Being a wargamer, I value being able to enjoy this period in the comfort of my own home. However, I recently ventured out into the appallingly un-British heat to view a Napoleonic re-enactment.

Suitably attired in shorts and tee-shirt with regulation witty slogan, shaded by a fishing umbrella and solaced by a few iced-cool tins of ex-kangeroo water, I settled back with a few pals to enjoy the show. To add a bit of excitement we ran a sweepstake, trying to guess the number of combatants who would be carried off with heat-stroke on account of all that heavy material in the uniform that they had to wear, not to mention all that equipment they were carting about.

Betting on an even baker's dozen, imagine my disappointment when the commentator informed us that in fact the heavy wool coats helped keep them cool! I'm afraid that I missed the technical reasons for this and would be grateful for any enlightenment from the Re-cnactors [the more outrageous the reason the better!]

More Queries

11: Legion Hanovrienne
12: Saxon Hussars
13: Uniforms and Warm Weather
14: Charles Henry Smith, alias, Charles D'Aguille
15: French Grenadier Formations