More on cavalry mounted fire

There are a couple of really useful comments made on an earlier posting when I got one of my Hussarettes to pose with her horse. Please see
can-blackpowder-era-cavalry-really-fire mounted

I can't satisfactorily answer the question posed by Archduke Piccolo without a photo and that is difficult (if not impossible) in the Comments section.

Yes, we did do some firing from the flank and here is an example

Yes indeed, only firing to the left seemed practicable and it resembles the Detaille sketch of skirmishing in the earlier posting. Bob seemed better behaved for this so I don't know if it was the rider's body position or the different pressure on the reins. However, the point I was trying to make was that lining up your mounted cavalry for volley type fire, as if they were mounted infantry, and popping away at an approaching enemy, was not going to be easy. If you wanted to skirmish then most troopers would have to put their steed at right angles to the enemy to fire from the flank. This would obviously take up more space in the battle line.

Firing with the pistol was no problem as the rider had full control of the horse with the left hand.

I deliberately entitled this posting for the "Blackpowder era" meaning up to say, the American Civil War, due to the generally lengthier firearms and difficulty in loading, making all horseback activities more difficult. It seems very likely that with the easy loading, quick firing, and generally shorter weapons of the late 19th Century some of these issues were mastered. It also seems obvious that if you save your firearm till your similarly mounted enemy is only 10 feet way then there is little danger to your horse as the target looms so large and at your level - so shotguns and pistols must have been tempting if your opponent had his sword drawn!

And it was not all serious..........Hussarettes need some fun to lighten the burden of historical research

Obviously the artist took this photo for the beautiful play of dappled light on the ...er....flanks :-)
Eyes Front!!!

Can blackpowder era cavalry really fire mounted?

Fans of Hussarettes, don't worry - here's a picture for you!

Emily - "five feet of fun"

and for Wargamers, don't worry, this is about wargaming (but also a little art) so here's a couple of pictures for you too.

Imperial Dragoons defend the honour of Reikland with musketry
while their French opponents steadily trot forward
(Battle of the Chambreuse Valley fought here at the Chateau de Grandchamp
in April this year - nine x five feet of fun!)

If life imitates art then, in my case at least, art gives an insight into life (wargaming is not just a  hobby is it?).  It was a few weeks ago, while the UK was enjoying a brief Summer in September, that I found myself on a  farm in South Gloucestershire conducting a photo shoot with my latest Hussarette model and her horse. To protect the innocent I'll call them Emily and Bob.
For those who need a reminder of what my Hussarettes project is about please see the previous posting
progress-on-hussarettes

I needed a customised photo shoot on horseback, preferably with a female rider, but I knew this would also give me valuable real life references for a wide range of military illustrations for the future. I have an archive of  American Civil War re-enactors, many mounted, taken in camp and more distantly, in battle at the Gettysburg re-enactment in 2008, but it's not the same as spending a couple of hours with horse and rider performing just for your camera. The Duchess came up trumps by introducing me (sight unseen) to Emily, who is a friend, and Bob. Emily was very willing for any opportunity to exercise with Bob and just seemed a natural in the tight jodphurs, waistcoat and neck stock.
If there was a downside it was that Bob proved to be 18 years old and rather hairy compared to all those classic paintings of valiant stallions ridden by dashing hussars from which we wargamers get our inspiration. At 16 hands he is big - the right size for a dragoon or cuirassier steed, but Emily is only 5 feet nothing. This left a little to the imagination of proportion to her historical counterpart soldiers, I hitched her sword belt up a few notches for the slim waist, and found she was not that much taller than the sabre!. But Hey!, she made up for that as a Hussarette , so who's complaining?

Emily wears sabre, sabretache cartridge box and carbine.
Safety first though - I left the fur colback at home as she had
to wear a riding helmet - love the colour!

So for comparison I found this French Dragoon by Meissonier who is on a nag that looks quite realistic because he is not tall and sleek, he is a bit hairy and he looks disinterested. Probably not that well nourished or cleaned either (unlike Bob in these respects who was mostly happy and clean and loved his cantering).

We did lots of shots first with the sabre and Bob was very well behaved. He and Emily are life-long friends and he trusts her completely, but he's not trained with cavalry weapons and didn't like the sabre scabbard touching his flank. We had to take it off once that part of the shoot was done as he got a bit tetchy. That was my first real life insight into part of the military training necessary for horses, more was to come.

"They shoot horses don't they?"
Forgive the allusion to that 1969 movie title but this photo says just that to me! How did it come about?

