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| UNIFORMS
OF THE FRENCH ARMY IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION The royal order of 21 February 1779, nearly eight months after hostilities commenced, at last prescribed the official replacement for Saint-Germain's unpopular garments. The spirit of the new order of dress was one of moderation and a return to the a la francaise cut and style. The coat was more ample, with long tails and white turnbacks ornamented with lilies, grenades or bugle horns in the facing color for fusilier, grenadier or chasseur companies, respectively. Facing colors could be applied to the lapels and cuffs, or to cuffs only, or to lapels only. The lapels which were not faced were of white edged with piping in the facing color. The three-pointed pocket flaps of regiments with yellow metal buttons were horizontal, but those of regiments with white metal buttons were vertical; all were piped in the facing color. The collar for all, except the foreign regiments, was white, and while the order is silent as to piping illustrations of the period nearly always show piping of the facing color. Each lapel had seven small buttons and there were three large ones below the right lapel. The cuffs were as previously, with two small buttons on the cuff and two above; but the opening above the cuff was now piped in the facing color. The shoulder straps were white piped with the facing color for fusiliers, green piped white for chasseurs, and red piped white for grenadiers. In many regiments the grenadiers continued to wear red fringed epaulettes. Drummers of the French forces wore a livery coat with the regimental facings applied as on the coats of the rest of the regiment and trimmed with livery lace. For the vast majority of regiments this was the blue coat of the King's livery trimmed with the King's livery lace: a white chain on crimson. The lace was to edge the facings, and each coat sleeve was also to be laced with seven bands of the lace set at equal distances. There were exceptions to the King's livery: the Queen's, the Prince's and most foreign regiments. The drummers of La Reine (the Queen's) had red coats trimmed with a livery lace of a white chain on blue. The foreign regiments which were Royal, such as Royal Deux-Ponts, Royal-Suedois, or Royal Hesse-Darmstadt had the King's livery, but others had their colonel's livery coat color and lace with the regimental facings. Dillon's Irish Regiment had drummers in red with the white-chain-on-crimson lace. Bouillon (German) had white with a white lace edged with black. The drums were of brass and the hoops were of the drummer's coat color. Drum-majors had the seams of their coat trimmed with lace and the cuffs edged with silver laces (one in 1776, two in 1779). From 1779, fifers and clarinets had the same uniform as the drummers but without livery lace and with a silver lace edging each cuff. The drummers of colonial troops went by the same rules and had the King's blue coat with his livery lace. The drummers themselves were blacks in America, Africa and Ile-de-France, or natives of India in that country. Drummers of the Isle-de-France and Pondichery regiments wore a cap with a white plume instead of a hat. The drummers of the Volontaires de Bourbonwore the white coat of their unit with two rows of the King' slivery lace on the cuffs; the Chasseurs-royaux de Saint-Domingue also wore white with a row of the King's livery lace at the cuffs and pockets. Of the foreign units, the drummers and hussar buglers of the Volontaires etrangers de la marine were ordered to wear the King's livery, but the Volontaires de Nassau were allowed the orange livery of the Prince of Nassau. [REFERENCES: The French Army in the American War of Independence. Men-At-Arms Series, #244. Reed International Books, Ltd., London, England. 1991. Color plate by Francis Back.] |
1 - Grenadier, Bourbonnais Regiment, USA 1780-1782 |
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