Been down so long (that it looks like up to me)

Speakers up nice and loud.

Nah, not a bit of it. Contentment abounds, as I like to say, and I'm smellin' the roses every day. But (and never begin a sentence with but) after being in ship construction mode for so long it has been d@mned fun and exciting to paint some figures once more.

I quite literally had to dust them off first. That and remove some cobwebs, for they had been sitting there, 'looking at me' for over a year. My focus is to paint forces for 1791–92, in line with my Revolutionary and Napoleonic chronology. Troops for the Haitian Revolution, Polish-Russian War of 1792, War of the First Coalition and the Revolt in the Vendée.

So, I present to you my first figures completed in ages:

a command base (vignette) of the monarchs after the victory at the Battle of Leipzig, 1813.

Last year, Strelets re-released their 'Russian and Prussian Chiefs of Staff', a set of figures that I did not get the first time around. Getting hold of them, I considered how I might use the figures, particularly Alexander I and Frederick William III. Why not something with the monarchs after Leipzig? Yeah, I could include the figure of Francis I from the 'Allied Chiefs of Staff (2)'.

I really enjoy setting up command stands based on period paintings, so went looking for one representing the allied monarchs after Leipzig. I saw the plate of Johann Peter Krafft's "Siegesmeldung nach der Schlacht bei Leipzig" (The Declaration of Victory After the Battle of Leipzig) in my copy of Tranie's "Napoleon 1813 La campagne d'Allemagne" and knew immediately that was the one.

Looking at the plate in my book I wondered what flag was represented behind Frederick William III and at the feet of the staff. I checked to see if I could find the painting on-line. There is a high quality one on Wikimedia Commons. I zoomed in to see what it was. Ah, not a flag, but a sword and shabretache. What is it? Cavalry of the French Guard? No. Hang on, it's Polish! So is the one in the foreground of the painting. There is a tricolour and drum behind the monarchs.

This is fascinating. I went to the link provided on Wikimedia Commons to the original held at the Deutsches Historisches Museum (German Historical Museum). On the museum's site is a really interesting description of the painting (as well as a brief but insightful discussion of the 'Battle of the Nations' and its legacy).

The "Siegesmeldung" is an Austrian commissioned work - only eight of the 36 known persons depicted by name are non-Austrians, including the painter himself on the left side. Krafft dedicated the painting »To the Allied Monarchs«, they were Tsar Alexander I of Russia, Emperor Franz I of Austria and King Frederick William III of Prussia, who are centrally located in the middle. The situation presented has never happened. At the time of the victory announcement, the Austrian emperor had already retired to his quarters at Rötha Castle.

Some pennies began to drop.

Naturally, the tricolour behind the monarchs represents the defeated French under Napoleon, but, of all Napoleon's allies at the battle (Poles, Italians, Neapolitans, Saxons (not all changed sides), Badeners, Hessians, Württembergers and Westphalians, as well as Dutch, Spaniards and Croats within the 'French' regiments) why focus on the Poles? Then it came to me. The defeat of Napoleon led to the abolition of the Duchy of Warsaw and the Congress of Vienna in 1815 reasserted the partition of Poland between Russia, Prussia and Austria. Krafft painted this in 1839, so it followed the unsuccessful November Uprising of the Poles and the Polish–Russian War of 1830–31. So, here we have the allied monarchs figuratively treading not only on the French Empire under Napoleon, but also on Polish nationalism. A sensationally detailed painting and a marvellous bit of propaganda.

Enough of 1813 and the Battle of Leipzig, what about 1791–92?

Righto, how about another command stand/vignette? General Bonaparte with his Military Staff in Egypt, 1798.

This one is based on the painting by Jean Léon Gérôme, dated 1863.

I had purchased the figure of Bonaparte on a camel back in 2019 (from a manufacturer whom I will not mention as, for my subsequent order I experienced the worst of non-service and I have black-listed him). I prepared, converted and based the figures back in June 2021. This stand, along with three others that I prepared at the same time, are part of my, initially, 21 Napoleons (the first being La Mort de Napoleon which I completed in 2021 for the bicentenary of his death). I am currently planning to produce 23 Napoleons.

This was a lot of fun to paint, all the more as I decided to listen to Haji Abdullah Browne's "Bonaparte in Egypt and the Egyptians of Today" on librovox while I was painting it (and the others in this post).

Is it all command stands based on magnificent paintings? Of course not.

What about some legiones Catalans?

The reddy-orange basing material on top of my usual base did not work, so I'll dry-brush it out of existence.

You may recall that, back in November last year, Hat had kindly sent me a sprue of their 'American War of Independence British Cavalry' to paint. I stated that I was gonna paint them as something else, 'cause I don't 'do' the American War of Independence, for which I was 'derided' by most but encouraged by Iain! I considered making them into Nassau Reitende Jäger of 1806–07, but they would require a lot of conversion. Then I recalled one of the plates in Bueno Carrera's superb book "Uniformes espanoles de la Guerra de la Independencia 1808-1814"—the best book available on the subject of uniforms of the Spanish in the Guerra de la Independencia (Peninsular War)—of a Catalan light cavalry trooper wearing an "English or "Tarleton" helmet". Perfect.

Okay, enough of the 'extras' let's have some figures that fit my 'focus' of 1791–92, shall we?

Okay, another command stand!

This one is Général de Rochambeau and a trooper of the 1er hussards, Haitian Revolution, that I adapted from Strelets' excellent and really useful 'French Hussars in Egypt'.

Bugger! I managed to get Rochambeau's hat (a head-swap from the original figure) in the way of his head in both photos.

Sticking with Saint Domingue, here are some dragoons, based on the representation of them under Louis XVI c1790 by JOB.

I want the figures to represent the colonial cavalry in the early weeks/months of the revolt. Information about these dragoons is scarce. Along with JOB's plate I found this c/- French Wikipedia:

The Dragoons of Saint-Domingue were originally three companies, each with three officers and 100 soldiers, organised from October 1769 for military service, then integrated into new colonial infantry regiments from 1772. In the context of the troubles in the colony created by the insurrection of black slaves in 1791, the regular troops opened up to men of color in the 1790s and the dragoons of Saint-Domingue fought under English command from the Treaty of Whitehall of February 1794 which saw the alliance between the great white planters and the English army, until the armistice of March 30, 1798, heralding the victory of the black general Toussaint Louverture.

For these, I used Hat's '1806 Prussian Dragoons' with head-swaps for those supplied with the 'Austrian Chevauxleger'.

Lastly, some cavalry for the Vendéan revolt.

Looking like the Magnificent Seven; except they go to eleven.

Once again, I adapted adapted figures from Strelets' 'French Hussars in Egypt', changing the headgear and mounting them on horses from Esci's 'Scots Greys' British Cavalry'.

And, with those, that's ya lot. For now.

Having 'lost' a year due to my self-inflicted 'distraction' of constructing fleets for the Pacific War I was really pleased to get these finished. I am now happily back on the path of converting unpainted figures into painted ones, preparing forces for actions of 1791–92 and beyond.