Sir William Brereton's Company of Firelocks
Sir William Brereton (the same William Brereton whose coffin got washed away in a flood when his body was being returned home for burial) was commander of Parliament's forces in Cheshire.
He fielded a regiment of foot, a regiment of horse and a regiment of dragoons. From 1644 the dragoons were often referred to as firelocks - whether this just refers to their weapons, or to them doing their soldiering on foot (with firelocks) we do not definitively know, although the general use of the term at the time meant foot soldiers (with firelocks).
From 1645 the regiment appears to have had many in it's ranks who had swapped sides after the battle of Nantwich - including men from Thomas Sandford's and Francis Langley's companies of Firelocks. Again this supports the notion that some of the dragoons at least became foot soldiers.
We actually know quite a bit about his regiments - their battle honours, officer lists and so on, but like so many Civil War units we only know that they were issued with coats but not what colour they were.
Mostly staying within Cheshire they fought at Stafford, Middlewich, Hopton Heath, Nantwich and Rowton Heath (a full list can be found at the BCW Regimental Wiki, also officer lists).
Having carte blanche on coat colour (my firelocks don't carry standards) I plumped for a madder red coat (Foundry madder red 60B). A few headswaps thrown into the mix - officer, drummer and a handful of musketeers (or should that be firelockeers?), and a custom casualty marker from Warbases.
He fielded a regiment of foot, a regiment of horse and a regiment of dragoons. From 1644 the dragoons were often referred to as firelocks - whether this just refers to their weapons, or to them doing their soldiering on foot (with firelocks) we do not definitively know, although the general use of the term at the time meant foot soldiers (with firelocks).
From 1645 the regiment appears to have had many in it's ranks who had swapped sides after the battle of Nantwich - including men from Thomas Sandford's and Francis Langley's companies of Firelocks. Again this supports the notion that some of the dragoons at least became foot soldiers.
We actually know quite a bit about his regiments - their battle honours, officer lists and so on, but like so many Civil War units we only know that they were issued with coats but not what colour they were.
Mostly staying within Cheshire they fought at Stafford, Middlewich, Hopton Heath, Nantwich and Rowton Heath (a full list can be found at the BCW Regimental Wiki, also officer lists).
Having carte blanche on coat colour (my firelocks don't carry standards) I plumped for a madder red coat (Foundry madder red 60B). A few headswaps thrown into the mix - officer, drummer and a handful of musketeers (or should that be firelockeers?), and a custom casualty marker from Warbases.
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