"British backpacks, Peninsular War." Topic

At this time last year, Mama decided she had to get back to Pennsylvania to her family and old friends, so we did some serious packing. I packed away all my Napoleonic figures – painted and un-painted – books, plates, source material, and focused on 15mm Old Glory SYW painting of units of 48 figures – primarily Austrian.

She then gave me a 60-figure Victrix set of French infantry, 1804-07, and my memory is very good on the French, so they became a 48-figure unit in bicorns, 9-company organization.

She just gave me a Victrix British centre company set of 52 figures, Peninsular War, and I am happily spending about 4 hours per weekend assembling them.

I have assembled 16 (of what will be 40 figures) to do as the 9th East Norfolks, but I want to vary the back packs. I am toying with giving some French packpacks, for some soldiers considered them more durable than the British issue. I am also toying with doing a couple figures with royal blue facings, and extra-clean uniforms, as though replacments from the militia. These might carry the most current British back pack designs.

link

I have this book, and recall illustrations of a couple unusual types – in buff, pale yellow, etc. Also, in a book about all the folks in the peninsular war – both sides – illustrated by ?Embleton? I recall a page showing a sergeant of a British unit with his sash wrapped around his legs – a prisoner of war? plus two other figures – one with a brown pack, red painted disc, and white Roman numeral.

Can anyone describe for wargame figure conversion what variations there may have been to these packs?

I want to do the 9th around the Busaco to retreat to Torres Vedras era, and do NOT know what the official packs might have been. Was the Waterloo period pack called the "Trotter?"

GdeP

I don't know if this will help, G de P, but the book is Philip Haythornthwaite's Uniforms of the Peninsular Wars 1807-1814 illustrated by Michael Chappell.

The figure you're thinking of is of the 5th foot in 1809 with the red circle with a large white 'V' and a brown leather 'bag' type knapsack. Other ones show an 1813 Lt Inf officer with a brown pack (details not visible but looks like a 'bag' type); and 1814 Gordon highlander and Guards' sergeant with black 'box' ones.

The man wears standard equipment--cross-belts supporting cartridge-box and bayonet, a haversack and knapsack, the latter of 'bag' type, the 'box' pattern being introduced some time before Waterloo. In 1808 all knapsacks were ordered to be painted black, though as late as 1812 'TS' of the 71st notes that his unit's knapsacks were 'black with grease', implying that they were not painted. Regimental badges were often painted on the flap; a Genty picture of 1815 shows the 5th with a crowned Garter with '5' in the centre and 'V' below.

The similar Waterloo book says the 28th Foot's grenadiers (and perhaps other companies too) wore French cowhide knapsacks captured in Egypt.

And I just realized that I also have the Irish Osprey you linked to and own and it shows all of the pre-1814 knapsacks for the Irish regiments painted to match their facing colours (i.e. yellow; and buff) including an 1809 one.

Thanks, Andygamer – those are the pictures I wanted to access. This is helpful.

I want to re-shape some of the Victrix "box" packs to look like these "bag" type, but do not know it that means simply adding some green stuff, or some cutting away before that. As I recall, the bag has no outside verital straps as did the box type. Does the outer flap extend a bit below the rounded bottom?

Does one of the packs in the Irish book have a blanket visible, folded inside the "envelope", visible at the sides?

That might be possible by adding thin rolls of green stuff to the side of the Victrix packs, roughing them up to look like folded blanket, and smoothing away the outside straps?

The 9th was at the early battles of Rolica, Vimiero and Corunna, so they might have picked up some French packs in the first two battles. They returned to the Peninsula in time for Bussaco, and might have looked a lot more "prim and proper" for that battle!

GdeP

With regard to the envelope packs, I just had a look at Franklin's 'British Napoleonic Uniforms', and he states that they had started to be replaced by the Trotter pack during 1805, and that all packs were ordered to be painted black in 1808.

However, he says that this order was reissued in 1812 which implies that there was a still a significant proportion of older buff or tan packs in the field at that time, which looks to be in line with what Andygamer indicates.

There are a few pictures of the envelope pack, showing both a buff and a tan looking example. There is a picture of one folded up with the blanket roll strapped to the top in the same manner as the Trotter pack, but secured by just two white straps.

As you say, these straps do not extend down the face of the pack itself, but there are three white strap ends visible on the underside of the pack.

There are also two white buckles on each of the sides, top and bottom, to secure the sides of the envelope.

Even though they are a bag type without the internal reinforcement, the picture of the packed example looks similar in general shape to the Trotter pack, and Franklin states they were roughly same size.

