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reenactors get it wrong too!
I was researching horse furniture and uniforms for pre-Empire Austrian uhlans and came across:-
Notice? The uhlan officer has a ‘roqelor’ both stowed in the normal position, under the holster caps, but is also wearing one! Photo borrowed from Pinterest.
I thought it would make an attractive illustration on my ‘Austrian Commands’ storage box.
On modelling- I have a question about a certain specialty/ character figure from CRM (ex WF ranges) that I’ll post later.
cheers d
The Carabiniers á Cheval– an elite ‘brigade’ of paired regiments continuously maintained from the Ancien Regime through the entirety of the Revolution, Republican and Empire of France.
They took the right of the line- as both age and status granted their rights over mere cavalry.
Most famously highlighted for their uniforms first, and their actions second. Michel Petard in 1977 traced the use of ‘carabines’ amongst the 16th Century development of light cavalry- a pair of them to every compagnie. This expanded to a full compagnie, that is half an escadron, then…
The famous bearskins, oursons, date from 1791. Always with white cords and tassels, only the specific regulations of 1801 cite scarlet wool- yet these were apparently never worn (if even produced). The similarity of Grenadiers á Cheval and that of the a pied form, were being compared and aligned. Not so in either case actually.
Such are the vagaries of men, power and decision making, seldom aligned it seems.
Thus my consideration, when forming such regiments for gaming (only one at first) was to use the existing figures most closely available, since no accurate 25mm figres were made. And the horses. Ahh yes, yet more variation in horsey culture and depiction.
The ‘1808’ designation of their uniform, didn’t really change much, but the horse saddlery was highlighted, with a somewhat anachronistic round portmanteau.
Wait! What? Those were used by light cavalry, not the heavies, weren’t they? Well, yes and no. Since 1808 is not early Empire, but a short slice of peace time, my consideration was for what was used in 1805- itself the end of a period of restructuring and reformation more controlled, yet with rather loose edges, for almost the entire French armed forces.
To cut to the chase, or is that a pursuit…?, we have a variety of period material offered by M.Petard and his own conclusions, in his series ‘The Man of __ insert year here‘- in this case 1807. He shows what came before, according to artists and documentation, and what followed for these men of war.
Petards illustration shows the same sheepskin we know about, but with a square portmanteau topped with the white/ pale blue (drap blanc pique de bleu) but grey at a distance, capote or manteau.
The article header includes a Martinet illustration- not I hasten to point out one of the 1821+ series that were intially printed but later mere engravings that suffer the ‘copyist’ problem of reproductions brought down to us.
The same attributes, but this is an original document, taken as a sighted example by Martinet of uniforms from 1800-06, as the caption states.
Neither of these helps with saddlery as the sheepskin protective cover is shown. However another original, from the Library of the Musée de l’Armée does show this.
The matched pair of holster covers are laced and the broad lace of the saddle blanket, all white remain the same. These holsters are those same as used by the Consular and Imperial Guard regiment, the Grenadiers á Cheval.
So we have a distinct variation from the ‘norm’ of modelling these. The use of the sheepskin ‘blanket’ was for two reasons- protection from inclement weather of the invaluable pistols and powder kept in the holsters; but also as a riding aid taking the aggravation out of saddle time AND clothing wear- breeches suffered whereas the lanolin in the [natural] wool of the whole or part sheepskins provided a frictionless padding. So there was science involved in the reasons they were utilised.
Other variations of uniform and equipment exist, such as this painting of a lieutenant ‘charging’ at Wagram 1809. Not only is the red plume missing (we are accustomed to paintings depicting soldiers, particularly elites, in ‘full dress’/ Grande Tenue for battles as parades. Some pragmatism had become evident in la Grande Armée since the arduous campaigns of 1806/07 were completed.
This also illustrates a debated issue- did they have chinscales or not? It seems to have been an elevated issue even then. The ‘reversed’ position of the cordons (right instead of left) may be a result of error, or preference by the ‘new’ officer; along with second or campaign dress blue overalls protecting or replacing the expensive breeches. The last point of a slightly larger stylised horse blanket but with an expensive ‘leather’ seat in lieu of sheepskin; and a single covered holster, also a feature of second dress and equipment.
Finally, the ‘traditionally’ depicted carabinier of 1808 ‘renewal’ most religiously modelled as the only form; here another and the later versions from Martinets dossier-
yet still showing the double holster covers.
So, is this the true version? Well, is there ever such a thing. Yes, we can choose…
The article has a couple of other illustrations but I will hold those for later. Trust this helps anyone interested in making ‘unique’ units for the early Empire campaigns,
regards- davew
– – –PS- for the short continuation of this article please refer to copy made in thread:-
https://www.thewargameswebsite.com/forums/topic/general-truths-of-napoleonic-french-uniform/#post-190003thanks d
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