opposed to white) plumes, and the officers and NCOs could often be found in bicornes in contrast to the shakoes of the line.

I personally find the yellow plumes slightly unbecoming, but apparently they were quite popular with some of the dandies of the day who enrolled as officers in the militia battalions upon the outbreak of hostilities with France, and many undoubtedly added their own affectations to the standard pattern:

Here are three from the Southern division in the form of the Lagos, Tavira and Beja battalions:

and the Lisbon and Oliveira dos Azemeis battalions from the Central Division:

The militia were mainly employed in the defence of towns and on garrison duties, so it is unlikely they will see the light of day in any of our games. Unless of course we mount an Iberian campaign at some point, in which case they might come in useful.

Portuguese General Staff

I probably should have put the Portuguese part of the title to this post in quotation marks as they are essentially a mixture of Austrian and Russian Essex figures:

The reason I pursued this line is that most of the other figures, such as AB, do tower over the true 15mm Essex and would therefore possibly have looked even more out of place. I am not however altogether unhappy with the result, especially given that Napoleonic staff uniforms could often be eccentric at the best of times:

Most of these have been based as brigade commanders, on the assumption that they will normally be operating alongside our Peninsular British in the games we have planned going forward:

Just five small battalions of Portuguese militia to finalise over the coming days, and that should then be another army completed.

Portuguese Dragoons

Possibly one of the biggest problems the Portuguese cavalry faced at the beginning of the Peninsular War was a lack of definition as to exactly what their role should be. While apparently quite able, they appeared to be expected to perform all roles from light hussars to heavy dragoons.

There was also a distinct lack of suitable mounts, which meant that most regiments remained under-strength for most of the war. That said, it could reasonably be argued that they acquitted themselves on most occasions with nearly as much effectiveness (not to greater mention restraint) than their British light dragoon counterparts.

I have settled on three regiments of Portuguese Dragoons in the 1st Alcantara, the 4th Mecklemburg and the 11th Almeida.

Firstly, the 1st Alcantara who were present at Albuera (although by then they were probably sporting a cylindrical British-style light dragoon shako), and outside Badajoz a few weeks earlier when they ably charged and engaged a regiment of French dragoons:

Next, the 4th Mecklemburg:

As with the artillery, I adapted some Essex British light dragoons, mainly to obtain the distinctive Tarleton helmet worn by earlier Portuguese dragoons. The main differences are that the British light dragoons had chords on their jackets, which were quite easily cut off with a Stanley knife, and that the Portuguese had brass shoulder straps, and which I have attempted to paint "free-hand":

Finally, the 11th Almeida who, along with the 1st Alcantara, also fought at Salamanca:

And all three together:

Well, that's the cavalry done, and probably enough for any Portuguese army. Now on to a few generals and staff...

Portuguese 15mm Artillery

A  compromise here, in that I have utilised Essex British 1815 artillery as a proxy for Portuguese batteries. This is mainly because Essex tend to be a "true" 15mm figure, and any of the other manufacturers do tend to tower over them a little:

That said, the barretina shakoes on the figures and the actual cannon themselves are possibly not that far off:

The cross-belts and equipment are possibly a little more problematic (although I quite like the way the gunners appear to be in the midst of heated discussion in this picture):


The only slightly annoying thing about these figures is that, as with most Essex artillery crew, there is a random assortment of poses. That in itself is usually fine, but in this case I ended up with seven of the eighteen crew holding rammers. Only a minor quibble in the great scheme of things, and the figures were quite nice to paint.

At least it is another unit done, and I don't think they will look too far out of place. I now only have the cavalry, general staff and militia to complete, which I am hoping to achieve before the end of March 2015.

Remaining Portuguese Cacadore Battalions

The last five battalions of Cacadores for my 15mm Portuguese army. The first two represent the 3rd Villa Real and the 6th Porto, while the remaining three are again the 3rd Villa Real, the 4th Viseu and the 5th Campo-Mayor, but this time formed into line.

Firstly, a couple of figures from the 3rd Villa Real deployed in open order:

And the 6th Porto, also deployed in open order:

and, the 3rd, 4th and 5th formed into line:

I did briefly entertain the idea of painting these last three regiments as battalions of the Loyal Lusitanian Legion who, at the start of the Peninsular War, wore green  jackets and pantaloons, which would have provided a nice bit of variety. The only problem is that the Essex Cacadores have the barretina shakoes, whereas the Lusitanians appear to have worn the a stovepipe cap from the outset.

