"Washington's Uniform Proposals 1779" Topic

In Mollo's "Uniforms of the American Revolution" p.204, he states that in Jan.1779 Washington submitted a plan to Congress in which he proposed having a different colour uniform for each state, with the individual regiments within each state to be distinguished by facing colours/arrangements.

Does anyone know if he got as far as actually proposing what colour each state should have, and if so what they were?

I can't say, but the idea went nowhere as they were dependent on what they had at hand, including the French lottery coats. Of course the official regulations are listed below, but that was never achieved either.

Didn't he favour the Hunting Shirt as a " National" uniform, too?

I think he had a number of "good ideas" on uniform, of which the hunting shirt alone proved viable – the other (also early on in the war) was a brown uniform with different coloured facings for every regiment.

That's a lot of colors. :-)

Probably picked up a load of swatches from his local hardware store on the way up to Cambridge.

I believe Congress eventually trashed the idea and went with blue faced red for all Continetals. It made the manufactures and QMs job a lot easier.

They got what they got from France, which was mainly blue faced red, with some brown faced red. Anything else the states supplied, and that varied with no rhyme or reason.

Exactly, it was more practical to fit the "on paper" regulations to match the uniforms they were receiving from France. Presumably most were blue face red, so that is what they went with. But we all know there were other colors, hunting shirts, brown face red, whatever they could get their hands on.

Way back in ancient times when I first started this period, I thought it would be easier to paint figures using the 1779 regulations. I finally learned that those regulations were never fully implemented.

HG;
Actually the "rhyme and reason" was "as could be procured".

One of the great joys of being a real logistician is reading all the bits related to supplying Washington and the other Doodle armies and seeing their methodology and where you know something is going to go all pear-shaped.

What I find interesting is the vast number of historians who fail to distinguish "acquisition" from "distribution".

My two shillings.

Eric

I know the Rebels recycled British coats. Either in red, or re-dyed; but did they ever recycle an quantity of Hessian coats?

Paul B

The basis of figs 167 -175 in Mollo is the 1779 Regs and the proposed state groupings/facings are given on p.204. However, as Historygamer quite rightly comments there is considerable doubt that they were ever wholly, or even partially implemented due to to supply/stores issues.

Spontoon;
It's possible but I haven't seen anything that specifically says so. Clothing, particularly that already made up into coats, would have been a durable good and sought after.

How much it was modified and utilized is tough to determine, at least on this side of the Big Blue Anti-Tank Ditch.

The other thing to remember is that the norms of the time would have required a man to wear a shirt and coat all the time in order to be "properly" dressed.

Eric

Spontoon,

I can't recall reading about any Hessian coats being captured en route to America by privateers (which is how almost all of the British coats were acquired), but then they would have needed little, if any, modification so this may be why. Also, the German contingents were issued coats every two years, rather than each year like the British, so there were fewer opportunities to capture them, and after 1777 it was much less common for Crown ships to be taken anyway as the convoy system had reduced the effectiveness of the privateers (most of the captured British coats are taken in 1775-76 crossing the Atlantic – I think those captured later in the war are being carried from NYC down to the southern ports).

Even when enough coats became available, the hunting shirt was retained as a fatigue and hot weather garment.