Here is the latest addition to my ever growing pile of Peninsular War figures- this is a Spanish 12 pdr crewed by civilian women. I bought it on Ebay.
Initially it seems a bit of a odd idea: why would women be crewing a cannon after all? However a bit of research I found that there was certainly incidents in the Peninsular war when women did assist the men crewing artillery. I am not sure how often it happened, or if a gun was ever entirely crewed by women as this model depicts, but I liked the figures so I painted it anyway. I have based the figures separate from the gun, with the idea that I might get a male gun crew too, and then I will be able to swap them about. I might even get another one of these cannons as the ladies will be very easy to convert into ordinary civilians- the girl with the bucket will not need changing at all, and the lady with the mop could be converted to carry a pitchfork or broom. The other two might require a little bit more work, but it would be worth it as these are nice models and female civilian figures are not in plentiful supply.
As a side note Agustina de Aragon was a heroine of the Peninsular war when she crewed a cannon after its gunners were killed (or ran off). She later led some guerillas, then somehow joined Wellington's army as an artillery officer and fought during the Battle of Vitoria.
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| Agustina de Aragon- Someone please sculpt this in 28mm! |
Yes lease, I'd buy that diorama, even if I never play Napoleonics (though I have been known to paint them from time to time).
ReplyDeleteThe Lady with the jacket, is that one you converted or did you buy it like that? I'd love to get these ladies for myself.
Great work on the paint jobs too! :D
I am glad you like them and no I haven't converted any of them.
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