"Questions about AWI Uniforms" Topic

Beginning painting the American Revolution I have some questions about AWI uniforms for the Revolution specialists.
The British have regiments colours for the collars, cuffs and the front of the coat but the turnbacks on the back of the coat were white? Was the turnback – colour the same as the colour of the inner linings of the coats?
Same question for the Hessians. Dark blue coat, red turnbacks, red inner linings?
Continental units if uniformed I see with white and red turnbacks. Is that right?

Besides the white trousers (and the seamen breeches some Hessians wore) it seems to be worn trousers with a colour between yellow and brown in The British as well as in the Continental army? Any suggestings for paint colours? Specially Games Workshop or Coat DArms paints but other welcomed too.

Please execuse any errors. English ist not my native language.

British turnbacks were white, except for buff facing regiments, where the turnbacks were buff.

Hessian regiments had red turnbacks. If the facings were red, or a shade of red like orange or crimson, the turnbacks matched.

Yes buff breeches were common. A good GW color for those is Ushabti Bone. Unfortunately I use mostly Vallejo except for a couple GW colors I like. That being one of them.

"Buff" is a different shade in each British regiment that has that facing color. So a specific colour is good for one regiment and not all buff facing regiments.

Even the greens and yellows are different for each regiment pf that facing color. It only matters if you care.

True, my stuff is all 15mm so I don't get all that techinical with it.

Samurai,

Good to see you are interested in this period – it is an excellent one in which to study linear horse-and-musket warfare at the basic levels, because the armies, units and battles were small and are consequently easy to reproduce on the tabletop.

You have had correct answers to your questions on British turnbacks, except to add that for all but the last months of the war, the British artillery had red turnbacks.

Continental units did not follow any specific rules on turnback colours – they lined their coats with whatever material they could get (although white was the preferred colour). The 1779 Regulations had white turnbacks for the regiments with white and red facings, buff for those with buff, and blue for those with blue facings and for the musicians who had reversed colours. Artillery (red facings) and Engineers (buff) had red turnbacks/linings.

British overalls were usually white; from time to time, the troops were issued "leggings" – very much like long gaiters but made of wool instead of linen or canvas. These were dark in winter (blue, black, very dark brown) and light in summer (tan or off-white). Sometimes the British provided overalls for the German troops, but only the Hesse Hanau and Brunswick troops in Canada had the canvas overalls (as you call them, seaman trousers); the other contingents, including those of Hesse Cassel, seem to have kept their long gaiters right to the end of the war.

A last point on the "Hessians" – you should refer to them in general terms as "Germans" as Hessians were specifically those troops from Hesse Cassel (the largest of the six auxiliary contingents) and Hesse Hanau.

"Was the turnback – colour the same as the colour of the inner linings of the coats?

Short answer – kind of. The skirts of the coats were a shalloon wool usually, and where white for infantry. The inner lining of the coat and sleeves was also usually white shalloon wool, sometimes linen – so unless the facing colors of the coat were also white, the lining (white or off white) could be a different color.

"Besides the white trousers (and the seamen breeches some Hessians wore) it seems to be worn trousers with a colour between yellow and brown in The British as well as in the Continental army?"

The British either wore breeches (knee length trousers) or overalls (long trousers with buttons along the ankles that went over the shoes). The breeches were usually white wool or linen. If the regiment had buff facings they might also have buff colored vest (waistcoat), breeches, and leather equipment (hat companies and grenadiers only, not lights). But, there are exceptions to the buff rule – such as the 62nd Regt, which had buff facings, but apparently wore white small clothes (waistcoat and breeches) during the 1777 campaign.

Thanks for all the useful informations. Now I can begin to paint other units as the minutemen/militia too.

Supercilius Maximus, I am a Hessian and therefore know the geographical situation. I thought only about those real Hessians because at least for the moment I only want to paint the Hesse Cassel but thanks for pointing to that fact.

Ah, sorry – hope you weren't offended by my assumption you didn't know.

According to diaries, the Hesse Cassel and Anspach contingents at Yorktown appear to have been mostly in gaiters (not sure about von Bose, which some people think may have worn overalls as it was kept resupplied by the British – I think they may even have had some British replacement muskets). We do know that Ewald's jaeger had striped overalls during the 1781 campaign, produced from material given to them by Cornwallis himself that had been seized in the capture of Charleston SC, the year before.

Samurai Elb,

Good luck with your painting of AWI minaitures. Further to the excellent answers above you might want to consider obtaining a copy of Mollo's Uniforms of the American Revolution – not without its faults but still useful as an introduction. It can be had quite cheaply – from as little as £5.00 GBP including delivery to Germany from Amazon UK (Amazon de has copies but more expensive). Good luck!

Burgoyne's "Germans" might not have been referred to as "Hessians" since they were, mostly, Brunswickers (though maybe they were also referred to that way) but all of the others were so referred to as such, at least by the folk here in North America at the time. Such is the term used in every single reference I've read on the period (some forty or fifty volumes on my shelf, further uncounted numbers in various and sundry libraries, local, regional, universities). Sure, there were six different "German" "states" that sent troops to America under hire to Britain. But the collective and common term of reference was "Hessian." Or, if not, please provide the source for not using that term in that time frame.

I'd guess referring to "German" at the time, other than "the German states" might not mean very much to much of anyone. Here's a curious question – since most of the states of "Germany" at that time were still part of the Holy Roman Empire, why don't we see them referred to as such in the writings on the AWI by anyone (at least, not that I can recall)? Didn't dissolve until 1806, 23 years after the final "peace" was signed between England and the new United States. I'd have to dig back into those references but I believe I have one that does speak a bit about the Circles of the Empire (Reich Kreisse, I believe) and how that was part of the contentiousness within the other German states relating to their being sent here (those contingents from the six states). Wasn't that part of how Frederick tried to prevent them being sent?

And for Samurai: I haven't done the proper genealogical research but I'm pretty sure part of my family can trace its roots back to Geissen in Hesse, though transformed to Geisen in family history. If so, I am at least partly Hessian. But also firmly rooted in England since I have relatives who came to North America as part of the Great Migration of 1630. There is even an existing manor in the southeast of England that was once in the family. But I we also know a family member who was a Brigadier of militia from Connecticut who chased his running troops back towards their home at Long Island. Hey, no wonder I like this period of history so much.

EMW,

A good point about the use of "German" at this time.

Speaking only for myself here, but I have found (whilst lecturing to US community schools/universities based here in the UK), that calling them "Germans" gives folk who are not as familiar with the background to the war a focal point to understand where these men came from – "Hesse" being a less common term nowadays. I also point out to them that three of the six rulers who sent troops were blood relatives of George III. Interestingly, I found that these students often had a similar problem understanding the significance of "militia" whereas almost all were familiar with the term "minuteman".

Most people on the AWI board haven't had the chance to acquire the impressive levels of knowledge of posters like your good self, who have spent much of their adult life studying the subject. "German" is an anachromism, you are absolutely right there; but it does give modern people a better lead as to whom you are discussing.

SM,

You are correct relating to a general audience but I like to think even the raw new posters here want to learn the realities of the period and I think having them learn Hessian right off helps. Oh, and I do have one book that comes to mind that does refer to the Germans as Germans – but prominent in the title is Hessians, based on very early writings and then published in the latter part of the 19th century. Mine is a contemporary reprint I picked up in a battlefield store while touring – don't recall which battlefield or store. Must have packed twenty sites into two weeks! French and Indian War, AWI, and ACW.