Queen's Ranger Officer

"When did the rebels pass this way, madam?"

With the Queen's Rangers' recruiting drive kicking into high gear, they needed an officer in dapper uniform to attract likely lads...or intimidate rebel sympathizers...or charm those with valuable information.












This gentleman fills that role.  He began as one of BMC's artillery crewmen brandishing a sword while firing a pistol.

I often mention the steps involved in converting a figure, but a picture is worth a thousand words.  The original figure was cast in blue, and everything that is white on him was sculpted in Milliput.

His uniform is worth noting in some detail.  There are four known portraits illustrating Queen's Rangers officers' uniforms (Colonel Simcoe, Captain Saunders, Cornet Jarvis, and Ensign Smith) along with Cornet Jarvis's coat.  Two portraits of them (Saunders and Jarvis) show short V-shaped cuffs with herringbone lace.  Colonel Simcoe's unfortunately does not allow us to see his cuffs.  Ensign Smith's portrait shows round cuffs and buttonhole lace on the cuffs.

Captain Saunders [1] and Cornet Jarvis [2] both held commissions in the cavalry of the Queen's Rangers, while Smith held one in the infantry [3].  Their cuffs would then match standard British practice: V-shaped for cavalry and round for infantry.

It is true that Ensign Smith's portrait does not show an officer's sash, but there is one associated with Cornet Jarvis's coat.  I opted to add one to my figure.

"Open that door!"

Proudly wearing the green coat of the Queen's Rangers, this officer is ready to chastise the rebels!


Notes
This section is greatly indebted to Dr. Gregory Urwin for collecting all known portraits of the Queen's Rangers and the branch of service in which each of them held commissions.

[1] pg. 174. History of the Queen's Rangers by James Hannay, DCL. (Ottawa: Royal Society of Canada, 1909).  Online. https://archive.org/details/historyofqueensr00hannuoft/page/174/mode/2up.

[2] pg. 186, ibid. https://archive.org/details/historyofqueensr00hannuoft/page/186/mode/2up. The fact that he was commissioned a cornet also shows that he served in the cavalry.

[3] pg. 171, ibid. https://archive.org/details/historyofqueensr00hannuoft/page/171/mode/2up.