by T. Sheyvakov & V. Dzys, Moscow 2001, ISBN 5-17-012259-4 Translated by Nikolai Scmibratov (with Craig Martelle) In 1796 at the beginning of his reign, Paul I introduced new army uniforms per the example of Gatchina troops. Opinion that this uniform was uncomfortable is partially true. This opinion is based on captain Griazev memoirs. Old "Potemkin's" coat was badly cut. New long tailed coat and overcoat protected soldiers from cold. On the other hand different colors in uniform details were used in Austrian and Prussian armies of the time and was not uncommon. There were two main types of coats: with lapels and without lapels and with collar and without it. Regiments were differed by the facing color and lace. This lace was placed on the cuff flaps and in pairs under the lapels. Infantry uniforms were very well described and depicted in Ulianov's book "Russian Regular Infantry 1698-1801" (Moscow 1997-available from Gauntlet International) and will be described here without details. Generals wore uniforms of their chef regiments. Their uniforms differed from officer's uniforms by the addition of white plumes. If the General was not the commander of a particular regiment, he wore ordinary General's uniform (dark green edged red for infantry and white edged red for cavalry). Souvorov was chef of the second battalion of Preobrazhensky regiment. So he wore the Preobrazhensky uniform. In reality during the Italian campaign he wore a white Austrian Field Marshal uniform or uniform of Austrian infantry. Grenadier and infantry regiments wore dark green uniforms with trimming in the facing color. Turn backs were red. Ties were red in all regiments, except Moscow grenadier regiment, which wore black ties. Grenadiers and fusiliers wore mitre caps. Musketeers wore hats with white lace at the edge. Vests and trousers were made from three different cloth colors: white, buff and citron. Summer trousers were white in all regiments. Regiment Buttons Facing Color Collar Lapels Vest, trousers Moskovsky grenadiers white Brick red + + citron Pskovsky grenadiers yellow yellow - - buff Azovsky musketeers white white + + white Apsheronsky musketeers yellow red - - white Archangelogorodsky musketeers white gray + + buff Ung-Baden musketeers yellow plansh + + white Vyborgsky musketeers yellow yellow + + white Kursky musketeer white white + + white Muromsky musketeers yellow dark blue + + white Nizovsky musketeers yellow red - + white Novgorodsky musketeers yellow apricot + + white Orlovsky musketeers white white - + buff Permsky musketeers yellow jachont + + white Sevsky musketeer yellow white - - white Smolensky musketeers white puss + + buff StaroIngermanlandsky musketeers yellow camel + + white Staroskolsky musketeers Yellow red - - white Tambovsky musketeers yellow seladon + + white Tylsky musketeer yellow red + - buff Shlisselburgsky musketeers white verdepo mine + + white Jaroslavsky musketeers white carmine + - white Equipment consisted of a white leather waist belt, cartridge pouch and haversack, which was made of calf-skin. Armaments consisted of a musket with bayonet and halfsaber. NCOs wore lace on their collars, cuffs and cuff-flaps, black and orange cockade on headgear, cane and halberd (in the grenadier companies four junior NCOs were armed with 1798 model muskets). Officers wore hats with black and orange cockade (in Moscow Grenadier regiment these hats were ornamented with lace). Officer's coats were made from thinner and better quality cloth. Officer's sashes were made from silver, black and yellow threads. Gorgets were silver with golden center and black eagle. Officers were armed with swords, halberds and canes. Old Russian colors must be explained. Citron was bright yellow. Buff was paleyellow-brown. Apricot was bright yellow-orange. Jachont was bright dark-blue. Puss was dark red-violet. Camel was gray-yellow-brown. Seladon was gray-green. Verdepomme was apple green. Jaeger regiments were differed from line infantry with light green coats without lapels and with lace of distinctive color on the right shoulder. The hat was like in musketeer regiments, but without white lace. Jaeger regiments were armed with Catherine II muskets and rifles of different