Seven Years War Cossacks

I am preparing a unit of Cossacks for my Seven Years War Russian Army. Below some information for painting them. The figures are Foundry and Crusader, they paint really well. I decided to paint them in bright colours, Eastern style. They will be an excellent light cavalry unit for my Russian Army, fighting against Seven Years War Prussian or Ottomans!

Here information about Don Cossacks.

At the outbreak of the Seven Years’ War, the Don Cossacks did not wear uniforms. Their clothes were strongly influence by their oriental neighbours (Turks, Kalmuks, Circassians, Tatars). They dressed in bright colours and used much velvet and silk embroidered with lace and braids. 

Sukhorukov, a Russian historian, describes various Don Cossacks: one wearing an azure satin coat with several silver stripes and a pearl necklace, another wearing a damask or velvet sleeveless kaftan and a dark brown woollen coat edged blue, with brown silk stripes and a last one wearing a damask or velvet coat with gold buttons, fastened with silver clasps and azure button laces. All of them wore Turkish style silk sashes with a damask knife in a black scabbard with silver fittings. They also wore baggy trousers, red, yellow or green Circassian boots and a fleece hat with a velvet crown. Caftan could be made of brocade, velvet, satin and damask.

George, an XVIII^th century ethnographer describes their clothing as follows:“…Cossacks used to dress in Polish fashion with Tatar and Eastern style clothing. Various colours were in use for clothing, but caftans and short coats were often made of blue cloth. Their hair was cut in roundel. They wore a high bonnet of sheepskin. Coats of rank and file were girdled with an ordinary sabre strap or a belt of coarse fabric material. Leaders wore silken belt from Persia or Poland over the sabre belt. Sabre was worn over the short coat. Some cossacks, especially the rank and file had only a mustache, beard was less common. They wore woollen trousers, usually red, but other colours were also used. Half boots of black Morocco leather or simple leather. Leaders often dressed in red or yellow trousers and rarely wore black trousers. The Cossacks trousers were similar to the Turkish ones, but much tighter.”

The coat worn by the Don Cossack was midway between a uniform coat and the earlier cossack caftan.

During the Seven Years’ War, only one regiment received uniforms. Other regiments adopted military-style uniforms inspired by the traditional Cossack style with adaptations introduced by their own commanders.