The other thing is that, "technically" speaking, the jacket cords were officially yellow up until 1811. I preferred to run with the information in Rene Chartrand's excellent Osprey on the Portuguese army however when he indicates that from July 1809 (at least) soldiers and officers started swapping to black cords and buttons by reason of expense, but also because black was a little less distinct than on the battlefield than yellow. Not that attempting to "blend in" with the surroundings appeared to be high on the list of priorities of many Napoleonic armies.

Portuguese Cacadore Battalions

I have recently managed to complete four Portuguese Cacadore  battalions, starting with the 1st Castello de Vide regiment:

The Portuguese Cacadore regiments were comprised of one battalion each, and distinguished themselves in many battles in the Peninsular and Southern France. One of the most distinguished is the 2nd Moura regiment which saw action at the battles of Bussaco, Salamanca and Vittoria among others:

The 4th Viseu is quite similar to the 1st, but with a Light Blue collar instead of brown:

While the 5th Campo-Mayor is the same as the 2nd, but with a red collar:

One company in each battalion were armed with rifles, which is a nice surprise for an unsuspecting opponent. These troops were distinguished by black shako chords and plume:

The Essex figures are quite good, if a little smaller than their equivalent AB figures, but mounting them on a 3mm base gives them a bit more height:

Another five Cacadore regiments to go, which is probably disproportionately too many but I appear to have accidentally over-ordered somewhere along the line. Hopefully I will have them completed over the Christmas break and can then move on to some artillery and the cavalry.

Viera Tellas and Serpa Portuguese Regiments

The last two of my 15mm Portuguese line regiments just completed, making eight in all (or the equivalent of sixteen battalions). Firstly, the 16th Viera Tellas:

and the two battalions of the 22nd Serpa:

These figures, while still being a true 15mm, are much more enjoyable to paint than some of my other Essex figures. There is quite a lot more dynamism in these, and I am pleased I added a few "firing" line figures into the mix:

Now, on to complete eight regiments of cacadores (I still have no idea how I ended up with so many)...

Portuguese Line Regiments

Another four regiments, or eight battalions of nineteen figures each, completed over the past couple of months.

Firstly, the first and second battalions of 10th/2nd of Lisbon line regiment:

Again using 15mm Essex Miniatures, with GMB flags. There are a few variations included in each pack of line, which relieves the monotony somewhat. These seem to be mainly around the direction in which the heads are facing, although there are two distinct styles, one of which is slightly squatter than the other and which would appear to be of a later vintage.

That said, they are the same height, which is 15mm from top of base to eyeball, rather than the 18mm of other figures such as AB. To compensate for this, I have used the larger 3mm Litko base, so that they won't appear too small against their AB protagonists:

Here are the two battalions of 1st of Lisbon:

Both regiments formed part of the first or Central division in the Portuguese army, as indicated by the white piping and regimental flag. As mentioned, all battalions are of 19 figures which at a 1:40 ratio represents a full paper-strength of 760 men.

I also managed to complete two regiments from the second or Southern division. with red piping and standard. First, the two battalions from the 5th regiment, or 1st Elvas:

and two from 14th Tavira:

This is how all eight battalions arranged together appears:

All  the above formed part of Beresford's Portuguese contingent at Albuera although, by that stage, they had probably all adopted the later British-issued uniform with the stovepipe, as opposed to the barretina shako.

Only two more line regiments or four battalions to complete now, and then on to some Cacadores.

Portuguese Lagos and Freire Regiments

Here are the first two regiments of my 15mm project completed. Firstly, two battalions of the 2nd Lagos regiment:

Essex figures again, but there is a lot more variety in their Portuguese poses than with their Spanish range. Some of them are almost AB in appearance and are well-proportioned, although still shorter at a "true" 15mm in stature:

It was nice to have finally put some paint on these as they have been lying around for the best part of ten years:

I have also managed two battalions of the 4th Freire regiment:

All the figures wear the distinctive Barretina shako which is probably good up until 1810, or 1811 at a push, until the British-supplied uniforms with the stovepipe shako gained predominance. I have always found it ironical therefore that the British ended up introducing the Belgic shako from 1812 onward, which itself was almost undoubtedly modelled on the Barretina. Personally I have always preferred the Belgic and Barretina for their respective armies, rather than the more plain stovepipe:

Portuguese line regiments typically consisted of two battalions, which would usually be found together. Both battalions of the Lagos and Freire regiments were in Beresford's army at Albuera. Regiments were also organised into three main divisions, with the 1st being the "Central", the 2nd the "Southern" and the 3rd the "Northern" division.

These were essentially distinguished by their respective piping and standards, with the Central division being white, the Southern red, and the Northern yellow, which also extended to the shako chords. In this case the Freire regiment can be recognised as belonging to the Southern division: