Uniforms of the
Neapolitan Army 1806-1815

Line Infantry

by Colin Allen, U.K.

Introduction

The history of the Neapolitan army between 1806 and 1815 is fairly well known. Generally, the regiments of the kingdom were held in low regard and performed accordingly. The history of the uniforms worn by the men who followed first King Joseph and then King Joachim is less well known, except for the final, "classical" uniform.

There are a variety of reasons for this: firstly, the army performed poorly and was rarely deployed in any strength beyond the borders of the kingdom and secondly, the records that remain are incomplete and often contradictory. The aim of this series is to attempt to piece together as accurate as possible a history of Neapolitan service uniforms of the period as can be achieved. The uniforms of such exotica as bandsmen will not be covered as records are almost completely non-existent.

i) Line Infantry

The Origins of the Regiments

On February 15th 1806, Joseph Bonaparte, assisted by a large Franco-Italian force, took possession of the mainland part of the Kingdom of Naples and soon set about raising an army. A decree dated June 13th 1806 raised the first two line infantry regiments but recruitment, however, proved to be difficult due to public resistance to conscription and the units were eventually recruited almost entirely from prisoners of war and civilian prisoners with the officers coming from the POW camps or from the French army. By August 6th the 1st Regiment consisted of 70 officers but only 490 other ranks while the 2nd Regiment numbered 85 and 435 respectively.

The 3rd Regiment was raised at Nola by a decree of March 10th 1809 and was soon up to a strength of 800, mostly conscripts, many of whom deserted during the occupation of the Papal States on hearing that the Pope had excommunicated the invaders. Apparently they thought that to stay would result in them all going blind! The same year, on August 27th, the 4th Regiment was raised at Capua from conscripts but the junior officers were promoted from the non-commissioned ranks of the Guard Velites, while some of the officers came from the existing regiments.

The 5th Regiment, formed on September 12th 1809, was raised from Calabrian volunteers and conscripts while the officers came from the Provincial Guards. Again, recruitment was slow and, by January 1st 1810, only 580 men were with the colours.

The origins of the 6th Regiment were somewhat different as it was raised from the Naples City Guard. Originally this was a paramilitary police unit with only the elite companies being earmarked for active service but King Joachim decreed that it should be converted into a line infantry regiment and this was duly carried out in 1810.

The 7th Regiment is probably the most famous Neapolitan unit, being formed from the French army's "Corps des Pionniers Noirs", a motley group of Haitians who were used for fatigue duties until a shortage of manpower led to their employment as infantry at the siege of Gaeta in 1806. Thereafter, they served in the Neapolitan navy as marines before being absorbed into the army on December 17th 1810, becoming probably the finest infantry unit that the army possessed. After 1810, however, recruitment was open to non-coloureds and the quality of the regiment declined. Before this date desertion was virtually unknown, probably in part due to the difficulty that would-be deserters had in passing themselves off as members of the local population.

The decree for the formation of an 8th Regiment was issued on October 14th 1810 but the unit was not actually formed until the February of 1811, being raised at Saragossa from the remnants of the first two line regiments and the 1st Light Regiment, these units being reformed back in Naples.

The 9th Regiment was formed in 1812 from civilian prisoners and captured draft dodgers. Needless to say its desertion rate was appalling and its performance somewhat worse.

On March 8th 1814, the 10th Regiment was formed by conscription around a cadre of the 4th and 5th battalions of the 9th Regiment while the 11th Regiment was formed on May 3rd of the same year at Pescara from Italian deserters, prisoners and "volunteers" augmented by the usual levy of unwilling conscripts.

The final regiment to be formed was the 12th, raised on June 29th 1814 from veterans of the other regiments. This regiment was transferred into the Guard as the Voltigeur Regiment on September 29th of the same year and King Joachim set about raising a replacement regiment in secret from among men of the Marches, but more specifically from prisoners and, due to a lack of manpower, from discharged veterans, the latter being taken by force from their homes on the night of January 20/21st 1815. Despite this, the regiment would fight on for three months at Gaeta after the disastrous defeat at Tolentino in May of that year.

Early Uniforms

On being formed in 1806, the 1st and 2nd Regiments were issued with white, French style uniforms and bicornes. The coats differed from the French type in having no cuff flaps as shown in the sketch. Initially, facings were light blue for both regiments, these being borne on the collar, cuffs and lapels for the 1st and just the cuffs and lapels for the 2nd. The collar of the 2nd was white piped light blue. The piping on the pockets, shoulder straps and turnbacks was also light blue while no piping was used elsewhere.

