1798 Rebellion Project Part 22: More Artillery

 I've been busy working on some more artillery crews- here are the results! 

The first piece is a rebel-crewed howitzer. At the Battle of Three Rocks, a British relief column, sent from Duncan on Fort to reinforce Wexford Town, was ambushed. This column included two howitzers, which, along with their gunners, were captured. According to Pakenham, both the howitzers and the captured artillerymen were used by the rebels at New Ross. One prisoner, suspected of deliberately missing the British Militia, is said to have remarked "Isn't that a fine shot?" as he blew away a chimney. A rebel responded "it is; but this will be a better one" before shooting the prisoner dead. 

This model is actually a French Gribeauval howitzer, as Trent Miniatures don't produce a British one. 

This crew is commanded by Esmond Kyan. Although a member of the gentry, Kyan became involved in the Wexford Catholic Committee, and may have been one of the founders of the United Irishmen movement in Wexford. Kyan was a colonel of the United Irishmen. 

He had previously fought in the British army, as part of the artillery; he might even have fought on the continent. As such his knowledge was useful to the rebel force. Kyan wore a prosthetic arm, having lost his right arm in a duel with a debtor. This prosthesis was torn off by a cannonball at the Battle of Arklow. Kyan is said to have shouted ‘My loose timbers are flying, God bless the mark . . . now for the right arm of the British line’ in response (according to Furlong's book on John Murphy). 

 He returned to Wexford Town to seek medical aid, and intervened to prevent sectarian murder there. Kyan marched to Wicklow with the rebels, but soon returned to Wexford. He was soon caught and executed. 

This information comes from the book "Fr John Murphy 1753-1798" and this website.

The above engraving is the only image I could use to paint this figure. I chose a model with the closest features I could. I assumed the light coloured hair in the image was blond, but have no idea if this is correct. The right arm was repositioned using a pliers. 

This crew are from the Royal Irish Artillery. This regiment was founded in 1760 from an earlier Artillery Company ("The Uniforms of 1798-1803", F. Glenn Thompson). Furlong states 16 members of this regiment were captured at Three Rocks. 

One of their guns (I think it's a 12 pounder) is on display at Collins Barracks, Dublin. Its undercarriage is painted black, but I believe it is a reconstruction. Thompson's book on the uniforms of the period states this regiment painted their cannons' carriages grey.

In other news, I'll be participating in this year's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, which begins on December 21st. It's my first time taking part. I'm looking forward to it as I've been enjoying the great work of the Challenge participants for a few years now. 

Best of luck to everyone involved! 

Go dtí an chéad uair eile, beir bua! 

1798 Rebellion Project Part 21: Homemade Artillery!

 Something a bit different this week: improvised artillery! I've been planning on painting rebel artillery for a while now. As soon as I read about this particular cannon I knew I'd have to include it in my army!

In Thomas Pakenham's "The Year of Liberty", the author describes a ramshackle cannon used by Henry Joy-McCracken's men in County Antrim. The rebels had possession of an old Irish Volunteers cannon barrel. The barrel had been buried under a church for safekeeping. The rebels had to mount the barrel on an old civilian cart. The gun's "cradle" was hewn from a log.

Pakenham notes the instability of such a weapon, as it was not built to withstand the force of recoil. He notes it was soon put out of action, possibly as a result of this. Furlong's account of the Battle of Vinegar Hill in "Fr. John Murphy" also describes a cart-mounted cannon. As part of the defence of Enniscorthy, a 4 pounder on a cart was used at the town bridge. Furlong refers to it as a "morale stiffener"; it is unlikely to have been very effective. Regardless of its real world performance, this model is a fun way to represent rebel artillery. 

Among the crew is a sharply dressed fellow armed with... socks? He's another character from Antrim as described by Pakenham. He states that a Quaker haberdasher provided the rebels with grapeshot cartridges by filling socks with musket balls. 

The gun is made of a spare Trent Miniatures barrel, coffee stirrers and wheels from Warbases. 

