Prince Rupert's Regiment of Foote, The Blew Coats

Here is the finished painted version of Prince Rupert's Bluecoats. This regiment is one of the more famous regiments of the English Civil War  mainly for its last stand at the battle of Naseby where they covered the rest of the Royalists retreat/rout with the Shrewsbury Foot. Needless to say the regiments camer of second best in that action with the New Model Army defeat them and the Royalists on that day and effectively ending the war, even though it carried on for a while after. I have done him as a typical musketeer for the regiment in campaign dress with his lovely blue uniform with a montero cap, one of the more popular caps in the Army of Oxford. So here he is and Mrs PK thinks his face looks like someone out of Harry porter Movies, something I have never seen.

Prince Rupert's Regiment of Foote,
The Bluecoats, Campaign Dress

The Regiment was first raised in 1642 in the county of Somerset by Sir Thomas Lunsford, and was known as Sir Thomas Lunsford's Regiment of Foote. Sir Thomas was captured at the Battle of Edgehill and imprisoned until 1644

His brother Colonel Henry Lunsford then took over command of the Regiment until his death during the Siege of Bristol in July 1643

Prince Rupert then assumed command as he had been impressed by the Regiment's fighting abilities, and appointed John Russell as Lieutenant Colonel to the Regiment. The Regiment was part of the army taken by Prince Rupert north to Lancashire where it took part in the relief of Latham House, the Stormings of Bolton and Liverpool and then marched across the Pennines with Rupert to the Relief of York. They then fought at the Battle of Marston Moor in July 1644 as part of the forlorn hope

In May 1645 they assembled at Evesham as part of the Kings Army, and were involved in the storming of Leicester, this is where Rupert's men are referred to as Bluecoats in accounts of the fighting. Two weeks later the Bluecoats formed part of the reserve at the Battle of Naseby, where the majority of the regiment were slain. The remnants eventually ended up as part of the Garrison of Bristol and were disbanded by the King after Rupert surrendered the city