Mid War Spanish Additions (cont. 10) - 1st and 2nd Regimiento de Asturias

These two units of line infantry were raised in the northern Spanish region of Asturias. At least one of these units, the 2nd Regimiento, fought alongside Wellington at Toulouse as part of the Spanish 4th Army.

Each unit is 28 figures strong, including the four skirmish figures to throw out front. Figures are Front Rank.

The flag is by Adolfo Ramos.

1st Regimiento de Asturias.

The uniform I have chosen for these units is speculative: It is based on three pieces of purely circumstantial evidence. 

In 1809, I believe that the 1st Asturias was issued with a brown uniform faced red and round hats but, these would be ready for replacement in 1812 (uniforms were supposed to last three years in Spanish service). 

Blue coats with sky blue collar and cuffs and blue pantaloons were supplied, via Portugal, to troops serving in northern Spain in May 1812. Some of the so called 'English' style uniforms started to arrive as early as 1811 but the detail of these (cap style, facing colours, etc.) is uncertain.

Sometime between 1813-1814, when uniforms again became centrally regulated, the coats for all three Asturias regiments (one was light infantry) were prescribed to be blue with light blue collars and cuffs (2nd red cuffs in 1811), and blue pantaloons. 

Same unit, different view. 

The plate for this uniform (Osprey, Spanish Army of the Napoleonic Wars vol.3 1812-1815) shows a fusilier with a red plume and white lace - so I copied it. 

Other sources suggest the plume and lace for fusiliers was white, red for the grenadier company and green for the light company. (Haythornethwaite, Uniforms of the Peninsular Wars 1807-1814) - I've followed this pattern for the flank companies.

2nd Regimiento de Asturias. 

Although all British supplied blue coats with light blue collars had matching light blue cuffs they might have been changed, to red, on arrival. The possibility for this is based on Rene Chartrand's statement that  "Naturally, many 'improvements' could be added by regimental tailors...." (Osprey, Spanish Army of the Napoleonic Wars vol.2 1808-1812) 

Same unit, different view. 

A lot of the British supplied backpacks were made of yellow canvas. It makes a nice contrast with the dark blue of the uniform.

Next up, Regimiento de Hibernia. The uniform for this unit is, to say the least, intriguing. 

Mid War Spanish Additions (cont. 9) - Guerrillas and another table

Okay, so first I must tell you that you are seeing these units out of painting sequence. I had painted 1st Asturias before these with plans for 2nd Asturias (which I will show you together) but, 1st Asturias brought me to twelve units of infantry and I wanted to skip the number between twelve and fourteen by painting two small units of Guerrillas together - this army will never have thirteen units of anything, and none of my previous armies have either. Actually, I'm not superstitious. I'll happily travel on a number thirteen bus or stay in a room thirteen (though there are very few of the latter as hoteliers know that some people will want to be moved: Hotels have a 12A or 14A, or more commonly skip 13 completely): For me, skipping thirteen is more of a quirky tradition than anything else, probably acquired whilst working in small hotels.

Anyway, hotel trivia done with, onward and upward. Two units of guerrillas and another command stand. No Spanish army is complete without a couple of guerrilla units, IMHO.

Guerrilla unit 1. 

All these figures are Front Rank straight out of the box, except I changed the arm position of one which I had intended to use on the command stand below, but didn't (see unit 2's leader in the green jacket).

After following my usual practice of painting the hands and faces first, I painted all the base colours for the clothes before moving onto the shading. Usually I do each colour with shading before moving onto the next colour.

This is the best way to achieve the balance of colours you want in irregular units because you can change the balance quickly, if you need to, before doing all the shading work.

Guerrillas 2.

The key colour for guerrillas is brown so I painted that colour first, making sure I painted a lot of it. Then I added the other colours. 

One decision I made early was that all shirts would be white: To my mind nothing, at distance, gives the look of 'in shirt sleeves' better. Coloured shirts can often look like jackets. 

Then I painted all the leather bits, muskets, sandals, etc. Finishing with metals.

My painting style is quite 'bright' so I had to make a real effort to tone these figures down a bit. Even 'toning down' I think these figures still 'pop' - apparently, I can't help myself.

I have based my guerrillas as small bands in extended line (as per units like the 95th) with two extra skirmish stands per unit. 

