"Revolutionary Vendee figures. " Topic

Nice!

More here
link

Amicalement
Armand

it's nice to see such games from a very "out of the beaten path" period…but Vendean peasants and gentlemen uniforms/aspect both mounted and foot..look quite different from those miniatures..

I actually missed this posting as it is not my era of interest, but I am always looking for civilian figures for the Empire period.

The comment about Vendean peasants set me looking through Google images and I have to say, they do look very much like the lads shown above. Scruffy lot, not the height of contemporary 1790s fashion, floppy broad brimmed hats and even tricornes. Not that different from my countrymen of that time (or since?)from which most of these are converted I gather.

What should we be looking for? Genuinely interested and I am sure no one will take offence…(almost sure). Not sure how many Afro Caribbean types, experienced in artillery there were in La Vendee I admit………

peasants from Vendée: kind of short jackets…ample trousers with sabots or gaiters (captured)..very floppy large hats..similar to ECW ones..but not identical..no tricorn at..maybe a bicorne for few officers….cavalry..very scruffy except a few gentlemen acting as officers..mounts out of heavy peasant draught horses without or with limited saddlery ecc…it was so small and untrained that was used just a few time for pursuit of routing Republicans isolated soldiers…
if you choose to field Britanny Chouans..similar but different…jackets are decorated and very shorts..trouser very floopy..almost zouave type…

the only well designed Vendean rebels that really catch the period (which is my favourite Army/period one together with colonials) were made, as a work of love, by Alain Touller in France..unfortunatly the designer and great artist plus a very kind and well educated person with whom i had the pleasure to have interesting long talks at telephone from Italy to France is no more with us…

Now that is a helpful answer. If only there was some way to make it easily accessible in 5 years time, to someone who comes up with my question.

The beauty of this forum…the expertise is out there. Whether you take any notice is entirely up to you. As a wargamer, if the figures look "right to you" fine, but it is great to have this for future work.

Thanks. I do not think there were many Vendean Rebels at Waterloo (I gather that Boney gave them a hard time just before) nor many Dromedaries come to that….but those I cannot resist.

Those are great my good friend!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

A major interest of mine as well. Much enjoyed and very nice!

Terry

deadhead…..i agree with you that "if the figures look right for the wargamer" it's fine….i'm sorry..i really don't want to be seen as a kind "STASI police" of the historical accuracy of our beloved toys..in practice a nerd :-)…my remark and, i admit, pedant clarification was only a kind of egoncentric show of limited knowledge of the subject..just because i really like the Vendean War and the French Revolution Period..that's all …
when you said "I do not think there were many Vendean Rebels at Waterloo (I gather that Boney gave them a hard time just before)"…i suppose Boney stands for Napoleon Bonaparte?…in fact this great leader..who was my favourite among many ..was cheated twice by the Royalist Rebels..his attempt to totally pacificate the NW of France was unsuccesful..he was obliged to return everything the Republique had achieved by means of force from the Vendée and from the Chouans rebels….and, as an unexpected end, while he was totally and dramatically absorbed in the concentration of his forces to parry allied armies converging to France and trying to give a decisive but almost impossible blow at Waterloo…a new resurected Vendéen peasant Army in clogs obliged him to imobilize in the rebel country at least 10.000 men..and if finally defeated the 20 of June 1815 at Thouars the vendéens contributed , in my opinion, in a certain way to the final and most famous Imperial defeat of 18 June 1815 hundred of km away toward East.

No, please don't apologise!

This is just what we all need. Suggestions, opinions, facts, which we can choose to use or not.

I had the vaguest idea that the problems in the North West drew off a significant number of the limited forces available to "Boney" (a term widely used by the common soldiers in the "British" forces). I seem to remember Grouchy was involved, a Young Guard unit or two, but I honestly thought it was all suppressed by 18th June 1815.

This is always mentioned just in passing in books about Les Cent Jours, as a mere side show. (as indeed are the other peripheral campaigns fought around the French borders). Neglected……