I've also painted another rebel leader. This time it's Michael Dwyer, "The Wicklow Chief". He was a contemporary of Joseph Holt who fought in the Wicklow Mountains. Dwyer is notable for continuing a guerilla campaign until 1803.  

Dwyer was transported to Australia, where he later became a Chief of Police. He was frequently under suspicion of fomenting rebellion among the Irish in Australia, but this is unlikely. Dwyer was ultimately dismissed from his police job for drunkenness. Declared bankrupt, he was imprisoned and became ill, dying in his early 50s.

Go dtí an chéad uair eile, beir bua! 

1798 Rebellion Project Part 19: Conquering the Lead Mountain

 After completing the French, I still had a few extra models. I decided to paint them up, finishing off the Lead Mountain in the process!

The first piece I made is a French Deployment Point. These are among my favourite things to paint for Sharp Practice, as I can make little scenes. I like painting leaders for the same reason.

Capitane Garnier discusses revolution with Cuan. Kilalla Bay, August 1798. 

The beach was built up with Milliput. The sand is painted snow flock. 

The water was painted straight onto the MDF base. I used gloss varnish on top. 

The flagpole is a wire pike. The Phrygian cap was added with Milliput. 

Next, I painted up another Leader for my United Irish army. I plan on painting every Irish personality that Trent produce - this will give me greater freedom to represent the different theatres of the rebellion.

This is Joseph Holt, a leader of United Men in County Wicklow. Holt was from a Protestant, Loyalist family near Redcross. He was as a farmer, but also worked as a sub-constable, fugitive hunter and a fabric inspector! Holt's Memoirs contain exciting stories about his pursuit of criminals, all told with great relish. In his own words, "my name was to the disobeyors of justice a terror"! 

Joseph Holt led a guerilla campaign against British troops, making use of the Wicklow Mountains. After the defeat at Ballinamuck, the rebels had lost all hope of success. Holt surrendered, and was transported to New South Wales. His fellow Wicklow Captain Michael Dwyer continued the campaign until 1803(!). Holt was pardoned and left Australia for Ireland in late 1812. However, his ship struck a reef. He and his family had to land on one of the Falklands. They would not make it to Ireland until 1814.

I can't believe I'd never heard of Joseph Holt before starting to research this period in greater depth. His life story is just so interesting, and I think he's the perfect Sharp Practice character.

There is debate over Holt's reasons for joining the United Irishmen. In his Memoirs, written in Australia, he claims he was swept up by the rebellion. He does, however, sympathise with the rebels' grievances. This isn't a satisfactory answer. Holt  had been involved in the Society of United Irishmen since 1797, and several of his brothers were also members.  Holt's membership of the Irish Volunteers in the 1780s also suggests a liberal political standpoint. 

Holt took up arms after his home was burned by the Fermanagh Militia. This unit was under the command of local magistrate Thomas Hugo. Hugo owed Holt money; as such, his rebel activities may have been the result of personal rivalries. 

Many of Holt's men were Militia deserters. I've painted this chap in a mix of Militia and civilian clothing. 

Finally, I put together a water cart. In Sharp Practice, these are available as a support option. It's been thrown together from coffee stirrers, cocktail sticks and spare plastic wheels. 

The barrels are from a Warhammer fantasy Ogres kit. A lad at my gaming club gave me some spare bits (thank you very much!). The crate and canteen are the result of my dodgy sculpting.

While I'm waiting for some more minis to arrive, I've started making some buildings for this period. One is based on Evoy's Forge, which I visited this summer. I've posted some pictures of that trip here. 

Go dtí an chéad uair eile, beir bua! 

1798 Rebellion Project Part 13: Shock Markers

In Sharp Practice, Groups pick up Shock points as a measure of disorder. I've seen some really nice casualty markers made by other gamers online, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to make some. Trent Miniatures produce suitable casualty figures, and the counters themselves are Warbases' Custom Markers. 

I soon realised that this style of marker has a border that's lower than the central circle. I should have done more research! Warbases standard casualty markers don't have this feature. To lessen the gap between the figures and the marker, I built up the borders with Milliput and pieces of coffee stirrers. It's not perfect, but it is less noticeable from above. 

