The QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS section is edited by Tom DeVoe. Contributions, comments, answers and questions pertinent to this section should be sent to him directly Question 5 - 1: Did the 1812 Russian Fusiliers shakos and cartridge pouch have a single or triple flame? Partial Answer to Question 5- 1: (by the EE&L Staff) As far as we know, the Russian infantry in 1812 was equipped with a cartridge pouch made of black leather. Since July 14, 1808 the plaque was replaced by a grenade with one or three flames as on the shakos of the unit. So, in 1812, all Russian infantry fusiliers have a grenade -with either I flame or 3 flames - on their shakos and cartridge pouches. Consequently, some units had a grenade with I flames while some others had a grenade with 3 flames. We do not which regiments had the single flame or the 3 flames. Question 5-2: Did the tirailleurs and fusiliers of the Pavlov grenadiers regiment in 1812 wore shakos, fusilier mitres or mitres like the grenadiers? Partial Answer to Question 5-2: (by the EE&L Staff) In 1802, all the grenadiers (line and guard) wore the mitre though the mitre was discarded on February 13, 1805, it was worn by the Pavlov Grenadier regiment until 1914. The Pavlov grenadier regiment was transferred to the Russian Young Guard only in 1813. The regiment's grenadiers had been authorized to kept their mitres because of the regiment gallant behavior at the Battle of Eylau. A regiment of grenadiers had one battalion of grenadiers and two battalions of fusiliers. The grenadier battalion was formed with 4 companies of grenadiers while the fusiliers battalions had I company of grenadiers and 3 of fusiliers. It appears that only the grenadiers in both the grenadier and fusilier battalions wore the mitre. The fusiliers wore the shako or Kiver. There is no indication that the tirailleurs (part of the grenadiers companies) wore the shako. Question 5-3: Did Russian hussars wore the cadenettes like the French hussars did? Partial Answer to Question 5-3: (by the EE&L Staff) Russian hussars wore a queue and the cadenettes until 1809 when they disappeared. Question 5-4: I have a number of questions that perhaps you can help me to answer. In my research on the uniforms of the French 7th Hussars I have found some inconsistencies. I do realize officers had great flexibility when it came to uniforms and that uniforms were bastardized due to wear and tear from combat. (1) When did the cadenettes stop being worn by officers/men? It appears that the officers may have stopped wearing the cadenettes around 1809, the men in 1815. (2) When did the culotte hongroise changed to green for the elite company? The regulation of 1812 stated that all elite companies were to change to the green culotte hongroise, however, contemporary prints show officers of the 7th wearing them in 1805. (3) Were there any other great inconsistencies in officers dress of the 7th that you know of? Partial Answer to Question 5-4: (by the EE&L Staff) The above questions are difficult to answer since, in spite of regulations, light cavalry regiments were notorious for their "independence" concerning their uniform (especially that of the officers) but there is no evidence that the basic regulation colors attributed to each regiments were not respected. However, some points can be answered with a certain degree of confidence. The 7th Hussar, was raised in November 1792 as the Hussards de Lamothe before being renumbered as the 7eme Regiment de Hussards by a decree of June 4, 1793. (1) On the cadenettes: Our source Uniformes NO.82 says that the cadenettes were still worn in 1812 and at a later date. What makes it difficult to identify if they were worn on results from the fact that, generally speaking, the cadenettes were pulled back and tided with the queue, which renders difficult on contemporary pictures to identify them as such. However, it appears that cadenettes, hanging on each side of the shako, were still appreciated and still in fashion, i.e. worn by many units in 1812 (and as late as 1815). (2) We don't have any data about the elite company of the 7th Hussars wearing a green culotte hongroise as per the Reglement of 1812. Uniformes No.82 gives the color of the culotte hongroise for the 7th Hussars as ecarlate which is a bright red. But what was a culotte hongroise? A CULOTTE HONGROISE AND A CHARIVARI OR OVERALLS: Note the black leather reinforcements of his Overalls. The cuffs should also be made of black leather. The Charivari had 18 buttons with a red stripe. The Culotte Hongroise had none but was decorated with a red stripe and Hungarian knots. The culotte hongroise, was introduced in France by the first hussars and worn continuously from that time. It was in fact cut as trousers (see drawing) with lace ornamenting the outerseams and the edges of the front flap. What may cause confusion is the fact that hussars also wore overalls (or charivari) of a similar cut (see drawing comparing both culotte hongroise and charivari). These overall were of different colors but mostly green. The Reglement of 1812 officially recognized the overalls and required them to be made of dark green cloth with 18 black buttons and leather cuffs. The reported contemporary prints showing officers of the 7th Hussars wearing green culottes hongroise may have been more likely officers wearing green overalls over their regulation red culottes hongroises. Emir Bukhari Napoleon's Hussars, Men-at-Arms Series, is showing on Plate