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Too busy to post
Posted by Martin on October 25, 2009
The surviving Ordinarfahne of the von Niesemeuschel regiment
Most of October seems to have slipped by since the last time I posted anything new. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy and it certainly doesn’t mean that the rest of the world has been idle either.
Barry and Clarence, as you may have noticed from a recent comment here on BfK, are now on the very cusp of publishing the Republic to Empire rules. Apparently the proofs are back from the printers, the presses are rolling and pre-orders will be available within a week.
Also, I seem to be in a modicum of demand. Rosemary of Rosemary and Co. has been in contact with me and we’ve had a very civilized correspondence. I’ve heard from several other painters that Rosemary makes excellent brushes at VFM prices so it was a pleasure to hear from her directly. I now have several review samples of her Kolinsky sable brushes that I’m going to try out over the coming weeks and review here.
So just what have I been up to? Well, mostly, I’ve been digging into the arcane mysteries of 1813 Saxon line infantry flags. You may recall that, in my review of the GMB 1811 Saxon flags, I mentioned that the history of what happened to these flags in the 1812 campaign and how the lost ones were replaced in 1813 was very complex. Well, it certainly was! But I think that a joint effort by Grahame Black, Peter F, me and a couple of our correspondents (thanks to Andrew Brentnall and von Winterfeldt) means that we’ve almost got to the bottom of it. And I know (again from another comment here at BfK) that Grahame has almost got the 1813 sets ready for release. So expect to see those reviewed here in the near future too. At that point, I might also share the results of our research and add it to the Saxon Army Resources page. But in the meantime, as a taster, the photo at the top of this post is of one of the flags that survives to this day.
Befreiungskriege 1813-14 
Rob said
Martin,
Thanks for the update (even if it wasn’t the “Calpe Grenadiers are ready” update I was hoping for 🙂
That flag is a marvel to see… whe did you get the picture and are there closeups? It’s amazing to see fragmnts of history like this that really humanize the little tin men that sit on the dek in front of me and it’s a great addition to your saxon resources.
And please do add the resources that you were sent to the resource page… I followed the conversaion on TMP and it would be great to see the scans of the rare books and pamphlets that you and Grahame were sent!
Rob
Martin said
Rob, this is a photo of one of several surviving flags that are held by the German Military History museum in Dresden. The full-sized photo is much larger and appears in a booklet published, I think, by the Saxon Military History Circle. I suspect I would need permission from one or the other of both these bodies to reproduce the image full size.
Indeed, copyright restrictions will probably prevent me from including scans of the source material here. This is not because the original works are still in copyright but rather because the specific scanned editions to which I have had access may still be in copyright. But when I do update the Saxon Army Resources page, I will provide complete references to the relevant material.
Phil said
What are these flags made of? I was looking at some old flags in the Army Museum in Paris a couple of weeks ago and was surprised by how stout the construction looked. I’m wondering how these flags actually looked on their poles – probably not as limp as the flags we see today.
Martin said
I haven’t seen this flag in person but they’re typically made of substantial material – sometimes heavy silk. There’s a lot of material involved and often a lot of embroidery. All of which makes for a weighty item – especially if it’s been exposed to a havy rainstorm!
Rob said
Martin,
Is there any news about the article that you wrote for WI? Any idea on when it will see print?
Rob
Martin said
I was at Calpe Towers doing the photography for the article this last weekend. Hopefully, it’ll go into the next issue of WI but I’m awaiting confirmation from Dan. Fear not, as soon as I get a confirmed publication date, I’ll mention it here.