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.