Several factors were important in uniforming the Bavarian army. Perhaps the most important was that the country had been bankrupted during the War of Austrian Succession. As a result all woolen lace was banned from the uniform coats of the ranks. [3]

Lange (see footnote 3) makes a convincing argument that Bavarian coats were dark blue. Paintings and the fact that Bavarian infantry were issued white smocks in 1758 with the notation that "This would help prevent the Bavarians being mistaken for Prussians, as had happened the year before at the Siege of Schweidnitz." [4]

On the other hand, "Indigo dye becomes darker the more you use. Repeated 'dippings' of cloth into the dye bath result in a darker and deeper blue. This means, of course, that the darker and `richer' a blue colth the more expensive it is to dye.. This is the explanation for the `Blue Army' of Maximilian of Bavaria: the cloth was only dipped a few times, resulting in a bright, rather than a dark, blue." [5]

Taking all this into consideration, it seems reasonable to assume that the coats were dyed indigo, but soon appeared light blue. Turnbacks were red.

Artillerists wore gray coats with blue facings and turnbacks. Buttons were gold-colored and hat lace would have been yellow. Waistcoats and breeches were straw-colored. Gun carriages were painted dark red. [6]

By the time of the Seven Years War all waistcoats and breeches were either straw or white colored. During warm weather the Bavarian army did not wear their coats and the waistcoats were provided with cuffs and a shoulder strap in the facing color.

Fusiliers wore the standard black tricorne with lace of the button color. Pom-poms were white with a blue center and the hat also had side bobs. The side bobs of the men were various colors for each company as chosen by the Colonel and NCO's wore blue and white side bobs. Officers had metallic lace on their tricornes and the side bobs were blue and silver. Grenadier helmets were bearskin and tended to be more pointed at the top than those of other nations. Lace and tassels on the bag were in the button color and the bags appear to have all been red. Line grenadier officers also wore these helmets.

Shoes, gaiters, cartridge pouches and scabbards were all black. When the war began, knapsacks were cowhide, but they were soon replaced by white or grey cloth models. Tin water bottles hung from red leather straps. Belting in general was white. Black stocks were worn by all regiments.

Officers carried spontoons, although grenadier officers were armed with fusils instead. A blue and silver sash was worn by officers. Regulations stipulated that this be worn over the right shoulder when the coat was worn open and around the waist when it was buttoned. However, paintings show that this was generally worn around the waist. Lange points out that only the officers of the Liebregiment took their sashes on the campaign and the others left their sashes at home. [7]

Swords had a blue and silver sword knot. Silver gorgets were worn when the officers were on duty. Staff officers had gold or silver lace on thei edges of their waistcoats. Mounted regimental officers had shabraques and pistol housings in the facing color of the regiment and these were trimmed with lace of the button color.

Generals did not have any regulations to follow, but those commanding regiments probably wore regimental uniforms with additional lace. After 1759 it is possible that those generals attached to the Reicharmee wore Austrian uniforms.

Hair was worn in a long queue wrapped in black ribbon. Grenadiers had braided pigtails and wore their hair tucked under the helmet. Enlisted men and NCO's wore mustaches that were blackened and turned up at the ends while officers were clean shaven.

Musicians were dressed however the regimental commander desired. Musicians of the Liebregiment were dressed similarly to the rest of the regiment - black facings with white, tasseled lace on the lapels and cuffs. Musicians of the Preysing regiment probably wore yellow coats with red lapels, but most musicians in the Bavarian army dressed like the men. The drum strap was white, edged with Bavarian livery (the familiar blue and white checkerboard pattern).

The cavalry regiments mentioned above were dressed as follows. The Cuirassier Prinz Taxis regiment troops wore a black cuirass, white coat with clue cuffs and silver buttons, and a tricorne with white lace. The shabraque and housings were red with white edging. The bandolier was white with light blue edging. Dragoon Regiment Biojasque wore red coats with dark blue lapels and cuffs. Buttons were gold-colored. Waistcoats and breeches were light straw, as were the turnbacks on the coat. The shabraque was dark blue and trimmed in yellow lace. The show yellow aigulettes and yellow lace on the tricorne. Dragoon Regiment Hohenzollern wore red coats with light straw facings and turnbacks. Waistcoats and breeches were also light straw. Buttons were silver and hat lace was white. While not pictured mounted, the assumption would be that the shabraque would be light straw with white trim. Stocks were black for all regiments and gloves were white.

Additional Comments

You do not have to spend much time searching for "Bavarian" castings in order to build a Bavarian army. For all intents and purposes, Bavarian uniforms were the same as for the Austrians (except of course for the use of different colors). Austrian grenadiers will work perfectly well for Bavarians. The same is true of officers and general officers.

Once you get your regiment (or battalion) painted, the fun begins. Now you get to paint standards. You get exactly two choices: the Leibstandarte that is white with a Madonna and child motif that requires an artist to paint, or the Regimentstandarte that is a blue and white diamond-shaped checkerboard and is guaranteed to drive you crazy. You should be able to find a picture of these without much trouble. Good Luck with the painting! I recommend that you go all out on one of each of these flags and do the best you can possibly do. Then take your efforts to a place where you can make color photocopies. The flags may cost a couple of bucks, but you will get flags that are well done and all alike.

Footnotes