Books

A. book which you may want to look for is:

"Notes on Mexico made in the Autumn of 1822, Accompanied by an Historical Sketch of the Revolution" by Joel Roberts Poinsett, publisher Praeger, New York, 1969.

Also recently published is the 4th volume in the Military Uniforms in America" series of the Company of Military Historians [Presido Press, Novata, CA.]. This one is entitled "The Modern Era" and covers the period of about 1890 to the present. For Latin American enthusiasts there are few items, Villistas, Mexican Regular infantry 1916 and Spanish Cuban Volunteers, if you have not seen these articles then maybe a loan from the library would be useful".

Figures

In the past some readers have apparently asked about figures of Latin American subjects. One source over here in the U.S.A. is Frontier Miniatures, available from Modelers Mart, 1183 Cedar Street, Safety Harbor, FL. 34695, U.S.A.

In 25mm they have a series on U.S. colonialism at the turn of the century, it includes U.S. infantry and cavalry, Mexican regulars and guerillas, plus the various Philippine insurrections.

The U.S. troops are wearing the "Montana Peak" hats and mostly in short sleeve order. These could be used for most of the "Banana Wars" that occurred during this period. In the series is also a U.S. naval landing party to go with some Chinese "student demonstrators" of about the 1920's, plus 15 and 25mm U.S.Mexican War figures along with 25mm Aztecs and Conquistadores.

Letter Extract

This was extracted from a letter to me from Mr. D.E.Stewart, many thanks for these details T.D.H. also included in a letter from Paul Burnel of Edinburgh was his description of Frontier Miniatures U.S.-Mexican War figures in 25mm.

"Their biggest and best range is the 1846 war, the Mexicans have 20 headings for foot and 17 for mounted with both foot and horse artillery. This gives great flexibility to the make-up of troops and. u. iforms, included are Marines, Regular, Light, Conscript Infantry and Active Militia wearing shakos, forage caps, tropical dress etc. The Cavalry section has 10 different types including Regular Line, Hussars, Lancers and Tight Cavalry [in both helmet and shako'. While the U.S. troops have 16 infantry and 6 cavalry headings, these include dismounted Dragoons, 1st Mississipi, Mormon Battalion, Texans as well as Regular troops. The personality figures include Generals Taylor, Scott and Worth and Colonels Hays and Davis.

Of particular interest could be their special publications of which there are 12, four of these that I noted were "Mexico 1661-67", "The Moro Wars", "Red Flag at Sunrise" [Alamo and Texas War of independence] and lastly "Pershing's Expedition" by C.H. Duncan, all were priced at $5.00 U.S. each. The address to send for price lists etc is "Frontier Miniatures" 7343 Branding Iron, Conutillo, Texas 79835, U.S.A.".

Spanish Troops Dispatched to America

In the last issue of E.D. I'd included some notes on the Spanish troops dispatched to America by Ambassador J.Albi, who has over the past few years had a number of books published, three othese could be of interest they are:

Carnpanas de la Caballer a Espanola en el Siglo XIX written with Leopoldo Stampa, Pub. Servicio Historico Militar, Madrid, 1986 [in volume 2, there are more than 100 pages on troops in America].

La Defensa de las Indias [1762-1799] Pub. Instituto de Cooperacion Iberoamericana, Madrid, 1987 [to be published this year in English by the Arizona University Press].

Las Ultimas Banderas [El Ejercito Realista] to be published before the summer by the Instituto de Cooperacion Iberoamericana.

All three should be of interest in one way or another to quite a number of members, alas I don't know the price of them or where to buy them from, maybe a letter to "Berreira Militaria" C/ Major 4, 28013 Madrid might be of help? If not then any good library should be able to obtain copies of them.

Figures: Maximilian Adventure of Mexico 1862-67

I have just received a packet of new wargame figures in 25mm size from Alister Morrison on the Maximilian Adventure of Mexico 1862-67, these are being sold by the firm of Wargames Foundry. There are 36 foot and 10 mounted figures among these are a fine collection of 14 infantry and 5 cavalry that can be used for Republicans troops giving a wide range of different units. while the Imperial troops are the remainder including French and Belgians. My favourite figures are the Belgian Legion and the Contra Guerillas, but that's me. These figures should bring about a greater interest in this subject, the castings are crisp need not be cleaned of flash before painting, a must for anyone who is interested in this period whether a wargamer or not.

Chute and Dagger

For all of you who are interested in modern elite unit badges and insignia the journal "Chute and Dagger, Europe" is a big help, its produced by A.P.Gaudet at Bordes de Riviere, 31210 Montrejeau, France. The subscription is 58.00 or 75 French Francs. Not every issue has a Latin American unit badge although most do, if this is one of your fields of research drop a line to Mr.Gaudet [he's a French Canadian and the text to the journal is in English which helps people like myself].

Terence Wise Book List

I just received the book list from Terence Wise, who's new address is: 20 St. Mary's Road, Doncaster, DNI 2NP. ENGLAND. In it he has for sale copies of "Armed Forces of Latin America" by Adrian English in mint condition priced at 530.00 plus postage, his is a must for anyone interested in the 20th Century Latin. American scene. Alse of the list was "The San Patricio Soldiers" by D. Wynn 1984, priced at 5.7.50 plus postage, I've not seen this one as yet, although I have been told that its based on the many articles of this unit published over the years in North America, all enquiries to Mr. Wise, please.