Chatterton's Hill, 1776. Part 1

 // Forces in Miniature //

It is now only a couple of weeks until Partizan MMXXVI in Newark, UK and I am assembling all the bits and bobs I need for my demonstration game. The battle I have decided to focus on is Chatterton's Hill which was the more interesting part of the larger battle of White Plains. This occurred during the fighting around New York and this year marks the 250th anniversary.

Washington looks with concern towards his right flank...

Washington is a Perry metal figure available when ordering the D43 Continental plastic brigade deal, the chaps in Tarleton helmets are Perry metal British 16th Light Dragoons  (AW18 and 21) painted in the colours of Washington's provost corps. The other figure is from Perry AW39. Flag from GMB I think.

I have fought this battle before, but that was quite a few years ago. For an 18th Century battle, Chatterton's Hill offers some particularly interesting scenery with steep hills either side of the Bronx River, patches of woodland, plenty of fences & walls and even some hastily dug defensive positions. The forces engaged are nicely varied. The Crown forces include British and Hessian infantry, various calibres of artillery and even a small cavalry presence. The rebel army consists of continental infantry, inclusing the famed Delaware and Maryland regiments, as well as militia and state levies. All in all quite a good way to showcase the American War of Independence at a time when people mught be more than averagely interested.

I have already assembled the various boxes of terrain pieces and today's job was to check through the miniatures collection to confirm which units I'll be using. Over the long weekend I will then formalise the order of battle and print-out the tabletop summary markers for the commanders and generally pull things together so I'm not doing everything in a panic next weekend!

So, this is mostly about eye-candy with a bit of description so that if you are coming to the show on the 17th May you will know what to look out for. There is nothing "new" here, so if you frequent the blog you will have seen these before. Units are fielded at a figure-man ration of around 1:7. I have tried to describe where the figures come from in each unit in case that is helpful. Certainly in the Continental and militia units there is usually a mix of figures from different manufacturers, collected over the last 25 years or so.

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Starting with the Crown:

The chaps commanding "the good guys" get together for a conference. The Royal Artillery officer (Cleaveland in this case) is a head-swap conversion

The British heavier artillery: Royal Artillery 12-pounders and 5.5 inch howitzer (as I don't have a third 'long' 12-pounder). The 12-pounders are barrels from Front Rank mounted in Foundry carriages, the crew and howitzer are Foundry and the infantry serving as dragrope men are from Perry AW116

Royal Artillery 6-pounders

Guns and crews are Foundry including some musket-armed artillerymen in campaing uniforms that started life as Foundry British  Light Infantry AWI065

Major Maitland and a battalion of British light infantry companies - historically this was the 3rd LI battalion, which featured highland companies, but I'm improvising with a more generic unit

These are Foundry British 5th Rgt Light Infantry (AWI041 & 42) that have had their gaiters filed down so they look to be wearing campaign overalls.

Also attached to Maitland were Hessian jager and a few loyalist scouts; the latter are figures I painted as loyalists for the 1777 Saratoga campaign who are now doing double-duty.

Jager are straight from the Perry packs. The loyalists are a mix of Foundry minutemen (AWI047), Foundry uniformed militia (AWI023) and Perry militia/continentals in shirtsleeves (AW134), some with hats swapped for broad brimmed plastic ones from the Perry AWI British Infantry box.

The final element of Maitland's brigade is a handful fo troopers from the 17th Light Dragoons. These figures look a bit more "1780 in the South" than "1776 New York" but are close enough.

These are Perry figures using both the regular uniform versions (possibly head swaps on 16th LD figures, I really can't remember) and the "southern campaign dress" ones (AW19 and 20)

Major-General Leslie commanded a brigade of four battalions of British regular infantry. I don't have figures in the correct facings for these units so have substituted what I have. 

(Perry plastic AWI British Regulars)

Colonel Rall commanded a brigade of Hessian infantry including his own grenadier regiment

(Perry AW82 and 83). The command base includes figures from the Perry "interrogation" pack (AW100). Flags from GMB

Fighting with Rall, was the Lieb Regiment (Perry Hesse-Cassel musketeers). In this photo they are accompanied by General Heister who commanded this entire wing of the Crown army (Perry Hessian commander and grenadier figures). Baggage in the background (converted Perry French Napoleonic baggage wagon FN161). Flags fro GMB

The last part of Rall's brigade was a regiment of fusiliers. I don't have the "right"ones so will use these as a proxy in different facings. (Perry Hesse-Cassel fusiliers). Flags from GMB, finials for the Lieb Regiment are from Front Rank EQ52

Bringing up the rear of the Crown assault on Chatterton's Hill was a brigade of three battalions composed of the grenadier companies detached from the various Hesse-Cassel infantry regiments. The brigade was commanded by Colonel von Donop who can't be seen in the photo below because Donop wore a jager uniform - he will be sorted out before Partizan!

