"Spanish Irregular Lancers" Topic

I recently got hold of a few Minifigs Spanish Irregular Lancers and I would like to paint them up but haven't had any luck with finding uniform details for them. All the pictures of irregular lancers I have managed to find show them wearing broad-brimmed hats but mine are wearing soft caps with plumes.

This is what the figures look like:

Does anyone have an idea of what the uniform might be?

The fabled La Mancha lancers perhaps? My take on them, anyway:

With a few more pictures here:

tinmountain.blogspot.com.au

Irregular lancers (ie garrochistas):

I suspect they are supposed to represent a unit such as Don Julian Sanchez's guerilla cavalry who wore a variety of uniforms – generally blue with red facings. I beleive this figure may be based on a Dighton painting – not sure what colour they were though off teh top of my head…

Green Tiger is right. There is a color print in the Osprey book on Spanish guerrillas (blue jackets, red collar & cuffs, yellow tape [i.e., lacing], and grey pants).

At some point, some members of the band wore captured uniforms of the
Polish Lancers of the Guard. The book La Batalla de Vitoria 1813 shows them ultimately in a uniform that is identical to the early British light dragoon uniform by that battle (blue dolman with white lace, red collar and cuffs, white breeches, and a Tarletan helmet, following Muir's identification of them as the Lanceros de Castilla).

Rick

I have no idea on the answer, but plutarch 64, those are some sweet looking miniatures.

Chalfant

Thanks for the replies guys. I did some Googling and found these pictures of Don Julian Sanchez's guerillas:

It's a Spanish Guerilla cavalryman, a Garrochista taken from a painting by Denis Dighton, but which I can't find at the moment.

Beautiful figs plutarch.

Great job!.

Amicalement
Armand

Just a minor quibble. Julian Sanchez's weren't guerrillas. They were a regular volunteer unit formed in Ciudad Rodrigo in 1809. When the city was besieged by the French (April 26 – July 9, 1810), shortly before its surrender, the governor (Herrasti) ordered Sanchez to escape from it and harrass the French lines of communication with Salamanca and Valladolid. Sanchez managed to save from capture a little more over 2/3s of his command. For a year they operated in isolation from the Allied armies, hence their fame as guerrillas. However, Sanchez took direct orders from the Spanish HQ at Badajoz and after the fall of Badajoz, from the 4th Army HQ. Later, his unit was integrated into Carlos de España's cavalry brigade.

In other words, Sanchez light horse wasn't more guerrilla than, for example, Nathan Bedford Forrest's cavalry was.

Thanks for the information everyone.

Does anyone know of a book that includes the original painting by Denis Dighton? I've tried to find it online but haven't had any luck. Since the uniform of the figures I have is quite different from the illustrations of Don Julian Sanchez's lancers I wonder if they are supposed to represent a different unit (or maybe the Minifigs sculptor was using a bit of artistic licence?)

It is a direct copy of one of the figures in the painting. If only I could find it!

You are totally right Antonio.
Spanish Regular Cavalry and highly praised in several British reports.

Amicalement
Armand

There is an illustration of it on Plate 23 in Bueno's 'Uniformes Espanoles de la Guerra de Independencia'.

Blue hat with red plume and band, black peak.
Blue collar and cuffs and trousers.
Red jacket and yellow/gold braiding and shoulder wings.

Thanks Whirlwind that's great. Does it say the name of the unit? It would be nice to learn a bit more about it.

Unfortunately not! The text by the plate goes as follows:

Ambas figuras estan basadas en un cuadro del pintor ingles, ya citado, Denis Dighton; este cuadro aparece sin indicacion de que figuras representa aun asi creemos interesante incluirlas en nuestra coleccion por tratarse de uniformes muy detallados y curiosos, aunque no hemos podido identificarlos por no disponer de datos o pistas que nos permitiesen aventurar una hipotesis

So translated:

Both figures (there is another cavalryman on the plate, a guy in a green jacket with red collar and cuffs, blue trousers with a leather bit on the bottom and leather? strip on the inside of each leg, red stripe on the outside) are based on a painting by English painter, already cited, Denis Dighton, there is no indication what these figures represent; even so we have included them in our collection because they are very detailed and curious uniforms, although we could not identify them, by not having the data or clues that would allow us to even venture a hypothesis.

Maybe one of the Spanish speakers could check the translation, but I think that is it.

I believe the original is in the Queen's collection – perhaps a quick e-mail asking her for more details…? ;-)

Regards

Translation checked!.
It's good!.

Amicalement
Armand

Thanks Armand

There is not a lot of info about the uniforms the Lancers used. Apparently, from descriptions, most of them wore a motley mix of civilian clothes, Spanish hussar uniforms and pieces of uniforms captured from the French. I'll try to provide a more accurate description as soon as I find the relevant documents. Regretfully, it can take a while, as I still have almost one hundred boxes to unpack!

Whirlwind, thanks so much for going to all that trouble. I'll keep trying to find the original Dighton illustration but you have certainly given me enough to get started with painting.

@basileus66
I look forward to seeing what you can dig up!

No mention my friend.
One of the best translation y have seen!.

Amicalement
Armand

S J Donovan,

The original Dighton illustration is the first one you posted.

