| SJDonovan | 06 Nov 2015 5:42 a.m. PST |
Does anyone know what uniform Lafayette would have been wearing at Brandywine? Did he always wear an official uniform or in the early days would he have been dressed in civilian (or possibly French military) clothing? |
| Winston Smith | 06 Nov 2015 5:51 a.m. PST |
American officer uniform. Definitely not French or civilian.
I have seen blue coat and buff facings. |
| SJDonovan | 06 Nov 2015 7:04 a.m. PST |
Thanks John. I thought that might be the case but I was hoping he might have worn something a bit more distinctive so I could make him look different from the other officers. |
| Winston Smith | 06 Nov 2015 7:06 a.m. PST |
It would be very well tailored.  |
| SJDonovan | 06 Nov 2015 8:20 a.m. PST |
I'm not sure my painting skills will bring that out but I will give it a go. |
| John the OFM | 06 Nov 2015 10:27 a.m. PST |
Try this one:
You can find him in French uniforms but they would be later in life when he was involved tn the French
Revolution. amazingly, he survived.
the above was commissioned by Washington, by Peale, so I wouild bet it's pretty accurate for the revolution. |
| SJDonovan | 06 Nov 2015 10:34 a.m. PST |
Thanks John. Blue and buff it is. And it looks like I can give him reddish hair to make him stand out a bit (so long as I can find a suitable figure who isn't wearing a powdered wig). |
| Winston Smith | 06 Nov 2015 3:37 p.m. PST |
Look at that hairline at 22 years old. It must be from the stress of being a Major General. |
| SJDonovan | 06 Nov 2015 3:58 p.m. PST |
He's also striking a Napoleonic hand-in-the-waistcoat pose. I thought that was a signature look for Bonaparte. Did he steal it from Lafayette or was this this just the pose that all young generals struck when there was a portraitist around? |
| Winston Smith | 07 Nov 2015 2:42 a.m. PST |
Considering the portrait was done way before the French Revolution, it was definitely a favored pose. |
| dBerczerk | 07 Nov 2015 7:15 a.m. PST |
Looks like I'll need to re-paint my Old Glory 25mm figure of Lafayette. Sadly, it does not closely resemble the portrait by Peale. |
| hocklermp5 | 07 Nov 2015 10:26 a.m. PST |
Having read of any number of French officers who showed up demanding high rank and position in the Continental Army, who turned out to be bad bargains all round, was the young Marquis a good commander? When I first saw the portrait I took it for a man in his early 40s. Hair loss in his 20s could be from other causes than stress. A former brother-in-law was losing his hair in his early 20s but then he was unfortunate enough to be married to my sister so…. But the face in the portrait is telling. A young man with an old man's eyes. That he survived the Revolution has always amazed me. But those of you with far greater knowledge of the AWI and the young Lafayette please weigh in on whether he was a good general or not. |
| The Hound | 09 Nov 2015 1:40 p.m. PST |
link
lafayettes victory. Lfafayette bio on wikipedia has his military service in AWI in itttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_du_Motier,_Marquis_de_Lafayette |
builds a cutter and a corsair, both in 1/1200 scale.