"News from Don Troiani " Topic

Superb!

"'American Revolution, Ferguson's Corps of British Riflemen, 1777 . Here is a figure of one of Patrick Ferguson's men armed with the famed breech loading rifle of his design. The bayonet for this rifle was longer then normal to compensate for the shortness of the gun.After good service this corps was disbanded and Ferguson went on to meet his fate at King's Mountain'."

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Amicalement
Armand

I wonder what that is based upon?

Was thinking the same thing--the lacing/piping is interesting.

Glad you like it guys!.

Amicalement
Armand

Was colored cording the norm for powder horns?

hope Alan Perry has seen this !!

I'm curious about the cut of the coat and buttonhole lacing – he looks like a standard "light bob" but in green rather than red. I have to say I've never come across any references to anything like this appearance – the "2x2" cuff lace seems very specific – and the few references to this unit have generally been interpreted as being something more simple. I'm not saying Troiani is wrong, just that it's a very original interpretation. The one thing that does occur to me in support of this, is that the riflemen worked originally alongside the Queen's Rangers, whose own uniform this resembles in many respects.

Ferguson definitely brought green cloth to America for the uniforms, and strengthening buttonholes was a common thing, but given how the rest of the Light Infantry went to converted waistcoats, it seems less likely that something this elaborate was undertaken. I'm sure Mr Troiani (who has done a lot of good AWI work, which doesn't get the same fanfares as his ACW stuff) will enlighten us in due course, as he's usually up-front about sources and what-have-you.

Agree. The things that catch my eye (and wonder) – the red epaulet, the green turnback with white trim, the lace and paired buttons, green feather in the hat (reference or nod to the Lights?). Since this unit operated with Knyphausen's divisions, I'm not sure how strong a line can be drawn to looking like the Lights.

Seems like a lot of expense for a short lived experimental unit. Also, weren't a lot of the men in that unit still carrying muskets? Did they really spin up fancy uniforms for them as well?

Good points – the men were always scheduled to be returned to their parent units at the end of the 1777 campaign season, so it's quite an elaborate uniform for a corps with no long life-expectancy. I think you're right about them not being all rifle-armed as well – perhaps the reason for the red shoulder strap?

(Further to my earlier post, the pairing of the buttonhole lace would be a good way of distinguishing them from the QRs.)

Alan Perry really needs to sculpt one pack of these guys. Come on, Alan – just one pack of skirmishers…

Might want to make sure they are correct first. :-)

In a follow up thought, who paid for these uniforms? A colonel of a regiment was given money by the government, and he kept whatever was left over. Clearly this unit had no colonel. The weapons were provided by the Board of Ordanance. So who paid for special uniforms to be made, and why given the experimental life of this unit?

NEVER DOUBT ' THE DON '

Don's work is great, but he has been known to make mistakes, or what could also be called artist discretionary choices – as he has to make a decision to paint something when evidence or facts are lacking, or are unclear. Also, unlike much of his Civil War stuff, which is based on photographic evidence – he often relies on others who do researc on AWI, which again, is open to interpretation.