Imperial Brazilian Uniforms
During the
War of the Triple Alliance

Part 1: Line Infantry

By C. A. Norman

Some time ago, it began to draw on me that whereas the uniforms of most of the combatant armies in the War of the Triple Alliance have been covered in "El Dorado" at one time or another, at least to a limited extent, to date there has been almost nothing on Imperial Brazil. A serious shortfall, to say the least, considering that Brazil fielded the largest single army in the conflict.

I've been a bit hesitant about how to go about rectifying the situation since there is already in existance a major work on the subject: "Uniformes do Exercito Brasileiro", with text and editing by Gustavo Barroso, illustrated by J. Washt Rodrigues (Rio de Janiero and Paris, 1922). This is really the single indispensable source for any serious study of the subject, other material available being spotty and incomplete, more a supplement than anything else. While individual plates from "Barroso" (as it's come to be called) have been reproduced with some frequency over the years, the complete work remains relatively rare and difficult to find.

As a consequence, I finally decided the best approach would be simply to illustrate the full range of figures from this period from the Washt Rodrigues plates as a sort of "occasional series", of which this is the first installment. A somewhat daunting chore as the original work comprises some 223 plates or "groupings" of multiple figures (fortunately, only a small percentage of which pertain to this period). In a few cases I've changed the pose a bit to better illustrate some detail, or added the occasional detail from other sources.

First, a bit of text seems in order to put the whole thing in some sort of perspective. The forces mobilized by the Brazilian Empire for the war fell into three major categories. First was the regular army, which, even after mobilization and expansion, remained relatively small. The largest element came from the "second line", the "Guarda Nacional" or National Guard, which was mobilized en-masse in 1865 and continued to expand through-out the war, though many of it's units served behind the lines on garrison and line-of-communications duties. The third category was a separate corps of volunteers, the "Voluntarios da Patria" ("Volunteers for the Fatherland"), which was formed to draw in men not otherwise liable for service in existing units. The "Voluntarios" proved an unqualified success, eventually providing more manpower than the regular army.

THE REGULAR ARMY

At the beginning of the war the regular army comprised 14 Infantry Battalions, of which the 1st - 7th were designated "Fusileiros" (line or heavy infantry), and the 8th - 14th "Cacadores" (light infantry). Barroso notes that the 1842 regulations established a "Fusileiro" Battalion at 8 companies (no elite companies) totalling 882 men, and a "Cacador" Battalion at 6 companies totalling 552 men; since no further changes were noted I would assume this establishment continued in use.

There were 5 Regiments of Cavalry (of 8 companies totalling 618 men), 4 Battalions of Foot Artillery (each of 8 companies totalling 690 men), and a detached Corps of Horse Artillery (of 4 companies totalling 557 men}. The Engineering branch comprised an "Imperial Corps of Engineers" formed of trained engineer officers, a "Battalion of Engineers" (of 4 companies) to provide trained manpower, and an Artificer Corps of technical specialists. The various support services tended to be rather rudimentary, neither numerous or well organized. Finally, a squadron of Train had been raised in 1865.

In addition, there were various small corps designated as "Garrison" or "Fixed" corps. Due to the shortage of regular troops many of these units had been raised and maintained by the various provinces, and often had only the most tenuous connection with the regular army. Initially they were known by a variety of names: "Pedestres", "Ligeiros", Cacadores de Montanha". etc., and served a variety of functions as local garrison troops, gendarmerie or police agents, customs agents, guards of various sorts, etc.

During the 1850's the Federal Government began a general reform of these semi-independent corps, drawing them increasingly under army control and progressively reorganizing them as auxiliary units of the army. Foot units of these corps were generally redesignated as "Cacadores", their old designations being official]y abolished.

During the early days of the War of the Triple Alliance a number of these auxiliary corps gave valuable service in resisting Paraguayan invasion forces until the army could be mobilized. Following the official declaration of war all these "Fixed Corps" were ordered abolished and incorporated into the line (providing much of the manpower for army expansion).

The official declaration of war was followed almost immediately by an expansion of the army. The infantry was expanded to 22 numbered Battalions, of which the first 7 remained "Fusileiros", the remainder being designated "Cacadores". The 1st Cavalry Regiment was slated to remain at court throughout the war to guard the Emperor; the 2nd and 3rd Cavalry were immediately mobilized to join the field forces. The 4th and 5th Cavalry Regiments were ordered broken up and used as a nucleus for the formation of 5 new corps of "Cacadores a Cavallo" ("Mounted Rifles"), each of 4 companies with 638 men. The Corps of Horse Artillery was to provide cadre for the raising of a 2nd Provisional Corps. The Foot Artillery was to be augmented by a 5th Battalion. The Corps of Engineers remained basically unchanged but at a higher establishment. The National Guard and "Voluntarios da Patria" will be covered in later articles.

Uniforms

At this point I'll cover only the uniforms of the regular infantry, the other branches will be covered in later articles. At the outbreak of war the army was still wearing the uniforms established by the dress regulations of 7 August, 1852. For the "Fusileiros" this consisted of a rather low "Yeoman-crowned" shako and a single-breasted dark blue coatee for full dress, with a dark blue tunic and kepi for the "Second Uniform" worn for daily dress and service.

