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Napoleon’s Dragoons and Lancers
the latest Paul L. Dawson book arrived, being digested and re-reviewed over last few weeks.
PLD_ Dr & Lcrs_ 2024.jpg
Some notable points among its pages- in summary he said:-
“So, what does all this research mean? Well, it shows that the dragoons were rather flexible with the application of some decrees over clothing, but the 1801 regulation that removed the sheepskin schabraque from use until the Bardin regulation was enforced rigorously.
Despite what some modern authors and artists say, from 1805 into 1813, sheepskins were not in use across all regiments: just the 3e, 9e and 11e had these items, neatly demonstrating why research is necessary.”
Although many gamers could care less about horse furniture overall, it is interesting to note the poor finances under the Consulate and the 'era of peace'. This directly led to no or little replacement of uniforms and equipment, most notably except that of the 'Paris garrison' who were always 'best dressed' by Buonaparte to show off the success of his army.
In fact Dawson successfully shows that between 1802 and 1805 (including on campaign), approximately half the Dragoon regiments had a 50/50 mix of sheepskins and housse/ chaperons in use, or spread through depot stores and serving regiment.
Another facet of clothing- despite the brightly coloured facings we quibble over, in the same period, and lasting longer, a similar ratio of regiments coat styles were found*:
“Again, the undress surtout was entirely green with no distinctive facings [nor piping], which is exactly as period artwork shows yet not how re-enactors, wargamers and artists understand them to have appeared.”
*Because new habits, expensive to source cloth and manufacture, were not made in numbers, the all green surtout was far more common than understood and cheaper to remake/ reissue.
“When we look at the inspection returns from summer 1814, we find just the 30e Dragons were universally wearing habits-vestes of Bardin!" [That is 1:30 !]
Now he writes "Bardin regulation [ 1811 ], in theory introduced the habit-veste. Yet given that the bulk of Dragoon regiments were in Spain, and miles away from their dépôt, it is likely that they were never issued these garments."
This is a little disingenuous as the regimental breakdowns, actually do include 'some/ a few' regiments obtaining new supplies from France. So there were certainly 'elements' of habit-vestes post 1811 there.
He continues “This means that 99% of all dragoon regiments did not adopt Bardin regulation until 1814 into 1815.
Furthermore, we note from the disbandment records that the 13e, 15e and 18e regiments had a mix and match approach, the dépôt company had habits-vestes and the war squadrons habits**.
This left 21 regiments fully decked out in old-pattern clothing. Bardin regulation for the dragoons simply did not exist.”
** A topic I have harped on for several years now, those 'drawings of such and such' did not and never could depict entire regiments dress unless they were actually sited in Paris or a close caserne/ depot.
“The 11e Dragons by 1815 still had old-and new-pattern habits in use! Indeed, Inspector of Review Raphael Sabathier reports that 5e, 6e, 7e, 13e, 19e, 22e and 25e had not adopted Bardin regulation in July 1814.1 The Sauerweid manuscript shows the 22e wearing habits a revers in 1813 with grey cloth pantalons, with leather reinforcement to the inner leg and a facing colour side stripe.”
So your 'later' ie post 1812 campaigns figures should be at best a mixture of old/ new styles.
“Elite company
Formed under the decree of 18 Vendémiaire An X (10 October 1801), Article 13 of the decree stipulates:
The first company of the first squadron of each cavalry regiment, dragoons, chasseurs and hussards, will take the name of Elite Company.
“Under this decree, the elite company was allowed to wear a bearskin with no front plate as a particular distinction, but nothing was specified as to the colour of plumes and bearskin cords or use of other attributes. ”
In the absence of any precise regulation, the choice was left to the initiative of the colonel, and because of this, a wide array of variations existed that we know in part, thanks to contemporary documents and iconography***.”
Here he is almost saluting the enemy here!
“No colour was officially prescribed for the plume, bearskin cords and epaulettes, but the understanding was probably to be scarlet. We know from iconography that this assumption by the minister was overlooked by colonels. We assume elite companies were allowed moustaches, although at the close of July 1806 all dragoons were ordered to shave theirs off. This seems all the more remarkable as in theory moustaches were worn in the summer.”
“Nothing more is said officially about elite companies until the Bardin regulations, whereby scarlet-fringed epaulettes were introduced and a red horse hair aigrette. In theory, bearskins were abolished. This is of course all ‘in theory’...
Other significant elements are covered in detail as well. Trompettes and their derivative uniforms, arms and equipment in some detail, and very specific information about those regiments 'disbanded and transferred' to another corps from 1802 onwards.
Did you know the 28e-30e as former Hussars all went to the Amry of Italy, where they were still wearing mostly hussar uniforms in 1805 and perhaps '06!
Another bombshell, despite his previous dissertations that 'such and such' didn't happen when regiments were 'migrated', well a lot certainly did!
The proposals in 1798 to dress dragoons in bleu-de-ciel (which you will note IS NOT SKY BLUE!) and repeated in 1802 as inspection reports abound with poor clothing issues...
