...updates, and the "Orange Lillies"...

First, for BlueBear Jeff I can confirm that the two pictures of the AWI game in the last post do now actually take you to two different pictures, rather than the same one...!! 😁 (is it me, or is HTML the most complicated set of wargame rules that you ever came across????)

The second momentous piece of news is that the package of Colonial gun crews/limbers etc. from Essex Miniatures dropped on to the door mat yesterday morning - now I think that is first class service, basically they must have turned the order around on the day they got my letter - top marks! Initial thoughts based on a quick scurry through the envelope last night is that the figures are lovely, especially the limbers. I'm already very partial to one of the British gunners who is depicted wiping his face with a large hanky.... can't wait to start painting!

I've also been doing a little more in the way of research for the Royal Sussex Regiment which I have a serious yen to add to my War of the Spanish Succession forces following the tour of their museum last weekend. My research up to now has shown that:

• the regiment was raised by Arthur Chichester, 3rd Earl of Donegall, and paid for out of his own pocket. As a mark of respect to Chichester, William III granted permission for the regiment to wear orange facings on their uniforms.


• The regiment was known as The Earl of Donegals Regiment, their nickname, among others, was The Orange Lillies.


• When the War of the Spanish Succession started in 1702 the regiment was sent to Spain, and was involved in the Battle of Cádiz in 1702, the raid on Guadeloupe, the defence of Gibraltar in 1704 to 1705, and may or may not have been present at the Siege of Barcelona (sources differ), where the Earl was killed. At the Battle of Almansa in 1707 the regiment was the strongest battalion present, but was practically wiped out and the Regimental Colours were lost (87 men killed and 284 captured or wounded). The survivors returned to Ireland where the regiment was reconstituted.

Reading between the lines the regiment seems to have had an extremely hard time of it, in it's first few wars - after Almansa, they went to America during the French and Indian Wars (albeit 40-50 odd years later), and were part of the garrison of Fort William Henry that surrendered to Montcalm and were allowed to depart with full military honours. The regiment (and their families) were subsequently attacked by Indians allied to the French as they retreated.. (which was later depicted in the "Last of the Mohicans"). The regiment got it's revenge at Quebec though....

The picture is a link from the Eastbourne Museum site which I recommend for a more detailed read... and yes, I know the regiment fought in Spain rather than the Low Countries, and I know that my War of the Spanish Succession project centres around the orders of battle for the Schellenberg, but these guys have got orange facings, dammit, and they're my local regiment as well...