At the scale I usually play each unit would represent a large band of several hundred so I can't see them featuring in historic battles much but, they will be useful for smaller scenarios and to add flavour to larger fictitious battles. 

BAD JOKE ALERT! Is it possible to play a Spanish Napoleonic battle without a very big cannon and Frank Sinatra doing it Cary Grant's way? Sadly, Sophia doesn't feature in either of my guerrilla bands and, before you bring it up, I know there was a joke in there somewhere about having Sophia Loren on a table.

Divisional command stand number 5.

When I made up my C-in-C stand I had intended to use a much smaller, less complex, table set up and I even made a small trestle table out of birch wood (ice lolly stick) for it. It's simply a single 'plank' of birch bevelled on the underside edges, to make it look thinner, with a birch 'X' trestle leg arrangement. 

Top tip: Ice lolly sticks, most commonly made from birch wood, are great for making tables, five bar gates, etc. Much stronger than balsa wood, and free with ever lolly.

Well, that table had to go somewhere and here it is.  

Figures by Front Rank and feature the guerrilla leader without a modified arm: His extended arm serves to protect the (more fragile) table when the stand is being picked up. The table is actually pretty solid but, clumsy fingers, etc.

The table features a partly rolled up map and some sheets of paper (for orders to be written on). These are paper.

The rolled map is being held open with a book (a small block of wood painted to look like a closed book). 

The sheets of paper are 'paper-weighted' by a large silver, silver lidded inkpot with a quill in it (the pot and lid are a couple of pieces of white metal, cut from a very thick spear shaft casting, superglued together; the quill is a pin and cut down 'feather plume' from a Steel Fist Italian Wars head - pot and feather have been drilled and connected together by the pin which serves as the quill).

Next up, my 1st and 2nd Asturias.

Mid War Spanish Additions (cont. 8) - More Cavalry

 So, two more cavalry units. Half of the cavalry (3 of 6) are now done!

Numancia Dragoons with black facings.

The picture (of a trooper in bicorn) I used as a guide for this unit describes this uniform as that worn by the Numancia between 1808 - 1814. 

Note: During the war, many (all?) dragoon regiments replaced the long coat with a shorter coatee and some (most?) adopted a Tarleton style helmet.

Two notable things about Spanish dragoon regiments in yellow coats:

1. They all had red turnbacks regardless of facing colour. 

2. The uniform for musicians was invariably a red coat with yellow facings and turnbacks regardless of regimental facing colour; their shabraques were red rather than yellow.

These figures are Front Rank, straight out of the box. 

The flag is by Adolfo Ramos. This flag is not actually the one for this regiment (unavailable) but, the differences in the designs is very small and generally indistinguishable - I have both of his dragoon flags and I can hardly tell them apart even at reading distance.

Another cavalry unit. I have named it Regimiento de Alcantara. Note that Alcantara raised two regiments of line / heavy cavalry and I have no info on the second. I hope the French are wearing sun glasses when they come across these boys!

These figures are Front Rank with some conversion. They started life as Belgian light dragoons. 

The trooper's plumes have been replaced with Milliput pompoms. 

The Belgian officers both came wearing distinctly weird stovepipe shakos and required complete head swaps (the officer now sports bicorn; the standard bearer now sports a French officer's bell top shako).

Caveat emptor: This uniform is speculative at best or, at worst, completely made up: The descriptions I have of this unit say that the coat alternated, at various times, between white and blue. Invariably my descriptions say that the coat had green collar, cuffs and lapels; buttons were brass; waistcoats and pantaloons were buff. Early in the war they wore bicorns but many regiments of line cavalry changed over to shakos at some point. Shabraques were blue. 

The Perry version (on their website) does not have lapels, shows them wearing grey pants with a yellow stripe, and their shako has a yellow pompom.  

My figures are wearing overalls so I have gone with Perry and painted them grey with a yellow stripe. 

I followed the yellow theme through to the shako cords and top band but, fearing too much yellow went with a, more traditionally Spanish, red pompom. I might repaint the top band black at some point.

The cavalry flag is by Adolfo Ramos. 

I went with Adolfo Ramos for my flags because he does several cavalry flags (GMB Designs doesn't make any), and has a selection of less well known infantry flag designs. 

Note: AR shipping is very reasonable but, AR has a minimum order value requirement of around 10 euros - so don't get caught out at the end of your project (I changed my mind about the identity of a couple of units) facing that particular checkout pop-up! I had to bite my tongue, then the bullet.

