Ask the average person to describe an 18th-century army in the North American colonies during the French and Indian War and you’ll probably get a lot of images of tricorne hats, muskets and guys in regular uniforms marching in lines across open fields. The role of civilians often doesn’t come up, but their importance was of the utmost to armies of the period.

Map of Braddock’s Road (John Kennedy Lacock, 1912)

When British General Edward Braddock set off into the Ohio Country wilderness in 1755 to lay a planned siege at Fort Duquesne, his column of some 2,000 soldiers also contained civilians. These men (and a couple dozen women) served as scouts, laborers, wagoneers, animal herders, cooks, blacksmiths, carpenters and all manner of other roles commonly found in the era.

On the Braddock Campaign, scouts included backcountry notable, local landowner and fur trader John Fraser. Among the hired teamsters were Daniel Morgan and a young Daniel Boone. The wilderness expertise of these historic figures and those whose names are since lost was key in navigating the miles-long column as civilian laborers hacked their way through the woods of Southwestern Pennsylvania at a rate of just a couple miles a day.

I found a bunch of civilian figures in the flea market are at this year’s HMGS Cold Wars convention. At just a buck or two each, I managed to snag a nice variety of workers from Fife & Drum Miniatures plus some pack animals and a mounted scout from the Old West line from Wargames Foundry. The metal sculpts provide a lot of unique models which were a nice break from regular poses of the FIW French and British soldiers I’ve been collecting over the past year. Painting the civilians and pack animals also allowed for some less historical freedom and creativity.

My finished figures are going to come in handy as I build out some Braddock-themed scenarios in the coming months. Having completed a few, I’ll also be looking to add more civilians to my forces in support of the masses of troops on my FIW game tables.

Minden Miniatures laborers from Fife & Drum Miniatures

Scout and pack animals from Wargames Foundry