Paul Kennedy, in his book The Rise and Fall of Great Powers, evaluates a nation's strength on a combination of factors. One of the key factors is the relative strength of its military and naval forces. The gradual decline of Spanish strength in relation to the other European powers was no more clearly demonstrated than during its annexation to Napoleon's empire at the start of the Nineteenth Century. Spain's decline after the rule of Philip II in the late 16th Century has been attributed to a number of factors: economic stagnation as a result of mercantilism, intellectual stagnation under the influence of the Inquisition, a lack of resources and a failure to adjust to the conditions of the new, modern age. All of these had an impact to some degree not only on Spain's relative position in European power politics but also on the decline of the Spanish Army. But, remember the word "relative", in the late 18th Century Spain could still field effective military forces and leaders. The Spanish campaign in the Borderlands during the American Revolution is adequate testimony to the potential of Spanish arms. The Spanish foreign minister, Carlos Floridablanco, clearly recognized the Spanish weaknesses in the New World and in the Old. Spain failed, despite an excellent geographic position and a real jump on the rest of Europe in the race to nation-statehood, to convert its 16th Century advantages into sustained European dominance. After the War of Spanish Succession and the replacement of the Hapsburgs with the House of Bourbon, there was a brief resurgence of control in Spain's colonial empire. But, in Europe, the fact that Spain's fate had been decided by the French, Austrians, and English was indicative of the overall Spanish weakness. Years of malaise and introversion overwhelmed even the best Bourbon reformers. The Spanish Army suffered from lack of effective leadership, inertia and administrative neglect. By the time Napoleon dabbled in Spain and sought Spanish assistance in his war against the British, it was clear to every European politician that Spain was, at best, a dubious ally. Despite its weaknesses Spain did possess a sizable military establishment. Due to the Bourbon connection, the Spanish Army resembled the French Army of the Ancien Regime in its uniforms and organization. There were more than thirty-eight infantry regiments scattered around Spain and the world. Remember that Spain had a colonial empire that stretched from Africa to the New World to Asia. There was also a light infantry arm of twelve regiments. The pride of the Spanish Army was its cavalry and these were organized into twelve line regiments, eight dragoon regiments and three light regiments. The weaker areas of the Spanish Army were its technical branches; engineers and artillery. The Spanish followed the basic organization of the Ancien regime in the number of Battalions and basic organization within each battalion. Each infantry regiment had a depot battalion and the troop strength of each battalion varied with its reputation, assignment and the effectiveness of its leadership. For war gaming purposes, limit the Spanish Bourbon regiments to two or three battalions of 600-750 troops each. Spanish organization above the regiment was an ad hoc affair as units were thrown together for each campaign. After the collapse of the French alliance and the break with Napoleon, the Bourbon Army disintegrated. Some units remained in the service of the French while others served the new Spanish government. Still others disappeared from the rolls altogether. I n any case, some of the soldiers that deserted provided cadres for new units or fought with the guerrillas. This article will concentrate on the uniforms of the last Bourbon Army because information on the transition period is sketchy at best. Spanish Uniforms The basic color of the Spanish infantry uniform was white; white coat, pants, and vests. Four regiments used sky blue as their basic color. Cuffs, collars, and lapels varied in color with the various distinctions assigned each regiment. REGIMENT ASTRIA had a white collar, green cuffs and lapels with white buttons. All the regiments wore white pants and black gaiters and shoes. Cross belts and canvas equipment were white washed cotton canvas. Headgear was a black felt bi-com with yellow or white lace matching the button color. A white or red cockade was included as well. Regimental distinctions were made up of variations of the following colors: white, green, red, black, yellow, dark blue, light blue, light yellow orange, and violet. You could possibly vary the colors above, painting each unit with some combination of these colors and come up with fairly accurate uniforms for the late Bourbon period. A few of the known line infantry regimental patterns are described below. In the selection of colors, remember that buttons are white or yellow. Cuffs and lapels will always be the same color and the collar will be the same color as the cuffs and lapels or white. The Spanish also fielded twelve regiments of light infantry. These regiments were also assigned to the various garrisons around the empire, but their principle duties