Their mobility and combat effectiveness made them a key component of British strategy, often forming the vanguard in assaults and engaging in close combat under difficult conditions, alongside Hessian and other allied German grenadier units which also fought with British forces, participating in battles such as Long Island, White Plains, and Trenton.
Infantry units fighting during the English Civil War could be issued grenades, particularly in siege situations, where clearing fortified positions might be needed, and indeed clay pot grenades were discovered in my home town of Exeter, dating back to the ECW siege of the city, with an example as seen below, held in Exeter's Royal Albert Museum which I visited back in 2015, link below.
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| Clay pot grenade used during the English Civil War in Exeter during one of the two sieges of the city. JJ's Wargames: Royal Albert Museum and Art Gallery - Exeter |
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| British Infantry c1742 and Weapons - L & F Funken 1. Soldier 'hat man', 36th Regiment, 2. Royal Welsh, 23rd, Fusiliers, 3. Grenadier, 49th Regiment, and 4. Soldier, 6th Marine Regiment, 5. Long Land Pattern Musket, 'Brown Bess', 6. Detail of 1727 Brown Bess lock, 7. Brown Bess bayonet. |
The use of grenades fell out of fashion, with the the weapon unreliable, and often as dangerous to the wielder as to the target, but the value of specialist shock infantry, large, tall and powerfully built men, wielding the Long Pattern 'Brown Bess' musket and bayonet, that added to the soldier's reach in hand to hand combat, continued to be a valuable asset to any army commander, particularly on the attack.
By 1771 with the reintroduction of battalion light companies, see my post covering HM's 1st Light Infantry Composite Battalion, 1777, link below, the previous arrangement of the grenadier company being split into two platoons and arranged on either flank of the eight companies of 'hat men' in battalion line, saw the elite senior grenadier company now take their position on the right of the line, whilst the light company took the next senior position out on the left.
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| JJ's Wargames: The World Turned Upside Down - His Majesty's 1st Light Infantry Composite Battalion, 1777. |
However during the American War of Independence, these flank companies were often detached from their regiments to form battalions of either combined flank-companies, or more often as separate grenadier and light infantry battalions, with these composite highly adaptable, mobile, elite units, expected to serve as a lightly equipped strike force, capable of undertaking specialised operations employing rapid marches and redeployments in the challenging terrain of the colonies.
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| By 1771 with the reintroduction of battalion light companies, line battalions now had two senior companies, one of grenadiers and one of light infantry. |
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| The facing colours of the thirteen companies that composed the 1st Grenadier and Light Infantry Battalions in the 1777 Philadelphia Campaign. |
It is perhaps unsurprising to see that the first action that would spark the commencement of the American War of Independence, the march to Lexington and Concord on the 19th April, 1775 would be led by a composite battalion of Light Infantry and of Grenadiers, about 700 men, as Lieutenant-General Thomas Gage, better known to his troops as 'Old Tom', ordered Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Smith of the 10th Foot to lead this elite raiding force.
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| Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, 10th Regiment of Foot, 1764, Portrait by Francis Cotes. |
Smith's Raiding Force
Converged Grenadiers (397 men all ranks): Colonel Francis Smith, Companies from the 4th, 5th, 10th, 18th, 23rd, 38th, 43rd, 47th, 52nd, 59th Foot and the Marine Battalion.
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| A Grenadier Officer of the 10th Foot - Gerry Embleton. The grenadier company of the 10th were part of Smith's command at Lexington and were present at Breed's Hill, attacking the rail fence with the rest of the Grenadier Battalion. |
Converged Light Infantry (357 men all ranks): Major John Pitcairn, Companies from the 4th, 5th, 10th, 23rd, 38th, 43rd, 47th, 52nd, 59th Foot and the Marine Battalion.
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| Parker's Revenge, The Retreat from Concord - Don Troiani British grenadiers on the march back to Boston, as the light infantry deploy to the flank to deal with another rebel militia attack, as Lt. Colonel Smith struggled to maintain control of the situation. |
Sadly for the British troops involved, they may well have been the elite of the army in North America, but the planning and preparation for the operation didn't match their quality, certainly when it came to organising a secret, and well planned expedition that would surprise the local population by its rapidity of execution, its uncertain destination and its likely route of return, preferably not the same one used during the march inland, 'oh dear, how sad, never mind' as a famous drill sergeant-major once opined.
