"French "Dusters" in the Peninsula" Topic

I've seen pics of French in long off-white coats in the Peninsula, c. 1808, which I believe were called "dusters".

Could anyone advise how off white these were? I've not got any very clear illustrations.

Thanks, Simon

I think that'Dusters' is an American title from later in the Century. The dust coats I have seen illustrated have varied from a bleeched white to a very light grey. You can probably have quite s variation in the same battalion if you so wish.

I was hoping that; I'll prome some white and some off white, then stain. Thanks, Simon

Are you talking about greatcoats or tunics? If greatcoats, then it was usual to have any range of grey or range of brown (blue was generally reserved for Guard troops), if you are talking tunics, in 1807 the uiniform regs specified a white tunic with individual regt colour turnbacks and facings. Only a few regts received these, so you could use some in the Peninsula.

Have a read of this:

link

Some French regiments in the Peninsula certainly did have long white overcoats which varied in colour from white to a light creamy colour to a very light grey.

I think greatcoat is the key term, certainly the length is what I meant. I'd imagined from what I read that they were a lighter weight than a greatcoat, but I could be wrong. "Light beige wool" in Dave's link, above, seems to be the key term.

I have been having a recurring dream involving a couple of handfuls of the Perry French in greatcoats, and a can of white spray primer… but I might try a couple of different colours, a white and a buff titanium, perhaps.

Cheers, Simon

They do seem to have been a lighter weight than the standard greatcoats.

The coats worn in the Peninsula were cotton or linen, rather than wool (I think that's in "Uniforms of the Peninsula War" by Windrow & Embleton). The point was that they were worn instead of the regimental coat, rather than over it. Very often it seems, the men would wear only the sleeved waistcoat, or sometimes even just a shirt, underneath it.

According to official regulations, beige was the proper colour for actual greatcoats (blue was for the Guard, as stated earlier); I think grey became popular after some of the early Imperial campaigns when large numbers of enemy greatcoats were captured.

A (or maybe "the") key source for these "dusters" are the illustrations of Henri Boisselier (1881-1959), Armée d'Espagne 1808-1814.

M. Boisselier relied heavily for this series on original watercolor sketches drawn from life by "El Guil", which were obtained almost 100 years later from a Spanish officer's widow. The originals have never been actually seen by anyone, except another uniformologist, Ernest Fort (1868-1938), who allegedly found the widow and the sketches, and then somehow lost the them while awaiting publication. Boisselier worked from Fort's sketches and notes.

However, the Boisselier illustrations "look" very realistic. One wants them to be "real" simply because it is exactly how you would imagine the French and their allies would look on campaign in Spain. Many modern unifomologists of the first rank (Yves Martin in France and José María Bueno in Spain, for examples) do not hesitate to proffer the Boisselier as a source – albeit with a caveat about the origins such as I have added here.

As to the "dusters" – great name of name for them! – they seem to increase in use from about 1810 to 1812/1813. Many units seem to have them, maybe 15% of all the images. There is quite a bit of variation :
-- general style is similar to regulation greatcoats – which makes it hard to know a woolen greatcoat of non-regulation color from a lighter weight "duster"
-- color from pure white to light gray
-- some of the off-white ones may just be dirty – one of the off-white ones seems to have a white interior, and I doubt that this was a lining
-- tone of the white is usually "cool" or a tad blue-ish, but a couple are "warm" or beige-ish (though these may just be faded beige regulation greatcoats)
-- usually worn by a generally rather ragged unit, and typically with long, loose, "bloomer" style pants in white or blue (also a couple in beige and one in brown) with shoes/short gaiters or with Spanish sandals with ankle ties and no hose/socks/footwraps (side comment : why did the French not use footwraps? they are really useful!)
-- length from just above the knee to mid-calf
-- single row of brass buttons
-- almost always no cuffs (only one example, a short one, light gray color, had plain round light gray cuffs piped red)
-- collar occasionally red for grenadiers/carabiniers
-- distinctions sometimes added : epaulets, sappeur insignia in red, rank stripes in red – as Supercilius Maximus wrote, these seem to be replacing the (worn out? too hot?) woolen habits
-- often worn buttoned back from the front lower edge, like for World War 1 French infantry in long coats
-- often shown with a shako cover of the same color (same material is unknown, of course) and these usually include some draped material hanging down to cover the sides and back of the neck of the fantassin (more drape then a later képi de la Légion étrangère, but that kind of look)
-- the material could be, in addition to locally procured linen or cotton (was there much of this available in Spain?), stocks of the material used for cavalry cloaks and stable pants for dragons and cuirassiers – this was a heavy linen toile (like light canvas) made with all white threads in the warp and with a small proportion ("piqué" in French) of stronger dark-sky blue-gray spun woolen threads in the weft – the overall effect being a slightly blue-ish or cool white (side comment : this is a wonderful rugged material, easy to wear, with a surprisingly soft hand, and rather breathable in even very hot weather – I have riding pants made from it and they are extremely comfortable)

The white sleeved waistcoat or "gilet aux manches" was a standard item of kit – made from a light wool weave and part of the fatigue uniform for French infantry – and so it is not surprising that "El Guil" would see it worn if such a person were drawing from life, and indeed perhaps 10% of the illustrations have this. As you likely know, white was the fatigues' color becasue it could be bleached or soaked in lye soap and hence cleaned of dirt accumulated in fatigue duties.

Amicalement.

P.S. If Kevin (or Dave) or some other great expert who has read a bunch of modern secondary sources says I am wrong, I apologize for posting and even for breathing …. they are perfect, and always right about everything, and the rest of us are just dumb "fantasy" gamers who are always "incorrect".

I'm pretty sure Rifleman Harris mentions the French in white greatcoats with their "blues" on top of their packs.

I should have added ….
-- the Boisselier are usually named to a specific unit, and sometimes even with a year
-- I know of no "counter-examples" that have "proven" the "El Guil" / Boisselier to be wrong (things like a unit not in Spain being illstrated in the series, a ragged unit shown in the series when a record of delvery of new uniforms has been found in an archive, etc.)
-- some little details have been confirmed from other sources (things like tambour-major du XXe de ligne having a hussar dolman, carabiniers of the Xe légere in bearskins, etc.)

Sorry for forgetting these.

"I'm pretty sure Rifleman Harris mentions the French in white greatcoats with their "blues" on top of their packs."

This is also shown in the series in at least a couple of examples.

Amicalement.

Thanks Sotnik, a lot of food for thought there! I'll be going back to read your post when I get around starting to painting in afew weeks time.

Cheers, Simon