THE FIGHTING KOPPIE BRITISH AND ALLIES UNIFORM DETAIL By Robert Giglio. The British infantry were in the standard red coat, dark blue trousers with red outer seam stripe, sun helmet and leather equipment belts/straps and pouches (both the white helmet and leather being stained light brown with coffee or mud). The Imperial Mounted Infantry was made up of men from the 2/21st and 94th Regiments and was about a company strong (strength being estimated since only a detachment was present). They would be dressed relatively the same as the other British infantry, though with tan corduroy trousers (no stripes) due to being mounted. The appearance of the British veteran infantry was all ragged and faded from months on previous campaigns, as one officer eyewitness stated that, you would laugh if you saw the state of rags our men are in, with their red coats faded to the color of brick-dust, and most of the officers and men sported full beards on campaign. Certainly not the parade ground look that most gamers have their figures painted! By the end of the Zulu War the irregular Colonial mounted units were almost universally uniformed in a yellow-tanto-brownish corduroy tunic and either tan or white trousers, with brown belts/ equipment, and a gray, tan or brown wide-brimmed smasher slouch hat with a red cloth hatband worn as a puggaree around the crown. The Border Horse that was raised in Pretoria were in a white hat with a red puggaree, and possibly a dark (blue or mostly black) jacket and pants, and black boots. However, they could have switched to the yellow-tan-brown corduroy jackets and pants by the end of the Zulu War, as this was fairly plain, hard-wearing uniform stock which was in plentiful supply in Government stores at that time. Note that the yellow-tan-brown color of the uniforms varied from quite yellow through buff, tobacco-color to yellow/brown, according to how much they had been rained on, gotten dirty, etc. These units, while being irregulars, each had buglers. The levies of the various native contingents were probably in a mix of native dress and European clothing (coats and hats/caps) with a red cloth wrapped around their head or arm. The Swazis wore their full regalia into action, which was a magnificent costume which according to Ian Knight, consisted of a busby of trimmed ostrich feathers, with sakabuli feathers hanging below the otter-skin headband body covered with cow-tail ornaments, and around waist a skirt of animal skin. The ox-hide shield was oval, but rounder and smaller than the Zulu version.
Weapons: British infantry were armed with the breech-loading Martini-Henry Mk II (.450 calibre) rifle and a bayonet. The Colonial horse units were armed with a breech-loading Martini-Henry carbine, a revolver and a knife (Bowie type). The artillery used at this battle is confusing, as one source says it comprised four mountain guns under Royal Artillery officers, partly manned by infantrymen and partly by Pretoria volunteers, while another source refers to Krupp guns of the Transvaal Artillery, which could be 7-pdrs as during the earlier campaign under Colonel Rowlands. However, 4-pdr Krupp breech-loading guns were used by the Transvaal Artillery. Yet another source notes that they were two 4-pdr Krupp guns and two 7-pdr mountain guns. Therefore, 7-pdr rifled mountain guns mounted (mule drawn) are used for the scenarios. Historically, these were the 7-pdr rifled muzzle loader (RML) Mk Napoleonic Wars take the 1803-1815 high ground The Army Hospital Corps and Army Medical Department of the British Army provided orderlies, stretcher-bearers and doctors (in blue uniforms) to care as best they could for the ill and wounded. While not listed in any known contemporary orders of battle, it is assumed that there would have been a hospital wagon or such, along with a doctor and orderlies, and that each of the two British regiments would have stretcher-bearers to assist with their wounded (for scenario purposes, but not listed above, two stretchers with bearers should be each of the British regiments - the 21st and 94th). IV steel mountain guns mounted on light carriages, with a maximum range of 2,000 yards, and able to fire shrapnel. The various native contingents were probably armed like they were for the second invasion of Zululand; each levy being given a breech-loading carbine or other firearm, plus their own melee weapon (spear/club/axe) and possibly a shield (for scenario purposes consider them 100% armed with melee weapons and a breech-loading carbine, but fire as Green Troops when using firearms, i.e., modifier is +1 harder to hit). The Swazis were armed with their traditional weapons (and favored the axe) and a shield, plus carried throwing spears (for scenario purposes, the 500 that were armed with firearms has been discounted; using melee weapons only). FIGURE AVAILABILITY Many companies make British infantry for the 1879 period, as well as Colonial Volunteers to represent the mounted units (though dismounted figures are needed for this scenario, not mounted). Figures for the various native contingents are also available (some of the recent plastic NNC figures are very nice for this, wearing all sorts of headgear). For the Swazis, rather than trying to find the perfect figures to represent them, simply use Zulus that are wearing full regalia, including headdress the more feathers and cow-tails the better to represent the Swazi. Dismounted Natal Native Horse should be used for Hlubi s Coloured Mounted Men, and armed with rifles, or in a pinch use NNC rifled-armed figures dressed in mostly European clothes and a wide-brimmed hat.
Napoleonic Wars 1803-1815