"AWI floppy round hats colors?" Topic

I am just starting a militia unit and have yet to paint the hats.

What types of colors do the round hats come in?

and while we're at it, do tricorne's only come in black?

Thanks for any information/opinions!

Round hats are most often associated with the British, and they were usually black. Round hats were usually unbound cocked hats, that were black wool felt or beaver fur. The only exceptions I have ever seen were some light grey ones worn by some of the NJ provincials.

Militia, who by definition were civilians serving in a emergency call up capacity, might wear anything they normally wore, including straw hats, or of various colors. But I would suspect the most common color would indeed be black.

White Round hats were popular in the Southern States. Northern Loyalist units transferred to the south were given white un-cocked hats. Brown and tan hats were also common among Renger and militia units in the South.

Black hats as mentioned seem to have been the most common in the North.

I would have to say that round hats were usually black and were worn by both sides(especially by the Americans in 1777). There is no known documentation, as far as I know, for "roundhats" or cut-down hats being worn by British troops in the south beyond the Guards.

Rudy, do you mind if I ask which loyalist units from the north went south and got white hats of any shape, or what documentation in general you have for white hats of any sort in any theatre? I've never heard of them and would propose that it was a very rare exception indeed…like the polar bear 40th grenadier caps…

Best Regards,

Scott Wetherell

Illustrations of units in the Southern theatre are quite common. The Blanford books come to mind quickly. i am at work, so it take a while for me to find the data.

DELANCEY'S BRIGADE OF NEW YORK LOYALIST : each battalion will have the number of buttons in a row on their coat equaling its battalion number; red coats, white waistcoats and linen trousers, blue facings but a Hessian officers recorded their facings as Green in 1783; tricornes with white hat band; Winter dress consisted of brown trousers and leather caps (light inf or Hessian fusilier caps but more likely an animal skin/fur cap which was issued and worn only during winter months); while in the South those battalions are reported to have worn white and black round hats with black feathers

many units in the South are commented on wearing Frontier dress which would include a large number of different hats, caps and colors.

Here is one Southern unit with Black hats. ROYAL NORTH CAROLINA REGIMENT : Red coats, blue facings, white waistcoats and breeches, black round hats with black feathers.

KING'S ROYAL REGIMENT of NEW YORK : (Royal Greens) Dark green coats, white waistcoats and breeches, white facings, brown leggings, buff belts, tricorne with white hatbands; lgt company identified by green wings; coat was changed in 1778 to red with blue facings; detachments assigned to raids often wore frontier dress

Hi Rudy,

The Delancy quote refers to a "white hat band," which is the standard finishing to a black British cocked hat.

I propose that beyond a brown hat here or there on a militiaman, most hats were black.

I'm at work too and completely understand about finding the documentation, but am just sincerely interested in a documented example of a white cocked hat anywhere in the AWI…not trying to be a jerk, I just have never heard of white cocked or cut-down roundhats in the AWI. That doesn't mean they didn't exist, I'd just like to find an example. I definitely agree with your statement regarding the variety of headdress worn on raids, by irregular elements, etc…

Thanks/Best Regards,

Scott Wetherell

In your opinion based on your sources the hats were black. In my opinion based on the pictures that I have seen and comments, the hats were white.

"…John Mollo & Malcolm McGregor, Uniforms of the American Revolution. Probably the most widely recognized book on the period. The color plates are a real boon…"

The assumption that all hats shipped from England were black is not correct.

"…White hats had a vogue in the i77o's and early 8o's. 'White hats, thank Heaven, are beginning to disappear.' 1781. London Magazine or Gentleman's Monthly Intelligencer. .."

Though this is far from irm evidence, it does show that both white and black hats were popular. Due to the heat reflection of white, the idea that white hats were common in Georgia and Florida makes sense (at least to me).

I believe one of the De Lancey groups wears white hats, or light grey ones. Their weblink seems to be down at the time, but you could ask on the Revlist.

Well, what exactly is a round hat? It could be as simple as the military hat uncocked, or it could be a cut down one, like the Guards wore. There is no exact definition. Many British units seemed to start wearing "round hats" in the 1777 time period, the same ones that eventually shipped south. There are paintings of such as early as post-Bunker Hill, showing British soldiers guarding the captured works, in some type of round hat with plumes. The officer beside them is wearing a cocked hat. This painting was just in the CMH magazine.

There is also the painting of British 40th troops at Germantown, and they are not the light company either, wearing round hats too.

In regards to patriot units wearing hite round or Floppy hats, there are several descriptions of soldiers with them.

A member of the %th Virginia Line has "…A common soldiers dress with a white hat…"

1st Va Line "…Blue coat, white waistcoat and breeches, white hat…"

Vermont Herrick Militia which sirprised me "…Blue coat, bvest, and breeches, white stockings and white hat…"

bannersloyal,
Seriously….polar bear grenadier caps for the 40th? Really?

Just because they wore a white fur hat does not mean it was bearskin. Could have been goatskin, like some of the packs carried at the time.

Scott Wetherell, please send me an email at
scottnelson@bellsouth.net

I have a curiosity question on another issue.
Thanks
Rudy

Hi Guys,

Good stuff on the white hats. "Yes" to the polar bear grenadier caps in the 40th, given by some Prussian or Russian monarch as a gift to the King of England. (I don't have any documentation for this but the recreated 40th does, Roger Fuller from Minute Man National Battlefield made one up and has the documentation as does Niels Hobbs of the 40th, although I'm not sure if he was able to obtain real polar bear fur…)

Rudy, I sent you an email and thanks for the responses above. I don't mean to sound confrontational on the white hat thing, just have never heard of it and am interested. If you come across anything regarding white hats on British soldiers, please post it!

Regards,

Scott Wetherell

The Yahoo! Revlist had a thread on hat colours a few years ago and somebody produced a breakdown for a number of civilian headgear. It suggested that with tricornes (which were just cocked "floppy" hats), as with Model T Fords, you could have any colour you wanted as long as it was black.

Other colours would either have been manufactured in different materials, or would have required a serious dyeing process that would have made them quite expensive, and beyond the pocket of the typical Minuteman/Continental.

Drummers of the 3rd (later Scots) Foot Guards also had white bearskins during the AWI period – not sure if any of them were taken to American though.