Frei Corps

15mm History of Mexico

By Ken Bunger

One of the latest releases from Frei Korps 15 covers the wars with Mexico. The "History of Mexico" range includes two subranges "Texan War of Independence 1835-36" and "US-Mexican War 1846-48". Both contain many figures that are useful for either period, or for that matter earlier or later periods as well. I have all but a few of these figures and am quite satisfied with their appearance. These 15mm figures are up to the high standard of detail and casting the Frei Korps has maintained with their recent releases.

The range contains 44 different packs with many containing a variety of types. The figures are 15mm from foot to eye. They are well proportioned and not at all of the "chunkier" sort. As mentioned above, there is a great amount of detail on these figures and very crisply cast with little flash. One problem this firm has however, is that the metal used is too brittle. Arms or weapons break if any bending is done at all. Fortunately, the bayonets are well cast so any accidental breakage should be rare. The cavalry are one piece castings.

The accuracy of the uniform detail is near perfect as well as correctly varied. The U.S. Dragoons come in either slouch hat or the familiar dark blue forage cap, so be sure to specify which type you require. The real gems of this range are the packs of irregulars and the personality figures. Both the Texicam Volunteer infantry (MXI) and the Mexican Irregular Infantry (MX 34) each contain ten different figures. The Texans are in a variety of slouch hats and western dress, including buckskin hunting shirts and ponchos. An additional bonus is that these Texans can be used as ACW Confederates!

This also applies to other U.S. troops in slouch hats. The Mexican Irregulars are also in a variety of dress and positions. These are also useful for Texans. Three of the Mexicans have open hands for pikes, but would also be useful for artillerymen. My favorite is the "ponchoed" figure which looks exactly like Clint Eastwood swinging a machette (substitute a revolver).

The U.S. Volunteer Infantry have four slightly varied positions in the pack of ten. They are dressed in shirt, trousers and varied slouch hats - again great Confederates. Actually the U.S. Volunteers generally wore the same style uniform as the Regulars. Many of both the Regulars and Volunteers would wear slouch hats or sombreros on campaign. Another alternate use figure is the (MX 26) Mexican Infantryman in stable cap which is French in style and great for early Napoleonic French. Some of the artillerymen and command also wear this cap.

The figures are available directly from the maker - Frei Korps 15, 15 Princetown Road, Bangor, Co. Down, BT20 3TA, Northern Ireland. The British price is 80p per pack and 40p per command pack. There are 10 figures in an infantry pack,5 cavalry, 5 foot command, 3 cavalry command, or one gun and crew. Personalities are 80p for 3 or 4 figures.

In order to compliment their range, Frei Korps has procured an extremely useful booklet -- Campaign Booklet No. 1: the Texan War of independence and the U.S.-Mexican War 1846-48 written by D. Allsop. The booklet is available for 0.50 (pounds) from Frei Korps. It contains 34 pages of uniform and organizational data. It is an absolute must for anyone interested in this era. The uniform detail, and some flags, is comprehensively presented.

I have only a few mildly critical comments on the booklet's content. On page 7, U.S. artillery jackets should be braided in yellow, not white. Red trouser stripes were only sometimes worn by artillerymen, and the dress varied from unit to unit. On page 9, Dragoon officers' trousers had no stripes as worn in the field. Musicians still commonly wore red jackets with yellow turnbacks, cuffs and buttons. The yellow band (if worn) on the dragoon cap probably would be hidden by the folded-up neck cape.

On page 4, it should be noted that some volunteer regiments actually did have specially trained "light" companies armed with rifles. On page 14, the Mexican Marine Infantry Regiment should have a crimson shako with a gilt anchor and three large chevrons (pointed up) on the rear (see Hefter).

The book has an adequate bibliography and the correct Mexican information, but does not cite the best source - The Mexican Soldier 1837- 1847 by the late Joseph Hefter, Mexico 1958. This excellent book in both English and Spanish text is comprehensive with eight color plates of many uniforms and 80 total pages. The reader might also wish to know that the cited book -- The War with Mexico by Justin M. Smith -- is available in reprint. Smith's two volume work is clearly the best history of the war. I highly recommend this booklet.

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