I would say you could probably get away with a decent conversion by removing the two outside straps from the back of the pack and the third strap over the blanket roll (if it is there on the Victrix pack), and then just adding the side buckles, (and possibly the third securing buckle on the bottom if that is not there).

Here are some edited scans that should help you.
link

link

(I kept the sergeant figure "in frame" that you recalled so well in case you want to make a "character figure" of it!)

The 9th were unusual, they didnt have the usual decals on the back, but an image of Brittania.

Spaniards mistook it for the Virgin Mary, so they earned the nickname The Virgins.

Thank you, Plutarch! This permits some surgery to do some of these as envelope packs. It looks like I might do a couple with no reinforcment, looking a bit bulged-out at the bottom, and others with a more squared look. I may assume the buckles are hidden!

Thanks, Andygamer! I love that book, but see how poor my memory is. I did not recall the unusual rolls on the shoulder of the 31st Foot, nor that it was that regiment. Also, I did not remember straps running down the back of the backpack for the soldier of the 5th. But I clearly recall that color for the collar and cuffs, and painted 12 Stadden 30mm using that for Gosling Green. I will later do them in Victrix plastic, and repaint the Staddens as the 50th – black facings.

The Osprey illustrations pose another set of problems: I intend to buy more Victrix sets to make the 5th; 45th and 88th (how to paint that 88 on the back? I converted 36 Stadden French 30mm figures, cutting away the coat tails from Waterloo era troops to paint them in vests; covering the shako with liquid steel; then using a fine-tipped indellible black pen to do the 88 with black laurels in surround. Poor job!); and the 3/27th (I seem to recall that this illustration was not the 3rd battalion, but the one that was at Castalla in eastern Spain) and the 48th. How to do the castle of Inniskellen on each pack!?!?!?

It looks like the current Victrix packs can be augmented with green stuff (grey stuff?) to replicate the shape of those packs, and leave the straps on.

I can probably handle a passable "V" on the back pack over a red disk, Edwulf, but not painting a Britannia on each of the 9th! I recall somewhere that the 9th were called "The Holy Ones," possibly a translation of a Spanish term. Do you recall when they might have had that decal on the pack? Early for Vimiero; later for Bussaco?

The Victrix set comes with some packs with shoes; pans; tins on the back, and I may just use them to the fullest!

Please accept my wishes to you all for a very Merry Christmas and happy and prosperous new year!

Ray
GdeP

Was the Britannia painted on the packs or was it stamped in/on their stovepipe shako plate?

And I haven't done this yet so I don't know if it would work in practice but maybe use a colour printer (laser printer from a print shop?) to print paper copies of the backpack crests and glue them onto the packs rather than painting them individually?

P.S. And Merry Christmas and a good 2013 to all, too.

This re-enactment site shows Britania in color, probably more modern than that erea. Might take this to a print shop and have it reduced, as you note.

ixregiment.org.uk

GdeP

Great info, which of course causes me additional confusion and questions to be asked.

First, were the envelope style packs painted in facing colors or would a khaki/light tan suffice? The post in this thread and two others seem to point toward the facing color.

Second, when you speak of the 28th with their French packs, did they simply have a brown leather appearance? Or, for lack of a better way of explaining it, we're they brown and white splotches because the hair was still in place?

And last of all, the 9th is stated to have carried the Britiannia emblem on their packs. Was this a full color rendering in a red disc, or maybe a solid color on a disc, or no disc?

Thanks in advance for any help, I always learn something when I log on!

I've read the French packs were supposed to be more comfortable than the British ones rather than more durable. The British ones made breathing more difficult for some reason -perhaps the strap across the chest.

I have read several accounts where the Brits replaced their issued backpacks with captured( taken off the dead? maybe) French ones. Seems Wellington, from all accounts didn't care how they came dressed to battle "as long as they have 60 rounds and a clean musket and were reay to fight."

Haythornthwaite's Waterloo book shows the 28th's French backpacks as still being the full cowhide ones (although it's only a side view and not a rear one).

Here are some Knapsacks.

3rd Foot Guards at Talavera.

link

Paul :)

Great information, Dibble!

So much for a "typical" pattern! So many without the two vertical straps over the back! This is becoming as varied as voltigeur plumage for the French!

I did the 9th and 88th using Victrix, and just painted the pack covers the same yellow as the facings, with no numbers or "Brittanicas" yet.

The 97th above is a royal blue faced regiment, but had light brown pack with dark blue disk. I want to do the 23rd Royal Welch Fusileers in Victrix in the Peninsula, and may just paint the packs light brown, with dark blue disk later, with number.

I do not base my figures, so can do much with them later.

GdeP