Elite company distinctions were as in the French army as was all the equipment and the waistcoat and breeches were also white, the latter usually being worn with black or grey gaiters, while the former had the collar and cuffs in the facing colour. The undress cap was white with piping in the facing colour. At some date, the 2nd Regiment's facings were changed to scarlet. Information on the drummers' uniforms is, to say the least, scarce but one illustration shows them as wearing the same uniform as the men with white chevrons on their arms, these being piped dark blue and bearing nine red diamonds. Rank markings were of the French pattern in yellow.

By 1809, it would seem that stocks of white cloth had run out as the 3rd Regiment was issued with a blue uniform bearing black facings, probably with the same arrangement of facings and piping as before except that the facing colour was possibly worn on the turnbacks. It is also possible that a black cuff flap was also introduced as the cuff now had three buttons rather than two as on the previous uniforms. At this time it would also appear that bicornes were still in use but that the grenadiers had adopted the bearskin with no front plate but having a back patch with a yellow grenade on a red field.

The uniforms of the 4th and 5th Regiments were similar to those of the 3rd, albeit with amaranth and orange facings respectively. Company distinctions were as before but grenadier companies now carried red grenades on their turnbacks while voltigeur companies had a yellow hunting horn and a yellow collar; the fusiliers had to be content with a white star on their turnbacks. Shakos were issued to these units and it is, therefore, probable that these were issued to all units in existence at this time. The shako carried a brass shield shaped plate bearing the regimental number, no cords and a plume; this being yellow over green for the voltigeurs and possibly of the facing colour for the fusiliers. Grenadiers continued to wear the bearskin, for full dress at any rate, with a red plume.

The addition of the 6th and 7th Regiments added to the variety of colours that composed the Neapolitan army. The 6th Regiment continued to wear the old uniform of the Naples City Guard, this being of the same pattern as the other regiments but in sky blue with crimson facings while the 7th continued to wear their old French issued uniform which was of a brown shade similar to that worn by the Austrian artillery, this having scarlet facings and the same cuffs as the uniform issued to the 1st and 2nd Regiments.

In an attempt to bring some sort of order into the uniforms of the infantry regiments an attempt was made to introduce a new regulation in 1811. The uniform described in this was similar to the French 1806 uniforms in colour and style but it appears that this was never issued as, the same year, the famous 1811 style uniform was decreed and issued to the regiments.

The 1811 Uniform

The uniform issued in 1811 was almost identical to that worn by most of the Confederation of the Rhine regiments and that decreed by the French Bardin regulations.

Coat

The white coat had closed lapels with seven brass buttons on each side, these being in the regimental facing colour as were the collar, turnbacks, cuffs and cuff flaps, all these being piped white.

Fusiliers wore shoulder straps piped in the facing colour and their turnbacks were either devoid of decoration or bore a white star, a yellow crown or a white heart while grenadiers had red or amaranth epaulets and grenade devices on the turnbacks. Voltigeur distinctions included a yellow collar, epaulets in a combination of green and yellow (officially green with yellow crescents although this tended to vary) and a yellow hunting horn on the turnbacks. Long service distinctions and NCOs' badges were similar to the French in red and yellow wool respectively.

From 1814 the 1st to 9th Regiments wore the uniform as described above but with pointed cuffs while the 10th to 12th Regiments wore the same uniform but with the collar and cuffs white piped in the facing colour and the cuff flaps in the facing colour piped white. In May 1814 a campaign coat of the "surtout" type was issued, this being white with the collar, cuffs and turnbacks in the facing colour.

Equipment

Equipment was similar to the French style, fusiliers and voltigeurs having one shoulder strap with no sabre-briquet while NCOs and grenadiers had two straps carrying the bayonet, cartridge pouch and sabre-briquet.

Breeches were white and extended below the knee with short black gaiters although white trousers were often worn on campaign. The greatcoat, which although not a regulation item, appears to have been in common use, was single breasted, either grey, sky blue or brown in colour and the fusiliers' coat appears to have had shoulder straps, these being piped in the facing colour, while the elite companies wore their epaulets. In addition, the collar often bore a patch in the facing colour.

Headgear

The headgear was the French style shako with a brass plate. For the fusiliers this was shield shaped and bore the regimental number while that of the grenadiers (when they wore it) was of a similar style and bore a grenade. The voltigeurs' plate officially consisted of a grenade over a horn with the regimental number carried on the grenade. However, some illustrations show the voltigeurs with the same plate as the other companies, this bearing just a hunting horn and no number. Fusilier company distinctions consisted of a disk shaped pompon, this apparently being of two different patterns.