I needed some real life references for cavalry firing from the saddle and got Emily to raise the slung carbine to her shoulder in the aiming position. So good is her understanding with Bob that she naturally dropped the reins on his neck and he stood quietly. But I quickly thought this did not seem right since to me, as a non-horse rider, surely with a combination of the rigours of campaigning, unfamiliar horses and riders, and the noise of battle, the cavalry soldier would have to maintain a hold of the reins lest the horse bolted? Emily gladly adopted this action for me and many times she tried to "fire" (no real shots). Each time Bob bucked his neck and moved a bit in protest and the photo results suggest that any ball fired might have gone anywhere but towards an enemy 50 to a 100 yards in front. In this case I think the poor horse would have got it between the ears.

So what can I conclude from this?
- There's no way cavalry could fire effectively while moving.
- Even when supposedly static the horses will move when least expected
- Lots of shots will be wasted, and there may even be "collateral damage"
- Wargamers wanting to fire their cavalry effectively while mounted will need to prove their horses are well trained and familiar with their riders. Not very common if we are to believe contemporary accounts of wastage and death on campaign among military horses.

Edouard Detaille - Hussars skirmishing.
My experience suggests these horses are far too well behaved!

So it was with some relief that this part of my bigger exercise proved that we might have it right in the recently rewritten rules about cavalry firing in my 18th Century wargame rules, "Wigs and Wine".
Here are some relevant extracts:
Heavy and Field artillery and mounted cavalry cannot move and fire; others may do so.

Only the first rank ....may fire.


Weapon Firing    Range to Target: Die Roll Deduction
1-5"        5-10"
Musket -1 -2
Dragoon musket (mounted)         -2 -3(8” max)

Lt Cavalry carbine -2

Well, I hope this has proved of some interest, please comment and let me know what you think. If you are a cavalry re-enactor with practical experience that would be particularly appreciated.

So I'll leave with a parting photo from a costumed photo session

Ideal view of a Hussarette? - kneeling firing

Lady Hussars anyone?

Now for something completely different.........well, almost.......

Keeping a blog is fascinating as you have access to the statistics of visitors in various ways. My posting featuring light blue uniforms  - Lauzun's Legion  - has proved the third most popular of all the 25 posts I have made so far, showing that many of my audience has a liking for light blue uniforms. One of my art clients got into an email discussion with me about Marshal Massena's mistress, Henriette Leberton, whom Massena took on campaign "disguised" as a cornet of dragoons. However, both my client and I agreed that much more fetching military attire for a mistress in the blackpowder era would have been that of a hussar, and this led to speculation on my producing one or more Napoleonic style "pin-ups" to prove the point. In the end he commissioned  me with painting a pin-up in classic pose but put back 200 years or so and seated on a cannon instead  of a classic car and presented in the alternative Lauzun Legion officer's uniform of 1778 from Digby Smith and Kevin Kiley's "Uniforms of the American War of Independence, 1775-1783"

So for all you fans of light blue uniforms and tight red breeches I give you "Lucille of Lauzun's Legion"

I thought if I was to do this properly I needed to follow the example set by Detaille, Meissonier, Rocco, Troiani and other serious artists of military themes and acquire a uniform and authentic equipment, not to mention hiring a suitable model. So I did and since I like doing military paintings it seemed a good opportunity to take many reference photos of both male and female hussars which will stand me in good stead for the future. So now I'm well equipped to take more commissions and can offer almost any hussar, chasseur, light dragoon style uniforms in poses from battlefield action to off duty and even lady hussars wearing all or little of their uniform.

This can, in fact, become an adjunct to Imagi-Nation wargaming. If you've designed a natty uniform for your tabletop regiment why not commission a painting of its colonel for your wargaming room?

The  painting of Lucille is in acrylic on a smooth gessoed canvas ground and is 16 inches square, large enough to show good detail. It has already been sold to the client who won't mind me saying it was priced between £150 and £200. I expect that most future ones that I do will be smaller and they will start at about £80, but any size and price can be considered.

So if you have an interest in commissioning something hussar like, male or female, at war or at play, mounted or dismounted, please feel free to email me for more information without obligation at Chris Gregg . Of course I can do other military subjects too, as former CWJ readers will be aware.
Or, if you prefer I will be compiling a mailing list of anyone wishing to see future paintings of hussars or hussar ladies, so please email me if you'd like to be added to that list.
And failing that, comment on this blog to let her proud new owner know what you think of Lucille!

Some of my other military paintings can be seen here
Chris Gregg Military Paintings