Smith’s force was repeatedly ambushed and sniped at as it withdrew along the roads to Boston, that resulted in several officers killed or wounded as Smith struggled to maintain control. His men lost discipline and hurried onwards in a general retreat, and by the time it reached Lexington, the column was near collapse, succoured by a brigade of British reinforcements, under Brigadier-General Hugh Percy, waiting there.
After dispersing the pursuing militia with artillery, Percy covered the retreat back to Boston, although during the journey, the militia repeatedly fired upon the 1,700-strong force, but Percy’s well-planned defensive formations fought them off.
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| British troops in retreat to Boston, under continual often unseen sniping along the route, and with the alleged scalping of a redcoat, burn property in retaliation. |
Many of the British had not slept for two days and had marched 40 miles (64km) in 21 hours, much of it under fire, and seemingly with atrocities committed along the route by both sides, which resulted in the British losing 73 killed, 173 wounded and 26 missing, whilst American losses were 50 killed, 39 wounded and five missing. Within two days, 15,000 men from across New England had assembled and surrounded the British in Boston.
Two months later, the grenadiers would be back in action on the 17th June 1775 as Gage, now reinforced with an additional eight regiments determined to capture and fortify Dorchester Heights, but alerted to the plan, the Massachusetts Committee of Safety ordered General Ward to occupy and fortify Bunker Hill on the 15th of June.
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| The third and final assault to take Breed's Hill - Map Jeffery P. Berry |
By daybreak of June 17th, the British became aware of the presence of rebel forces on the peninsula and mounted an attack against them, with two assaults on their positions repulsed with significant British casualties but the redoubt was captured on the third assault.
Lieutenant Colonel James Abercrombie led the combined Grenadier Battalion, about 350 men all ranks, consisting of companies from the 4th, 5th, 10th, 23rd, 38th, 43rd, 47th, 52nd Foot, 18/65th Foot combined company, and 1st Marines.
In addition Brigadier General Robert Pigot led a Combined Flank Battalion consisting of Grenadier Companies from the 63rd Foot and 1st Marines, together with the Light Companies from the 35th and 63rd Foot and 2nd Marines.
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| The Redoubt, Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775 - Don Troiani |
The casualty count was the highest suffered by the British in any single encounter during the entire war, all this whilst rebel losses were between 400 to 600 in total, mostly suffered during the retreat, of whom 138 were killed.
On the 26th August 1776, the main body of the British troops marched north-east, below the line of high ground held by the Americans to begin their attack, after information revealed to the British that the most northern of the three roads, Jamaica Pass, across the high ground was not guarded. Howe took his troops over this road and attacked the division on the American left, commanded by Sullivan, in the flank and rear.
Stirling ordered all of his troops to cross the creek to his rear, except a contingent of Maryland troops under the command of Major Mordecai Gist. This group became known to history as the "Maryland 400", although they numbered about 260–270 soldiers, and Stirling and Gist led the troops in a rear-guard action against the overwhelming numbers of British troops, which surpassed 2,000, supported by two cannons, that held long enough to allow the rest of Stirling's men to break contact, but seeing Stirling and the majority of his Marylanders taken prisoner.
The New York and New Jersey campaign in 1776 and the winter months of 1777 would see Howe successful in driving Washington out of New York, but after overextending his reach into New Jersey, ended the New York and New Jersey campaign in January 1777 with only a few outposts near New York City under British control.
The Battle of Brandywine took place on September 11th, 1777, along the Brandywine Creek near Chad's Ford, Pennsylvania, approximately 25 miles southwest of Philadelphia as British forces under General William Howe sought to capture the American capital, the seat of the Continental Congress, to demoralise the patriot cause and sever their supply lines.
Lieutenant General Wilhelm von Knyphausen commanded the left wing column of the British army at the Battle of Brandywine, tasked with a diversionary role to fix the American forces in place at Chad's Ford while the main flanking manoeuvre unfolded upstream.
At this point von Knyphausen attacked Chads Ford and crumpled the American left wing, and as Washington's army streamed away in retreat, elements of General Nathanael Greene's division, held off Howe's column long enough for his army to escape to the northeast.