The book is entitled:
The Military Costume of Europe: Exhibited in a Series of Highly-finished Military Figures, in the Uniform of Their Several Corps : with a Concise Description, and Historical Anecdotes, Forming Memoirs of the Various Armies of the Present Time

Author: Goddard and Booth, London, Pub

Publisher: T. Goddard, Military Library & J. Booth, 1812

Usually said to contain 96 illustrations, but there are references to 97!

@Prince of Essling,

Surely something very strange is going on then? Because the plate underneath S J Donovan's 'Sanchez…' picture is also from the Bueno, and correctly attributed in it (Plate 48). So the picture in Plate 23 must be from another picture, you'd have thought.

Regards

@Whirlwind

Sorry too much haste here – result confusion for which many apologies. Ignore my earlier comment as it is clearly from Gooddard & Booth…

Dighton did produce a mix of pictures – see post on NSF link
Unfortunately I do not have copies.

The Bueno picture (plate 23) is based on the illustration on page 54 of Martin Windrow & Gerry Embleton's "Military Dress of the Peninsular" – unfortunately it is in black and white.

I have checked the Royal Collection but unfortunately no image is available: link

Spanish Army. General Officer of the Cavalry, with Guerillas and Lancers, 1815.

Creator:
Denis Dighton (1791-1827) (artist).

Creation Date:
drawn 1815
.

Dimensions:
57.0 x 48.0 cm.

RCIN
915063.

Reference(s):
RL 15063
HMD 0626

Description:
D&M 626: General Officer, mounted to the foreground left, at right. Other figures, full length, facing, to the foreground right. 3 other figures mounted, facing in middle ground. Landscape background

Basileus,

Thanks for your note about the origins of Sanchez' cavalry.

Rick

Prince of Essling,

Thanks for your efforts. It's beginning to sound as if I will have to call on the Queen and ask if I can take a look at her etchings.

The La Mancha lancer regiment was I think the 7th cavalry regiment in Joseph Napoleons Spanish army ,,,but I do not know of any actions they may have been in right off hand.

Runicus

What I had found and tried to translate here:

"…he soon conform a unit to be called "The Two Hundred of Don Julian " and it's attached to the body commanded by the British General Wilson with the rank of colonel , but with autonomy and applying their own methods of guerrilla warfare. Already in the army of the Duke of Wellington, the number of guerrillas under his command is so great that his Regiment was renamed AS "Light Lancers Regiment of Castile", finally he ends constituting a Brigade under the name of "Don Julian" , designation granted by the army from 1810.

In 1811 , Arthur Wellesley, commander in chief of the Anglo-Portuguese allied forces emphasizes his courage and the actions of his troops in combat. In 1813 after his victories in Spain , heading ascribes him to the Army Corps he commands , for what they are forced to change his uniform for a more martial one . In July 22nd 1812 takes place the Battle of Arapiles, with a token presence by Spanish cavalry including Don Julian , which went down in history as one of the two most massive of the time, along with Waterloo…"
From wiki spanish

"…The Castilla Lancers were a unit conform from family and friends of Julian Sanchez "El Charro" near his home. After this first initial "core" of countrymen of the peoples of the native region of El Charro joined, and within months volunteers who wanted to fight the French joint him . This bulk of men belongs from imperial army defectors, former Argentine prisoners of war brought to the enlisted Iberian Peninsula by the former British Army (after their failed invation of Buenos Aires) regular soldiers, and guerrillas)…"
From wiki too with a list of them here.
link

Some combat here.
link

Much more action here (sorry I have no time to translate it all).
link

link

Some pics here.
link

For translation you can used
translate.google.com/#es/en

Hope it helps!.

Amicalement
Armand

Interesting stuff!

Glad you enjoyed it mon ami!. (smile).

Amicalement
Armand

So I wrote to the Queen and she very kindly agreed to upload the image! link

Well, not really the queen, but a very helpful lady at the Royal Collection.

Thank you for your email. You will be pleased to hear that my colleagues in our photo services team have now uploaded the photo you are after. Simply visit the Collection on Line page you highlighted below and a copy of the picture is now available. We hope this helps you and your group with your research.

Kind regards

Harriet Burke, Web and Digital Marketing Officer, the Royal Collection Trust

Hope that helps

Regards

Great work Whirlwind (and God bless her Majesty for sharing her pictures).

Here is the print for anyone who wants to see it:

I guess the fact that it is monochrome means I can be a bit creative with my colour scheme.

Very nice of Brenda, wasn't it.

I guess the fact that it is monochrome means I can be a bit creative with my colour scheme.

I had a question about that: can anyone tell what colour the original was from the shading alone on pictures like this? Or even narrow it down to certain options?

Regards

Nope – but you have already set out the colours shown in the Bueno book.

For information, there are a couple more pictures of Spanish lancers by Dighton in the Royal Collection….. but again regrettably no pictures showing:

Spanish Army. Lancer. 1812
RCIN 915057.
Reference(s): RL 15057 HMD 0634
Description: D&M 634: Full length, half left, dismounted. In a landscape, with two mounted figures in foreground right.
link

Spanish Army. Catalan Lancer, Corps of Baron d'Erolles, 1813
RCIN 915060.
Reference(s): RL 15060 HMD 0635
Description: D&M 635: Two figures dismounted, left hand to front, right hand to left. in a landscape setting, with lake valley in middle ground, and mountains in background.
link

I want a figure of the bloke in the foreground with the eyepatch!