types (some 1798 model). But there were only a few 1798 models. Only ten men per company had the 1798 model and all NCOs had them. Officer's hats had lace in all regiments. Jaeger officers had no halberds or gorgets. Their only distinctions were cane, sash and sword. Regiment Buttons Distinctive color 5th Jaeger regiment Yellow Violet 6th Jaeger regiment Yellow Orange 7th Jaeger regiment Yellow Brick red 8th Jaeger regiment Yellow White 13th Jaeger regiment Yellow Light green Cuirassier regiments wore collets made from hard cloth and without buttons. Collar, cuffs, shoulder strap and turn backs were made from distinctive color. Corners of the collets and turn backs were sewed with distinctive colored lace (Leib (Life)-regiments had yellow one). Vests were made from distinctive cloth. Trousers were white leather. Headgear had black-orange cockade and small white plume. Red trimmed cuirasses were worn on the breast only. Musicians were distinguished by red plume on headgear and two long pieces of cloth trimmed with distinctive regimental lace. Officer's coats were made from high quality white cloth. Collar, cuffs and turn backs were made from velvet. Officer's collets and vests were trimmed with gold or silver lace. Regiment Buttons Distinctive cloth Lace Her Majesty Leib-regiment White Carmine White with carmine design Starodubovsky cuirassier regiment white red red Dragoon regiments wore light green coats of infantry type with or without lapels. Turn backs were buff in all regiments. Lace was worn on the right shoulder in the button color. Vest was buff. Trousers were made from leather of natural color. Headgear was like in cuirassier regiments. Officers' coats were distinguished with lace near the two lower buttons. Dragoon Regiment Buttons Distinctive cloth Lapels Officer's Lace Moskovsky White Rose - Silver with tassels St-Petersburg Yellow Rose - Gold with tassels Kargopolsky white carmine + Silver with tassels Hussar regiments wore a traditional uniform based on Hungarian national dress. Their headgear was busby with cloth bag in dolman color trimmed with lace and tassels. Hussar Regiment Buttons Dolman Collar and Cuffs Pelisse Sash Pavlogradsky Yellow Dark green Light blue Light blue Light blue/yellow Sumsky white buff Light blue Light blue Light blue/white The Lithuanian-tartars horse regiment wore a traditional uniform based on Polish national dress: red coat with dark blue collar and cuffs, yellow sash, dark blue cloth trousers. Headgear was black with red upper part. Ranks were differed by lace on coat and headgear. Artillery wore infantry style uniforms with yellow buttons, small dark green collar, dark green cuffs with red piping. They had red shoulder straps and turn backs. Vests and trousers were buff. They wore hats with button and white lace. Sappers, miners and pioneers wore artillery uniform with white metal buttons. Vest and trousers were red. Sappers and miners wore grenadier mitre without cockade. Mitre was orange with white metal front plate and lace. Pioneers wore leather hat covered with orange cloth (like fusiliers) with white metal front plate, pompon and lace. Don and Ural Cossacks had no regulation uniforms (except Leib-Guard Cossack regiment and Leib-Guard Cossack squadron (Sotnya)). But we can restore the appearance of Cossacks from contemporary drawings. "Kaftans" (some kind of overcoat) were dark blue or rarely brown, carmine or red with yellow straps. Generals, colonels and staff officers had silver lace like in Leib-Guard Cossack regiment. "Sharovari" (trousers) were blue, rarely brown with straps by the outer seam or without it. Sash was colored. Officers wore sashes with gold. Don Cossacks "shapka" (headgear) was made from black fur with blue, red or carmine upper part. Ural Cossacks "shapka" was made from carmine, blue or yellow cloth with small black fur bottom. Cossacks were armed with muskets (often with base to fire), pistols (officers), curved sabers, knives and lances. Bashkirs and Kalmyks who served with the Cossack regiments could wear their national costumes. Back to MWAN #118 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2002 Hal Thinglum 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