"British uniform question" Topic

Hi all,

amongst my growing collection of books I still cant answer this question.

The feathers on the round hats when worn by light infantry or centre company infantry…. what colour are they?

red and white for centre company and green for lights or just plain black?

would appreciate any help.

Tom if your out there I am sure you will be able to answer this one for me.

Cheers and thanks in advance.

Hello- hat feathers were not uniform items for British soldiers during the AWI and the evidence is sketchy for what was worn- leaving to one side the legends that have taken root down the years.

The most reliable reference, a contemporary letter from December 1779 refers to the two flank battalions in New York, and describes the LI wearing green feathers in their caps while the Grenadier battalion wore white feathers in their hats.

IIRR, the LI Bn at that date consisted of light coys of 7th, 17th, 22nd, 33rd, 35th, 37th, 42nd, 54th, 63rd?,70th, 74th.

There is a more problematic reference, written almost 50 years after the event by a retired officer who was a quartermaster at the time, to the three/four grenadier battalions wearing white feathers, the 1st LI Bn green and the 2nd LI Bn red, but without reference to the nature of headgear (No mention of the 3rd LI Bn). That appears to relate to circa 1776- but the account is contradictory in its details, its main purpose to explain the origin of the 42nd RHR 'red feather' ordered by Gen Howe at that time 'to make the whole uniform.'

As far as I am aware, this is the only textual reference to red hat feathers being worn by British infantry during the AWI.

However, there is also a very late quartermaster entry from 1783 that shows that the LI company of the 71st Regiment (Fraser's Highlanders) had been wearing a red feather among the black feathers in their bonnet. For what it's worth, the 71st light coy had formerly been with the 2nd LI bn under Major John Maitland, subsequently CO of the 71st in the south.

The two della Gatta paintings of the attack at Paoli Tavern and the battle of Germantown (painted circa 1785) show the 2nd LI bn wearing mainly black feathers in their hats. Most identifiable figures represent men from the 52nd Regt's light company.

St George of the 52nd drew cartoons in 1777 depicting himself and others members of 2nd LI Bn together with an officer of 1st Grenadier Bn all wearing black hat feathers.

As far as I am aware the only evidence for battalion companies wearing hat feathers comes from Della gatta's Germantown picture. The companies of the 40th filing into the Chew house are shown wearing 'what appear to be brownish-red ostrich plumes in their hats'(Stephen Gilbert). One officer of the 40th wears two tall black feathers; another, a single, tall red and white plume.

See: Stephen R. Gilbert, An Analysis of the Xavier della Gatta Paintings of the Battles of Paoli and Germantown, 1777, Military Collector & Historian:
part I, VOL 46 (Fall 1994), 98-108;
part II, VOL 47 (Winter 1995), 146-162

Hat feathers remained non-regulation until the 1790s and it wasn't until 1800 that the system of white over red for battalion coys, white for grenadiers (and fusiliers) green for light infantry (and rifles) was finally established- with one or two notorious exceptions.

Thanks, that's great info.

While I understand it was not common practice, just about every figure maker has them in round hats with feathers.

Cheers

Scott

Stepeh Gilbert (I think- or maybe it was someone on RevList) had an interesting take on the rusty brown feathers shown in the della Gatta paintings, which is that this might represent the silvery-grey 'taupe' of natural colour ostrich plumes, whether undyed or faded from black. I have one in front of me and this notion does appeal. It would help distinguish those manufacturer's hat feathers from the black of the uncocked hats (presumably equally faded over time)

ATB

Couple of questions (that probably can't be answered) that come to mind:

1. How was Gen Howe able to order any changes to other colonel's regiment?

2. Where were all these feathers coming from? Were they being supplied by the contractors? They would have needed hundreds/thousands of them.

1. The implication of Maj. Gen James Stirling's 1822 account is that the distinguishing feathers he describes were ordered for the battalions of the Reserve under Cornwallis as some kind of recognition feature. The logic of this is elusive. Why order a second unit to adopt red feathers when their dress was distinctive enough already? How did that make "the whole uniform."?

Given that Howe seemed to be in favour of paring down his troops equipment and clothing, the feather 'initiative' as described is certainly puzzling.

Since these feathers weren't part of the regulation uniform, but rather a campaign adjustment, we might argue that Howe wasn't in fact treading on any one's toes. But-

2. How those feathers were sourced- and paid for- good question; whether we are talking about Halifax, Staten Island or New York/New Jersey later on.

The supply situation 1776-77 makes it unlikely that ostrich feathers would have been given priority in any trans-Atlantic deliveries. Maybe there was a serendipitous discovery of millinery goods in a New York warehouse and the idea developed from there. Perhaps a canny Loyalist entrpreneur had Howe's ear.

My own conclusion is that James Stirling's memory may have compressed events somewhat, which makes the logic difficult to understand, but he wasn't delusional, and that distinctive hat/bonnet feathers, more or less as described, must have been adopted by some units at some point in 1776-1777. Black ostrich plumes were already part of the Highland bonnet decoration and we know feathers were being worn in the hats of the troops depicted by della Gatta and St George in Pennsylvania 1777.

I suppose it's worth remembering that some regimental light companies were wearing feathers in their uniform caps before the war. And bear in mind the effort to produce decorative horsehair for the cap-hats worn by Burgoyne's men (again, hardly systematic in their colour scheme). And ditto for light infantry caps in New York in 1779.

Looking for the why and the wherefore will probably lead us round and round in circles, which may be why the 'defiant red feather' stories that still persist are so attractive, since they offer a melodramatic route out of the maze.

Even if we struggle to answer the practical questions, there is nonetheless sufficient evidence to prove that decorative feathers were worn on hats and bonnets by some units, at various times during the war. We also know the fashion continued and spread after the war and by 1790 was customary among many regiments.

Other than that, pff (appropriate emoticon)

My theory is that the British got their feathers from the same person who supplied the feathers to the showgirls.

Or maybe they just requisitioned them from the haberdashers of New York?

Are the 'Ladies' pictured above supposed to be dressed up as 'washer-women'? If so, are they using the official 1768 uniform warrant or something else??
TomS.

Whoever they are, they need to eat more

They do appear to have been on half-rations for quite a long time.