I found the casualty figures very quick and easy to paint. I thought of adding blood to them, but decided it isn't really in keeping with my painting style. I only added a few spots here and there. After all, Shock does not technically represent dead troops. Instead, I used a purple glaze to create a few black eyes. This will hopefully get across the message of units being "beaten up". 

First up are the Militia:

The United Irishmen :

I've started the next batch of troops for the project. They will be the first Group of French soldiers from the 70th Demi Brigade. I don't suppose I need to say they are really enjoyable to paint. I can't wait to write a post about them! 

I have been thinking about creating a campaign once the French are completed. I'm still very unsure how I will organise it. I'd love to do a campaign which encompasses the entire island of Ireland, but that might be too ambitious. I certainly want to include a naval element. I have been looking into the Tony Bath campaign rules and I really like them. I don't think they'd work for Sharp Practice without a bit of modification, but nothing too drastic is needed. I like the DIY aspect of these rules, in that they encourage modification to better suit time period and location. 

I'm also quite interested in Dawns and Departures, the official campaign supplement for Sharp Practice. It seems to focus on small locations and individual characters, so I don't know if it would work for an all-Ireland game. I'd still love to try it out. 

Go dtí an chéad uair eile, beir bua! 

1798 Rebellion Project Part 12: United Irishmen Completed

I've just finished the last figures for the United Irishmen list! These mostly consisted of Leaders, which I had been looking forward to very much. I'm so happy to have completed this army. I've wanted to do something in the black powder period for years, and I've always had an interest in the Rebellion. The "heroic" models by Trent are exactly the style I like, and Sharp Practice is very much to my liking. In many ways this is the project I have always wanted to do.

This is Theobald Wolfe Tone, founder of the United Irishmen. In this scene he is stepping ashore from a French frigate, ready to reclaim Ireland! In reality, no such event ever took place, as Tone was captured on board the Hoche after the Battle of Tory Island. 

The flag carried by Tone's assistant may have been flown at the previous French landing in Mayo, according to this page. It features some nice faux-Gaelic script. The slogan "Erin go Bragh" is an anglicised version of the Irish "Éireann go Brách", which means "Ireland forever". 

Making the base was my favourite part of this model. I used Milliput to build up a shoreline. Baking soda and PVA made the sand texture. I painted the water by blending from very dark blue up to turquoise, and added a few white spots to simultate sea foam. I gave it a few coats of very glossy varnish to complete the effect. 

Wolfe Tone will count as a Status II Leader (reflecting his relative inexperience in military matters). He will also be a part of my French Expedition force, as the leader of the Irish contingent. 

Beauchamp Bagenal Harvey was a Protestant barrister who lived at Bargy Castle in Wexford. He joined the United Irishmen in 1792 and supported Catholic Emancipation. Harvey was arrested and imprisoned in Wexford Jail early in the Uprising, but was freed and became Commander in Chief of the Wexford rebels. He may or may not have been happy with this role. Some have argued that Harvey was given command as proof that the United Irishmen was not a sectarian organisation. He led the rebels at New Ross and resigned his post after the Scullabogue Massacre. He fled to the Saltee Islands (whose history is long and storied). Harvey was captured, executed and beheaded. He is still well remembered in Wexford history. 

I added a beard to this model with some Milliput. The base is intended to resemble the road to New Ross. 

This model doesn't represent any historical person in particular. I added a wolfhound (from CP Models) to enhance the pose. 

One of the support options available in Sharp Practice is a musician. I used a bagpiper to represent this. By the end of the 18th Century bagpipes would have been fairly rare in Ireland, with uilleann pipes taking their place. I really like this miniature though. 

This will serve as a deployment point for the rebels. I took inspiration from an illustration of a Wexford rebel camp by George Cruikshank. I assume the bell was used to organise camp life. The frame is made from cocktail sticks, while the bell itself is Milliput. 

Finally, a photo of the whole army! 

Next up on the painting desk are some Shock markers. Once they're done, I'll be moving on to "Stage 2" of this project, mostly consisting of French Republican Infantry.

Go dtí an chéad uair eile, beir bua!