Color Supplement (monstrously slow: 1.108Mb) The following series of plates were found on the web site for the National Library of France (see the Newsletter portion of this issue for the URL). These appear to be a compendium of the uniforms of the Genoese militia as worn during the War of the Austrian Succession. The plates were originally printed in 1780 and dedicated either to the former head of the state of Genoa or possibly the Duc de Richelieu who commanded there.

A brief background to Genoa's role in the War of the Austrian Succession might be appropriate before turning to a description of the plates themselves. During the War of the Austrian Succession, the republic of Genoa became allied with the Spanish and French against the Austrians and the kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia as a result of the Treaty of Worms, a treaty whose intent was to give the Genoese-owned Marquisat of Finale to the Kingdom of PiedmontSardinia in return for that kingdom's alliance with Austria.

On the 26th of June 1745, the republic declared war on Austria. Genoa, whose army was certainly less than of the first rank, and who found themselves increasingly distracted by the ongoing revolt of the island of Corsica, was unable to provide much help to the Galispans, save for their key geographic location along the Italian coast. After the disaster of Piacenza and the subsequent retreat of the Bourbons toward the French border, Genoa was forced to surrender to the Austrians on the 6th of September 1746.

The Austrian occupation was unexpectedly harsh. Monetary indemnities to the tune of 3 million genovene (£800,000) were extracted from the republic, supplies were taken, and people were subjected to forced labor. It was the occasion of citizens being forced against their will to extricate a mortar lodged in a ditch on the 5th of December 1746 that was the genesis of a riot that led to the revolt of the Genoese -- a revolt that was successful in driving out the Austrian occupiers.

It would appear that following this revolt, if not prior to the occupation itself, the Genoese organized bodies of militia. Based on the names of the battalions, it appears that they were organized around specific occupations or trades. I have taken the liberty of trying to the best of my ability to translate the names of the various trades into their modern English equivalents. Regrettably, I have no information concerning the sizes of these units. However, for those interested in wargaming small actions, a few companies of troops clad in these rather imaginative and colorful uniforms, pitted as they would have been against the white-coated Austrians, might make for a most interesting scenario.

NOTE: "Hairdressers" should be read as "wigmakers. " The color inserts were printed before this mistranslation was discovered.

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