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| The Villaviciosa Regiment returns home for Christmas after a long season of campaigning. My Christmas card for 2023! |
For me it was love at first sight when one of the guys at Bennos forum directed me to Black Watch Miniatures and I saw their Spanish cavalry. There was something about the slightly emaciated-looking horses and war weary poses that made me think of a troop of Don Quixotes!
They sat in my cupboard for the better part of a year before I finally got at them - I already had some Spanish Dragoons - HaT Prussians, actually, but a great substitute - these being the only suitable figures in plastic in 1/72. So it was more a case of "want" than "need". The set didn't disappoint - two sets, actually as I wanted enough for a six stand unit - although I did a couple of minor conversions to the extra trumpeter and standard bearer to make them regular troopers.
A bit of history
During the reorganization of the Spanish cavalry in1803 the dragoon regiments were abolished, converted to hussar and cazadore regiments, only reinstated in 1805 when the yellow uniform worn by the dragoons throughout the Peninsular War was introduced. The Villaviciosa regiment, under the name Villaviciosa, 5º de Cazadores, apparently still had the green Cazadore uniform in 1807-08 while with Romana's Spanish army serving Napoleon as part of the Spanish contingent, but switched to the yellow uniform after their arrival in Spain.
Their participation in the Peninsular War began when they slipped away from Denmark on English transports on August 21, 1808, arriving in Santander on October 11, but without their mounts. Leaving a company behind in the north to help form the basis of the 2nd Algarve Cavalry Regiment (part of the Army of Galicia), the remainder of the regiment marched to Seville, arriving in February 1809 where they re-assumed the name of the Villaviciosa Regiment of Dragoons. Leaving the 2nd and 4th squadrons in Seville the 1st and 3rd join the Army of Estremadura and were present at the Battle of Talavera.
In 1810 the regiment joins the garrison of the Isle of Leon where they remain until 1811, embarking with the expeditionary army and fighting in the Battle of Albuera on May 16, 1811. The regiment returned to Leon and then transferred to the port of Santa Maria where it becomes part of the reserve Army of Andalusia. In 1813 it marched to Navarra where it participated in the siege of Pamplona before moving to Burgos in November. In May 1814 they return to Andalusia for the remainder of the war.
And here are a few pictures of the unit:
Hi, What are the sizes of the stand? (Infantry, cavalry, artillery and command)thanks
ReplyDeleteCavalry 4cm w X 3.5cm d, Infantry 3.5cm w X 4 cm d, Artillery 6 cm w X 4 cm d. Commander stands don't matter as the distance is always measured from the commander's head!
ReplyDelete