The wonderful thing about our North Star 1672 range is that the figures will do for many different nations armies in the period 1665-1680. This is
because it is a time just before uniforms, and the figures are all dressed in the fashions common amongst soldiers throughout Western Europe.
because it is a time just before uniforms, and the figures are all dressed in the fashions common amongst soldiers throughout Western Europe.
This of course includes Britain.
The years covered by our range is called the Restoration Period in
Britain as it was the time the monarchy, represented by Charles II,
was restored after the English Civil War.
It was also the genesis of the British Army. Britain, tired of soldiers
and war, had disbanded much of it’s forces after the Civil War and
Oliver Cromwell’s reign. With the return of Charles II to England in
1660, the units still under arms swore allegiance to the King and
became the senior units of the British Army.
Some of the infantry regiments:
Coldstream Guards
Grenadier Guards
Scots Guards
1st Regiment (Royal Scots)
2nd Regiment (The Queen’s)
3rd Regiment (The Buffs)
st
The years covered by our range is called the Restoration Period in
Britain as it was the time the monarchy, represented by Charles II,
was restored after the English Civil War.
It was also the genesis of the British Army. Britain, tired of soldiers
and war, had disbanded much of it’s forces after the Civil War and
Oliver Cromwell’s reign. With the return of Charles II to England in
1660, the units still under arms swore allegiance to the King and
became the senior units of the British Army.
Some of the infantry regiments:
Coldstream Guards
Grenadier Guards
Scots Guards
1st Regiment (Royal Scots)
2nd Regiment (The Queen’s)
3rd Regiment (The Buffs)
st
Colour.
Guns
They did not despise guns, though, and the new weapons
became increasingly common in the second half of the
nineteenth century. At first they were the usual African trade
muskets, cheap muzzle-loaders and worn out elephant guns,
but by the 1890s modern rifles were being imported in large
quantities. In 1889 the infamous "Rudd Concession", one of
several attempts by the white men to con Lobengula out of his
kingdom, promised him 1,000 Martini Henrys and 100,000
rounds of ammunition, and most of this seems to have been
delivered. In fact in the war of 1893 the Matabele possessed
more breechloaders than their white opponents. But firearms
never displaced spears as the main fighting arm, and were
seldom employed very effectively. F. C. Selous visited
Lobengula not long after the battle which brought him to
power in 1870, and was told by a hunter named Philips, who
had treated the wounded after the battle, that although both
sides possessed large numbers of muskets nearly all the
wounds were caused by spears, mostly at very close quarters:
"In many instances he found two men lying dead together,
each with the other's assegai through his heart." In 1893 the
war correspondent C. L. Norris- Newman concluded that the
Matabele were still poor shots, but were "much more
dangerous" with the assegai.
Decline
It is often argued that the Matabele had declined in various
ways from the high standards which existed in Zululand. Their
dress uniforms were less elaborate, their shields less carefully
made, and their stabbing assegais had smaller blades (in fact
these were often old Zulu ones which had been repeatedly
resharpened). Norris-Newman, who had been in the Zulu War
of 1879 as well as the Matabele campaign of 1893, thought
became increasingly common in the second half of the
nineteenth century. At first they were the usual African trade
muskets, cheap muzzle-loaders and worn out elephant guns,
but by the 1890s modern rifles were being imported in large
quantities. In 1889 the infamous "Rudd Concession", one of
several attempts by the white men to con Lobengula out of his
kingdom, promised him 1,000 Martini Henrys and 100,000
rounds of ammunition, and most of this seems to have been
delivered. In fact in the war of 1893 the Matabele possessed
more breechloaders than their white opponents. But firearms
never displaced spears as the main fighting arm, and were
seldom employed very effectively. F. C. Selous visited
Lobengula not long after the battle which brought him to
power in 1870, and was told by a hunter named Philips, who
had treated the wounded after the battle, that although both
sides possessed large numbers of muskets nearly all the
wounds were caused by spears, mostly at very close quarters:
"In many instances he found two men lying dead together,
each with the other's assegai through his heart." In 1893 the
war correspondent C. L. Norris- Newman concluded that the
Matabele were still poor shots, but were "much more
dangerous" with the assegai.
