King Philip's War

 

Today in America in 1675 350 years ago King Philip's War started

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Philip%27s_War

Compagnies franches de la Marine - the early years

I posted this on my Flintlock and tomahawk blog but thought it might be of interest to you. The Cdlfm were French naval and colonial troops and so served in lots of North American campaigns.
https://pin.it/ibj4rehcvkncig a Pinterest page I made for early years reconstructions.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Marines_in_Canada,_1683–1715

GUILD OF LOUIS & ANNE

New website for the WSS scene in the US and beyond.  French unit being formed. 

Les Mousquets du roi

When people ask me as they do is there any good Louis XIV period groups out there? I usually site this group from Canada. They are at 900 likes so pretty popular - if you go to  their FB page you can see some good impressions recreating the 1690 raid on Salmon Falls.

More 1670s New France

Pic from the French in Wisconsin
http://frenchinwisconsin.com/#jp-carousel-83

French exploration in the 1660s and 70s

I like this photo of French Canadians in the 1660 and 70s.
French in Wisconsin site for more photos and explanation.

Film about the Iroquois Wars

Documentary about the Carignan Salieres and their impact on the Iroquois wars in the 1660s. Also covers late 17th century developments in New France.

Artwork

Gerry Embleton's website has some of his original artwork up for sale including some of the work for his Osprey's, such as this one from the British Army 1660-1704. This picture depicts the expedition to Virginia in 1677. Bacon's Rebellion

Marine and Milicien on snowshoes 1686

Compagnies franches de la Marine and Canadian Militia in the Expedition of Chevalier De Troyes to Hudson's Bay 1686. Plate from the Company of Military Historians who are having a sale on their plates at the moment. Lots of useful artwork and descriptions.

Read more about this crucial expedition and how it was a test of new Canadian tactics at this site.

1690s Canadian history

Story covers the period of the Coureurs de Bois, La Salle. King Williams War, Phips and the various events around this time. Highly recommended if you have an interest in colonial history. If you want to see more clips - French and Indian war mostly check out my new blog 'Flintlock and tomahawk'.

Wheeler's surprise event pictures

Thanks to Paul Irish for passing this on - photos of the recent King Philip's War event in Massachussetts. Set in 1675 and recreated on the spot it looks like an excellent weekend.
Photos here

Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot

Raised in 1664 this regiment - also known as the Lord High Admiral's Regiment - was part of the defence of the east coast during the Dutch raids of 1667.

Images by Charles Stadden from the excellent website of Suffolk attraction Landguard Fort.

According to the site;
In 1667, during the second Dutch War, on the orders of Admiral de Ruyter, 1500 Dutch marines (musketeers, pikemen, sailors (as grenadiers) and small cannon) landed at Cottage Point (now Cobbolds Point) and under the command of Colonel Thomas Dolman (an English officer who had served with Cromwell and, like many professional soldiers, had changed sides) attacked the Fort from the landward side. The Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot, commanded by Captain Nathaniel Darell, repulsed the Dutch assault. Landguard was held by the companies of Captains Henry Farr and Nathaniel Darrell, supported by the Suffolk Militia.
Governing Ordnance at the Royal Marines website here
Reenacting the regiment

This regiment has been a popular choice for reenactors as it should be - the Essex Militia recreate the regiment in the UK, and it is recreated in the Americas (see website) as the regiment served there during Bacon's Rebellion. Some companies fought under Turenne in the British Brigade in the Franco-Dutch war so all in all a good choice.

There's also this page with lots more on the regiment from local historian Mervyn Lemon

Wargaming With the Regiment Karrer

To follow-on to Ralphus' post for the benefit of our wargamers, this would be an excellent regiment to depict if you are into skirmish gaming, the "Pirate" era, or early colonial actions (either against native forces or foreign troops). And it definitely offers a change from the more usual Compagnies Franches de la Marine that are seen.

The Regiment Karrer was actually paid by the Compagnie des Indes, not the War Ministry, and was considered a colonial regiment, the French equivalent of a British East India Company or Dutch East Indies regiment. From the official history of the unit: "On 15 December 1719, in Besançon, was formed in the pay of the Compagnie des Indes, a battalion raised in Alsace, by the Chevalier de Karrer, who serves in the colonies and will graduate in 1762."

For those strictly interested in gaming with this regiment, while it's past did include the mutiny at Louisberg, it also participated in garrison duty in many far-flung outposts of the Kingdom and would make a colorful addition to any force. I have taken the liberty of providing the colours of the regiment at the top of the post. These are in a .gif format and can be copied into Paint or similar and scaled with your printer for your use. The size of the colours at this time should be 2.8 meters square, or roughly one and one-half times the size of whatever figures you are using (although slightly larger flags are always colorful and can add to any wargame). Please note that the colours would have been mounted to a plain, spear-topped staff and decorated with gold cords with tassels and the familiar French white cravatte (which became the official decoration after Louis XIV's ascendancy in 1661 to replace the earlier "field signs" used by commanders in earlier wars).

