"FIW Pronvincials drummer colours" Topic

I'm currently painting up a unit of Massachusetts Provincials (blue uniform red facings). I was wondering what to do with the drummer – same uniform? Reversed colours? And what about the drum? Any help is appreciated!

Most provincial units came and went, usually on a seasonal basis. The colonies paid for the uniforms – what their were. And, unlike British regiments which were bound by the Royal Clothing warrants and inspections – there was little incentive to go to the added trouble of making reverse uniforms for musicians I would think.

Unless the Colonel of the regiment was willing to spring for it, it's likely he would have worn the same coat as the rest of the unit.

Ok, thanks for the help.

Remember too, the colonels weren't likely that rich and weren't making money off of the regiment the way English colonel's did.

Actually most Colonels lost money on their regiments! I do like to think that most colonial colonels would ape the practice of the regulars, and fashion dictated that filed music be dressed conspicuously.

I think the process to raise a provincial regiment was a lot different than that of a regular British army unit. The funds were allocated from the colonial assembly. I also think that at different times of the war the uniforms were often supplied directly by England.

I'm not sure the colonial colonels were ever given any money to set aside for fancy musician uniforms, or if any money was even allocated for musicians on the rolls. Then there is the question of who owned the colours, or if there even were colours. In the Army they were owned by the colonel, but take Wasghington for instance – he was a 20 something year old, not especially wealthy at the time – he had no money to buy colours, same for musicians coats. Further, the VA units for 1755 only had independent companies, no greater organization or ranks, yet changed again in 1756 and beyond – eventually explanding up to two regiments. No doubt the other colony provincials were much the same in changing organizations and officers from year to year. More so than the VA regiments which served year round.

I think there is probably some leeway here, but the safe bet would be to paint the musicians in the same colors as the men.

This is probably an area that deserves more study, but I suspect you'd find great changes from year to year, starting in 1755.

Whilst I can't add any primary evidence to what has already been said, it is worth bearing in mind that during the AWI, Loyalist regiments were invariably supplied – direct from Great Britain – with the correct mix of uniforms, even in the early days when units were still being raised and numbers were speculative. Is there any reason this might not have been done in the F&IW era as well, especially where uniforms were made in Europe?

That said, a lot of Continental regiments ignored the option of reversed colours – for whatever reason(s) – and simply added lots of lace to the drummers' uniforms. This tended to be the norm in many European nations – probably more so than reversed colours by the 1750s – and we should remember that some of the 13 Colonies had more than just British/Irish cultures within their borders.