were on the frontiers and the in the Pyrenees. The basic uniform color was dark blue with red, yellow, carmine or blue facings. For example the SUCUNDO de BARCELONA had dark blue collars, yellow cuffs and lapels and white buttons. The PRIMERO de VOLUNTARIOS de ARGON had red collars, cuffs and patches with white buttons. The light infantry uniform was cut in the same manner as the line infantry and the head gear was similar as well. The provincial militia wore white uniforms with red facings, collars and cuffs. Just as the line and lights, they had red heart shaped patches on their coat skirts. (The line and light patches matched the cuff color.) There were more than forty militia regiments, battalions, and legions in Spain and its empire. Basically, each major city boasted a regiment, as did the rural provinces. The quality of these units varied and the standardization of uniforms and equipment may have been better on paper than in reality. The militia's effectiveness and organization are not the subject of this paper. The militia units were the initial forces that opposed Napoleon. As the anti-Napoleon forces gathered strength and expanded so did the variety of uniforms and head gear. It was not until the British supplied the funds to re-uniform the Spanish forces that any order in the uniforms occurred. To represent this period, use units with a variety of figures or even other nationalities to represent these colorful and enthusiastic, but generally ineffective units. In the late 18th Century the Spanish cavalry wore two basic colors of uniform, white for the heavies and yellow for the lights. The Hapsburg influences were retained more in the cavalry than any other branch. Starting in 1805, line cavalry Chevel Jagers and Cuirassier, wore a light blue coat with red distinctions over a buff waist coat and breeches. A black bicom with white or yellow lace matching the button color, and a red cockade finished off the uniform. The Dragoons had white lace only on their hats and yellow coats, linings and under garments. All dragoon distinctions were of the regimental color, for example, REY was carmine, LUSITANIA was black and ALMANSA was light blue. There were a total of eight dragoon regiments in the Spanish Army - all but one served in Spain. Spanish cuirassier regiments wore silver breast plates over the basic line uniform. The Spanish light cavalry, mounted rifles and Hussars wore a black chaco with a plume of red and white fittings. They had green dolmans, breeches, sabrataches with white loops and cords. The two light mounted rifle regiments, OLIVENCIA and the CAZADORES VOLUNTARICS de ESPANIA, had red and light blue collars, cuffs and breeches stripes respectively. The OLIVENCIA had light blue and red girdles while the CAZADORES had light blue and white. The MARIA LUISA HUSSARS added a light blue pelisse with red cords and black fur. The hussars had red cuffs and patches with light blue collars and piping. After the collapse of Spain cavalry uniforms became quite exotic in the newly raised regiments. Those who could afford horses could also afford extravagant uniforms. Although this new Spanish cavalry were a sight to behold their battlefield performance was less effective than their tailoring. The enemy seldom sawthe front of the Spanish uniform forvery long once the battle got serious. Horse furniture was based on the French model with sheep skins and black or dark brown leather saddles and strapping. In selecting the units for your Bourbon Spanish army pick a mix of four to five line infantry regiments to one light infantry regiment. Include two to three companies of medium foot artillery and two to four line cavalry regiments plus a touch of one or two Dragoon regiments. For added flavor include two to four militia regiments and throw in a mounted rifle or hussar regiment. Stir the mess in a blender, randomly organize and add a touch of personal jealousy between the commanders and skim off all but the most rudimentary staff organization. Although the Spanish are easy to paint, they make an interesting addition to any what if campaign, remember the mobility afforded them by the Spanish Fleet meant that Spanish troops could have been committed anywhere in the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Coast of Europe. They can be used as French allies or enemies, they can even switch sides mid-campaign if you like. They can perform effectively on the table despite their relative low quality if properly used. For further information see the Osprey series or Uniforms of the World, by Knotel, Knotel and Sieg available in most good public libraries. REGIMENT COAT COLLAR CUFFS LAPELS BUTTONS Seville white black black white white Granada white light blue light blue light blue yellow Cordova white red red red yellow Leon white white red red white Mallorca white white red red yellow Espana white green green green white Irlanda sky blue yellow yellow yellow yellow Rey white violet violet violet yellow Reyna white violet violet violet white Back to Table of Contents -- Courier #58 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1992 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com