Ebor miniatures new charging Horse

A section devoted to questions and answers for this period.
simon boulton
Sergeant Major of the Army
Sergeant Major of the Army
Posts: 118
Joined: Sat Jul 23, 2005 9:21 pm

Re: Ebor miniatures new charging Horse

Post by simon boulton » Mon Jun 24, 2013 11:35 am

Interesting post Arthur.

The figures do have the sword hanging from the waist belt as per the change mentioned in the link. The other cross belt is used for the cartridge box, looking at the illustration in the other post, I can't see this so did French cavalry not have a cartridge box or was it carried in a different way?
Best wishes,
Simon
User avatar
Arthur
Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant Colonel
Posts: 226
Joined: Sun Aug 21, 2011 8:06 pm

Re: Ebor miniatures new charging Horse

Post by Arthur » Mon Jun 24, 2013 10:19 pm

As many period illustrations will attest, French cavalry did not use cartridge boxes, Simon. The following engraving by Parrocel shows a Garde du Corps trooper from behind, and it is quite clear that he doesn't have one :

Image

The illustration slightly post-dates the reign of Louis XIV (it's from the late 1720's or early 1730's) but cavalry accoutrements had remained pretty much unchanged since the 1690's. And Parrocel knew his stuff, having supposedly served as a trooper of horse in 1705 and 1706 (though some dispute he actually did). Being a member of a household unit, our Garde du Corps above boasts a splendidly ornamented bandolier, but finery set aside his accoutrement is otherwise identical to that worn by line cavalry units.

According to Michel Pétard, who wrote and illustrated a book on C18th French military accoutrements, ammunition for the carbine was either carried in small leather pouches sewn to the pistol holsters (and therefore concealed by the cloth housings), or simply kept in a light powder horn attached to the shoulder belt. This may not seem like a lot, but carbines were not supposed to be used much outside of picket and foraging duties. The cavalry were primarily shock troops who used their sword and pistols to punch through the enemy. Firepower wasn't their defining attribute and half a dozen shots was probably more than enough for a trooper to fight a single engagement - especially given the difficulty of reloading muzzle loaders on horseback.

When a powder horn was used, here's how Pétard visualises its position on the belting (in this case that of a horse grenadier, which accounts for the piping on the bandolier), using a period illustration by Delaistre as a basis :

Image

Powder horns could be sophisticated little affairs, complete with dispenser and measuring devices. The rather ingenious model shown below was devised by a Mr De la Chaumette in 1715 and contained both powder and balls, feeding them into the gun barrel through two separate funnels. It was deemed a little too tricky for the hands of clumsy soldiers however, some forgetting to block the influx of powder with their finger or emptying the wholl ball container into the barrel of their gun instead. I have no idea whether it was used in the field, but it's definitely an interesting contraption. It is however most likely that cavalry troopers used more conventional powder horns and kept their bullets in a small separate bag .

Image
One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas I'll never know.
User avatar
maciek
Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant Colonel
Posts: 205
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2011 11:53 am
Location: Poland

Re: Ebor miniatures new charging Horse

Post by maciek » Tue Jun 25, 2013 3:41 pm

As many period illustrations will attest, French cavalry did not use cartridge boxes
:shock: :shock: :shock:
Great information.
Maybe short tutorial will come "how to model acurate French LoA cavalryman".
Maciek

http://zealandbayonets.blogspot.com/
wargaming in 10mm
Post Reply