Next up, two units of Guerrillas and another command stand - and still more (already painted) to come after that.

Mid War Spanish Additions (cont. 7) - Olivenza Cazadores

I used the depiction of the 1812-13 uniform in Osprey's Spanish Army of the Napoleonic Wars (3) 1812-1815 (plate B) and the figures depicted on the Perry Miniatures site to do this unit .

The basic Front Rank figures I have used to represent this unit started life as early Portuguese cavalry in Tarleton style helmets / caskets. 

They required quite a lot of cutting and filing and there is a significant fudge.

The cavalry flag is by Adolfo Ramos. 

Note: You can buy Olivenza Cazadores from Perry Miniatures and very nice they look. But, this is a strictly Front Rank collection. 

There are twelve figures, pictured here in their uniform (kinda) of 1812-13. 

The first conversion job was to remove the brass scale shoulder wings. This was done with a scalpel followed by some careful filing. The separate positional sword arms were then glued and pinned: The separate arm made filing easier than it might have been with the alternative 'Trooper at rest' figure. 

A shot of the rear view. It's a very pretty unit.

This shot also shows the big fudge (note the waist belt straps). I'm pretty sure that the Olivenza Cazadores were not equipped with a sabretache - mine have them. It looked like too much work, and beyond my skill level, to remove them cleanly.

Note: Some Spanish hussar units did have a sabretache as part of their parade equipment but they weren't issued for use on campaign. Was it the same for Cazadores?

This shot clearly shows the other piece of 'metal removal'. 

These Front Rank Portuguese figures come wearing a short coatee with turnbacks. 

The Olivenza Cazadores seem to have worn waste length jackets without any form of turnbacks. So, I cut and filed them away. Although this was a bit fiddly, the result turned out better, and cleaner, than I thought it would.

Next up, my unit of the Numancia Dragoons.

Mid War Spanish Additions (cont.6) - Grenaderos de la Isla de Canaria

The 1810-11 uniform details for this unit were taken from the watercolour by Antonio Pareira Pacheco. 

The Osprey (Spanish Army of the Napoleonic Wars Vol.2) description for the pictured officer says that this uniform was "white jacket and trousers, red collar, cuffs and piping, gold epaulettes and plain black round hat."  

The figures are Front Rank straight out of the box, without modification.

The flag is by Adolfo Ramos. It is a complete fudge and probably bears no relation to any flag this unit carried. I have bent the flag (actually for Valencia) so that it is hard to tell what flag it actually is. A simple case of any flag will have to do.

The watercolour of this unit shows an officer's jacket without turnbacks. The Front Rank officer figures come as pictured (they do not have turnbacks) but, the accompanying rank and file figures do have turnbacks: Given the red piping I have, for ease, painted the turnbacks on the rank and file red - they could just have easily been white piped red (if they ever existed on the uniforms of the rank and file in the first place).

The watercolour shows that the pictured officer sports a black sword belt over his right shoulder. I have chosen to follow that belt colour into the rank and file because it's a nice contrast against the white jacket.

 

Apparently, on landing up in Cadiz, this battalion (only one battalion was raised) was deployed to help serve the Cadiz artillery. It won distinction in the city's forward batteries and serving as an infantry battalion at the Battle of Chiclana [sic. Barrosa]. 

Given that it served as infantry during the Battle of Barrosa, I wonder if when with artillery in the forward works it was deployed as detachments to defend the Spanish guns from the incursions of marauding French raiders during the long siege, rather than as extra gun crew - just a speculative thought.

When I started this series of posts I promised seven units of newly painted infantry - this is the seventh, bringing the total infantry units done to eleven - so that should be it for the additional infantry but, I've continued painting and there are a few more units to come. First though, the promised posts on the three newly painted cavalry units: Next up my Olivenza Cazadores.

BTW. One of the reasons, discounts aside, that I tend to buy everything at once (this army was basically bought as one purchase and only Front Rank's issues during Covid meant it was delivered in bits) is for active painting periods like this one. A lead pile is there for this reason: I don't want to be messing about with planning figure orders when I'm in the mood for painting.

Mid War Spanish Additions (cont. 5) - Infanteria de Marina

This uniform, for 2nd Battalion 4th Marine Regiment, was taken from Plate B1 in the Osprey book Spanish Army of the Napoleonic Wars (2) 1808-1812. The uniform is described as being for 1810-11.