The grenadiers suffered serious losses at Brandywine with seven of the ten British officers killed in the battle coming from the two grenadier battalions, and an additional seven grenadier officers wounded, including Medows, shot in the arm.
General Gage asked to be and was recalled home on the 26th September 1775 and Lieutenant General Sir William Howe assumed command as Commander in Chief of British land forces in America, and after a short siege from July 1775 to the 17th March 1776 evacuated the 11,000 British soldiers and sailors along with 1,000 Loyalists, sailing to Halifax, Nova Scotia, after agreeing with General Washington not to burn Boston in return for an uninterrupted departure.
In Halifax Howe took the time to retrain his army and have it accoutred to his requirements as he wrote to Lord Germain his intentions to seek out battle with the rebels on his terms, after he had received the required reinforcements.
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| Pioneer of the 59th Foot. Note the facings from this Mollo/McGregor print look purple, but were in fact red, that said the Perry casting renders this figure perfectly, as seen above. |
With his reinforcements Howe organised four battalions of combined grenadiers for the New York and New Jersey campaigns in 1776 under the newly arrived Lieutenant General Charles Earl Cornwallis.
- First Battalion Grenadiers (438 all ranks) from the 4th, 5th, 10th, 17th, 22nd, 23rd, 27th, 35th, 38th, and 40th Regiments of Foot.
- Second Battalion Grenadiers (392 all ranks) from the 43rd, 44th, 45th, 49th, 52nd, 53rd, 63rd, and 64th Regiments of Foot.
- Third Battalion Grenadiers (319 all ranks) from the 15th, 28th, 33rd, 37th, 46th, 54th, and 57th Regiments of Foot.
- Fourth Battalion Grenadiers (284 all ranks) from the 42nd, and 71st Highland Regiments of Foot.
Alongside the grenadiers in Cornwallis' Advance Guard was his own regiment, the 33rd Foot (315 all ranks), and the three battalions of the 71st Highland (Frasers) Regiment (1500 all ranks).
In command of the 1st Grenadiers was Lieutenant Colonel Sir William Medows, who was detached from the 55th Foot to command them on the 14th May 1776, and would distinguish himself at the Battle of Brandywine in September 1777, where he was severely wounded commanding his Grenadiers.
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| Major General Sir William Medows c 1790-92 - Portrait by Robert Home. Lt. Col Medows was appointed commander of the 1st Grenadier Battalion on the 14th May 1776, and would lead them with distinction through the New York/New Jersey Campaign 1776/77, and the Philadelphia Campaign 1777/78. |
In November of 1777, following the death of Lt-Col William Walcott of wounds he received at the Battle of Germantown, Medows exchanged back into the 5th Regiment in place of the deceased Walcott, but he remained in command of the 1st Grenadier Battalion, leading them in action once again at the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778.
On the night of the 21st August 1776, a severe thunderstorm broke over New York, with several Americans struck and killed by lightening, perhaps an ill omen indicating the storm that was about to come.
The next day the first British troops, of the 25,000 men General Howe had gathered together on Staten Island began landing on Long Island with Cornwallis' Grenadiers and Sir Henry Clinton's three battalions of Light Infantry the first troops to embark; that saw 4,000 men landing at Denyse's Ferry and and 5,000 following to land at Gravesend Bay, resulting in the British landing an initial force of some 15,000 men and forty cannon by the end of the day.
Washington however was uncertain about the strength of the British force believing only 9,000 had landed and further uncertain as to if the landing presaged a major attack on Long Island or simply was a feint to distract from the main attack elsewhere.
In the spearhead of Howe's flanking attack and column of march were a screen of the 17th Light Dragoons, and the three light infantry battalions, under the command of Clinton followed by the four battalions of grenadiers the 71st Highlanders and the 33rd Foot under Cornwallis.
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| JJ's Wargames: The World Turned Upside Down - His Majesty's 33rd Foot. |
At 09.00 two cannons were fired at Bedford to signal to Hessian General Von Heister that the flanking column had arrived and for the 5,000 Hessians to attack Flatbush Pass, and by 11.00 General Alexander, the self-styled Lord Stirling, was aware of the threat to his rear, and the need to retreat but was under severe pressure from Grant's 7,000 troops to his front, and had in fact left things rather too late as Cornwallis with the 71st Highland Regiment and the Second Grenadiers had already captured the Gowanus Road to Brooklyn.
