A Flag for the Grenadiers

Elizabeth Collards analysis of Benjamine Wests 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, Wests 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 Pennys The Death of General James Wolfe (inset left) includes the characters known to have actually been present at Wolfes 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 Wests 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 Wests depiction of our Lieutenant Browne. It also seems improbable that any parent regiment would have ceded either Regimental or Kings colours to a single and detached company when it was required for the rest of the battalion. Returning to Wests 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 (Kings 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

The Potters View of Canada: Canadian scenes on nineteenth-century earthenware : Elizabeth Collard, National Museum of Canada

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 Wolfes 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.