Stansell’s Bandsmen #11: The Side Drum

The 11th in a series on some of the roles of British army bandsmen as illustrated by Frederick Stansell c.1900 in the book “Bands of the British Army” by W.J. Gordon.

No.11: The Side Drum – Coldstream Guards

“Like the kettledrum [the side drum] came from the Arabs, who fitted it with the snares – that is the strings of gut across its lower head which cause it to rattle when struck… At funerals the drum is muffled by pads, or the rope, being inserted between the skin and the snares.

The drum is not in such request as it used to be. In the old days before it was replaced by the bugle it conveyed the signals of command, even the full platoon exercises being gone through to drum beats; and for this reason it was ‘put on the establishment’ as it is called, and remains there, the British infantry having sixteen drummers to each battalion.”

W.J. Gordon

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British Infantry Uniforms of the 19th Century: #8

8. The Coldstream Guards

“The Coldstream Guards Regiment was formed in 1650 as a unit of the Commonwealth Army. It was the only Regiment of the Parliamentary Army that was not disbanded at the Restoration in 1660. The illustration shows the uniform worn by Sergeants in 1832.”

Number 8 of 25 from “British Uniforms of the 19th Century” – a cigarette card series issued by manufacturer Amalgamated Tobacco (Mills).

Featured Figures: The Coldstream Guards (Crimean War)

The prime purpose of this blog was originally painting figures rather than military history, but it seems that museum visits and assorted militaria has taken up the bulk of posts lately. So, I thought it maybe about time to show some figures that I’ve been working on these past couple of weeks or so.

The Coldstream Guards, Crimea, 1854.

And it’s another set by Strelets. I am continuing to plough through my boxes of figures from this series. This set is named “British Grenadiers in Summer Dress”, which differentiates the other set of guards produced featuring the figures wearing greatcoats. However, Strelets are incorrect because these are not grenadiers, they are guardsmen! They are Coldstream guardsmen, in fact. I can be this specific because the other Guards regiments in the Crimea (the Grenadier Guards and the Scots Fusilier Guards) did not have plumes on the right of their bearskins.

It’s hard work to get these figures looking reasonably OK but I think they are just about worth the effort. I’ve managed to paint about half of the box now and will probably take a break from Strelets for a little bit to do something else. Although, that said, I’ve still got those Royal Louis Regiment figures to finish…

And finally, continuing the trade card theme of late, here are some depictions of the Coldstream Guards that I found, below:

Sergeant, 1832 (Mills Cigarettes)

Sergeant, 1902, (Black Cat Cigarettes)

Regimental Colour and cap badge. Players Cigarettes.