The "Cacadores" Battalions wore similar uniforms but with the base colour of dark green instead of blue, and generally somewhat simpler and plainer. All battalions were to be distinguished by battalion-coloured facings worn on the collar and cuffs according to the following scheme:
FusiliersCollarCuffs
1st Battalionwhiteyellow
2nd Battalionyellowlight blue
3rd Battalionredyellow
4th Battalionlight bluered
5th Battalionredlight blue
6th Battalionyellowred
7th Battalionlight blueyellow
8th Battalionyellowwhite
All piping was to be red with brass buttons.
CacadoresCollarCuffs
9th Battalionredred
10th Battaliondark greendark green
11th Battaliondark greenred
12th Battalionyellowyellow
13th Battalionyellowdark green
14th Battaliondark greenyellow
All piping for Cacadores to be black and buttons bronzed.


Mutiny!

In the same year, 1852, the 7th Fusilier Battalion was disbanded for mutiny, the 8th Battalion was renumbered as the 7th, and all the Cacadores Battalions were moved up one number, the vacant number 14 being taken by an existing German Volunteer Battalion which was moved onto the line at this time. The limited evidence availab]e would seem to suggest that the battalions retained their existing distinctive colours (thus, the new 7th Battalion would have continued to wear their former distinctions as the old 8th, etc.); it's not clear what distinctions were adopted by the new 14th Battalion.

Winter trousers were to match the upper qarment, dark blue for Fusiliers lexcept for the 1st Battalion, who were uniquely authorized blue-grey), dark green for the Cacadores, worn over short black gaiters. The plates occasionally show a red piping down the outer seams of the Fusilier trousers, though it's unclear to what extent this was worn? For summer wear both trousers and gaiters were of white linen or cotton. Belts were to be white for Fusiliers and black for Cacadores. See figures for further details.

Uniform Modifications

Following the expansion of the army for war service, it was decided to modify and simplify uniforms, the modifications being spelled out in Decree No. 3,020 of 28 February, 1866. The full dress coatees were to be abolished and replaced by the undress tunic for all orders of dress. The shako was retained for parade and ceremonial wear, but was seldom seen during the war, being replaced on most occasions by the undress kepi. The Cacadores green uniforms were abolished and replaced by dark blue virtually identical to the Fusiliers.

The various battalion distinctions were also abolished at this time and replaced by a simple branch-coloured piping edging the tunic, kepi and now the outer seams of the trousers as well; this was to be red for the Fusileiros and yellow for the Cacadores, the Fusiliers having in addition a red roughly square-shaped patch on either side of the collar front (missing from the Cacadores uniform). The various types of epaulets formerly worn were simplifield (exact details being somewhat obscure), being replaced by plain dark blue shoulder-straps piped with branch colour for daily and service dress.

A number of new items were introduced, including a new barracks cap of French "police bonnet" form for fatigue wear, which seems to have been widely worn on campaign during the war. Two entirely new uniforms were introduced at this time: a summer/tropical uniform entirely of white duck, and a fatigue/working uniform of a light brown duck or sailcloth; both were usually piped an trimmed with branch colour in much the same fashion as the woolen uniform. Gaiters were also abolished at this time.

Once on campaign, dress regulations tended to go by the board and a wide variety of outfits were worn; various unauthorized combinations of regulation items and uniforms mixed with items of civilian dress and a wide range of field improvisations. Felt slouch hats became extremely popular on campaign, along with straw hats, the kepi (sometimes privately purchased, and of non-regulation form) and the barracks cap. White cotton covers were widely worn over the kepi, sometimes with neck drops (Barroso mentions cases of units dyeing these cotton covers in various colours as unit distinctions, but, unfortunately, quotes no examples).

As a general rule, units of the 1st Army Corps of General Osorio tended to wear the kepi, while those of the 2nd Army Corps of the Conde de Porto Alegre are said to have generally worn the slouch hat. Footgear was equally varied, many preferring high-shafted marching boots and perennial shortages of army boots led to widespread use of sandals, canvas "espadrilles", or bare feet if nothing else could be aquired. Civilian coats or trousers were not uncommon replacements for wornout uniform items. Bad weather gear would include ponchos, ordinary blankets wrapped around the body, or overcoats made of duck or sailcloth, in addition to regulation dark blue woolen greatcoat (which seems to have been in rather short supply anyway). Gaucho-style clothing had a considerable vogue though it seems to have been more common in mounted units particularly those from the province of Rio Grande do Sul where it was the normal style of dress.

Weaponry

In the field of armament, variety seems to have also been the rule, though exact details are sketchy. The most that can be stated with any degree of certainty is that most infantry carried muzzle-loading percussion arms of a wide variety of makes (Belgian Liege-made arms seem to have been particularly common). The Fusiliers were to be armed with long muskets with socket bayonets (though some rifled arms seem to have been in use as well). The Cacadores were to carry shorter rifled "carabines" with sabre-bayonets and had trumpeters in place of drummers. Barroso states that at one point the 14th and 15th Cacadores were armed with "German breechloaders" (possibly Dreyse needleguns?), but identification is uncertain and it's unknown how long these remained in service.

Illustrations

Other Installments:


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