As wargamers who specialise in the period of the Peninsular War may already appreciate, the subject of the uniforms worn by the Spanish army is one that is extremely complex. Reliable information is hard to come by, and such works as are readily available in this country are not necessarily reliable -- for example, the Osprey book on the Spaniards is one of the worst in the whole 'Man-at-Arms' series.

Company of the Royal Bodyguard on the march. This engraving by Rafael Esteve is part of a series of six entitled "Flying Artillery" and was published in 1800. It offers us interesting news on the formations of this bodyguard; notice the four beaters opening the march, the kettledrummer among the trumpeters and the squadrons with the company staff in front. Reprinted from 'Italians in Spanish Service 1700/1820' by Jose Maria Bueno. Available from Partizan Press or 'On Military Matters' (US).

What is worse, the same tired old information -- and, for that matter, tired old mistakes -- are recycled seemingly ad infinitum. Unfortunately, I cannot claim to be able to remedy the situation in full.

In the first place, space and time do not allow me to produce a comprehensive study of all the uniforms worn between 1808 and 1814, and, in the second, even if I wished to do so, I am convinced that the information is simply not available: many years of professional historical research in the Spanish archives have revealed that the surviving evidence is fragmentary, about the only thing that is clear being that the uniform regulations that have so often been cited are very misleading. In this brief article, therefore, I shall be able to do no more than offer some comments on the subject, based on such primary evidence as I have come across. In doing so, I have no option but to assume at least a modicum of knowledge on the part of the readership -- for a general introduction, please should see the bibliography.

War Starts

Let us start with the uniforms worn by the Spanish army when the war broke out in 1808. Adopted only recently, it is not clear to what extent these had actually been issued by the advent of hostilities. Given that Spain was experiencing serious financial difficulties and that her industry was badly disrupted, there is certainly some room for doubt in this respect. At the same time, contemporary German and Danish illustrations of the Spanish troops sent to Denmark in 1807 under the Marqu-s de la Romana clearly show a survival of the older patterns of uniform, a good example being the distinctive dark green yellow-laced dolman and black-crested leather helmet worn by the light-infantry units in La Romana's force.

Equally, the Almansa and Villaviciosa dragoons were still wearing the green chasseur uniforms that they had been wearing prior to 1806 rather than the yellow ones ordained by the new regulations of that year (a further source of confusion here is that in 1803 six of the eight dragoon regiments were converted into dragoons, and the other two, together with the four regiments of light cavalry, into hussars; two years later, however, the dragoons were reinstated, and the four light regiments split into two regiments of chasseurs and two of hussars). Whether any of the troops that remained in Spain continued to wear the old uniforms -- in the case of the line infantry sky blue coats with black facings -- is not certain, but it is at least possible, if not probable. And, of course, most of La Romana's troops got back to Spain, having been rescued from Denmark by the Royal Navy.

It is therefore probable that the Spanish army presented a somewhat motley appearance even before the outbreak of war. What is absolutely certain, by contrast, is that the old uniforms did not survive for very long. In the first place, there do not seem to be enough to have gone around. In the course of the hasty expansion of the army that took place on the outbreak of war, a number of expedients had to be adopted to clothe the new troops. In Pedro Agustan Giran's regiment, the Granaderos Provinciales de Andaluc"a, for example, half the men were dressed in full-dress bearskins and tailcoats, and the other half in undress fatigue jackets and forage caps. [1]

Some recruits, indeed, could not be given any uniform at all - in July 1808 the Army of Galicia, which was almost entirely made up of regiments of the regular army whose ranks had been filled up with large numbers of conscripts and volunteers, is described as being `in want of shoes, accoutrements and clothing', and, a little later, as `a mixture of peasants in their different costumes'. [2]

As the campaign continued, so matters grew still worse: at Guemes, the Hibernia regiment was `dressed almost entirely in the costume of their native mountains', whilst by December it was said of the remnants of the Army of the Left that `their clothing was motley, and some were half-naked'. [3]

The serried ranks of white coats and bicorns that appear on many Peninsular wargames tables must therefore at the very least be called into question.

The clothing worn by the majority of the Spanish infantry of 1808 (and this discussion must perforce be largely restricted to the infantry, details of cavalry and artillery uniforms being even scantier), whether we are talking of new recruits incorporated into old regiments or the levies formed into the numerous new regiments formed in 1808, was therefore a variant of civilian dress - short open jackets, knee breeches, sandals, and a broad brimmed, low crowned hat (in Catalonia, Aragon and Valencia a top hat seems to have been more common). The most frequent colours were brown or grey, but an attempt was often made to create a more martial appearance by the addition of coloured cuffs or sashes and a red cockade. [4]

However, some of the new units did receive proper uniforms from the beginning, especially in the more prosperous cities - the Voluntarios de Honor de la Real junta de Malaga received halfboots, buff breeches, blue coats with scarlet facings, and a round black hat trimmed with gold [5] -- and gradually a more military appearance was regained. The predominant style seems to have been French, British observers frequently mentioning the resemblance, with belltopped shakos and blue or brown coats. Even the guerrillas also began to acquire uniforms - in July 1809 Juan D"az Porlier was planning to dress his cavalry in grey jackets and trousers with red piping and frogging, and his infantry in brown coats with scarlet turnbacks. [6]

Later in the war, as is well-known, large numbers of British-style blue uniforms were supplied - between 24 July and 9 October 1812 alone, no fewer than 43,950 suits of clothing were received at Cadiz. [7]

These were issued fairly widely to the Spaniards, but here, too, a number of misconceptions have appeared. Generally speaking, it has been claimed that line infantry wore dark blue clothing and line infantry light blue, but the only evidence for this seems to be the mention by the nineteenth-century historian, the Conde de Clonard, of a regulation to this effect. Whether such a regulation was ever issued is doubtful, however - in a report of 20 January 1814 the finance committee of the Cortes specifically noted the problems caused by the absence of a standard uniform [8] --- and there is in any case evidence to suggest that it was ignored. Thus, in May 1811 8,000 light blue uniforms were sent to Whittingham's division in Majorca, from which we can deduce (a) that Whittingham's troops were all dressed in light blue, and (b) that light blue uniforms were isued to line infantry as well as light infantry. [9]

Moreover, although there are references to cavalry uniforms being sent out, when nothing else was available infantry clothing was issued to the cavalry as well. [10]

Last but not least, no attempt was made to suppress such other uniforms as had survived and could still be maintained, the Estado Militar of 1815 showing that many units continued to be dressed in other styles and colours.

This heterogeneity should not surprise us -- after all, if Wellington is on record as being careless as to what his British troops should wear, he is hardly likely to have been more demanding with regard to the Spaniards. More to the point, perhaps, Spain was in complete chaos, and her troops had to make do with what they could get. As even then it should be remembered that the Spanish armies were notoriously ragged and ill-equipped, it is obvious that the emphasis that has always been given to the uniforms of the Bourbon army of 1808, and, to a lesser extent, to the `British' uniforms of the latter part of the war, is misplaced.

Bibliography