(All Perry Hesse-Cassel grenadiers)

Moving now to the ungrateful rebel colonists, or '"other" good guys'...

Washington didn't appear on Chatterton's Hill, but here he is giving his subordinates a pep-talk. "This is a time for suicidal last stands"

(Various Perry and Foundry figures)

A brigade of Connecticut State Levies were among the first troops to engage the Crown. The 1st and 5th retreated back toward Chatterton's Hill where they became part of the defence. I'll field the 1st as a formed unit and the 5th as a small unit of skirmishers

(Foundry uniformed militia AWI023 and AWI024, continental command AWI021, flag from GMB)

Colonel Haslet was ordered to take initial command of the rebel forces on Chatterton's Hill along with hos own regiment of Delaware regulars. Purists may feel the uniform I have painted isn't entirely authentic. I have four different versions of the Delaware regiment and any of them could be considered questionable! This one does look smart though!

(Perry metal AWI continentals AW39 and AW41 with metal hats clipped off and replaced by plastic ones from the AWI British plastic infantry set, flag from GMB)

Already on the hill when Haslet arrived were  a couple of units of Massachusetts militia under Colonel Putnam. I'm fielding these as one formed unit  with their entirely inaccuracte "Phooey to King George" flag (above) and one deployed in a looser formation (below). These units had been on the hill overnight and had hastily scraped some defences.

(Figures above from various Perry AWI militia sets, with a few Foundry minutemen AWI047 and the officer is from the Foundry continental 6-pounder artillery set AWI020, flag is hand-painted. Figures below are Perry northern militia AW174 and 175  and Foundry minutemen AWI047, flag from GMB)

Accompanying the milita was a section of 6-pound guns from the New York continental forces.

(Foundry gun, crew a mix of Foundry and Perry)

Once Washington realised the threat to his left flank, he ordered McDougall's brigade to hurry to Chatterton's Hill, with McDougall to take command of all rebel forces there. Among the brigade was the famous Maryland "Immortals" who had fought so bravely along side the Delaware regiment on Long Island

(Figures are Perry continentals in hunting shirts AW43, 45 and 46 with some Foundry command figures from AWI012, flag from GMB)

Also with McDougall were the 1st New York Continentals (above), using one of my "generic" continental units and the 3rd New York (below), a more specific effort to represent the actual unit as it may have looked in 1776

1st NY uses Perry continentals in hunting shirts AW43 and 45, Perry continental command AW39 Foundry continentals AWI014, a few Foundry militiamen AWI048 and probably some other stuff. Flag and painted and finial from Front Rank EQ52

3rd NY uses a similar mix of figures as well as Perry continental casualties AW46, flag I think is one from GMB 2nd NY one that I scanned and digitally recoloured to have a green field to match the facings before printing out - all a bit hypothetical

The fourth and final unit in McDougall's brigade was the 19th Continental Regiment, who I am representing with the figures above - and making no claims of accuracy

(Mostly Foundry uniformed militia and continental command, with some minutemen and converted artillery crew. AWI020, 21, 22, 23, Flag painted by hand with a Front Rank finial from EQ52)

There was the potential for further units to reach the hill in time to be part of the fighting. To add a degree of uncertainty to the scenario I have added two units as possible reinforcements. Above we have figures representing (generically) the 16th Continental Regiment. These are Perry plastic Continental figures with some metal command figures. The officer waving his sword is the Warlord Games give-away when purchasing the Rebellion! AWI supplement (which I wrote) for Black Powder.

Below are Massachusetts militia of the "Flying Camp". These are mostly Perry plastic Continentals painted to look like they are wearing civilian clothes, with a plastic British officer and a few spare metal figures from the lead pile of Perry and Foundry figures, flag is hand painted (just a plain beige/ivory so the unit can fight on either side)

Chatteron's Hill isn't the largest battle, but these are two interesting and colourful armies.

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