The Dragoon method of fighting battles had been known for at least 4 centuries before Napoleon. Their ancestors were possibly the mounted archers of Edward III and Louis XI. Along with the development of hand-held firearms, mounted infantry took its proper place in the army ranks during the period of the Thirty Years War and the English Civil War, where we see whole dragoon corps under the command of such renown fighters as Imperial general Butler or Prince Rupert. However, as a separate branch of the regular armed forces, dragoons numbering 2 regiments made their debut in France during the reign of Louis XIV. These merry guys with foxtails on their helmets gained a fearsome reputation with the population. “Mother, Mother hide me up! Dragoons are riding to our village!” - many songs like this existed in French folklore. The reason for this was due to the monarch’s inclination to use this branch of service primarily as a punitive force. The houses and villages in Pfalz burning to the ground impressed even German citizens, who had seen a lot and had got used to so much destruction! As for France itself, dragoons were quartered in Cevenne and other places where the most stubborn Huguenots were living, succeeding in bringing them into the lap of the Catholic mother church. It’s hard to say now how many “lost sheep” were converted, but the very word “dragonnade” for years became synonymous with terror. Despite all of this, dragoons were brave and merry lads always ready to have a good fight in a tavern for a local “beauty” or in the king’s glory at war – wherever the commanders thought appropriate to send them. In time the number of dragoon regiments increased.
Slowly a characteristic dragoon style of uniform took shape – green uniform and copper helmet of “antique” style first introduced during the Seven Years War in the Shomberg regiment. Their punitive function was left behind them, together with the concept of a mounted infantry. Throughout the XVIII century in Europe, dragoons were used as line cavalry. That was the case until Bonaparte brought his iron divisions to the Kingdom of Spain. The mountainous landscape of Spain burned by the summer sun was not much suited for dashing cavalry attacks. Fanatical guerrillas didn’t give open battle but instead shot from behind, round the corner or from the top of some stone barricade or thick bushes, disappearing thereafter. Once ambushed, cavalry had to dismount and exchange fire. It was there in Spain that regiments and whole brigades of foot dragoons were born and were to prove their high fighting potential on battlefields throughout Europe.
That was the consideration that prompted us to create this set. Before us HaT and Italeri had released their set of dragoons (mounted, of course). We believe that our figures will become a good extension of this line.
Our efforts to improve our mould technology seem to have paid dividends and the number of poorly moulded figures and flash has been considerably reduced. Unfortunately there are some minor deficiencies that could have been avoided and that are even more regrettable because of this, like the dragoon sitting on a gabion where the front of the gabion, due to a sprue channel, is not visible. We hope however that despite these shortcomings our loyal customers will appreciate the variety and picturesque ness of this set. To make it look even more realistic, we clothed our dragoons in a “battle” manner, substituting the famous antique helmets with forage caps – bonnets and uniforms with working kurtkas and raincoats. Some wear trousers on top of their boots, which also reflects the war-like situation when everybody tries to dress as he deems fit and when the commanders aren’t particularly nagging about uniform regulations.
The history of the Poles in the armies of Napoleon has previously been touched upon in our introduction for set no. 003.
The set is released in terracotta colour plastic - We would appreciate your comments on this colour change. The set contains 48 figures and 2 ladders.