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| The Battle of Brooklyn, (Battle of Long Island), Smallwood's Marylanders at the Old Stone House, under attack from the 71st Highlanders, August 27th 1776 - Mark Maritato |
I covered the stand of the Maryland 400 in my post showcasing the 1st Maryland Continental Regiment, link below.
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| JJ's Wargames: The World Turned Upside Down - 1st Maryland (Smallwood's) Continental Regiment. |
The defeat was a shattering loss to the Americans, with their defensive line outmanoeuvred by Howe, yet the defeat could have been worse, as the British flanking column dispersed to attack various targets, and seeing several units pursue right up to the Brooklyn defences.
In Howe's own words, the Grenadiers and 33rd Regiment:
'pursued numbers of the rebels . . . so close to their principal redoubt, and with such eagerness to attack it by storm, that it required repeated orders to prevail upon them to desist . . '
Howe's reasons for insisting on halting his men have been long debated, and he would state that he was unwilling to risk the losses that might stem from a frontal assault, yet in his report to Germain he went on to say:
'Had they been permitted to go on, it is my opinion they would have carried the redoubt.'
It is worth considering that had the lines at Brooklyn been breached there would have been no alternative for the Americans but to surrender entirely, giving the British complete control of Long Island and removing 9,000 rebel soldiers including Washington, from the Continental Army, possibly seeing the entire revolutionary cause die in the process.
Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton commented that:
'had the attempt (on the Brooklyn lines) been made - the completest success would most likely have been the consequence.'
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| British Army Uniforms from 1751 to 1783 - Carl Franklin Grenadier and Fusilier caps of 1768 - 1. Officer's plate, silver laced regiment, 2. Pioneer cap plate, 3. Plate of a Drummer, 4. Officer's plate, gold laced regiment, 5. Officer of Foot Guards plate, 6. Enlisted man's plate, 1st Foot Guards, 7. Enlisted man's plate, Coldstream Guards, 8, Enlisted man's plate, 3rd Foot Guards, 9. Enlarged view of the centre plate of the Foot Guards, 10. Scaled view of an enlisted man's plate, 11. Right side view, 12. Rear view, 13. Left side view, 14. The later cap of a gold laced fusilier regiment, 15. The side view of and enlisted man fusilier cap, and 16. a front view of the later fusilier cap. |
In 1777 unlike the previous year, reinforcements were much harder to come by for the British forces operating in North America, with greater reliance now being directed to raising and recruiting formations of Loyalists to bolster the respective armies in Quebec and New York.
In readiness for the campaigning year ahead, Howe reorganised his army around four infantry brigades, a reserve brigade of three highland battalions from the 42nd and 71st, and two Hessian brigades, one of grenadiers and one of musketeer battalions.
The spearhead of these forces would be an Advance Guard of the 16th Light Dragoons, Ferguson's Rifles, Queen's Rangers, a two battalion brigade of Guards, two battalions of combined light infantry, and two battalions of combined grenadiers, with the latter units seeing the four smaller combined battalions of light infantry and grenadiers of 1776 effectively brought together as two of each, more powerful battalions, now numbering some 500-600 men apiece.
The First Grenadier Battalion under the command of Lt. Col. Medows now consisted of the grenadier companies from the 4th, 5th, 10th, 15th, 17th, 22nd, 23rd, 28th, 33rd, 35th, 38th, and 44th Foot.
The Second Grenadier Battalion under the command of Lt. Col. Henry Monckton with the grenadier companies from the 37th, 40th, 42nd Royal Highland 43rd, 45th, 46th, 49th, 52nd, 55th, 57th, 63rd, 64th, 71st Fraser's Highland Foot and Marines.
General George Washington, commanding the Continental Army, positioned his troops to defend key crossings along the creek, anticipating a direct British advance and hoping to inflict a decisive defeat that could rally American support.
British troop strength at the battle totalled approximately 15,500 soldiers, including about 5,000 Hessians , whilst the American forces numbered about 15,000 (14,600 engaged), comprising Continental regulars and Pennsylvania militia.
Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis commanded the British right wing column, which formed the primary flanking force in Howe's plan to envelop the American right, with this column comprising approximately 8,200 men, predominantly elite British infantry with integrated Hessian auxiliaries, that emphasised these troops mobility and shock tactics ideal for the rapid march and assault across the Brandywine Creek's upper fords.
The main assault brigades, included the elite British Guards Brigade (945 men under Brigadier General Edward Mathew, comprising the 1st and 2nd Guards Battalions and a light company) and the Grenadier Brigade (1,270 men in two battalions under Lieutenant Colonel Medows), which delivered the decisive uphill assaults against Sullivan's division.
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| A battery of Rebels opened on Brandywine Heights the 11th of September 1777 in the county of Birmingham - Watercolour painted by Ensign William Augustus West, Viscount Cantelupe, 1777. British Ensign William Augustus West, Viscount Cantelupe, fought at the Battle of Brandywine and sketched this scene in his journal. It is the only known eyewitness sketch of the battle to survive. In the foreground, the British Guards Brigade is formed in a battle line along a fence, with the artillery attached to them upon the road to their rear. In the background, to the left, can be seen the Light Companies of the Guards attacking the flanks of the 1st Maryland Brigade, while they attempt to form up. The rising smoke at the centre of the scene is from the firing of three Continental Army cannons on the hill top. Details such as various farm buildings and fences are visible in this sketch. Directly to the left of the Guards, the 2nd Grenadiers and 1st Grenadiers were similarly deployed ready to advance up the slopes ahead to meet the New Jersey Brigade. |
At about 4.30pm the British army began to form and launch their main attack at Birmingham, with on the British right the Brigade of Guards, at the centre the Grenadiers, and to their left were the British light infantry and Hessian Jaegers. Supporting the main line of British infantry were the Hessian Grenadiers and 3rd/4th Brigades.
The Grenadiers in their bearskin caps must have been an impressive sight to behold with Meadows seen to address his soldiers by saying;
"Grenadiers, put on your caps (bearskins); for fighting and drinking I'll match you against the world!"
Whilst an eyewitness to their advance remarked;
"Nothing could be more dreadfully pleasing than the line moving on to the attack; the Grenadiers put on their caps and struck up their march, believe me I would not exchange those three minutes of rapture to avoid ten thousand times the danger."
The New Jersey Brigade kept up a steady fire as the Grenadiers advanced, with the entire opposing lines now engaged, that saw the American left break as the Foot Guards charged General De Borre's disordered Marylanders and swept up Birmingham Hill, followed by the Grenadiers who leapt over a line of fence rails and charged the New Jersey Brigade in their front, who also fled.
As the pressure developed along the American line that composed Sullivan's force, the Foot Guards pushed across Birmingham Hill in the wake of the Marylanders whilst the 1st Grenadiers advanced somewhat parallel to a road on their left, while the Hessian Grenadiers formed line on their right to come into line with the Guards.
The whole force encountered a wooded ravine that could not be crossed, and so the 1st Grenadiers and flank companies of the Foot Guards attempted to get around it, whilst the 16th Light Dragoons to their left patrolled down the road to Dilworth, but with the effectual collapse of the American left flank resistance started collapsing along the line.
The British captured Philadelphia two weeks later on September 26th, resulting in the city falling under British control for nine months, until June 1778.
My 24-figure 1st Grenadier Battalion is composed of figures from the Perry Miniatures metal range, with charging grenadiers, a wounded officer in a sling, a perfect model to represent the wounded Colonel Medows, and the pioneer, axe stowed, but bayonet fixed, straight out of the Mollo/McGregor plates.
As usual, my unit is finished off with a set of low-profile sabot bases from Supreme Littleness Designs.
I'm off to Colours 2026 tomorrow, hence my posting this showcase a little earlier than usual, and then I will be off on my travels this month, but intend to pick up things from here with work turning to the Pennsylvanians that formed the 3rd Pennsylvania Brigade under Brigadier-General Thomas Conway, whilst continuing progress with the British elite battalions of Light Infantry, Grenadiers, and eventually the Brigade of Guards.
As always more anon.
JJ