The 28 figures, 24 in close order plus 4 skirmishers, are by Front Rank. They are straight out of the box and without alteration.

The marine's flag is by Adolfo Ramos. The flag's availability, with its distinctive anchors, is the reason I chose to do this unit. I used the name given to the flag by Mr. Ramos - "Infanteria de Marina" - for the unit's name plate. 

Fudge alert:

The Osprey plate shows a fusilier in knee length white breeches, grey stockings and short black gaiters. This legwear is not available from Front Rank so my men wear white trousers. 

He otherwise wears a blue jacket with green collar and cuffs, without piping (or turnbacks?). My figure has turnbacks so I have kept with the overall scheme and painted these green.

The plate in the Osprey is obviously taken from a written description, rather than a contemporary picture, because the plate information says that "They probably had round hats, brass buttons and a brass anchor collar badge". I have followed this but, for ease of painting, I have omitted the collar badge.

Next up the Grenaderos de la Isla de Canaria.  

Mid War Spanish Additions (cont.4) - Regimiento de Leales de Fernando VII

A short post on another addition. This is Regimiento de Leales de Fernando VII. It comprises my standard 24 figures plus four skirmishers.

This regiment was raised in 1808 and it fought at Talavera. It features on most wargames tables in the all light blue (red colars, cuffs and shako band) uniform of that time, pictured in the famous print (five fellas on a knoll) after Gomez & Clonard. This uniform is too early for mid war.

In 1810, its 1st Battalion was in Cadiz, where it presumably got the new uniform pictured in a watercolour by Antonio Pareira Pacheco. The other two battalions were campaigning in Extremadura and I don't have a clue how these were uniformed.

The new uniform was a dark blue coatee with red collar and cuffs, piped white. Trousers were white; buttons, and the officers epaulettes, upper shako band and cords, were silver coloured.

The picture by Pacheco shows an officer (without shako plume) and I'm unsure of the shako worn by the rank and file. For the earlier uniform this had a tufted red pompom and a red top band: It was so distinctive that I decided to keep it for the rank and file for this uniform, and added (kept the cast on plume) for the officer figure - so a bit of an aesthetic fudge here.

Conversions: The rank and file figures by Front Rank come without pompoms. How I made them can be found here.

The figures are by Front Rank. The flag I have given this unit is pucker but, it's the regiment's 1808 flag (it may / might have been kept, who knows?): the flag is by Adolfo Ramos.

Next up, a battalion of marine infantry in round hats.

Mid War Spanish Additions (cont.3) - Toledo

Two battalions of Regimiento de Toledo in the uniform dated to 1811-13. I liked this uniform so much that I wanted to paint up two units in it rather than one. I think you'll agree that it is a belting combination of colours.

Now, caveat emptor, there is a fudge with these figures: The modern plates I have of the uniform all show tight pantaloons with short gaiters over the top (possibly all copied from the same original source). My figures are wearing trousers because it would be to much work (and possibly beyond my skill level) to file down all of those lower legs to make their trousers look like tight pantaloons with gaiters over the top. However, I'm not the only gamer who has this regiment in trousers: JJ has some too and you can see them on his excellent blog, here. Believe me, if it's close enough for JJ, it's close enough for me!

Although a bit blurry, this photo shows the two extra stands of skirmishers that come with each unit, making each unit 28 figures strong. 

All are based on MDF stands, 45mm square and round, 2mm thick. Round bases by Warbases. 

Both Toledo flags are by Adolfo Ramos.

Here is the thing though. Most of these figures had to be converted because Front Rank don't make this figure with shoulder straps, let alone tufted shoulder straps, or a pompom. Furthermore, the casting comes in a simple coatee without lapels.

This how they come from Front Rank (randomly one with moustache, one without).

The conversion: 

First I removed the row of buttons that ran centrally up the front of the coatee with a scalpel. Lapels and new buttons could be painted on later without further modelling.

The pompoms were made out of modelling putty (Milliput). I found the best way to get them all the same size was to roll out the putty into a thread about 2mm thick and cut it into small (equally long) lengths - I did this by eye and it worked pretty well. I rolled each length into a ball between thumb and forefinger before dropping them onto a tile to cure. When they were hard, I glued them to the top of the shako with a two part epoxy glue (Araldite). I put a small dab of this at the front of the shako with a large pin (a wire spear) and then placed the pompom on top with tweezers: The glue is viscous enough to hold the pompom in place until the glue cures. Initially I had sought to use superglue for this job but, this was really fiddly and the balls stuck to the tweezers more often than the shako - I soon gave up and went with the Araldite instead.

