"Saddle blanket for the Scots Greys 1812" Topic

What color was the saddle blanket for this regiment 1812 and earlier?

The blanket was grey though campaign exigencies may have required substitution. The shabraque, which was not carried on campaign was dark blue.

Grey and usually depicted with a darker grey or blue strip along the bottom edge.

link

Thank Guys!

We very recently debated the blue stripes. They may be a misinterpretation of an artist's (Dighton's) attempts to show the folds of the layered blanket. I used them though, they look good.

Intrigued by the question. Why Scots Greys pre 1812 when they spent the Napoleonic Wars in UK until 1815? What is the project?

A link to the thread that deadhead mentioned which includes the blanket question.

TMP link

Paul :)

"Intrigued by the question. Why Scots Greys pre 1812 when they spent the Napoleonic Wars in UK until 1815? What is the project?"

Deadhead that was what I was thinking, then I realised that there is a law that every Napoleonic wargamer must have them in disproportional numbers to other Dragoons and Dragoon Guards, like the rule the second French unit to be bought must be Old Guard

and Don't forget in "Warhammer Hysterical" Waterloo rules (bought as picture porn) Scots Greys are "Fierce" Grrr and cost (assuming a typo) 15 points more than Dragoon Guards

I can well imagine that any wargamer would love to let them loose in the Penisula. Snag is they would be doing just that……..letting them loose.

Waterloo….. at least there was a French Grand Battery to slow their exit and a very cramped field. On an open Iberian landscape, I'll bet you would not see them again that day!

They do look good, I could well see them at Salamanca or Vittoria refought……

Odd thing of course is that Front Rank does them in their pre 1812 uniform. Must beg the question….why? Unless someone does want to try a fictional deployment…..

Only deadhead knows why I wanted pre 1812 Scot Grey's, or maybe cavalry47 is correct. I think it best in the future any mistakes I make will be the responsibility of cavalry47 and deadhead to explain away. I'm now ordering light dragoons from Front Rank. senile oldbob

Old Bob I am just a bitter ex Dragoon Guard from south of the border who finds the SDG appear to be over represented everywhere (I am going Grey with envy) But I did hold off until I had two large French corps before buying any Guard, started with the young Guard.

But I must admit to owning 4 North British Dragoons figures = 1 regiment in Napoleon's Battles, just don't let my Old comrades association know

Shame on you…blue facings…they were Royal NBDs.

My excuse for this is just to push it back to the top.

It is actually proving quite interesting. There is some dire stuff at present on this forum…that feckin' eejet (bet that beats the IT screen..it is true Irish after all) with his Mamelukes, especially…

Let's see if we can beat the editor. He is a transatlantic Rebel Colonial after all….

Let's be honest…in terms of overrated….They fought at Genappe…low intensity and charged at Mt St Jean. They are criticised for not staying as reserve, to preserve the Union Brigade.

But let me ask. If they had done what was wanted, acted as reserve, a whole French Division is not knocked for six and might have reached the ridge. Further, once launched, a Brigade of Cavalry was said to be a one shot wonder. Far more survivors with RNBDs in reserve, would have resulted, but would the larger Union Brigade really have been more effective than the historical version of survivors? They would still have "galloped at everything" and been massacred in the first attack.

d'Erlon's lads needed everything launched at them to buy time for Blucher's lads to turn up.

I gather the Prussians did turn up in the end and contribute to an Anglo Irish Victory (OK, there might have been the odd European as well……even a Scot or two)

Don't forget the Welsh. Picton was there too, no doubt being his usual obnoxious self, until the French – or possibly his own men – shot him.

Anyone called Donovan……praising the Welsh?

Arra sure tis a strange world we live in, an no mistake, ta be sure….ta be sure…..

I admit the most famous one was Scottish. Beat Dylan hands down I thought.

After that there was Wild Bill D who founded the OSS/CIA…….

Donovan is my middle name. I use it here because I don't get to use it anywhere else.

Atlantis and Sunny Goodge Street, two of the finest songs ever recorded. But now I think we have really strayed off topic . . .

Still for those who don't know them, do yourself a favour:

YouTube link
YouTube link

Oh my, what I done?

You've made the world a better place.

What did you expect?

A Blanket response?

Get it? Blanket response???

That would have been just a cover up…..Boom Boom…..

Well those links led me back to Donovan Leitch on YouTube….amazing stuff. He is even in the same room with Dylan singing. I always thought they could not stand each other!

Did most/all British cavalry use the grey blanket on campaign? Seems likely from Perrys interpretation for Light Dragoons and Hussars. All those lovely shabraques with van Dyked egdes……..the toothed margins….not applicable?

Well it looks like I'm in the right room after all. Yes I did order two books on your list already, hopefully I'll paint a light Dragoon regiment that served in the Peninsular War.

Sorry guys, did I miss how we got to a "no stripe" conclusion. I followed the links but most be slow

You most…sorry I meant must. You are a plastics person….we metals folk feel for you.

It's a shadow thing.

See Dighton's pics. The folds in a blanket might be blue stripes or, much more likely, shadows.

Think about it. Several layers of grey folded wool blanket…how could you possibly get blue stripes lined up like that? It is a plain grey blanket, with shadows. They might look blue, except in 28mm metal where it matters, as serious.

But I would never fail to paint in those blue stripes! Looks great. Heck I have done red stripes for British Guards Heavy Cavalry…even if I know it is wrong.

Actually, in all seriousness, it is not possible to have the blue stripes as we have all imagined. Imagine trying to fold a blanket, to achieve that effect! They are shadows, but look great and I ignore that obvious error.

Hmmmm. Knowing how the army can be around detail, I imagine that if the intention was for the blanket to be folded to show blue stripes at the bottom, the RSM would find a way to make the troopers achieve it. Check out how anal they can be around the correct way to make a bed, or to arrange products in the squaddies' lockers.

So is there anything else to go on, or is it all down to interpretation of one picture? Crikey, at this rate we will end up no better than the ancients players and their coin fragments and shard of broken pottery as "evidence"

Gary Lineker said that if Leicester win the title this year he would present Match of the Day in his underpants. He said that during the Christmas break. Nine games to go they are two points clear I think. He may have a problem.

If anyone can show me a contemporary image of any British heavy dragoon regiment thus turned out (I mean stripes, not underpants)……I will do something similar to Gary (not recommended).

Not that many images of SGs (2nd RNBDs) from the time. Hamilton Williams and Dighton's are the nearest. The latter was good in his research and his Ewart shows real effort in detail. Edinburgh Castle has the saddle and portmanteau of an occifer…..
Plain grey blanket, with layers and so folds and shadows, just as Dighton painted.

Mine have the blue stripes…..it looks great.

Much evidence that half the regt (of the surviving fraction) was not even mounted on greys when they got to Paris, for obvious reasons