INTRODUCTION Before getting into the actual subject of this article, it seems worthwhile to discuss sources of information on uniforms. Many times in the past there have appeared articles within the pages of The Courier which, though of interest to newcomers to the theme period, had little to offer beyond that found in fairly standard reference works. This article will do little beyond such past articles of the type, but this opportunity is suitable to discuss some of the standard sources that should be found in any gamer's library. As was pointed out by Dick Bryant in a recent conversation about this very problem, most gamers have little in the way of source material for any period beyond the one or two in which they are most active. Though a gamer only demonstates restraint and intelligence by emphasizing purchases of books on periods in which he is interested, it is impossible to foresee which periods may become primary interest areas in the future. Many gamers were recently astounded and dismayed to learn that The Lace Wars are no longer in print in English, and now wish that they had purchased this fine set of books as Minifigs has finally gotten out their long-awaited Seven Years War 15mm figures. The Osprey books on this subject are also out of print, as is the Blandford book on Armies of the Seven Years War. Similar expressions of dismay were heard last year when the American Civil War grew in popularity at a time when most of the 'standard sources' were out of print. What this all points to is a need for gamers to have more open minds with regards to their purchases of reference material. If a book or series of books seems like it will, or may be of interest at some future date, buy it now before it goes out of print. The most readily available and useful series to look for are as follows: 1. The Osprey Men at Arms series of quality paperbound books with color plates, histories, and information on organizations and uniforms. These volumes have covered a wide variety of subjects and only a small fraction of their titles are currently in print. New additions to this series are released several times each year. 2. The Blandford series of small hardcover uniform guides which feature a large section of color plates and all volumes in the series include an introductory history and notes on the plates in the parts of the book before and after the color section. Again, these books tend to cover fairly large subjects (such as the Napoleonic Wars, the American Civil War, the Seven Years War, etc.) and are excellent general references for entire periods. Unfortunately, many are currently out of print. 3. Last, but certainly not least, Uniforms of the World by Knotel, Knotel, and Sieg. This excellent reference work had been available in German for years and has recently been available in English. It has been fairly common at sale prices on the remainder tables of the larger book store chains and is a real must for any serious miniatures gamer. Though it is a little harder to find now than it was a year ago, most book stores would be happy to order a copy for a customer or Charles Scribner's Sons, the publisher, could be contacted directly. Though the Knotel book does not have color plates, it is full of black and white plates with tables of uniform information and useful text covering virtually every country in the world from the inception of true military uniforms through the modern day. THE BASICS OF NAVAL UNIFORMS In the era under discussion, it is most important to understand that uniforms were nonexistant for the average sailor. Uniforms were worn by officers, not by their men. Though popular films may show all seamen in striped shirts and wearing identical straw hats, it must be remembered that seamen were often impressed (dragged off to the naval service by press gangs) and that their dress was provided from a ship's 'slop chest' rather than by a true quartermaster. As such articles of clothing were often paid for by the ship's captain, only the crew of the Captain's gig (ship's boat) would be expected to be outfitted as in a popular romance, and, even then, only when ferrying their Captain to meetings ashore on onboard some other vessel. Even the officers had vast leeway in meeting uniform regulations. All uniforms were purchased by the officer in question from his own tailor. As with hair styles, individual officers demonstrated their own political and social views in the uniforms they wore. Ali officers, by definition, were gentlemen. Though the navies of the world were not as prone to selling ranks for money or influence as was the British army of the period, influence and position did help. Older and more conservative officers would still tend to wear wigs, have their hair powdered or wear a queue (like a pigtail). The younger and more innovative officers would tend to wear their hair in a more modern, shorter style. This is especially true of Revolutionary France where the older style would appear to have the 'airs' of the old nobility. Even officers of noble birth in the French Navy would have gone to extremes to avoid reminding the authorities and their men of their origins in a deposed social class. A basic officer's uniform for all nations consisted of a hat and coat. All officers wore breeches and hose where the breeches would usually be white and of a fabric depending upon quality (price) the officer could afford and the use for which he planned them. Often breeches that were of fine quality and bought for 'dress' wound up as everyday wear when they became somewhat worn with age. Hose tended to be of white linen or wool for daily use and silk for more formal occasions. Richer officers might always wear silk hose, and older silk hose might be worn in time of battle by all officers as it was reputed to be cleaner and safer if a leg wound were suffered. Naval officers always wore black shoes, never boots, for obvious reasons. The quality of their footwear, and its embroidery in terms of ornate buckles, etc. seems to have been a matter of personal taste and budget rather than one of strictly regulated uniform code of dress. The style of hat and coat worn by the various navies of the period, as well as their rank designations, will be discussed on a country by country basis. As Britain was the dominant naval power of