The Catholic King James II built up the army to strengthen his position in a predominantly Protestant country. He held a Grand Review of his troops on Hounslow Heath in the summer of 1687 to intimidate the government in London. This drawing by Willem van de Velde the Elder is based on his eye-witness observation. The tall vertical lines above some of the soldiers are the long pikes carried by a portion of each regiment. The other men carried muskets. English regiments carried Company Colours with a red cross of St George. A Scottish regiment, has blue Colours with white saltires. Sergeants can be seen maintaining the formations with the help of a prod from their halberds. Officers carried a pike with a spearhead. The King would have been enthroned on a raised platform inside the wooden shelter on the right of the picture.
Regimental Details
