"French in Crimea" Topic

Does anybody do the French in 28mm?Does anybody even do the Crimea except Warlord?
Mark

Wargames Foundry.

Thanks.What's a good book on the conflict?
Mark

For a general history, I'd start with "The Crimean War, A Clash of Empires" by Ian Fletcher and Natalia Ishchenko. Other general histories are "Crimea, The Great Crimean War 1854-1856" by Trevor Royle, and "The Crimean War, A History" by Orlando Figes.

Great War Miniatures has a range of French for the Crimean War but the range is currently suspended due to staff shortages with Covid but I would think that they will be getting added back in the shop soon.

Thanks for the info on the books and I was wondering what happened to Great War's range.
Mark

I checked out WF;s figures.There is just too many same poses in each set for me.
Mark

There is also Britannia and Ebor that make Crimean War figures. Though I don't think Ebor does any French…

link

Flashman at the Charge by George MacDonald Fraser Fraser does excellent historical work plus it's fun

Ebor's looks nice.
Mark

For an army that sent 300,000 men to the Crimea, you'd never know they were there, looking at the who is making figures for them.

NOBODY makes a French Dragoon, that I can find, and the French 1870 figures don't translate back as there were unifrom changes between 1854 and 1870.

The French actually went and reorganized the army in 1855, and all the old "Light Infantry" regiments were turned into line regiments. (Mind you, these weren't the "Chassuer" battalions that only started getting raised in the 1840s'). Or the Zouave regiments raised after the colonization of Algeria.

If you can find Anthony Dawson's "French Infantry of the Crimean War" it has plates and a lot information on the French infantry.

And remember the French Infantry for the most part we're still armed with smoothbore percussion cap muskets, same pattern as the Russian caplock infantry muskets. The zouaves, guards, and chasseur regiment recieved the new rifle muskets with the new miniè ball ammunition. France was in the process of retooling it's infantry arms because of the ongoing threats from Austria and the troubles going about in Italy and the Mediterranean area. The re-armament wouldn't be complete for the infantry until after the Crimean war and the troops returned to France. Soon thereafter of course, they were ready and prepared for the Italian Campaign, re-equipped with the liege minie rifled musket. Approx 90% of the French ammunition issued was spherical and a round called an "allongè" (a round ball flattened on the bottom believed to hold more stopping power), these were used in M1822T model .69 caliber smoothbore infantry musket (converted to percussion cap) and the M1842 model .69 caliber smoothbore infantry musket. The guards, chasseurs, and zouaves were issued the miniè rifled muskets and used the miniè bullet. Some 10% of the recorded ammunition expenditure from army returns.

For anybody that wants OB's here's a link to Nafziger.The only problem is the OB's are all over the place. Most of the Crimean ones are around page 206 . file:///C:/Users/catma/Downloads/1278.pdf
Mark

link

And remember the French Infantry for the most part we're still armed with smoothbore percussion cap muskets, same pattern as the Russian caplock infantry muskets. The zouaves, guards, and chasseur regiment recieved the new rifle muskets with the new miniè ball ammunition.

@Clays Russians – If you have detailed sources on the French army of that period – and especially the 1859 war with Austria – I would love to know what they are and read them.

Finding anything beyond very, very basic in North America is pretty difficult.

I find it curious that the French invent the musket round and perfect the associated Miniè rifled musket to shoot it, yet only issue that musket to their army on what is a pretty limited basis. Hugh Smalls in his revisionist work talks about the French at The Alma gaining fire superiority (driving off) Russian artillery on the seaward flank with rifle fire. But I will check to see if he was specific and if it weren't the "Zou-zous" who in fact gained the heights and did the job?

ALL the more curious too, in that almost all the British (save the brigades of one of their five divisions) were fully equipped with the Miniè rifled musket. Smalls argues that it was that fact that enabled them to outrange the Russian artillery trying to 'duel' with them with grapeshot (or cannister), and win the battle that day. The British would later ship large numbers of the new P1853 Enfield rifled mucket out to re-equip their "Army of the East."

I sympathize with RNSulentic

That said, I cannot wait another thirty years or more for somebody to finally do the French cavalry (I would probably be DEAD by then!). SO… I am going to take a page from WW2 and "make do & mend" (or at least "make do"). I am getting some Foundry FPW French Dragoons and French Chasseurs d'Afrique this soring and call it "good enough."

"I find it curious that the French invent the musket round and perfect the associated Miniè rifled musket to shoot it, yet only issue that musket to their army on what is a pretty limited basis."

If that is correct – and I do not know if it is – it is worth remembering that all military budgets are part of a "larger budget" that may or may not prioritize military widgets, especially if there is no war on hand.

So I don't find it surprising or odd that an army is going to war without all the latest military hard ware. Actually, I find it shocking when an army is completely prepared for a war, like, say the Prussians in 1870.

And they reap the benefits of that preparedness.

The Plains indians were armed better in than the US Cavalry in the 1870's.
Mark