A Flag for the Grenadiers
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Transcript of A Flag for the Grenadiers
8/3/2019 A Flag for the Grenadiers
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/a-flag-for-the-grenadiers 1/2
A Flag for the Grenadiers
Elizabeth Collard’s analysis of Benjamine West’s
1770 painting Death Of General Wolfe (inset
left) speaks to the report given by Lieutenant
Henry Browne of the 22nd
foot grenadier
company (part of the Louisberg Grenadiers)
who refers to his battalion having been led
personally by Wolfe on the day of battle 1. As
depicted by West, it is amongst the officers and
Louisberg Grenadiers whom Wolfe lays dying
and the grenadier to the rear holding the colour is understood to be Lieutenant Browne.
There is debate amongst the wargaming aficionados of this battle about what, if any colours the
Louisberg Grenadiers would have had at the Plains of Abraham. It seems unlikely from a technical
stand-point that they would not have had colours as a rally and forming point for manoeuvre. Having
therefore determined to give my battalion colours for its command stand, what then could they
have had?
Whilst regarded as fanciful and an unhistorical
through artistic licence, West’s inclusion of
Lieutenant Browne is factual. It is also not
unlikely that Wolfe would have been standing
amongst or near to the battalion colour party
and that as a junior officer (Browne) could
easily have been a colour bearer. Certainly
Edward Penny’s The Death of General James
Wolfe (inset left) includes the characters
known to have actually been present at
Wolfe’s fall and again includes those
Louisberg Grenadiers including Lieutenant Browne of the 22nd
(left cradling Wolfe) and the grenadier
of the 45th
(upright with green facings). Painted in 1763, it precedes West’s rendition by seven years
and Penny was guided by the known accounts of the event.
Given the likelihood of a colour being present for the aforementioned reasons, it seems likely to me
that the senior company of grenadiers comprising the battalion would have had the honour – that
being the 22nd
foot. This is certainly in keeping with West’s depiction of our Lieutenant Browne. It
also seems improbable that any parent regiment would have ceded either Regimental or King’s
colours to a single and detached company when it was required for the rest of the battalion.
Returning to West’s work, Browne is clearly depicted with a union flag or Jack.
I therefore intend for my Louisberg Grenadiers to march onto the Plains of Abraham under a single
British Jack. The British army has never had a specific ensign and has always fought under the ‘Jack’.
Whilst each regiment has its own colours (King’s Colour and Regimental Colour) it is not
unreasonable to allow for a battle flag for Wolfe himself as a rally point. Given that he knew he
would not be mounted at Quebec and would be more difficult for his aides to locate in the
1 The Potters’ View of Canada: Canadian scenes on nineteenth-century earthenware : Elizabeth Collard,
National Museum of Canada
8/3/2019 A Flag for the Grenadiers
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/a-flag-for-the-grenadiers 2/2
transference of orders necessitated when commanding in the field, why not be found under the
national flag?
Simple and without badges or regimental devices, it would differ from every other colour on the
field. It would have been readily available from the navy and at the conclusion of victory in battle, he
could have had it flown over the conquered Quebec. Who better to carry Wolfe’s battle standard
than the elite composite grenadier battalion with whom he was to attach himself – the Louisberg
Grenadiers. Most likely, should the city be forced, they would have led the charge taking it through
the streets and hoisted it high over the city scape.
Whilst speculative, I have the suggestion by West and the conventions of military doctrine sufficient
to support my employment of a colour for my model of the Louisberg Grenadiers and I hope this
may assist others in how they chose to depict the Louisberg Grenadiers in their armies.