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April 01, 2010
| 28mm French Chasseurs à Cheval c.1792-1800 | The number of regiments of Chasseurs à Cheval more than doubled from twelve to twenty six between the start of the French Revolution in 1789 and the outbreak of war in 1792. The new regiments were born out of the flood of volunteers and conscripts that poured into the French Army at this time, but inevitably this rapid expansion did much to undermine their fighting worth. Their training and the quality of their mounts (when enough horses could be found) was often rudimentary, and experienced officers were in short supply. This situation was exacerbated by the steady emigration into exile of many officers of the nobility who were fearful of the growing political radicalism in Paris. During the early campaigns most of the French light cavalry regiments were no match for their Prussian and Austrian counterparts when it came to a straight fight, and on the whole they tried to avoid such confrontations. However, what they lacked in quality they made up for in numbers, and they proved to be at least competent in the scouting and screening role, helping to keep the French Generals one step ahead of their opponents’ armies. The world of a typical Chasseur à Cheval at this time was one of picket duty, reconnaissance patrols, prisoner capture, raids, running fights and skirmishes, and – of course – looting! All of which makes them ideal for ‘small war’ skirmish wargaming.
A combination of hard gained combat experience and the steady rise through the ranks of a new generation of officers and NCO’s (many of whom were promoted on merit) improved the fighting qualities of the Chasseurs, but while the frequency of their recorded victories rose, their progression remained slow. It was perhaps not until the final campaigns of the Wars of the French Revolution that the French cavalry attained a level close to that of their opponents, but the foundations had been laid for the magnificent and decisive force that Napoleon Bonaparte would soon inherited.
Recreating the Revolutionary Wars Chasseurs à Cheval in miniature presented us with a few problems – the principal one being that there were no strict uniform regulations governing their appearance (a situation not remedied until as late as 1812!) There were some rules of course, but French light cavalry as a whole were a free wheeling lot who liked to cut a certain dash and the Chasseurs à Cheval were no different. Many Chasseur regiments adopted an appearance inspired by their arguably more glamorous brethren in the Hussars – with the uniforms of some fashion conscious Chasseur officers being indistinguishable from those of Hussar officers. Other regiments however adopted a less ornate and more workmen like aspect. Accordingly, we have tried to provide customers with a range of figures that cover all the possibilities.
At the start of the wars the Chasseurs à Cheval wore a Tarleton style helmet, similar to the one issued to the infantry at the same time in 1791. This appears to have been universally worn for the first two years or so of campaigning, but like its infantry counterpart the helmet was never popular and from 1793 the Chasseurs steadily adopted a mirliton style hat which gave them a more dashing, Hussar-like appearance. The effect was enhanced by the ‘flamme’ – a cloth streamer attached to the mirliton that could either be wrapped around the body of the hat our allowed to fly lose in the wind. The mirliton had replaced the helmet by the mid 1790’s and remained the head wear of choice for most of the coming campaigns, but around 1798-99 a few regiments took to a new peaked shako which ultimately replaced the mirliton right at the end of the wars, shortly after 1800. (We intend to offer this shako as an additional variant at a later date).
As well as different headgear you get a choice of jackets / coats. In 1792 most Chasseur regiments were wearing a short jacket called a caracot, similar in style to the Hussar dolman although of a slightly longer, looser cut and invariably not as ornately laced and buttoned. This continued to be worn until the end of hostilities in 1802, so we have provided figures in this jacket wearing both the helmet and the mirliton. However, even at the beginning of the Wars a few regimental colonels preferred their men to be wearing the simpler service coat, or surtout. This was essentially a cavalry version of the infantry’s long tailed coat, which gradually gained popularity amongst the Chasseurs until it overtook (but never entirely replaced) the caracot jacket around 1800. So once again – you can acquire our Chasseurs in this coat in either the helmet or the mirliton as you prefer.
Finally – all these uniform variations can be ordered in either ‘at rest’ or charging poses.
More releases coming soon – including Austrian cavalry and artillery and 1799 Russians!
Here are the catalogue details for the new miniatures –
28mm French Chasseur à Cheval c.1792-1800 (from our Wars of the French Revolution range) Sculpted by Alan Marsh and Kosta Heristanidis
100WFR150 Chasseur à Cheval, at rest, short ‘caracot’ jacket, in helmet (4) 100WFR151 Chasseur à Cheval, at rest, tailed ‘surtout’ coat, in helmet (4) 100WFR152 Chasseur à Cheval, charging, short ‘caracot’ jacket, in helmet (4) 100WFR153 Chasseur à Cheval, charging, tailed ‘surtout’ coat, in helmet (4) 100WFR154 Chasseur à Cheval Officer, short ‘caracot’ jacket, in helmet (1) 100WFR155 Chasseur à Cheval Officer, tailed ‘surtout’ coat, in helmet (3) 100WFR156 Chasseur à Cheval Trumpeter, short ‘caracot’ jacket, in helmet (1) 100WFR157 Chasseur à Cheval Trumpeter, tailed ‘surtout’ coat, in helmet (1) 100WFR158 Chasseur à Cheval, at rest, short ‘caracot’ jacket, in mirliton (4) 100WFR159 Chasseur à Cheval, at rest, tailed ‘surtout’ coat, in mirliton (4) 100WFR160 Chasseur à Cheval, charging, short ‘caracot’ jacket, in mirliton (4) 100WFR161 Chasseur à Cheval, charging, tailed ‘surtout’ coat, in mirliton (4) 100WFR162 Chasseur à Cheval Officer, short ‘caracot’ jacket, in mirliton (1) 100WFR163 Chasseur à Cheval Officer, tailed ‘surtout’ coat, in mirliton (3) 100WFR164 Chasseur à Cheval Trumpeter, short ‘caracot’ jacket, in mirliton (1) 100WFR165 Chasseur à Cheval Trumpeter, tailed ‘surtout’ coat, in mirliton (1) 100WFR166a “Chasseur fraternising at the water pump” vignette. Includes posing Chasseur à Cheval, watering horses, water pump, the focus of his desire (washing clothes),and her not so attractive chaperone! (Chasseur in helmet version)
Click here to see detailed pictures of our Chasseurs and the rest of the Wars of the French Revolution range.
Click here to see more colour pictures of this range.
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