Santa's Workshop

    With Christmas near enough, I can put up some photos of the miniatures I've painted as Christmas gifts.  The ACW stuff is for a 7-year-old relative who got his first toy soldiers this year, and Elrond is for a friend.

Tiger Rifles (9th Louisiana)

Garrard's Tigers (146th New York)

Elrond.  (It's actually the Lindir model with some alterations.)  My first time working with GW Finecast, and it wasn't as unpleasant as I'd expected.

Beat the Long Roll, Boys

     To help set the mood for my ACW project, I put together a playlist of fife and drum music from the Civil War.  Most of the tunes in the playlist are performed by California Consolidated Drum Band, which is well worth checking out.

     It seems that the songs of the Civil War (i.e. the vocal music) get the lion's share of attention, while the brass-band and fife-and-drum music is generally less well known, even though on the whole it seems to have had a more prominent role on the battlefield.  There are a number of colorful stories about regimental bands playing in the heat of action  (my favorite is about the band of the 32nd Indiana - composed largely of German revolutionaries - getting the regiment's dander up with the Marseillaise at Shiloh).  Given their psychological value on the field of battle, I'm hoping that the Perrys' impending expansion of their ACW range will include some bandsmen.

   

Philipsburg Encampment, Part I

     Recently I went on a little expedition through what is often called the Philipsburg Encampment, the area in which the combined armies of General Washington and the Comte de Rochambeau passed much of the summer of 1781.  Rochambeau landed on the Rhode Island coast (the Royal Navy was interdicting the Long Island Sound) and marched westward across Connecticut to Westchester County, with the main body of his army arriving around July 4th.  For the next six weeks, the two armies staid put, the French doubtless suffering under the heat and humidity.
     During this period, Washington launched the "Grand Reconnaissance," a forceful probing of British strength in and around New York City, which Washington intended to seize.  Rochambeau, fearing that the city would prove too costly a prize, preferred to move southward, and when the Reconnaissance met stiff resistance, Washington began to come round to Rochambeau's line of thought.  Once word reached Washington of Admiral de Grasse's movement towards Virginia, the matter was settled, and the allied armies broke camp around 19th August, crossed the Hudson at Dobbs Ferry, and marched South to Yorktown and victory.
     What was then known as Philipsburg is now part of the town of Greenburgh.  The town, Westchester County and the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route have erected signs at various points on the site of the former encampment.

      Here is a map, posted at the Odell House, of the various points of interest in the Town of Greenburgh.  (Please note that the numbered dots indicate signs, not separate locations - this confused me at first).  

     The first stop on the route (signs 1 and 2) is the Odell House.  Built in the 1730s, it was in 1781 the headquarters of the Comte de Rochambeau, who also entertained the allied generals at dinner parties in a barn that stood nearby.  The Odell family, formerly an old and important family in Westchester County acquired the house shortly before 1800 (during the Revolution it belonged to a man called Bates) and kept it until the 1960's, at which point it was given to the County.  Like so many historic buildings, it is in rather poor repair thanks to our County Executive's decision that it is not the place of the government to look after such sites, which should be maintained by public donation only.

     The front elevation of the Odell House, taken from Ridge Road.

                        The rear of the house - here the poor state of the house is readily seen.

     One of the signs at the Odell House.

      The next stop was the site of the American Encampment, the bulk of which stretched on both sides of Heatherdell Road from approximately Sprain Brook to the Saw Mill River.  Outposts were also established in Ardsley and in Dobbs Ferry overlooking the Hudson, under the command of colonels Scammel and Sheldon respectively.  The encampment is commemorated in McDowell Park by a small sign (sign 3).

      Sign 4 is at the western end of the encampment, on Concord Road just north of the center of Ardsley.

      Signs 5 and 6 are in Ardsley proper and give a general picture of the campaign and a more detailed description of Washington's "grand reconnaissance" against the British in New York City and South Westchester.

     Curiously, the French encampment is not included in the Washington-Rochambeau Route's list of noteworthy places.  Its approximate location is marked by a sign on Underhill Road, and I presume it occupied what are now the grounds of the Sunningdale Country Club.

For Part II I hope to pin down the locations of the encampments East of the Bronx River.

We Are Coming, Father Abraham: Union Reinforcements

Some more Federals: the 27th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry of  Stahel's brigade, I Corps.

In command is Colonel Adolphus Buschbeck, a math teacher from Germany who seems to have been praised and liked by everyone but who never was promoted beyond colonel.  He did, however, get some experience at brigade command, serving as acting commander of the 1st brigade once Julius Stahel was promoted to replace General Schenck, who was wounded at Second Bull Run.  In this capacity he performed admirably at Chancellorsville, desperately throwing his brigade in the way of Jackson's assault and buying precious minutes for the Union right flank.