Some units had a white or yellow outer with a facing coloured centre bearing the company number in white or yellow while others seem to have had the colours reversed with the number in the facing colour. Voltigeur pompoms were ball shaped, sometimes with tufts, in various combinations of green and yellow while those of the grenadiers were similar but in red or amaranth. However, many grenadier companies continued to cling to their bearskins, this now having red or amaranth cords in addition to the plume and patch.

Shako cords were seldom worn by Neapolitan troops although the hooks required for them were present on the shako. Chin scales were brass with the bosses bearing a star, grenade or hunting horn. The cockade had a white outer with an amaranth centre, this being held in place by a brass clip, although in 1815 the wearing of a cockade in the Italian national colours was ordered.

Officers' Uniforms

Officers' uniforms were similar to those of the men, albeit of higher quality, with longer tails and gilt buttons and turnback devices. Rank insignia were similar to the French system and are listed in the table. However, the officers also appear to have worn a blue surtout with the collar and possibly cuffs in the facing colour while some traditionalists may have clung on to their pre-1811 uniforms or worn uniforms of the pre-1811 colours in the new style!

Officers' headgear was officially the shako although many seem to have preferred the bicorne when on campaign. The metal parts of the shako were gilt and the pompons were gold for the voltigeur and grenadier companies and had gold instead of white for the fusilier companies; Colonels, however, wore white plumes. When grenadier officers wore the bearskin, the cords were gold as was the grenade on the back patch. As an additional rank distinction, all officers except for colonels wore a gorget, this being gilt with an embossed white metal badge of the same pattern as the turnback device.

Mounted officers had a saddle cloth of the facing colour with gold lace edging and regimental number in the rear corner, although Aloja shows it as being blue with gold edging and a gold grenade in the rear corner.

Officers' equipment consisted of an epee for the fusilier officers and a sabre for their elite company colleagues, these having a golden knot and being carried in a leather scabbard with gilt fittings. These weapons had gilt hand guards bearing the gorget emblem in silver and the first seven regiments had mother-of-pearl hilts while the other five had black bone.

All swords were officially carried on white leather belts, these being worn around the waist or over the shoulder, although some illustrations show black or facing coloured belts. Officers usually wore breeches and hussar style boots although many other patterns of legwear are known to have been employed including white trousers with or without blue stripes and "English" boots.

Musicians

No official descriptions of the drummers' and voltigeur buglers' uniforms exist although contemporary illustrations show a uniform similar to that of the men with the addition of white and amaranth lace of the type shown on the lapels, collar, cuffs, turn backs, along the sleeve seams and in seven inverted chevrons along the arms. In addition, the musicians wore "swallows' nest" epaulets in amaranth with the same lace piping.

However, many variations appear to have existed, including the use of yellow coats with black facings piped yellow (3rd Regiment), green coats with white facings (5th regiment), reversed pre-1811 uniform colours (6th Regiment) and blue coats with yellow facings (7th Regiment). Illustrations of musicians in 1815 fail to show the lace so it is possible that this was abolished before the campaign of that year started. Drum bodies were of brass with the wooden hoops being painted in white and amaranth stripes, although the units listed above appear to have had the hoops painted in the drummers' coat and facing colours. The instrument was carried on a white shoulder belt with brass stick holders. Bugles were brass and usually had green cords although mixed white and amaranth ones were not unknown.

Sappers

The sappers, of whom there were two in each grenadier company, appear to have worn uniforms identical to those of the grenadiers with the addition of a white or buff apron and a badge on the upper arm consisting of crossed axes surmounted by a grenade, all of this being in yellow with the grenade's flame in red. This badge also appeared in brass on the cartridge pouch.

However, the official uniform was very different, consisting of a coat in the facing colour faced white with white piping, a colpack with its bag in the facing colour piped white, a white tassel and a red plume. I can find no proof that a uniform of this description was ever worn, the 7th Regiment apparently coming closest to it with a uniform that consisted of the coat as described, with the addition of gold horizontal lace across the lapels, the badge in reversed colours, mixed red and gold epaulets, a white colpack bearing the pioneers' badge with an embossed 7 on it and two pistols carried on a waist belt.

Regimental Artillery

The regimental artillery companies, each of two guns, were authorised by a decree of April 24th 1813. They wore a sky blue coat with facings in the regimental colour on the collar, lapels, turnbacks, cuffs and cuff flaps, all of these being piped in sky blue while the pockets were piped in the regimental colour. Grenadier distinctions were worn on the turnbacks and shako and red epaulets were worn. All equipment was as for the grenadiers and, although a musket was not part of the official equipment, most of the men appear to have carried one.

More Uniforms of the Neapolitan Army 1806-1815

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