Friedrich August I. wrote:Anyway I m looking forward in what style of uniform and after what sources they gonna be sculpted. If you need any details I m willing to share all I know with you. Knowledge comes mostly of german/saxon sources.
For the King
Gersdorff, Gen.Mjr
Chief of Generalstaff
Help always gratefully received Günter! I am busy with the Revolutionary Wars stuff, so the boss (Nic Robson) is currently 'project managing' the 1812 Saxon heavy cavalry. However, I am more than happy to act as go-between and pick your brains on his behalf.
I think we are OK with the basics for the Guard du Corps and the Zastrow, but as usual some questions of detail are being debated and we are unsure as to which direction to take. From memory (I will have to double check things with Nic at work tomorrow) some of these details are as follows -
1) No cuirass for the Garde du Corps in 1812 of course as they left them at home, but a few of the sources imply they wore their greatcoats or a blanket roll across their bodies (presumably as an improvised defence against sword cuts?) Our range commissioners are keen for us to model this feature. What are your thoughts on this please?
2) The Saxon heavy cavalry in 1812 are often depicted with something (a blanket?) rolled across the neck of the horse, in front of the saddle, either on top of - or just in front of and partially overlapping - the pistol holster covers. (Sitting at home typing this I can’t remember if this is especially relevant to the Garde or the Zastrow or both… but again we’d be interested to know if you aware of this Günter).
3) Details of the saddle furniture are often contradictory – such as the shape of the pistol holster covers. Also (my apologies again because I can’t recall which way around it is - Garde or Zastrow) illustrations sometimes show one regiment with a round ended valise behind the saddle, while other pictures show a ‘squared’ shape. Other sources show BOTH regiments with a round ended valise.
4) The carbine is invariably shown suspended on the right side with the muzzle pointing down. However, one source we have shows it inverted with the stock pointing down towards the horse’s front leg. Should we be worried about this?
5) Our commissioning customers want us to leave the side plumes off the helmets of the rank and file, but retain them for the officer / trumpeter / standard bearer figures’ helmets. Does that sound OK to you?
OK – enough brain picking for now! I will make sure of the details tomorrow – or perhaps I forgot something... In the meantime Günter we would be most grateful to see anything you have on them. We have a few bits and pieces, including an article or two from French ‘Tradition’ magazine but I’m sure you have access to a lot more. You can email anything you wish or any comments / criticisms to my work address at
[email protected]
Many thanks for the offer of help!
John
Eureka Miniatures