“Sample of original bleu de ciel broadcloth. Note is it a much darker hue than traditionally ascribed for this colour. (Collection KM)”
[hr]
“Dragoons in blue was far more common than heretofore assumed. It also means that before 1808, eight regiments had trumpeters not in reversed colours, but blue.
With the conversion of cavalerie regiments to dragoons, the realisation of the huge number of men to be clothed sent the War Ministry into ‘panic mode’ over the costs, and a hasty compromise scheme was created.
Thousands of men had to be totally reclothed, many having just received a new blue habit! The cost of green dye, and also the cost of replacing a lot of brand-new clothing, resulted in General Bourcier resurrecting the idea to dress dragoons in blue, which was included in the decree of 1 Vendemiaire An XII (24 September 1803).”
“We have no fixed date when blue uniforms were abandoned for dragoons, we can only assume the idea was quietly dropped, although some regiments had purchased blue broadcloth, which was no doubt hastily used to dress the trumpeters.20 These were the 21e, 22e, 23e, 25e, 26e, 27e, and 30e, making 15 regiments [the others cited in detail list] having trumpeters dressed in blue, or had blue on their uniform: in basic terms, 50% of trumpeters wore blue somewhere on their uniform and not reversed colours of myth.”
“The decree of 23 March 1806 allowed both a surtout and habit****. It left the dress of the dragon regiments unchanged but did confirm green as the base colour of uniforms: the short-lived experiment with blue was over.”
**** A real world effect of rules following practice, as noted above.
So that is a few salient points from the summary Dawson has given.
I havent yet quantified all the precise regimental data offered, and possibly may never do so unless someone cites an interest, but I have at least reviewed in detail my final 2/ 6 ( III Dragoon Division attached to Soults IV Corps- 1805) regiments awaiting organising and painting.
One final note, as despite using Martinet prints to populate the book- in essence a heresy of sorts- his extensive criticism publicly beforehand about them is somewhat duplicitous. Yes, some are correct for an early version 'in France'. Others made about 1820 (ie the full set) are simply 'paint by numbers' and therefore incredulously false in many ways.
The worst example of this is all the regimental (Colonels) mounted officers are shown astride the 3 panel rounded housse/ chaperons a la Garde dragoons- who themselves didnt actually have these in the beginning!
Excerpts From
Napoleon’s Dragoons and Lancers: Uniforms and Equipment
Paul L Dawson
This material are protected by copyright.
I found the book much more interesting and less critical of external elements (except as noted) but then he's dealing with more positive data and not second guessing (well, he does in places).
Regards davew
the latest Paul L. Dawson book arrived, being digested and re-reviewed over last few weeks.
PLD_ Dr & Lcrs_ 2024.jpg
Some notable points among its pages- in summary he said:-
“So, what does all this research mean? Well, it shows that the dragoons were rather flexible with the application of some decrees over clothing, but the 1801 regulation that removed the sheepskin schabraque from use until the Bardin regulation was enforced rigorously.
Despite what some modern authors and artists say, from 1805 into 1813, sheepskins were not in use across all regiments: just the 3e, 9e and 11e had these items, neatly demonstrating why research is necessary.”
Although many gamers could care less about horse furniture overall, it is interesting to note the poor finances under the Consulate and the 'era of peace'. This directly led to no or little replacement of uniforms and equipment, most notably except that of the 'Paris garrison' who were always 'best dressed' by Buonaparte to show off the success of his army.
In fact Dawson successfully shows that between 1802 and 1805 (including on campaign), approximately half the Dragoon regiments had a 50/50 mix of sheepskins and housse/ chaperons in use, or spread through depot stores and serving regiment.
Another facet of clothing- despite the brightly coloured facings we quibble over, in the same period, and lasting longer, a similar ratio of regiments coat styles were found*:
“Again, the undress surtout was entirely green with no distinctive facings [nor piping], which is exactly as period artwork shows yet not how re-enactors, wargamers and artists understand them to have appeared.”
*Because new habits, expensive to source cloth and manufacture, were not made in numbers, the all green surtout was far more common than understood and cheaper to remake/ reissue.
“When we look at the inspection returns from summer 1814, we find just the 30e Dragons were universally wearing habits-vestes of Bardin!" [That is 1:30 !]
Now he writes "Bardin regulation [ 1811 ], in theory introduced the habit-veste. Yet given that the bulk of Dragoon regiments were in Spain, and miles away from their dépôt, it is likely that they were never issued these garments."
This is a little disingenuous as the regimental breakdowns, actually do include 'some/ a few' regiments obtaining new supplies from France. So there were certainly 'elements' of habit-vestes post 1811 there.
He continues “This means that 99% of all dragoon regiments did not adopt Bardin regulation until 1814 into 1815.
Furthermore, we note from the disbandment records that the 13e, 15e and 18e regiments had a mix and match approach, the dépôt company had habits-vestes and the war squadrons habits**.
This left 21 regiments fully decked out in old-pattern clothing. Bardin regulation for the dragoons simply did not exist.”