The real work came doing the tufted shoulder straps. I did the figures in small batches (about six figures each) because the whole process needs to be done using soft modelling putty (Milliput). First I rolled out a thin thread, perhaps slightly more than 1mm in diameter and cut it into lengths that were a little longer than I wanted the strap to be. I placed the thread of putty in position on the shoulder then flattened it onto the figure with the flat of a wet scalpel blade; then, using the scalpel, I trimmed it to the correct size and shape - note that you need to leave room for the tuft. Next, using a a length of putty thread that was the thickness I wanted the tuft to be, I placed short lengths crosswise at the end of each strap lightly pressing the two together so that they lightly stuck, then I trimmed the tuft at either end to the right length. When cured, I put a bead of superglue onto a tin lid and, using a pin to pick up a small amount, traced the glue under the tuft where it met the shoulder to secure it more firmly.

Following this, before undercoating, I painted the straps and tufts by hand using some gloss enamel paint to bind the lot together even further - gloss paint is almost as good as glue and you can get a consistent coat over the lot to seal everything in. Belt and braces every time!

 

Then it was just a matter of painting them. 

I really like everything about these boys and it was a pleasure doing them. Brown wouldn't be every one's choice of coat colour but in combination with the other colours I think it looks splendid.

So there we have it. two battalions of Regimiento de Toledo.

Next up, Regimento de Leales de Fernando VII in their uniform of 1810.

Mid War Spanish Additions (cont.2) - Cazadores

Continuing with the latest additions to my mid war Spanish collection, here is a short post on two units of cazadores in the British supplied light infantry uniform (commonly referred to as 'The English Uniform') which started to arrive in Spain from January 1812. Note that some sources say similar uniforms started to arrive earlier: I have a plate (modern) of an officer of the Cazadores de Barbastro in what looks like an English Uniform dated to 1811.

Haythornthwaite says that this uniform "was like that of the line....with similar company distinctions, but entirely light blue (some sources say dark blue)". I've gone along with that for one of my units but, the plate I have for the Cazadores de Barbastro shows red collar and cuffs so I've gone with that for them: I've recently read that Spanish regimental tailors frequently altered British supplied uniforms and this may be a case in point. 

The plate in Haythornthwaite's book Uniforms of the Peninsular Wars 1807 - 1814 shows a cazadore in the all light blue uniform, piped white, with white accoutrements and gaiters. I quite liked this look, especially the gaiters, so I've followed it. However, it is probably worth noting that British supplied accoutrements were sometimes black, and some light blue uniforms came with light blue gaiters.

Pictured figures are all Front Rank (straight out of the box). Flags are by Adolfo Ramos.

Note: Flags for most units are best guess / as close as I could find. If I get picked up on the wrong use of a flag I'll only sigh and shrug my shoulders (because of the limited number of flags commercially available).

The Voluntarios de Leon. 

The only uniform information I have for this particular unit is dated to 1808 and by 1812 that uniform would have worn out. The Spanish expected uniforms to last three years so this unit may have been resupplied with the English Uniform: With no better information to go on, this is the name I have given to this particular unit.

Note: Information on mid war Spanish units can be sketchy. Where I have been able, I have done 'pucker' units in the correct uniforms (as far as I can paint and convert them). However, there have been plenty of guesses and fudges. Where these guesses and fudges have been made, be assured, I will tell you what they are. I'm also open to any new information you might have - please, put it in the comments for everyone to share.

Same unit, different angle. 

My cazadore units will have three stands of skirmishers each. This is the same as for my French light infantry units, but the Spanish will get a down 1 modifier in the combat tables.

Cazadores de Barbastro. Basically a re-run of the above, but with red collar and cuffs.

Same unit, different angle. 

I do like the white gaiters with this light blue uniform.

Next up, two battalions of  the Regimiento de Toledo (which required the conversion of nearly 50 figures).

   

Mid War Spanish Additions - Officers

It's been a while since my last post, for reasons I don't really want to go into, and for that I apologise. 

