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Welcome to the June 2023 announcements.
For this set of announcements, we have a American Revolution, American Civil War and lots of other goodies.
To view a larger image, just click on the image.
We hope you enjoy them!
Mike & Myszka and all at the Sierra Toy Soldier Company
A shield -Maiden was a female warrior from Scandinavian folklore and mythology.
They are often mentioned in Viking Sagas, and also in Germanic stories of the Goths, Cimbri and Marcomanni. The mythical Valkyries may have been based on such shield maidens. There is little actual historical evidence for Viking female warriors, although there are graves of female settlers which have contained weapons.
The historical evidence that Viking Age women took part in warfare, are based on a Byzantine historian's records that women fought in battle when Sviatoslav I of Kiev attacked the Byzantines in Bulgaria in 971 AD. In the Siege of Dorostolon, the Varangians suffered a devastating defeat. The victors were stunned to discover armed women among the fallen warriors.
The Saxo Grammaticus, reports that shield maidens fought on the side of Danes at the Battle of Bravellir in the year 750 AD
Examples of shield maidens mentioned by name in the Norse Sagas include Brynhildr in the Volsunga Saga.
Two shield maidens appear in certain translations of the Hervarar Saga. The first of these, whose name was Hervor, was known to have taken up typically masculine roles early in her childhood and often raided travelers in the woods dressed as a man. Later in her life, she claimed the cursed sword "Tyrfing" from her father's burial site and became a seafaring raider. She was eventually to marry and settle down. Her granddaughter was also named Hervor and commanded forces against the attacking Huns. Although the Saga remarks on her bravery, she was mortally wounded and dies on the battlefield.
The Queen's Rangers came into being when Robert Rogers was authorized to raise a "Corps of Provincials" on August 16th 1776. Recruited originally from Loyalists in New York and Connecticut, its men were farmers and city dwellers with little military experience.
They were a Loyalist military unit and were named for Queen Charlotte, consort of George III. The Queen's Rangers served as a light corps in the tradition of British Rangers during the war, operating on the flanks and in advance of Crown forces, manning outposts, conducting patrols, and carrying out reconnaissance and raiding operations.
Following an inauspicious start when it was mauled by an American surprise attack at Mamaroneck in October 1776, it participated successfully in various campaigns throughout the Revolution until the surrender at Yorktown.
In a period of about a year, the Rangers had three commanding officers following Rogers. Major Christopher French reorganized the corps, during which process many officers and enlisted men were discharged. He was followed by Major James Wemyss in May 1777, under whom the unit increased in size and efficiency, participating in the Brunswick raid of June 1777. In the Battle of Brandywine, the command suffered the loss of one third of its number in killed or wounded, fourteen of twenty one commissioned officers were casualties.
Wemyss was wounded at the battle of Germantown. Major John Graves Simcoe succeeded him as commanding officer on October 15th, 1777.
It was under Simcoe that the Rangers reached the height of its efficiency. Starting as an infantry command, it gradually expanded and before its surrender at Yorktown consisted of eleven companies of foot, including riflemen, light infantry, grenadiers and a highland company, as well as dragoons, Hussars and some light guns.
Simcoe had advanced ideas regarding training and discipline. He advocated costant vigilance, physical activity, and endurance of fatigue. There was constant instruction in marksmanship, the use of the bayonet, open formations, and the use of ambuscades. Units were trained to seldom return by their outgoing route. Officers were selected on their ability to perform such duties, and promotions when they occurred were from within the corps.
Regularity of messing and cleanliness were stressed, and officers were held responsible for the health of their men.
Written orders were avoided when possible, officers met after parade and received their orders verbally.
After the war, the Rangers were removed to the British colony of Nova Scotia and disbanded.
Incapacitated or wounded men could also be transported on a travois. The dead during a raid were retrieved if possible, but were often buried on the field in shallow graves or under rocks, the other warriors leaving whatever gifts they could to aid them in their journey to the faraway land. Blackfoot warriors had an unique custom of covering their battlefield dead with the bodies of their enemies. This was said to pay for those who were lost.
Whiskey, Scalps and Beaver Pelts