For those with an interest in further reading regarding the Compagnies des Indes, which is actually quite fascinating and will remind you a bit of today's Wall Street scandals, I recommend the following Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_Company

The Company was originally founded at La Salle's request in 1684 as the Compagnie du Mississippi and, among many other things, was responsible for the founding of the city of New Orleans in 1718. I have found geneology records on the internet which show marriages to soldiers from the Regiment Karrer in old New Orleans, so it is likely that at least some portion of the Regiment was also stationed there during its history. At any rate, great post by Ralphus (as usual) and a great subject to add a little color to your colonial-era wargaming.

Bill

Addendum: Sharp-eyed reader's will have no doubt noticed a difference between the drapeaux shown in Ralphus' illustration and mine, the text is in opposite directions! I'm not entirely certain I can explain this, but will try. In researching the history and colours of this regiment I came across three illustrations and one written description. The version that I have chosen to picture is from Tom Gregg of the North American Vexillogical Association and is based on written descriptions in "Les Uniformes et les Drapeaux de l'Armée du Roi", Marseilles, 1899. The other version that I found was on a WikiMedia Common illustration by Edwin Lindemann of an amateur German vexillogical group, and is supposedly based on the same written source, but combines elements of both drapeaux into one single illustration, with the fleur de lis now in the cross instead of the cantons (common for a Royal regiment, which Karrer was not). The credit for the illustration even states that it is "revised" but offers no additional details. And finally, Ralphus' illustration, which actually matches Tom Gregg's, but with the text running in opposite directions, almost as if nailed to the staff inproperly, except that the fleur de lis are still in the correct locations and facing the right way. I cannot explain this difference. I have chosen to go with Tom Gregg's NAVA illustration as it most closely matches the text description in the previously mentioned book. So, if you choose to use these for your modelling or gaming purposes, you can at least quote the sources for the colours.

Regiment de Karrer

Flag pic c1725.

An order of battle for the battle of Ackia (see below) is on this lecture here. It seems the French forces in part consisted of Swiss soldiers - presumably of the Regiment de Karrer. Raised in 1719 Karrer were employed as colonial soldiers by the Ministry of Marine from 1721. Most recruits were German speaking. The Colonel's company acted as a depot in Rochefort. Companies served in Haiti, Martinique, and Louisiana and Nova Scotia. Image depicting Karrer in 1732 from here. Karrer mutinied while in Louisbourg - read about it here. Hallwyls from 1752. Drummer's livery here.

Pic The Disembarkation of 50 soldiers from the Karrer Swiss regiment at Louisbourg artprint from here

Battle of Ackia

Today is the anniversary of this obscure battle in the French-Chickasaw war of 1736 in Northeast Mississippi. Wiki here. I thought I was well-read on American history but I'd never heard of this one. An observer called Red Shoes is quoted as saying 'that our troops heavily clad marched with too slow a step and so close together that it was impossible for the Chickasaws to fire without killing some of them and wounding several.' An end to French ambitions in the southeast.

Chickasaw village 1736 pic from here

There is a novel Ackia: The Battle to Save the Chickasaw Nation that looks worth getting - funds going to a good cause.

Compagnies franches 1718 Rochefort

Sergeant and soldier with 9 hole gargoussier or belly-box. Note the small collar on the soldier's coat. Blue cuffs and linings etc.

This takes me back to the 90s when I used to run a Marine group and we made many such belly-boxes - it was important to have the wood insert curved as otherwise it was very uncomfortable. My New France past

Spanish and Indian War?

While on the subject of Spanish reenactment I thought this clip of American reenactors might be of interest to some of you. It's a great fort and the reenactment looks good with that as a backdrop.
'Watch as Spanish reenactors from St. Augustine, Florida joined by their allies, Muscogee-Creek Indian reenactors, launch a surprise attack on the British at Fort King George in Darien, Georgia'
Video here

Image from here

New France

A series of documents pertaining to the history of Canada during the French regime. Many hours of interesting reading here on various subjects including warfare. Recommended.

Seven Years War

If you have an interest in recreating cavalry or dragoons and you live in the Americas you might be well advised to check out the Seven Years War group - they portray the European theatre - and have a number of cavalry groups already in existence. Some of the organisers are friends of mine so I know they take their equitation seriously. Website here

Britain's F&I range

While talking to Colin Spicer about the new 60th (see below) he said they didn't want to look like Britain's soldiers. So I thought, in humourous mode that maybe that was a little cruel as they aren't that bad - judge for yourself here.
The range is called Redcoats and Bluecoats. Here's a 60th foot light infantryman.