This
elite military unit, commonly known as ‘Washington’s Life
Guard’ was a unit of the Continental Army that protected General
George Washington during the Revolutionary War.
Formed
in early 1776, the Guard was with the future first president in all
of his battles and was disbanded in 1783 at the end of the war.
The
Guard itself was authorized on 11 March 1776 at Cambridge,
Massachusetts with not only the task of protecting General Washington
but also safeguarding the money and official papers of the
Continental Army.
To that end, Washington directed that this corps of soldiers be made
up of “sober, intelligent and reliable men”.
The
original unit was relatively small, just four men from each of the
Continental Army regiments then present at the siege of Boston.
The
strength of this small corps then grew to number about 180
men until the winter of 1779-1780 when the whole army was
encamped at Morristown, New Jersey in very close
proximity to the British forces. The Guard was temporarily
increased to 250.
For
the first three years of its existence the Guard was commanded by Major
Caleb Gibbs of Rhode Island. (K&C will release a
mounted figure of the major later this year). Gibbs
official title was ‘Captain Commandant’.
During
the Guard’s relatively short existence several different accounts
have been given about their uniform and general appearance.
King
& Country considered several options before choosing the uniform
details and descriptions provided by the Company of Military
Historians and their excellent illustrated volume on ‘The
Era of the American Revolution’. This book shows the
soldiers of the Guard wearing blue coats faced with buff and a
striking red waistcoat. On their heads they wore a round cap
crested with black bearskin fur and decorated with a blue and white
feathered plume. All in all a very striking appearance worthy
of their position as the Commander-in-Chief’s Guard.
Here are the first 11 figures with more to follow…
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