** A topic I have harped on for several years now, those 'drawings of such and such' did not and never could depict entire regiments dress unless they were actually sited in Paris or a close caserne/ depot.
“The 11e Dragons by 1815 still had old-and new-pattern habits in use! Indeed, Inspector of Review Raphael Sabathier reports that 5e, 6e, 7e, 13e, 19e, 22e and 25e had not adopted Bardin regulation in July 1814.1 The Sauerweid manuscript shows the 22e wearing habits a revers in 1813 with grey cloth pantalons, with leather reinforcement to the inner leg and a facing colour side stripe.”
So your 'later' ie post 1812 campaigns figures should be at best a mixture of old/ new styles.
“Elite company
Formed under the decree of 18 Vendémiaire An X (10 October 1801), Article 13 of the decree stipulates:
The first company of the first squadron of each cavalry regiment, dragoons, chasseurs and hussards, will take the name of Elite Company.
“Under this decree, the elite company was allowed to wear a bearskin with no front plate as a particular distinction, but nothing was specified as to the colour of plumes and bearskin cords or use of other attributes. ”
In the absence of any precise regulation, the choice was left to the initiative of the colonel, and because of this, a wide array of variations existed that we know in part, thanks to contemporary documents and iconography***.”
Here he is almost saluting the enemy here!
“No colour was officially prescribed for the plume, bearskin cords and epaulettes, but the understanding was probably to be scarlet. We know from iconography that this assumption by the minister was overlooked by colonels. We assume elite companies were allowed moustaches, although at the close of July 1806 all dragoons were ordered to shave theirs off. This seems all the more remarkable as in theory moustaches were worn in the summer.”
“Nothing more is said officially about elite companies until the Bardin regulations, whereby scarlet-fringed epaulettes were introduced and a red horse hair aigrette. In theory, bearskins were abolished. This is of course all ‘in theory’...
Other significant elements are covered in detail as well. Trompettes and their derivative uniforms, arms and equipment in some detail, and very specific information about those regiments 'disbanded and transferred' to another corps from 1802 onwards.
Did you know the 28e-30e as former Hussars all went to the Amry of Italy, where they were still wearing mostly hussar uniforms in 1805 and perhaps '06!
Another bombshell, despite his previous dissertations that 'such and such' didn't happen when regiments were 'migrated', well a lot certainly did!
The proposals in 1798 to dress dragoons in bleu-de-ciel (which you will note IS NOT SKY BLUE!) and repeated in 1802 as inspection reports abound with poor clothing issues...
“Sample of original bleu de ciel broadcloth. Note is it a much darker hue than traditionally ascribed for this colour. (Collection KM)”
[hr]
“Dragoons in blue was far more common than heretofore assumed. It also means that before 1808, eight regiments had trumpeters not in reversed colours, but blue.
With the conversion of cavalerie regiments to dragoons, the realisation of the huge number of men to be clothed sent the War Ministry into ‘panic mode’ over the costs, and a hasty compromise scheme was created.
Thousands of men had to be totally reclothed, many having just received a new blue habit! The cost of green dye, and also the cost of replacing a lot of brand-new clothing, resulted in General Bourcier resurrecting the idea to dress dragoons in blue, which was included in the decree of 1 Vendemiaire An XII (24 September 1803).”
“We have no fixed date when blue uniforms were abandoned for dragoons, we can only assume the idea was quietly dropped, although some regiments had purchased blue broadcloth, which was no doubt hastily used to dress the trumpeters.20 These were the 21e, 22e, 23e, 25e, 26e, 27e, and 30e, making 15 regiments [the others cited in detail list] having trumpeters dressed in blue, or had blue on their uniform: in basic terms, 50% of trumpeters wore blue somewhere on their uniform and not reversed colours of myth.”
“The decree of 23 March 1806 allowed both a surtout and habit****. It left the dress of the dragon regiments unchanged but did confirm green as the base colour of uniforms: the short-lived experiment with blue was over.”
**** A real world effect of rules following practice, as noted above.
So that is a few salient points from the summary Dawson has given.
I havent yet quantified all the precise regimental data offered, and possibly may never do so unless someone cites an interest, but I have at least reviewed in detail my final 2/ 6 ( III Dragoon Division attached to Soults IV Corps- 1805) regiments awaiting organising and painting.
One final note, as despite using Martinet prints to populate the book- in essence a heresy of sorts- his extensive criticism publicly beforehand about them is somewhat duplicitous. Yes, some are correct for an early version 'in France'. Others made about 1820 (ie the full set) are simply 'paint by numbers' and therefore incredulously false in many ways.
The worst example of this is all the regimental (Colonels) mounted officers are shown astride the 3 panel rounded housse/ chaperons a la Garde dragoons- who themselves didnt actually have these in the beginning!
Excerpts From
Napoleon’s Dragoons and Lancers: Uniforms and Equipment
Paul L Dawson
This material are protected by copyright.
I found the book much more interesting and less critical of external elements (except as noted) but then he's dealing with more positive data and not second guessing (well, he does in places).
Regards davew