"Question about 1809 British hussar busby colour" Topic
6 Posts
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Oriol Barcelona | 08 Jul 2015 11:46 p.m. PST |
Dear gentlemen, I need some help: I'm the happy owner of a box of Perry british hussars and I want to paint them as the 15th in 1809. I have seen some images and painted miniatures showing the busbies in Brown. However,in the Perry miniatures painting guide (that that comes into the box) the busby is shown in Black. Did the regiments wore a mixed color of busbies? Was the colour related with the regiment? if yes, the 15th had Black busbies? Thanks a lot Oriol Barcelona |
plutarch 64 | 09 Jul 2015 2:13 a.m. PST |
My limited sources are CE Franklin's "Napoleonic British Uniforms" and AH Bowling's "British Hussar Regiments 1805 – 1914". With regard to the latter, Bowling indicates that the 15th were issued with brown caps and that the officers were quite distinctive as "Unlike the other regiments the fur cap was made of black fur with a red bag and a white over red plume and gold cap lines ending with tassels and flounders". When you read it back however, it is difficult to discern which bit of the cap he means are actually unlike other regiments. It is still very much on of my favourite books. CE Franklin simply indicates that for the 15th the NCOs' caps were of a lighter brown, which probably gives a hint. If it were me again, I'd probably do the officer in black, and the rest in brown… |
SJDonovan | 09 Jul 2015 4:36 a.m. PST |
The colour plate by Michael Chappell in Haythornthwaite's 'Uniforms of the Peninsular War' shows the 15th wearing a brown fur cap with red bag, white cords and a gilt chin strap. In the accompanying text, Haythornthwaite mentions that Capt. Gordon of the 15th "noted the use of oilskin cap-covers in the Corunna campaign". I haven't found anything specific about the colour of the caps worn by the officers of the 15th but Jack Cassin-Scott in 'Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars' mentions that while the rank and file of the 10th Hussars wore brown caps their officers wore caps of pale grey fur so plutarch 64's suggestion of black caps for officers seems to be a good idea. Just to confuse things, Charles Hamilton Smith's plate showing a private of the 15th shows a brown fur cap but with yellow cords. Incidentally, Haythornthwaite in 'Wellington's Army' says that there is an illustration by Robert Dighton Jnr showing an NCO of the regiment with brown fur on his pelisse (the regimental colour was black). Haythornthwaite says this is presumably a distinction of rank. Hamilton Smith:
There is a pinterest board here with lots of pictures of the 15th: link |
Cerdic | 09 Jul 2015 7:10 a.m. PST |
Sounds like you can paint 'em any colour you want! |
Jemima Fawr | 12 Jul 2015 8:20 a.m. PST |
Yes, it does seem that the officers of the 15th wore black busbies. As has been mentioned above, the officers of the 10th wore grey busbies with red bags, while the rank and file wore brown busbies with yellow bags (though that regiment then went through several uniform changes and it becomes a nightmare to track them). |
Oriol Barcelona | 12 Jul 2015 11:33 p.m. PST |
Ok thanks, I like the idea of Black for the officer and Brown for the troopers. Your help is trully appreacited |
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