"Light Co, 44th Regiment of Foot & Perry Miniatures" Topic

After reading 8 of the 24 books in the Sharpe series I've picked up a box of Perry Miniatures; British Napoleonic Line Infantry 1808 – 1815. I intend to paint these figures as the Light Company of the 44th Regiment of Foot to play with Too Fat Lardies' Sharp Practice rules.

My questions are;

1: apart from the plumes being green, how do I differentiate these figures from the center companies?

2: Also did the Light Company use drummers?

3: And finally, would the Sergeants have used the polearms to keep the troops in file or would they have carried muskets as well?

As my local libraries are void of anything even remotely useful in the area of Napoleonics, any assistance that anyone can provide is greatly appreciated, especially if it contains links to pretty pictures.

Hey, didn't I just read this somewhere else? :)

Check the Sharp Practice forum.

Cliff

British light companies had "wings" on the shoulder rather than the standard shoulder straps. Here is a site with pictures of both. link
IIRC light companies had buglers and the sergeants carried muskets.

Well spotted Camcleod, I posted on the Sharp Practice forum first but then thought to post it here as well.

Here is the link that Camcleod provided me on the Sharp Practice forum in case anyone else is interested. It seems to be a nice site.

link

Yes ,it`s a nice site for the 1815 Belgian Campaigne.
Regards,

Hi ya 1369traveler,

Here are some responses to your queries.

1: apart from the plumes being green, how do I differentiate these figures from the center companies?

The Lt Coy had wings on their shoulders…the Perry box provides these but not enough to do the whole box. You could however cut down some of the loading arms and swap them with the firing, loading, at ready ones to create a more varied unit…it wouldn't be that difficult.

2: Also did the Light Company use drummers?

Yep.

3: And finally, would the Sergeants have used the polearms to keep the troops in file or would they have carried muskets as well?

The Lt Coy Sergeants didn't carry the polearm but a musket. They also had their sergeant stripes on both sleeves…so you will need to add these. Again, not difficult work.

Hope this helps. The Perry figures are quite nice so make the most of them.

PS And the Lt Coy officers had shoulder scales instead of epaluetts and braid…and generally had different boots, although these varied in campaign situations.

"IIRC light companies had buglers and the sergeants carried muskets"

I think you are getting Light Companies and Light Infantry Battalions confused. What you describe applies to the latter.