The carabinier of 1796 shown on the adjacent drawing wears the regulation uniform according to the Regulation of February 1793 which created the DemiBrigades of the Line and the Demi-Brigades Legeres. [1] Prior to 1793, the French light infantry wore a dark green uniform inherited from the 12 battalions of light infantry of the Royal army established in March, 1788. In 1793, the blue unifonn was introduced into the light infantry in place of the previous green. However, the distinctive features were retained. The 1793 light infantry uniform was similar to that of the line with the dark blue coat having a distinctive cut. The lapels were dark blue, piped white and had their lower edges shaped to a point. The cuffs [2] and turnbacks were also blue. The collar and cuff flaps were red piped blue or white. Buttons were of white metal. In most units, the waistcoat was also blue but some regiments had white waistcoats. Our carabinier, the equivalent of the grenadier in the demi-brigades de ligne, had red epaulettes and wore the traditional bearskin of the light infantry. This bearskin lacked the metal frontplate of the grenadiers of the line infantry. The bearskin had a top rear red patch with a white cross and white cords with a red plume instead of the regulation red with blue cross. Some carabinier bearskins had no red patch. Our carabinier is wearing black hussar style boots piped white or red sometimes with a white or red pompom. When such boots were not available, matching black gaiters also piped white or red sometimes with a red pompom were worn over the standard shoes and the dark blue breeches which were usually plain without any lace decoration. In addition, our carabinier had a great coat which was usually dark blue, although light blue, brown, tan or gray greatcoats were not unknown. In the light infantry, the great coat was far from standard issue. [3] As in the line infantry, all the belts were white. Armament is the standard Charleville musket and the sabre- briquet. We should not conclude that in 1796 all the carabiniers of the Demi-brigades legees wore the regulation uniform described above. Far from it! The variations were numerous and far exceeded the minor variants mentioned here. In addition to a flagrant lack of will to follow regulations, shortages of all sort - money, cloth, etc. - led to the usage of whatever was available as clothing, shoes etc. Many contemporary prints show French infantrymen literally in rags. [4] Note in the background the chasseur wearing the standard bicorne. In 1796, some soldiers were still wearing the crested helmet or a form of shako called the mirliton. The officer is also wearing a regulation type uniform with a straight saber. In order to accentuate their affinity for the light cavalry, some light infantry officers had light cavalry style curved sabers. ENDNOTES [1] In French, demi-brigade is feminine and consequently the adjective is also feminine. Hence we have a demi-brigadelegere. When demi-brigades were changed back to regiment, the resulting unit was called regiment legers, since regiment is masculine. Hence when referring to a light unit after 1803, the word 1eger should be used instead of the frequently used 1egre. Note that on the flag of any Light regiment the wording is: AU Xeme REGIMENT/D'INFANTERIE/ LEGERE since infanterie is feminine. In some contemporary French texts, one can occasionally find the word legere alone. In this case, it is meant to designate d'infanterie legere but the words d'infanterie is simply inferred. [2] Many patterns of cuffs were common. They could be of the flapless style with vertical piping, pointed cuffs, etc. [3] In the light infantry, the greatcoat became standard issue only in 1806. Then, the color, at least in theory was to be no longer blue but tan or beige. [4] The present writer is working on a lengthy article on the uniform of the Revolutionary army with some contemporary pictures showing the ragged, vagabond-like look of many infantry units. SOURCES Bucquoy, Commandant, Les uniformes du Premier Empire, l'infanterie, Reprint, Paris 1979. Haythornwaite, Philip, Napoleon's Light Infantry, Osprey Men-At-Arms Series, 1983. Malibran, H. Uniformes de l'armee francaise, Paris 1904. Back to Empire, Eagles, & Lions Table of Contents Vol. 2 No. 4 Back to EEL List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1994 by Emperor's Headquarters 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