the age, the King's Navy will be discussed first. Holland Dutch naval uniforms were based on regulations of 1792 and 1798. In the later years of the Napoleonic wars, Holland became part of France and naval officers would have worn a mix of Dutch and French uniforms. The Dutch regulations called for a black tricorne hat (probably later replaced by a bicorne) with gold lace edging, blue coat with blue collar, lapels and cuffs edged in gold, white waistcoat and breeches. Dress hats sported red, white, and blue ostrich feathers, while service dress hats did not. Epaulettes were gold, as were buttons gold or gold colored. In undress (service) wear, a double-breasted blue coat was worn with blue cuffs and collar. The lapels and turnbacks/linings were red for Captains and First Lieutenants and dark blue for Commanders and junior Lieutenants. In 1808, when France took full control of the Netherlands, all red distinctions disappeared and all collars, cuffs, and lapels were dark blue, in the French pattern. Epaulettes also followed the French pattern, though flag officers' uniforms remained unchanged. Those Dutch units at sea (in the Caribbean, etc.) would probably never obtain the French style uniforms as Dutch ports, like the French, were under British blockade. Portugal As most of the Portuguese fleet was either sunk, with the royal family in Brazil, or under British control, British style uniforms are certainly an adequate representation of Portuguese dress of this period. Spain As for France except that the collar was red and the gold lace around the cuffs varied in thickness by rank of the officer wearing the coat. Russia The Russian navy wore uniforms virtually identical to those of the Russian army of this period. Coats and trousers were dark green with white piping. Shoes, rather than boots, were worn, as would be expected for shipboard use. All leather equipment was black. Epaulettes and other rank distinctions were as for the army. The Guard Flotilla, stationed at St. Petersburg, was differentiated from the other flotillas (the Russians did not have squadrons) by having red shoulder straps and white collar piping. When breeches, rather than trousers, were worn, they were white, as were stockings. Shoes were black. United States Coat and breeches were dark blue. Epaulettes were gold and followed the pattern established for the army. Collar, cuffs, and lapels (worn closed) were red in the late eighteenth century and then white, though buff was sometimes worn. This follows the usual pattern for the US army of the American Revolutionary War and was due to similar factors, as well as the choice of the naval officer since he provided his own uniform, as was the case in all navies of the time. Shirts were white, while waistcoats generally followed the color of the cuffs and lapels. Bicorne hats were black. Stockings were white with black shoes. Britain British officers wore bicorne hats, though whether fore-and-aft or side-to-side appears to have been left to the individual officer. It appears that they were supposed to be worn with the points fore-and-aft, but this was much like hair styles in terms of universal acceptance. The officers blue coat of the period followed civilian styles as far as cut and being double or single breasted. Though there were no plainly evident rank distinctions visible until 1795, after that year epaulettes were added. Until 1795 (and again after 1812) white lapels and facings (including collars and cuffs) were worn by all officers. The epaulettes added in 1795 were of gold and followed this system: Junior officers (Midshipmen and Lieutenants) wore none; Commanders wore one on the left shoulder; Junior Captains of less than three years wore one on the right shoulder; Post Captains and senior officers wore two. In 1812 this system was changed to where lieutenants wore a plain epaulette on the right shoulder, Commanders wore two plain epaulettes, and more senior ranks wore two epaulettes with distinctions inscribed on their fancier epaulettes. Lace and trim (generally up to what the officer could afford, as with the exact cut of his coat) were gold. Buttons were gold or brass. Undergarments (shirt, waistcoat, etc.) were always white or blue. France In 1786 the French naval officer wore a black tricorne hat with gold edging and a white cockade, dark blue single-breasted coat with no lapels or turnbacks, red cuffs, and gold epaulettes that followed the army system of rank distinctions. Waistcoats and undergarments were red, as were the breeches, with white stockings and black shoes. Collar colors varied by squadron from carmine, yellow, green, light blue, orange, and fawn. The Revolution had little impact on these uniforms, though the tricorne was replaced by a bicorne hat with a tricolor cockade to replace the old royalist white cockade. Though France often suffered from cloth shortages for army uniforms, it must be remembered that the bulk of the French fleet spent most of the Napoleonic wars bottled up by British blockade. This would allow naval officers to retain a better standard of uniform than their army counterparts, though many may have worn white breeches if red ones were difficult to obtain. CLOSING NOTES If all of this seems a bit vague when compared to descriptions of army uniforms of this era, remember that describing naval uniforms for officers at this time is a bit like describing uniforms for general officers of the land forces. All officers used their own tailors for cut, style, and often even facing color with a great deal of leeway allowed for by naval custom, if not lack of regulation. Many officers continued to wear styles or color regulations of the previous generation as such officers were conservative and fairly senior in rank; certainly not to be questioned about so minor a detail as uniform 'regulations.' In an arm of the services where promotions were often slow, where many officers spent peacetime 'on the beach' without a ship, and where great latitude for style and fashion was the norm, only such generalizations regarding uniforms can be made so that all comments in this article should be so viewed. Back to Table of Contents -- Courier Vol. VI No. 1 Back to Courier List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1985 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com