Warfare 1789-1805
Monday, 8 September 2025
Wednesday, 3 September 2025
From Confection Drouot
''I've been asked about what soldiers wore in the revolutionary period. So, without giving away too much of the contents of my book, here goes.
For nethergarments, they had a shirt, which acted also as a loin cloth, the tails of the shirt wrapped between the legs. Underpants were not used by working class men, or women, and it was only from 1812 that soldiers in theory, other than the Garde Imperiale, had underpants, Around the neck they wore a black or a white linen stock.
On the upper body, they had a sleeved veste, with blue collar and cuffs. Scarlet collar and cuffs were allowed for the Grenadiers of the Garde du Directoire, and may have been also used by the Ligne, but, reasonably not as the 1799 and 1802 describe blue collar and cuffs. The habit was worn over the sleeved veste.
Legwear was a pair of tricot breeches, worn with linen stockings. A soldier had three pairs of gaiters: one pair from black tricot, and a pair in bleached white linen. The white gaiters were replaced every year, the old pair being blackened by the men, and worn on the march. Soldiers had two pairs of shoes plus cross belts.
In winter, or if garrisoned in cold areas, a capote was issued. A sleeveless tricot gilet was allowed to be worn under the sleeved veste in winter. This could be worn in the summer. Linen trousers (pantalons) for use on the march were an innovation of 1802. Due to shortages, legwear was often what ever a soldier could find, or more correctly the regiment could obtain. By and large these shortages had been overcome by 1795.
Our image of three grenadiers from c.1796, when we look at inspection returns of the period, correlates exactly with the regulations and what soldiers actually had issued to them at the time. The idea that "anything goes" in terms of uniform is largely a myth after the first chaotic years of the revolution, and you look in detail at records generated at battalion level at the time.''
Wednesday, 27 August 2025
Castlebar 1981
A battle scene for the six part television drama, ‘The Year of the French’ is filmed near Castlebar, County Mayo.
On location in Mayo, scenes are being filmed for the retreat of British forces the became known as The Battle of Castlebar during the Irish Rebellion of 1798. The battle took place on 27 August 1798 and lasted just six hours. It was the first real test for the hastily assembled Irish soldiers backed by the French army. The scene is being recreated for the drama series ‘The Year of the French’. An army of seven or perhaps eight hundred raggedly dressed, hard pressed peasant farmers backboned by seven hundred of the about one thousand of the French regulars who had landed at Killala. While they would be no match for the British regiments in the field, tactically they outwitted the British commanders taking them by surprise in their march on Castlebar led by the French leader General Humbert and his Chief Aide de Camp Colonel Teeling. The manoeuvre which had given the French and Irish the key element of surprise was a forced march across the bogs of Mayo. The British had expected the Irish and French forces to come marching up the Foxford Road but General Humbert pushed his army along a goat path in preparation for attack. Humbert was hell bent on glory and ordered his troops down the hill into a murderous hail of canon fire. Astonishingly for men with no experience of battle, they pressed on even under volley after volley of grapeshot. The British eventually retreated and the battle became immortalised as ‘The Races of Castlebar’. As filming continued, the general verdict on the hillside was that The 1981 version of the Races of Castlebar was quite magnificent. As the production continues, all of those involved in the filming agree that it is likely to be an outstanding success. An RTÉ News report broadcast on 25 August 1981. The reporter is Jim Fahy. Adapted from a novel by Thomas Flanagan, and directed by Michael Garvey, ‘The Year of the French’ is an RTÉ co-production with the French television station FR 3 in association with Britain’s Channel 4, featuring Irish, French and English actors. The first episode was broadcast on RTÉ television on 18 November 1982.
Thursday, 21 August 2025
Napoléon - Bande-annonce officielle HD
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Friday, 15 August 2025
Napoleon Bonaparte 1793 by Anthony le Hussard of France
. He says
Bonaparte Project 1793.
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August 15, 1769 – August 15, 2025, 256th anniversary of the birth of Napoleon Bonaparte in Ajaccio.
A few days before the 256th anniversary and after almost two years of research and work, I have the pleasure of presenting to you my reconstruction of Bonaparte of Toulon in 1793...
Indeed, in historical reenactment, Napoleon is only depicted as a General or Emperor, but the Bonaparte of Toulon is always forgotten, so I decided to remedy this at my humble level and bring the Bonaparte of 1793 out of oblivion.
However, it was in Toulon that the eagle took flight, history was on the move with a young man with an extraordinary destiny who would shape France and the world, let's not forget that!
For the reconstruction of this uniform, I therefore based myself on the regulation of October 1, 1786, modified by the provisional instruction of April 1, 1791.
The coat is adorned on the back of the tails with grenades in gold cannetille. The buttons adorning the coat and vest are revolutionary artillery buttons with the fasces topped with the Phrygian cap.
Regarding the weaponry, I went with the model of the officers' sword from the 1767 regulations, still widely used during the revolutionary wars.
The hat, on the other hand, is made of so-called "taupé" felt, which means it is made from hare fur or some other animal and not from wool felt as is most often seen. It is one of the characteristics of officers' hats, which were made from more noble materials.
Also, I would like to thank the artisans who worked on this project and without whom it would never have seen the light of day:
- The Florence Couture Workshop for the creation of the coat, vest, and breeches.
Florence did a remarkable job, following the specifications I gave her to the letter.
All the visible seams, topstitching, and buttonholes were done by hand!
- Labortemporis for the creation of the buttons, based on an original model that I provided him with in a photo.
The buttons were also all gilded!
- Mr. Brenckle, Hatter. for the making of the taupe felt hat!
A big thank you to all of you for contributing each and every one of you on your own scale, now all that's left is to bring the History of the Bonaparte of 1793 back to life.
Onward to adventure...
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