This was the first run-of-the-mill regimental uniform I've had to paint, and to make things slightly more interesting I had some fun with some of the soldiers' blanket rolls.

The regiment itself was recruited exclusively in Philadelphia, mainly in the Northern districts, and about half of its men were Germans.  It performed well throughout its service, and at Second Bull Run it participated in the first day's action and the third day's covering movements, during which it was just about the last unit to fall back over the Bull Run.

Up next is the... well, I'm not sure.  Another New York regiment, but which one?

Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho

                                                     

I've been working for several years on a project that's very special to me, namely the creation of my own (dare I say subcreated) version of Thorin and Co.  To do so I have drawn on a variety of my interests, not the least certain Icelandic sagas.  The idea behind this project is that in the unquiet time between The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring, a group of dwarves has set off to the East on a quest of their own.  There will be thirteen in all (the "unlucky thirteen" that gave Thorin pause), but so far I have only finished nine.

(L-R) Andwari, Grettir, Ormfrothi, and Kweldulf

In The Hobbit, certain of Gandalf's comments indicate that there are a number of dwarves who must make their living by what they surely consider menial labor, like coal-mining.  I've always wondered about these dwarves and have included one of them in the company, namely Andwari, a sort of tinker or pedlar. He's got a bunch of bits and bobs (and a clarinet which you can't see) but not much in the way of weapons (other than his staff and his knives).  Andvari is the name of a dwarf in the Saga of the Volsungs who can take the form of a pike and possesses a ring of some importance, to put it mildly.  Hence the fishing rod (copied from Lotro's Lebethron rod) and the pikes embroidered on his gloves.

Grettir is of course none other than Grettir the Strong.  He's young, has a broad face and red hair, and is a kind of ghost- or monster-killer, like his namesake.  His sword he found in a barrow (like Jokul's Gift, Grettir's sword), and I hope in time to tie this in with some sort of ghostly nemesis.  The image on his shield is a reference to his name, which means "face-puller," "snake."

His brother (note the red serpent-shields and green hoods) is Ormfrothi, "Wise as a Serpent."  Minstrel-players on Lotro may recognize his weapon, Minstrel's Gift (a reward for a level 15 minstrel quest).  On his back is his precious theorbo.  

For comparison, here's Ormfrothi "in the flesh."

I'm not really all that fond of Kweldulf ("Evening Wolf").  He's supposed to be the wild one of the company, like his namesake Kveldulfr, berserker, shapeshifter, and grandfather of the famous poet Egill Skallagrimsson.  But the model came out rather bland and uninteresting, and I will probably redo him later on.  The weapon is supposed to evoke the atgeir, a sort of halberd used in Iceland.

(L-R) Bothwar, Steinmal, Gangleri, and Nial

Bothwar ("Warlike") is modeled off an old Guardian on Lotro I never did much with.  He's more heavily armored and carries a heavy shield (the free-hand is a bit crude and will likely be updated).  You may see on his shoulders the fur of a black bear, which refers to his namesake, Böðvar Bjarki, whose spirit took the form of a bear while he slept.

Bothwar's primary task is to protect the eldery and austere Steinmal.  I've never been happy with that name, although its meaning, "stone-speech," is fitting because Steinmal is a rune-smith.  He is much too important to carry his own gear but keeps his hammer on his person.

Gangleri the Wanderer is my favorite of the group, since he has for a long time been my alter ego.  Like his name suggests, he is a wanderer, always traveling and turning up unexpectedly.  Lotro players might notice the "dwarf-make prospector's pack" he wears.

Here is Gangleri.

Nial the Deep-minded is the company's counselor and is meant to represent the famous Njall of Njalssaga.  Just as Njall has no beard, Nial has no mustache (the closest I could get to a beardless dwarf).  The key and the snail (on the base) allude to the secret door into Erebor.

Finally, we have the company's long-suffering pack-horse and Ondott.  Ǫndóttr means "horrible," "frightful," words which certainly apply to someone with that axe and those mustaches.  He's a miner, hence his lantern and his equipment.  Perhaps he's another of those less-fortunate dwarves who labor for men.

That's all for now.  I would like tohave another dwarf done soon, but with the Christmas rush who can tell how long it will take.

De Kalb Zouaves

Here's the 41st NYV done.  (For more information on the regiment, please see this previous post.

