From their beginnings as simple land troops carried aboard ships in the ancient period, marines soon became a specialized formation. This was so in the Roman Empire after the need for troops became apparent in the naval warfare against Carthage. Roman infantry units received special marine training and a tour of duty assigned to the fleets. Though these were not purely 'marine' units, they operated as such for the length of their assignments to such duty, after which time they returned to more standard infantry assignments. By the eighteenth century, most European nations had a regularly established marine infantry force for service aboard ships. These units had as their primary duties providing small arms fire during naval engagements (from the decks and from the masts and spars), guarding the powder magazine and any possible 'escape routes' that might be sought by unnerved members of the ship's crew during an engagement, providing an honor guard for the Captain and important visitors to the ship, providing a steady force for landing actions and firepower for the rare boarding action. Marine uniforms varied widely from their naval counterparts. Although a part of the naval establishment, marine uniforms tended to more closely resemble the uniforms of their infantry counterparts, perhaps due to their origins in such forces. Although the basic appearance of a marine uniform tended to be quite similar to land infantry uniforms of the period, there were definite differences which will be discussed on a country by country basis in the sections that follow. This article will concentrate on the uniforms worn by marines serving with the major naval powers of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Particular attention will be paid to the Napoleonic era due to the degree of interest shown in this period in miniatures gaming. OFFICERS AND THE LIKE As commented upon in my earlier article on naval dress of this period ' it must be remembered that officers provided their own uniforms to only general guidelines provided by regulations. Using their own tailors and demonstrating their preferences for cut and style, officers would wear uniforms that were fancier versions of those worn by their men. In most navies, this would include a bicorne hat as opposed to the standard headgear worn by the rank and file. As with naval personnel, those navies with extensive sea service (like the British), would often have several uniform regulations in service simultaneously as marines at sea would not have been issued uniforms to match new regulations until such time as they returned to port in their home country or were scheduled to be issued replacement uniforms. Thus, all uniforms and dates quoted below are guidelines and should not be seen as rigidly enforced regulations applicable to all marine units. FRANCE IN THE 7 YEARS WAR AND AMERICAN REVOLUTION In the 7 Years War French marines wore blue coat and pants, white gaiters and crossbelts, and black shoes. it is also assumed that the marines wore tricornes. By the time of the American Revolution, France had established (in 1774) the Royal Corps of Marine Infantry. Their uniform consisted of a blue coat, waistcoat and breeches with red facings and blue turnbacks; to the coat. Rank and file wore black gaiters and shoes and a black tricorne. Officers wore naval uniforms at sea (as ensigns and lieutenants) and the above listed marine uniform on land duty. The officers had white gaiters, with gold epaulettes, gorgets and gold lace to their tricorne hats. There was also a separate formation of Bombardiers within the Royal Corps of Marines which serviced naval gunnery ashore. The Bombardiers were commanded by a Lieutenant in naval uniform when aboard ships. When ashore they wore the standard marine uniform (as listed above) with red shoulder tabs and a black bearskin hat with a brass plate (similar to that worn by grenadiers of the period). ENGLAND IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION British marines wore simple checkered shirts and naval issue canvas pants when aboard ship. This was primarily to save wear on their good uniforms which were worn for more formal occasions and for assignments on land. The dress or land service uniform was basically the same as that of the British infantry, with the usual 'red' coat, white collar, lapels, turnbacks, breeches and waistcoat. The black tricorne had white lace. White hose and a white shirt were worn with black gaiters and black shoes. Crossbelts were white and an oval brass badge with an anchor design was worn at the point on the chest where the crossbelts met. It is also worthy of note that by the end of the American Revolutionary Wars, blue facings had replaced white in the regulations, but as mentioned above in the introductory section, such replacement uniforms would not have been universally issued to all marine forces. THE UNITED STATES IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION The uniforms of the United States were even less standardized than those of the European powers at this time, partially due to the existence of State Navies and units of Marines in addition to those of the Continental Navy. Pennsylvania State Marines wore a brown coat with green facings and white turnbacks. Breeches were buff while hose and waistcoat were white. Crossbelts were white, as was the lace to the black tricorne hat. Black shoes and half gaiters were also worn. Maryland State Marines wore blue hunting shirts, buff breeches, and plain black tricornes. A white shirt and a single white crossbelt and hose were worn with black shoes and half gaiters. Continental Marines (for the United States, as opposed to a single state's militia) wore dark green coats with white facings and turnbacks. Two crossbelts were white and a silver oval was positioned at the chest where the crossbelts met, possibly demonstrating the influence of the British marine