D, fig.2, a brigadier-fourrier of the 7th Hussars, circa 18078, with a green charivari. (3) In Tradition No.77 (June 77), (Tradition is the successorof Uniformes and available from the Emperor's Headquarters) has an article (in French) on the Hussars circa 1815 and an original painting of the Eagle bearer of the 7th Hussars by RIGO, an expert in French uniformes and an official painter for the French army, wearing a red charivari. Question 5-5: One of the units that formed Lord Frederick Bentinck's cavalry brigade is a "Troop of Foreign Hussars". A regimental history of the 27th describes the unit as being formed from Austrian, Hungarian, German and other deserters. Is anything else known about this unit? Was there more of this unit than the troop in Spain? Is there any indication of what they wore? Answer to Question 5-5: (kindly provided by Philip Haythornthwaite) The rather confusing reference to the title of this unit has apparently arisen from the contemporary practice of classifying troops into British and "foreign" (i.e. like everyone else). It might be imagined that this unit was, in fact, the detachment of Brunswick Hussars which served with Bentinck's force; but this was not the case. The "Troops of Foreign Hussars" - sometimes described as mounted infantry - was formed in 1810 from the foreign regiments in Sicily; when employed in the campaign in eastern Spain it was attached as an extra troop to the 20th Light Dragoons, Bentinck's one British cavalry regiment. It was only a single troop, with no other detachments elsewhere; on 25 August 1813 it numbered only 8 officers and 80 other ranks, of which one other rank was killed and four wounded in the action at Villafranca on 13 September (see History of the Peninsular War, Sir Charles Oman, Oxford 1930, VII pp. 532, 534). The unit receives only a brief mention in The Auxiliaries: Foreign and Miscellaneous Regiments in the British Army 1802­1817, R.L. Yaple, Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, Vol. L (London- 1972), p.18; no record of uniform. Question 5-6: Why was the Roll-Dillon battalion organized as it was? The other six companies of Dillon's Regiment were in Cartagena, but what about the rest of Roll's Regiment? Answer to Question 5-6: (kindly provided by Philip Haythornthwaite) This might be described as a "provisional battalion", i.e. one in which elements of two or more units were combined. Initially this expedient was adopted as a way of creating additional units, often "specialist" troops (for example light infantry), which whilst weakened the parent units, both they and new provisional battalions were able to operate as independent tactical entities. The system was also of use when combining the personnel of two battalions each too weak to act on its own; this system was used in Wellington's Peninsular Army. In the case of the Dillon battalion, it seems to have been created to utilize companies of both regiments which were surplus to requirements elsewhere. Dillon's Regiment (its personnel largely Italian and Spanish, but including Greeks, Turks, Albanians, and seventeen other nationalities) had twelve companies, which were in Sicily from late 1808. In June 1812 five companies were ordered to eastern Spain, combined with three companies of De Roll's Regiment (largely Swiss and German but with other nationalities); the remainder of De Roll's was dispersed as garrisons in Sicily, Malta and the Ionian islands. In spring 1813, the remaining six companies of Dillon's went to Cartagena (replacing Watteville's Regiment, ordered to Canada for the War of 1812); thus forming the Roll-Dillon battalion, an additional unit was created without affecting the tactical integrity of the parent units. The rifle companies of both regiments also served at this time: first as part of a composite light battalion (formed from De Roll's, Dillon's and light companies of the 3rd, 7th and 8th Battns. King's German Legion), which was broken up in early 1813; Dillon's rifle company joined the Roll Dillon battalion, and De Roll's rifle company then joined the Roll-Dillon battalion, and De Roll's rifle company then joined the "advance corps" which also included the Calabrian Free Corps and the 4th K.G.L. Further details are contained in the article by R.L. Yaple mentioned above. Question 6.7: In Wellington's Dispatches, he mentions the reorganization of the Spanish infantry into single battalion regiments, each of eight companies. For the Line Regiments I have assumed that this meant 1 grenadier company, 1 light company, and six center companies. How were the light infantry regiments organized? And, particularly, how was the Quinto de Granaderos organized? Question 6.8: The Spanish army had two line regiments named Guadalaxara. One is clearly the pre-war line regiment No. 10, but was is the other? And which is the regiment serving in the Mallorca Division? Question 6.9: General Copons had a regiment of cuirassiers. Presumably, they equipped themselves by knocking off equipment from the French 13th Cuirassiers. But what use did Copons put them to? The poor reputation of the Spanish cavalry makes me doubt that they would be very useful as heavy cavalry and the weight of the armour would tend to seriously detract their ability to perform light cavalry duties. So were they just a white elephant? Back to Empire, Eagles, & Lions Table of Contents Vol. 2 No. 5 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 military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com