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| Williamite Cavalry - My plan for the Jacobites includes eight squadrons of horse to oppose these fine gentlemen. Of course, as with many units in this period, a quick flag swap could see most of these units pressed into service for King James II! |
Lifeguards Regiment (2 squadrons)
Scarlet coat with blue cuffs trimmed in silver, buff waistcoats, blue trousers, silver buttons and hat lace. Officers had scarlet cuffs and trousers. Some may have cuirass. The saddle cloak was scarlet trimmed in troop color (1st scarlet, 2nd white, 3rd yellow, and 4th blue)
I'm going to paint one stand for each troop so they will have different trim on the saddle cloths. I'm also going to mix in a few cuirassiers for variety.
Tyrconnel’s Regiment (3 squadrons)
Red coat with white cuffs, buff waistcoats and trousers, silver buttons and hat lace. The saddle cloak was red trimmed in white
Parker’s Regiment (2 squadrons)
White coat
Sutherland’s Regiment (1 squadron)
White coat
I can't find definitive reference for what colors Parker's or Sutherland's regiments wore. On page 84 of Michael McNally's Osprey campaign title, Battle of the Boyne 1690, he mentions
"... the Enniskilleners reputedly charged Donop's white-coated Danish cavalry, having mistaken them for a Jacobite regiment, possibly Parker's or Sutherland's."
I'll decide on their facing colors and other details when I get there (unless a kind reader has any insight before then).
"... the Enniskilleners reputedly charged Donop's white-coated Danish cavalry, having mistaken them for a Jacobite regiment, possibly Parker's or Sutherland's."
I'll decide on their facing colors and other details when I get there (unless a kind reader has any insight before then).
Lord Dongan’s Dragoons (2 squadrons)
Red coats with blue cuffs, blue waistcoats and trousers, silver buttons and hat lace, mounted and on foot
Lord Clare’s Dragoons (2 squadrons)
Red coats with yellow cuffs, yellow waistcoats and trousers, silver buttons and hat lace, mounted and on foot
We have no concrete proof of what these two dragoon units wore and there seems to be some debate on the matter. Most Irish horse and dragoons were clothed in red before 1690. As I mentioned in the last article, the French supplies arrived only shortly before the battle and it is unknown how widely distributed the new gris-mesle coats may have been at this time. These were probably infantry coats as well so it is possible the dragoons were never reclothed. While a case can be made for either coat, I chose to paint Lord Clare's Dragoons in their old uniforms because there are a lot of white and grey among the other mounted units. They would have likely been in a sorry state, but for table top presentation I plan to keep them uniform with the addition of a few different hat colors. Lord's Clare's Dragoons are sometimes named as the 'Yellow Dragoons' so it seems safe that their cuffs were yellow.
The next stretch of articles for this series will likely be more sporadic and posted as I finish units or decide to post 'in progress' updates. I am going to attempt to maintain focus on this army, but won't promise on the rate in which future articles appear. However, a blog is a wonderful motivator to continue on a project so hopefully I won't get sidetracked by some other shiny period!