Kings Royal Regiment of New York

I just finished this unit using the old Airfix figures (Washington's Army). I'm a bit of a collector. They are the King's Royal Regiment of New York otherwise known as Johnson's Royal Greens. They are a Tory unit (Loyalists) that served in New York and Canada during the AWI. The game is being set up for next week and is a simulation of part of the Battle of Oriskany.

The Royal Greens and a large force of Mohawks (and other Five Nations) under Chief Joseph Brant ambushed a large force of militia that were on their way to relieve Fort Stanwix which was under siege by Barry St. Leger.

The militia was totally taken by surprise and suffered about 50% casualties. The Mohawks suffered severely however and that dampened their enthusiasm for the campaign. They soon became disillusioned and eventually deserted except for a few that remained loyal to Brant.

The St. Leger expedition was a major component of the Burgoyne Campaign of 1777-a campaign that would end with the surrender of the British Army at Saratoga. One of the consequences of the defeat was that the French declared war on Britain becoming an active ally of the rebellious colonists.

You can find a brief history of the Royal Greens here.

This is the Leffert's print of the unit. The facings are white. Some of the figures in my unit have white facings but I've also seen prints where the unit has blue facings. This makes sense given the color of the Queen's Color below. Loyalist units were rarely uniform until later in the war so it's probable they started the war in green coats with white facings and finished far more uniform with dark blue facings that identified a royal regiment.

This is the print from the Osprey book on Loyalist formations. Here the Greens have the latest 1777 uniform with dark blue facings.

The Washington's Army set by Airfix was a pretty good set. Some of the poses had limited utility but the set had advantage that you could paint American Continentals and British regulars with the same set of figures.

In my opinion the firing poses and landing poses were the best. The standard bearer is a conversion of the loading pose.

The Royal Greens formed the blocking force at Oriskany while the Five Nations natives worked around the flanks. After the initial volleys that decimated the militia the battle evolved into clubbed musket and tomahawk. The militia realizing they were surrounded regained their morale under the inspiration of General Herkimer. They fought like Grenadier Guards and inflicted many losses primarily on the Five Nations natives.