British Line Infantry

Here below are the masters of my first British line infantrymen, or Redcoats, as they would have appeared in the 1740s, at the time of the War of the Austrian Succession and the Jacobite Uprising.

This first body pose is that of a standing man equipped with the basic infantryman’s kit consisting of broad shoulder strap with cartridge box, and waist belt with combined sword and bayonet frog. As usual, I obtained this figure working from one of my preliminary mannequin castings.

I based my Redcoat figure on the Cloathing Book of 1742, the Morier paintings in the Royal Collection, as well as a number of other contemporary sources. It displays an interesting order of dress combining innovating features with rather old-fashioned ones.

The cut of the coat is still rather bulky, the waistcoat reaches down to mid-thigh, and the cuffs are relatively large, all being the legacy of earlier times. But following the “German” style then coming into fashion, the coat skirts are turned back to show the regimental facing color. At the same time, however, the waist belt is worn over the coat, a conservative order of dress that still prevailed in the British as well as in the French and Spanish armies of the 1740s, as it is attested by most contemporary sources (apparently regardless of whether the lapels were displayed or, like here, buttoned over for protection in foul weather).

Starting from this first body pose, I have sculpted figures in a variety of secondary (arm) poses.

For my first Redcoat, a front ranker, I choose the “charge your bayonet” pose. This man could also be seen as slowly advancing with leveled bayonet.

The second figure, also a front ranker, is thrusting his bayonet overhead, a dramatic stance I copied from that of the officer in the famous painting, An Incident in the Rebellion of 1745, by Morier.

Next comes a firing figure. As depicted in period drill manuals, this man fires his musket from the ranks, almost without aiming...

All figures are armed with the Long Land Service pattern musket, or Brown Bess, the standard shoulder weapon of the British infantry in the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years War, before being officially replaced by the Short Land Service pattern at the end of the 1760s.

The not yet standardized swords are about 95-100cm long, as per extant period specimens, and straight-bladed, as depicted in all 1740s British sources known to me (excepting the Penicuik Sketchbook (1745), in which some rather ragged-looking Government soldiers are shown armed with curved hangers resembling scimitars…).

The British infantry were trained to deliver volley fire by platoons or divisions, whereby all three ranks in a platoon or division fired together at the same time. To do this, the men in the front rank placed the right knee on the ground prior to firing, while the men in the center and rear ranks took a step to the right so as not to interfere with their comrades in the preceding ranks. This was referred to as “interlocking the ranks”.

I have thus sculpted one kneeling figure master converting one of my standing Redcoats, and fitted it with the same arms of my standing-and-firing figure. This same kneeling master also accepts the arms of the infantryman standing/advancing with musket at the level. 

All things considered, I got these two useful new poses with very little effort. 

And it took even less effort to produce the master of a running figure…

In order to test that my firing figures could actually be deployed three-ranks deep on a war game table, I placed them on cardboard bases of suitable sizes (3 x 3cm for the standing figures, and 3 x 4.5cm for the kneeling figure). I then off-set each rank half a base to the right of the preceding rank, and was satisfied that no figure interfered with the others.

Alternatively, I aligned the first and rear rank figures, and off-set the center rank half a base to the left. This is how three-ranks volley firing is depicted in French arm drill manuals of the 1750s.

Having painted a sufficient number of my British regulars, I deployed them three-ranks deep to form a firing line, and had them discharge deadly volleys against an unseen enemy, perhaps the French, or perhaps a yelling host of frenzied Jacobite clansmen…

The well-trained regulars have already delivered a few controlled volleys against the charging enemy, but, surprisingly, their fire has not stopped the assailants, and these are now just about to come to grips… By now, the prescribed platoon fire has given way to hastily delivered, mostly ineffective scattered fire…

Surrounded by smoke and confusion, some of the men may soon break the ranks and run for their lives, while others are readying themselves to make their stand…