Imperial Brazilian Uniforms
During the War of
the Triple Alliance

Part 4: General Staff and Engineers

By C. A. Norman

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Barroso gives few details of the composition or strengths of the various elements of the General Staff, or of their different functions. Basically, the General Staff consisted of General Officers, General Staff officers of the 1st and 2nd Classes (with no indication of the functions of each), and a Secretariat of Administrative Officers and secretaries. Attached to the General Staff were the "Imperial Corps of Engineers" (a corps of trained engineer officers) and an Artillery General Staff (which formed an administrative headquarters for the artillery)

Two units appear to have been dependencies of the General Staff without actually being considered a part of it: the "Battalion of Engineers", comprising a force of trained manpower at the disposal of the Imperial Corps of Engineers, and a specialist corps of Artificers (trained carpenters, metal workers, wheelwrights, etc.), which may have been a dependency of the Artillery General Staff, since their uniform resembled those of the foot artillery more than the engineers. Alterations to the strengths and organisation of these elements during the war seem to have been relatively minor.

In 1823 the General Staff adopted a uniform based on that of the Portuguese General Staff; entirely dark blue edged with white piping with gold buttons and trim. The uniforms in use in 1865 were those of the dress regulations of 1858, which were themselves a modification of the 1852 uniforms. The full dress uniform consisted of a long-tailed coatee and bicorne hat, edged with white Ostrich-feather "plumage" for General Officers, other staff officers had instead a "Waterfall" plume of variously coloured feathers according to corps.

The "Second Uniform" comprised a tunic in the same colours as the coatee, worn with either the bicorne without plume or the kepi. General's rank was distinguished by various patterns of gold oakleaf embroidery on the collar and cuffs of the dress coatee (prior to 1858 this embroidery had also been worn on the breast and edging the tails), plus epaulets. On the tunic this embroidery was worn only on the collar and epaulets were generally not worn. Other staff officers had only a corps badge embroidered on either side of the collar, with rank indicated by the normal officer's epaulets on the coatee and sleeve lace on the tunic. The Corps of Engineers and Artillery Staff officers wore essentially the same uniform with black velvet collars and their own distinctive collar badges and hat plumes. These uniforms remained essentially unchanged throughout the war, though the full dress uniform was seldom worn and campaign uniforms submitted to numerous field modifications.

The Battalion of Engineers never had a full dress uniform, but only a rather simple "Second Uniform" of dark blue with plain black facings and trim, worn for all orders of dress. The Corps of Artificers did have a full dress uniform of dark blue coatee with dark blue collar piped red, red round cuffs, turnbacks and front piping, and an infantry style shako with brass chin-scales and an oval front plate, the design of which is not very clear, and a standing white over black plume. Their "Second Uniform" is depicted in Figure 14. The Engineer Battalion's uniform seems to have continued virtually unchanged throughout the war, except for the adoption of certain new items from the 1866 dress regulations: the summer and working uniforms, barrack caps, etc. I would say the same would probably have applied to the Artificer's uniform, though no war-time uniforms are depicted in "Barroso".

Uniform Plates

( to be continued………….)

( Another very helpful installment Chuck, next part is on the Garrison Corps. T.D.H.)

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