"W.S.S. uniform info" Topic

I am looking for detailed uniform guide for
the age of Malborough. I have the old Osprey
which is very basic and the two in French 18c
Funken books that hardly touch the subject.
Is there anything out their in depth, which
covers things like British Grenadier hats from
the various regiments, Bavarian Line etc.
Thanks for any help.

The two Grant books, Armies and Uniforms of Marlborough's War, form the basis of of much of my research. They are available from On Military Matters link

A fair amount of info here:

thewaroffice.co.uk/blenheim

From Pike to Shot' is a decent single volume reference.

They might not be available any longer, but the uniform booklets produced by Editions Brokaw (Mr. Pat Condray) were useful and inexpensive.

Often overlooked free source…

link

Click how to paint WSS.

The link to The War Office Blenheim site is amazing! What a resource. Thanks for posting that, and thanks to whoever put that together!

Robert Hall's uniform plates are just about all you could hope for. The French plates can be purchased on CD. Not sure about the others. They have the flags as well on them.

Look here for catalog and samples
PDF link

This is also a very good site -
link

Thank you for all your help.
I will order the Grant books and the war office is amazing.
I have a few questions.
Brit Grenadier's did they have lace on their coats even
if the parent unit didn't. Were they ever combined with
other Grenadiers to form a composite battalion?
What British Fusiliers regs wore the early mitre or
were they in tricornes?
Did the French have Grenadiers in their line regs, and if
they did what marked them out?

These Front Rank figs were all done using Hall's Plates as guides. The flags were all done by taking the flags from Hall's plates and resizing them to match the figs.

link

I don't believe there were combined grenadier battalions.

Scots Fusiliers wore the mitre, and I believe that's the only one that did.

These Front Rank figs were all done using Hall's Plates as guides. The flags were all done by taking the flags from Hall's plates and resizing them to match the figs.

Excellent Collection!

And all my British Grenadiers have lace around the buttons, while the fusiliers do not. This is how Front Rank does their figs, so I assume that is correct. You can see one Grenadier on each end of each battalion in the link to my photos above.

When looking at the photos, you will see the Officer center front row, flags back row center, one grenadier front row on each end, drummer on far left rear, sergeant front row 2d from left.

Thanks Duke for all the info.
You have a great collection.

You may find grenadiers converged for a forlorn hope. A temporary organization to achieve some tactical advantage seemed a common occurance, but when over, the survivors went back to their respective regiments.

The Hall series are excellent! If you can find a copy, the Blandford / Anthony Kemp's "Weapons & Equipment of the Marlborough Wars" is pretty good. Back copies of the Pike and Shot society newsletters are also a good scholoraly source.

Part of the experience is discovering new resources. I'm still looking for illustrations and research materials (in English) for mobile bakeries (ie; wagonloads of bricks, sacks of flour, etc.) Battles were fought because some towns/cities ability to supply/bake bread for a campaigning army! After exploring in Bavaria (and the Swabian Alps, you would be amazed at how difficult it must have been to navigate thru such county let alone trying to fight in such terrain!

Good luck in your quest for info! I have found the WSS to be a facinating period.

Tom

Thanks Tom,
I have ordered the Blandford/Kemp book from Amazon.
I will try to track the Hall plates down but the
Pike and Shot site who sell it are not doing mail
order at the moment, if any one has a old copy on
British and French infantry I would love to buy it.
A few years ago I crossed into Bavaria from Switzerland.
I can see what you mean about the logistics.Very rugged
with few flat area's. A period that offers so much and
still is quite untouched compared to others.

It was a
bit of a beano trip and we ended up having a few drinks of all places in the Zeppelin museum.

Sidney;

You can also order the Hall plates and CD's from On Military Matters. Dennis generally has them is stock (click the sub-heading for "Marlburian" down the left-hand side of the screen and then scroll away). Uniformology also has a few of their books (basically collections of plates bound together) that cover the period. Their Hoffman book on the Bavarians is excellent.

Also, for some excellent colored plates, many by renowned military artists, you should check out the New York Public Library's Digital Collection, specifically the Vinkhuijzen Collection of Military Art. My link will take you to the "browse catalog" page, where you select a nationality, then (possibly) a specific ruler or time period, then browse away. There are gaps in the collection, but there are also some wonderful plates there.

link

Regards,

Bill
Sir William the Aged
warsoflouisxiv.blogspot.com

Sidney

I have all the plates for the units in the photos plus the complete set of all French units. I'd be happy to sell them as my OOB is done.

JD

Bill
Outstanding site. You have a amazing wealth of detail.
Thank you for all your help.

JD
My first choice was to have the plates in book form,
I am still very interested. Please contact me.
sparta479@yahoo.co.uk

Sidney;

Many thanks for the compliment. Sorry I didn't notice you were in the UK. If you prefer not to order overseas, then check with Dave Ryan at Caliver, he also has many of the Hall CD's and books, some of the Uniformology books (including Hoffman's "Army of the Blue King"), the Grant books previously mentioned, and a wealth of other books, CD's and plates on the period.

Bill
Sir William the Aged
warsoflouisxiv.blogspot.com

The two Grant books, Armies and Uniforms of Marlborough's War and the "From Pike to Shot' WRG and basically the same book

Hans Landa;

I'm sorry, but I beg to differ Sir. I have had my copy of the original WRG-published "From Pike to Shot" since original publication date. While it does have much of the same (or at least similar) material, it is like a "digest" version compared to the the two new editions. The new editions, in addition to newer and better artwork, are a much more complete reference source, at least with regards to the WSS. The earlier, single-volume book dealt with a slightly earlier "start" date and while it dealt with armies through 1720, there was less detail offered. I simply wish Mr. Grant would do a new volume for the Franco-Dutch War and the Nine Years War with the same level of detail offered on the WSS.

Bill
Sir William the Aged
warsoflouisxiv.blogspot.com