''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.''
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