"AWI British Legion Infantry uniform" Topic

Does anyone have any information or images for the British Legion Infantry during the AWI, or did they wear the same uniform the Legion cavalry wore, googled it and can't find anything. Trying to paint up a unit.

old smokie

In my opinion, they were dressed as light infantrymen. The next step is deciding if they wore the Tarleton helmet. I do not believe that the infantry did, but if ou do, there are the Perry 16th LD dismounted figures.
I used the Perry or Foundry figures in roundabouts and pimp hats. Old Glory make a similar figure (Light Infantry in slouch hats), and they are nice figures too.

I painted mine with a green coat, black hat with gray/white plume. They will also see duty as Ferguson's Rifles at Brandywine.

thanks for the reply

For what it's worth; (probably not heavily researched) one of the artist reditions at the Cowpens Battlefield shows them in a black light cap with green coat.

i go with red faced black and light infantry caps.
for example see link

Try these sites they may have what you need.

link

link

link

If I'm not mistaken, Synflood is referring to a painting done by the late, great H. Charles McBarron, Jr. I've seen a copy of that painting, and it does indeed depict the infantry of the British Legion in green jackets and plain light infantry caps.

I wish I could tell you how McBarron arrived at his depiction of the British Legion infantry, but I can't. He did a lot of work for the U.S. Army and the Company of Military Historian, and established a reputation for historical accuracy. It's probably safe to say that he made the best educated guess he could with the information he had available at the time. But it's also possible he could have been wrong.

For what it's worth, McBarron's depiction of the British Legion infantry is pretty sensible and realistic, at least to my eyes. But I've also seen that copy of the Camden map mentioned in the link provided by edinburghowl; that information seems pretty hard to argue with.

What does Don Troiani show them in? I suspect they are in his new Rev War book, if not also online at his historic imaging site.

Edinburghhowl, Jeffheigh

There was an extensive exchange concerning the Barron map and its meaning for the Legion infnatry uniforms on the Battle of Camden yahoo group. I advise you to consult the whole exchange. Basically the information that emerged was that the chap who drew the map (Edward Barron a captain in the 4th Foot)was not actually at Camden and that there are so many inaccurracies on the map that it cannot in any sense be considered to be a reputable source for the battle or Legion unifoms.

Information from 1782-83 indicates the Legion foot wore green light infantry coats and jackets with black collars and cuffs (lapels are not mention!) and white breeches. There is an earlier mention of caps relating to Legion foot which maybe c.1779 but I am afraid I cannot recall the source of the information. There may be something about it on the Tarleton or Royal Province websites. It may be that (elusive) information that McBarron used for his reconstruction of the Legion foot.

thanks for all the replies guys, much appreciated.

And thank you, Thomas Mante!

I agree that Barron cannot be considered 100% accurate, but that doesn't necessarily mean he was wrong regarding the BL's uniform.

FWIW, i go for red faced black because it makes most sense to me in the context of most provincial units changing from green to red. There are references to light infantry caps – so i think that is relatively safe ground.

As there appears to be no definitive proof to what the BL infantry wore in 1780-81 you can choose red or green and none can tell you you're wrong 8-)

As there appears to be no definitive proof to what the BL infantry wore in 1780-81 you can choose red or green and none can tell you you're wrong 8-)

Indeed. You are the Colonel of YOUR British Legion, I am the Colonel of mine.

The book about Tarleton and the BL "Brutal Virtue" by Anthony J Scotti (who is also a BL infantry re-enactor) mentions green coats with same coloured lapels, black collars and cuffs and helmets, as described by a German officer (whom he quotes but does not identify). However, there is also the suggestion in this description that the headgear was the same for both branches of the unit, which would make sense logistically. However, at the same time, he also mentions a letter from Tarleton referring to infantry caps and dragoon caps as separate items within an inventory of Legion uniforms en route from London, which suggests that they wore different headgear at some point. That said, Tarleton came from the 16th Light Dragoons which wore that style of helmet in the dismounted division, and almost certainly the mounted division as well.

Whilst I would support at least an inference of red coats for any other Provincial unit, unless there were shortages of green cloth, I would have thought that the BL infantry would be more likely to be in green (though red is by no means impossible). The BL and the QR tended to be a law unto themselves, and I've often wondered if there was an unspoken rivalry – or (less likely) an unspoken bond – between Tarleton and Simcoe over the way they handled their respective corps. Certainly at the end of the war, the Legion and Rangers dragoons were wearing identical uniforms.