uniform on the new United States. A black hat turned up on one side with white piping along the hat brim edge was also worn. Officers wore silver epaulettes on the right shoulder. In 1779 the facings changed to red, as did the turnbacks to the coat, until the end of the war, at which time the Continental Marines were disbanded until 1798. FRANCE IN THE NAPOLEONIC WARS It should first be remembered that French Marines were more apt to see land service than those of Britain due to the blockade of French shipping in European ports. Thus, the uniforms of the French Marines most closely resemble those of the infantry. There was also a battalion of Guard FRENCH MARINE (NAPOLEONIC PERIOD) Marines, as there was guard of almost every kind under Napoleon. The many changes in French uniform regulation probably affected the Marines to the same extent as the infantry as they spent so much time in land service and aboard ships in port in France. These changes were too numerous to attempt to outline each and every such uniform, so the 1815 uniform is described here. French Marines wore blue coat and pants. The coat had red piping at the collar and cuffs and blue lapels. There were brass shoulder scales (did they honestly expect to see boarding actions?) and black crossbelts with a brass anchor device at the point where the belts met on the chest. White gaiters were worn, though covered by the trousers, and black shoes. The Battalion of Guard Marines wore a blue pelisse with gold cords and collar piping, red cuffs with gold piping, and gold shoulder tabs piped red. They had a black shako with gold cords, trim at the top of the shako, and eagle plate on the front. A red plume was worn with a French cockade on the side of the shako. Blue pants and black shoes were worn. The pants had a gold Hungarian knot and a gold stripe down each side. Officers wore a black bicorne (fore and aft) and had white pants and black boots (obviously never intended for shipboard duty). Gold epaulettes were also worn by officers, who also had red collars. Two crossbelts were black, and the gun sling for these troops was also black. For those who are interested, the Guard Marines carried a purple flag with a gold anchor in the center, and they did apparently have an Eagle issued to them, carried with the flag at the top of the staff. It should be noted that some sources show the cords and trim to the Guard Marine shako to have been an orange-red rather than gold. ENGLAND IN THE NAPOLEONIC WARS As is the case with France, the British had several uniform regulation changes in the period. The uniform discussed is that of 1812 as this is the most commonly found uniform for infantry in miniatures gaming. Marines wore blue coats with red collars, cuffs and shoulder tabs. They wore gray trousers and black shoes. Their dress uniform was a red coat with blue facings and white pants. Officers had gold epaulettes. The dress uniform also included black gaiters. The Marine headgear differed from the standard infantry shako and was a form of tophat (black with a white band at the bottom and a white over red plume on the right side. Crossbelts were white. SWEDEN IN THE NAPOLEONIC WARS Swedish Marines wore standard infantry style uniforms with whichever headgear was currently the army regulation at the time. They wore blue coats with white piping to the collar and cuffs. DUTCH MARINES IN THE NAPOLEONIC WARS As Holland had basically been absorbed by France, the uniform in 1806 was similar to that of the French Marines or French Light infantry. They had blue coats and trousers with a red collar, cuffs, and piping for the lapels. A white waistcoat was worn. Officers had red epaulettes. Black shoes and gaiters were also worn. A shako with a yellow band at the top and a brass anchor at the front was regulation, as was a green over red plume. A Dutch Corps of Marines was established independent of the French in 1814. This might be seen as 'Dutch-Beigian' and a part of any Anglo-Allied Force for a 100 Days period campaign. The uniform was a dark blue coat and trousers with yellow collar, cuffs and lapel piping. A shako was worn by rank and file, while officers probably wore a bicorne and they had gold epaulettes. SPAIN IN THE NAPOLEONIC WARS After the Battle of Trafalgar, it is obvious that not too many Spanish Marines would find need for service at sea. Thus, the marine uniform described is for land service and for the period of the Peninsular War (1808-1812). The coat was dark blue with red lapels, collar and turnbacks, all with no piping. Silver buttons were worn with silver anchors on each side of the collar. White pants and black gaiters were standard issue, as were white crossbelts and a black 'belly box' with a bronze disc medallion with an anchor. The belly box was worn on a separate belt which was worn under the coat and is not normally visible. The coat was of a style reminiscent of the uniform styles of the late eighteenth century so that the shirt shows more than is usual for this period. The shirt is white. A black bicorne with a red cockade and no plume was worn. CLOSING COMMENTS As was the case with the earlier article on Naval Uniforms of this period, this is not presented as a definitive work on the subject. Most information presented in this article is from relatively standard sources. This subject is only brought up again as recent months have seen the reprinting of several of the books listed as lamentably out of print in my last article. it may be that publishers like Osprey have noticed that new people always enter our hobby and that new markets may exist for older titles. This is seen as a good sign and hopefully will make more of the generally accepted 'standard sources' available to more readers of THE COURIER. Back to Table of Contents -- Courier Vol. VII #1 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1986 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com