Welcome to the Strelets Forum. Please feel free to discuss any aspect of 1/72 scale plastic figures, not simply Strelets. If you have any questions about our products then we will answer them here.
Hi everyone,
Im hopeing to pick the many knowledgeable brains on here.
Does anyone know if the belgic shako was worn on the limber teams for the british foot artillery?
If so have you a link or something so i can see it myself please.
Many thanks in advance Phil.
Look at Wikipedia "Corps of Royal Artillery Drivers" there's a picture by Hamilton-Smith showing them sporting the Tarleton helmet. The Revell Foot Artillery set has them with the Tarleton helmet as well, so I think that's probably correct.
in the British Foot Artillery of the Napoleonic Wars there was an organizational separation between the "artillery" and the "artillery train" (Corps of drivers).
Only the guns, the limbers and the soldiers who operated them made up the artillery.
The train horses and the drivers or riders, who had to move the cannons over longer distances, belonged to the artillery train. The train had its own uniforms, some of which were similar to cavalry uniforms. As fare as i know they therefore wear the Tarleton helmet, not shakos.
In the British Horse Artillery, however, the drivers were part of the gun crew. But the drivers probably had a slightly different uniform than the gunners. It was not until 1831 that the drivers of the Horse Artillery were given the same jackets as the gunners.
But I'm not an expert on British military history, so my knowledge is certainly not complete. So there are certainly people here in the forum who are even better acquainted with it.
Irrespective of whether the battery was Foot or Horse Artillery, the drivers were in a separate Corps and wore Tarletons not shakos. To correct myself, battery is a later term - the British had Horse Artillery troops and Foot artillery companies, named after the officer commanding.
Wouldn't matter much as to the headgear. The horse artillery had the Tarleton helmet anyways. But the food artillery sounds like an interesting corps, did they shoot bread or cabbages? :smile:
I remember now: Seems the Austrians had them as well. At least they had a limber called "Wurst-Wagon" ... 🌭🍖 ... didn't they fire rotten food into enemy towns during sieges? Very mean tactic already used in medieval times ... 😆☺️🤗
Pardon me for hi-jacking the threat, but were there any other troops wearing Tarleton helmets in action in 1812-1815 besides those mentioned in this thread and the Light Dragoons in Spain (but not at Waterloo)? Regards, Pa