It has been a longer while since I painted any Spanish, so to remind you of the first baby step I'm going to do a short recap. Initially I painted a commander, four units in the so called "1812 British Uniform" three guns and a couple of limbers. They are pictured below and here is the full post link.

It was a start but, not much of one. However, just recently I've gone through a rather more productive phase and added a four new command stands including a Spanish C-in-C, seven more units of infantry and three units of cavalry. The Spanish are no longer a contingent, they are a force. 

More to the point, the lead pile definitely looks a lot smaller now: I'm almost exactly half way through it. I always find the start of a project a struggle because I feel like I'm working for little result: at the start of a project there isn't enough (an army / a force) to play a game with for a considerable stretch of time and in consequence initial enthusiasm quickly flags. Now, at last, I can see the end in sight and I feel like I'm on the easy down slope (a bit like myself, with age) - I'm even thinking about any extra units I might need to buy to "finish up".

Several of the new units are made up of Front Rank figures that have received small conversions - though none as extensive as the baggy-trousered horse artillerymen pictured above (now my favourite stand in this Peninsular collection) - and most require some explanation. Consequently, I'm going to add the new units to the blog as a series of posts rather than one long one.

First up, the four command stands.

The Spanish C-in-C stand. For the British and French I did one of these 120mm x 70mm stands with four mounted figures and a foot figure. For the Spanish I decided to do two mounted and three foot figures, filling the empty space with a piece 'furniture' in the form of an adhoc table made from a door on two barrels littered with bits and pieces (more anon).

Firstly, the figures: The two mounted figures and the chap with the gold trimmed bicorn are straight out of the box. The 'hussar' and the other ADC are conversions. 

The hussar is a French horse artilleryman with linstock with a British hussar head swap (from an unused British hussar standard bearer that I had replaced with a trooper). I removed the linstock, remodelled the hand to grasp a goblet and raised his arm 'in salute'. 

A note on arm raising: You can't just bend an arm from down to up without removing most of the metal between the armpit and the shoulder (I did this by sawing up from the armpit with a junior hacksaw until only a millimetre or two of metal remained at the shoulder) before changing the position of the arm. Once in the new position the resulting 'armpit' space was filled with a bead of two part epoxy glue (Araldite) to give strength, then after the glue had set, finishing with modelling putty (Milliput) . If you don't remove the metal first, the arm will not move at the shoulder like a real arm does.

The other ADC is a Portuguese foot artilleryman's body (head already removed to make one of my Portuguese limber drivers) with a new head in bicorn. Actually this was a Roman bare headed head with a bicorn added separately. His sword and sabretache are from a plastic two figure 'sample' sprue finished with Milliput belts. His fringed epaulettes were also made from Milliput.

But this stand, for me, is all about that table. 

The table itself was made from two plastic barrels (from a Lego toy?) that I've had kicking about in my bits box for years, with a table top made out of a plastic sheet (Perry Miniatures plastic base) scored to look like a door: the hinges are paper with short pieces of wire glued on the ends as the hinge mechanism. The handle is a piece of wire bent into a loop.

The map is just a piece of paper glued onto the table top (the paper was painted then marked with pens and pencils, largely using dots). I thought it would be interesting to use Milliput oranges as paperweights to hold the map down at two of its corners. The earthenware plate, with more oranges, is also Milliput, as are the jug and wine bottle (the latter two were my best effort - I'm not a sculptor). The satchel is a plastic one (possibly WW2 Japanese) with a paper strap added. 

You might have noticed by now that I don't throw anything away (LOL).

The goblets: All the goblets were made in the same (surprising?) way. The stems are wire, of course. The bases are Milliput discs. The goblet cups are white metal cannon balls filled flat on one side and drilled to take the wire stem! The goblets on the table had their bases glued onto the table first, then the bases were drilled (through the table too) so that when the stems were glued into the bases the stems were also glued into the table-top for added strength.

Figures around the table are positioned so that it is actually difficult to touch the table when the stand is being moved about.

Command stand, figures as standard. ADC painted in blue uniform.

Same stand, different angle.

Command stand, figures as standard. ADC painted in green uniform.

Same stand, different angle.

Cavalry commander. 

The bugler figure is a Russian cavalryman. I've added a large feather plume (pinned and glued). 

The Spanish were notorious for their extravagant musician uniforms. As a rule of thumb, for non-unit individuals like this one, be as daring as you like. 

Same stand, different angle.