The light is a bit tricky at this time of year, and it brings out the glossiness of the miniatures - there was an "accident" with Krylon Matte Finish (won't be using that anymore!) that left them shinier rather than duller, and Testors Dullcote couldn't quite remedy the problem.

Company A in their zouave uniforms.

I couldn't get the colors to flap very convincingly, and I'm also not sure they're "correct."  To my knowledge the regiment's colors were not preserved or documented, so I gave them a generic NYSV color and a Union color with a fairly common variation on the stars in the Union (the blue part).

All in all I'm quite pleased with them.  I'm also very glad to be done with them, since I was really getting tired of sculpting the boots.

Next up is the 27th Pennsylvania (about half done).

Do Not Meddle in the Affairs of Wizards

At long last, I can present the three wizards of the Northern World: Gandalf the Grey, Saruman the White (in his guise as Sharkey), and Radagast the Brown.

Rather than show Saruman in his more formal get-up, I tried to portray him as he might look while exploring the banks of the Anduin, searching for information about the Ring.  These expeditions were secret affairs, so Saruman is hooded and cloaked - much as he must have been when he encountered the Three Hunters six decades later.

Sharkey is accompanied by a grackle, a bird I see frequently in my yard.  They have a cunning look and iridescent feathers that always remind me of Saruman's cloak of many colors.  I tried to create a shimmering effect on Saruman's robes as well, though it didn't turn out the way I'd hoped.

I loved the moth that appears from time to time in the LotR films - a departure from the books, of course, but a clever idea nonetheless, I thought.  

Battle of White Plains Anniversary

Yesterday, October 28th, was the anniversary of the Battle of White Plains, fought in 1776 near what is now the City of White Plains, NY.  For those of you not familiar with the engagement, suffice to say that it was an important battle in the British conquest of southern New York and precipitated Washington's retreat across the Hudson into New Jersey.  Once in New Jersey, the Continental Army won the battles of Trenton and Princeton, restoring the army's, and the nation's, morale after a long series of severe reverses.  Since it's only a short drive from my house to the battlefield, I decided to inspect the site more thoroughly than I had in the past to mark the anniversary.

Much of the battle was fought along Chatterto'sn Hill (now called Battle Hill), a long, steep-sided ridge that overlooks the Bronx River and guards the southern approach to the village of White Plains.  The village was sited on one of the very few flat pieces of ground in Westchester County, through which also ran most of the few roads that existed in the colonial period, most notably the Boston Post Road.  The Continental Army had retreated northward to White Plains after being driven from New York City and surrounds, and Lord Howe decided to force an engagement in the hope that Washington would finally capitulate.  In summary, Howe launched a fierce assault, throwing two columns across the Bronx River and up the sides of Chatterton's Hill.  The Continentals held their ground until the Hessian column under Rall, having seized another hill just South of Chatterton's, outflanked Washington's line and began to roll up his right flank.  As the Continental flank gave way, the British column carried the rest of the Hill, and Washington promptly withdrew to North Castle.

The battlefield today is largely a pleasant residential area, and the houses both obscure one's view of the field and preclude much tramping around in search of topographical features.  Washington's extreme left was situated where a memorial park now stands.

The park's flagstaff flies not only the Stars and Stripes but also the 1775 American flag and the flag of the City of White Plains, a sword and Phrygian cap with the motto "Liberty or Death."

It's a nice, quiet spot, and one can little imagine that it was the scene of a fairly ferocious fight. There are some signs that give a good impression of the course of the battle.

The "You are Here" marks the location of the park, on the Continental left.

Below the Hill is the memorial proper, which can also be glimpsed from one's car as one drives on the Bronx River Parkway.

While walking around, I tried to find the location of the Continental right flank, where the battle was decided by Rall's Hessians.  (Rall would himself be on the receiving end of a Continental assault only two months later at Trenton, where he was killed.)   It is of course difficult to use today's topography as a guide; the ground undulates considerably, and how much it has changed in the past 230 years I cannot say.  Nevertheless, by walking along the ridge-line I was able to come to the southern end of the hill, where the ground dipped down sharply to form a saddle between Chatterton's Hill and another hill immediately to the Southwest.  I presume this was the point where the Hessian battalions dislodged the defenders.  Those of you who might wish to visit the spot should look for the intersection of Lee and Chase streets.

The memorial park had been decorated with a few small American flags, but in general there seemed to be no sign that anyone had "observed" the anniversary.  Suddenly, however, I noticed a house flying the Pine Tree flag and a Liberty or Death flag - surely no coincidence.

Also, given the time of year, I was able to examine the many Halloween decorations that residents had put up.  This was my favorite: