Every general knows a battle plan lasts until the first shots erupt. And as such, grit and experience of soldiers standing fast when faced with war’s horrors decides the day; who will be the victor, and who accepts defeat. Yet one other factor is in play. Improvise. Call it misfortune, opportunity, or just plain luck, be it good or bad. But as they say given lemons, make lemonade. For Colonel Howard, when a full basket of lemons dumped at his feet during the Battle of Cowpens, he turned what was a grievous mistake, destined to doom the American army to defeat, and turned it into a miraculous gift and total victory. It was the veteran officer who, in an instant after a sheet of led decimated the charging redcoats, saw what was needed to claim the day. The entire British invasion of the south was turned on its heels. For General Cornwallis’ army, it was the beginning of the end, manifested in the eventual march to Yorktown. In one moment, one order, Lt. Colonel Howard earned his place in history.
The Silver Medal awarded to Lieutenant Colonel Howard by the Continental Congress for his leadership and bravery at the Battle of the Cowpens.
After the disaster at Camden, Howard commanded the 1st Maryland, the best infantry unit in the Continental Army for the rest of the American Revolution. was a superb commander, perhaps the finest battalion commander in the Continental Army. Major General Greene would later write, "Howard, as good an officer as the world affords. He has great ability and the best disposition to promote the service. He was 28 at Cowpens and Guilford Courthouse and would be 29 when he mustered out.
Even though the various rules I am using don't use battalion/regimental commanders, the mounted commander (there are a total of 4 mounted Continental commanders) from the Continental Army Brigade box will be based on Howard - as closely as I can base a figure on a historical commander in 13.5 mm!
One of the advantages of taking pictures is that I notice slight corrections that need to be made. I need to touch up some black on his tricorn and fix a smeared button on the coat lapel. In addition, several portraits show Howard with some white in his cockade which I might try,
Okay, let's finish the 1st Maryland. As a reminder the strip with the yellow tape on the tricorns is the Delaware Company which is part of the 1st Maryland. I have now finished the trousers/coveralls/etc.:
Unfortunately it looks like I accidentally deleted the photos of the next steps. Essentially what I did was paint the muskets Vallejo (V) Mahogany Brown, I undercoated the metal parts of the muskets with V Flat Black and then painted it V Gold. After that just some cleanup on the figures.
The strips were then carefully cut off the sprues, a few spots of V Dark Blue to paint where the figures were attached to the sprues and then I glued the strips to the included plastic bases with modelers glue.
There is no definitive evidence on what the flag of the 1st Maryland looked during the Southern Campaign other than they carried a unit color and a few smaller flags. The above flag was a common pattern used by Continental units, State units and militia and I thought that it looked cool with the completed unit.
Next up I'm going to spray with a clear, matte protective coat and then complete the bases for both the 1st Maryland and the artillery unit. Maybe I'll have some new terrain for the final pictures!