Decline
It is often argued that the Matabele had declined in various
ways from the high standards which existed in Zululand. Their
dress uniforms were less elaborate, their shields less carefully
made, and their stabbing assegais had smaller blades (in fact
these were often old Zulu ones which had been repeatedly
resharpened). Norris-Newman, who had been in the Zulu War
of 1879 as well as the Matabele campaign of 1893, thought
that overall they were "not as brave" as the Zulus. Nevertheless
their neighbours continued to regard them with a mixture of
awe and terror, and under Lobengula the warriors' training
regime could still be extremely tough. In the 1870s the explorer
Emil Holub collected accounts of the training regime of the
Matabele armies, and claimed that although high class "Zansi"
boys were raised in rather leisurely fashion in their fathers'
kraals, perhaps relying on their natural sense of social
superiority to motivate them in battle, the training of prisoners
of war and other non-Matabele recruits was far more rigorous.
On one occasion only one hundred and seventeen out of a
hundred and sixty recruits survived the training period. This is
not surprising if some of the more lurid stories are true. Holub
says that, apart from fatigues, route marches and mock fights
with clubs, one task involved killing a wild hyaena with a stick.
A former Shona captive quoted by Summers and Pagden adds
that groups of young warriors would be sent to kill buffalos
with clubs, and even to tackle lions bare-handed. Selous
remarked that the man-eating lions which plagued other parts of
the continent were almost unknown in Matabeleland, where the
lions were scared of the people rather the other way around! In
this context the story told by the elephant hunter William
Finaughty, of Mzilikazi ordering one of his regiments to haul a
man-eating crocodile out of a river and bring it to him alive, can
be seen not as the whim of a capricious tyrant, but as part of a
consistent policy of accustoming young warriors to hardship
and bloodshed. The deliberate brutalisation of young captives
and conscripts has chilling parallels to the use of child soldiers
in Africa today. The Legend.
Fall of the kingdom
After the fall of the Matabele kingdom all sorts of romantic
legends circulated about the whereabouts of Lobengula's
supposed hoard of gold and diamonds. According to the best
awe and terror, and under Lobengula the warriors' training
regime could still be extremely tough. In the 1870s the explorer
Emil Holub collected accounts of the training regime of the
Matabele armies, and claimed that although high class "Zansi"
boys were raised in rather leisurely fashion in their fathers'
kraals, perhaps relying on their natural sense of social
superiority to motivate them in battle, the training of prisoners
of war and other non-Matabele recruits was far more rigorous.
On one occasion only one hundred and seventeen out of a
hundred and sixty recruits survived the training period. This is
not surprising if some of the more lurid stories are true. Holub
says that, apart from fatigues, route marches and mock fights
with clubs, one task involved killing a wild hyaena with a stick.
A former Shona captive quoted by Summers and Pagden adds
that groups of young warriors would be sent to kill buffalos
with clubs, and even to tackle lions bare-handed. Selous
remarked that the man-eating lions which plagued other parts of
the continent were almost unknown in Matabeleland, where the
lions were scared of the people rather the other way around! In
this context the story told by the elephant hunter William
Finaughty, of Mzilikazi ordering one of his regiments to haul a
man-eating crocodile out of a river and bring it to him alive, can
be seen not as the whim of a capricious tyrant, but as part of a
consistent policy of accustoming young warriors to hardship
and bloodshed. The deliberate brutalisation of young captives
and conscripts has chilling parallels to the use of child soldiers
in Africa today. The Legend.
Fall of the kingdom
After the fall of the Matabele kingdom all sorts of romantic
legends circulated about the whereabouts of Lobengula's
supposed hoard of gold and diamonds. According to the best
