"Powdered wigs" Topic

When did they go out of style for troops operating in the field?

I would think that on campaign, they would be the first to go.
But what about powdering natural hair, whether clubbed or "other"?

I have never liked the powdered hair look, except maybe for officers.

I only use powdered hair for officers and musicians. The rank and file get brown hair.

If the casting has side curls and a queue, I typically go for the powdered look. If not, the hair is brown (or blond or gray, etc.)

Even if troops wore powdered hair in the field, I would imagine they would have been a rather sorry looking lot after several days on campaign.

It seems that powdered hair was typically required for the rank and file only for parades and other formal occasions.

Depends – some Italian and Romanian officers were wearing them in WWII!

Most armies would try to look their best on the day of battle and would, I imagine, if sufficient flour was available, powder their hair. On campaign however the line generally did not powder their hair.

Depends on which army at what time.

The British, French, Austrians and Prussians were all said to do without hair powder in the field, at least for ORs. ORs 'powdered' with flour and lard, and the mess and vermin were just unacceptable on campaign.

Officers often shaved their heads and wore wigs, which were easily kept clean and dressed with proper hair powder by a servant, and caused few vermin problems. But Der Grosse Fritz was known to frown on the wearing of wigs, and to require his officers to wear their own hair, so Prussian officers were perhaps more likely to do without powder in the field.

British officers and men would all cut their hair short when going on campaign. German soldiers, on the other hand, cultivated extra-long queues as a matter of personal pride, and resisted having their hair cut. This would be true for German regiments in the French army, Hanoverians and Swiss, as well as Prussians, Austrians, Hessians, Saxons, etc.

Guard and Household regiments in all armies may have been more formal, especially the officers. The Russians were known to be extreme sticklers for regulation, putting formalism above the comfort and health of the troops, and were said to have insisted on long, powdered hair for all ranks at all times.

This is a fascinating discussion. I've learned a lot, so thank you!

Definitively, powdering hair for British troops came to an end in 1808 when orders were issued for the queue to be removed and hair and hair cut short "until further notice."

Powdering had been suspended in 1795 as an economy measure, owing to the increaed price of flour. The practice had been restricted to weekly parades in garrison for some time before that.

As others have said, it was not practical to powder hair in the field, although troops were expected to groom long hair regularly. In America, at least, we have records of hair being cut short for specific campaigns both in the 7YW and AWI.

Its day will come again, mark my words! Wait till the hipsters have their way with all things retro….

it was apperently not easy to powder hairs which needed endless time and the soldiers had to remain sitting for hours

I believe that was more to do with the combing and dressing of the hair in order to secure it neatly in the prescribed fashion. The powder was the finishing touch.

"When did they go out of style for troops operating in the field?"

For British, wigs were not worn in the F&I (never were by enlisted) since the men simply cut their hair short while in the field (post 1757).

During the AWI, the men started to cut their hair short, as was done in the previous war, until the King sent orders forbidding that. Of course it took some time for the troops who had already cut their haig to grow back. They might also have continued to cut it anyway sine the King was a long ways off.

"But what about powdering natural hair, whether clubbed or "other"?"

The hair for the officers and men during the AWI was to be clubbed, and that for grenadiers plaited so as to help hold the grenadier cap on with the hooks inside the cap. But also see the previous above.

"I have never liked the powdered hair look, except maybe for officers:

Wigs were going out of fashion by the AWI period, at least for the English, as show by portraits of the period. Note the wonderful portrait of the Marquis of Granby, showing a bald head. IIRC, it was reported that during a cavalry charge his wig fell off, so perhaps that is why he is shown thus in the portrait.

Here's a pretty thorough look at the subject:

The Long and Short of It: Military Hairstyles during the American
Revolution
Part 1 (of 3): British Army Hairstyles
Stephen Gilbert
3rd New York Regt, Capt Dubois' Coy

[from The Brigade Dispatch Vol. 35 No. 1]

Mention the words "Revolutionary War soldier" and the image likely to
pop into the minds of reenactors and public alike would be that of a
man with his cocked hat resting upon a head of long hair fastened
behind in a queue, or perhaps a white powdered wig.
The better-educated students of the subject know that cocked hats
were not the only form of Revolutionary War headwear. This article,
which reviews contemporary documents, will shatter the stereotypes
that many of us hold regarding 18thcentury soldiers' hair. We will see
that, in the field (as opposed to garrison or peacetime duty), hair
was often cropped shorter than what is considered the 18th century
norm. But who did it, when did they do it, and where? And who left
their hair long?
This article will show the following:

While the British Army sometimes stipulated a preferred style of
haircut, several variations in the style of soldiers' hair existed
simultaneously in the Royal Army. The Continental Army had an equally
varied look.
On two occasions – 1758 and 1776- the British Army swiftly moved
from elaborate peacetime military hairstyles to functional,
inexpensive hair cuts with shorter overall length. The Army in each
case reverted to peacetime styles after these Ameri can wars ended.
Short hair not even long enough to tie at the back of the head was
widespread among the soldiery of Continental, British Regular,
Provincial and German regiments.
Evidence from postwar commentaries sheds light on earlier wartime
barbering practices.
Side curls, common in earlier periods, were indeed worn by many
British officers through the American Revolution, but a lack of
documentary evidence for tubular side curls ("sausages") worn on the
temples of British enlisted men in the Revolu tion strikes this author
as refutation of such a hair style for enlisted men.

First a word about primary sources and the method of drawing
conclusions. Paul Dickfoss (see ""short brown Hair" "long Hair" "his
own black Hair tied": Hair Styles of Male Advertised in Rhode
Island," The Brigade Dispatch Vol. 33 No. 3) and other researchers
have analyzed large numbers of advertisements for civilian runaways
and com piled useful data. However, no extensive work has yet been
published covering hairstyles of deserters from all armies during the
1775-1783 period. Due to the smaller amount of data available, my
approach uses inference to a far greater degree than Paul's excellent
work. The evidence gathered and pre sented here has taken a long time
to collect, and some of the conclusions may be controversial. Informed
speculation, where used, will be clearly delineated. Of course, all
conclusions may require reevaluation upon the publication of
additional supportive or contradictory data.

The British Army in the French and Indian War
After the outbreak of war in 1754 and several military setbacks
during the next two years, the British Army went through a period of
rapid expan sion and adaptation. Among the changes were alterations in
the British soldiers' hair style in the interest of health and reduced
maintenance, which defined a standard which the army leaders in the
American Revolution could emulate. It was during the 1750s and in this
same British Army that many future leaders of the Continental Army
were seeing their first military service.
Prior to 1754 the British soldier wore his hair much in the manner of
a contemporary civilian – long in the back and frequently powdered.
The army clearly believed that to keep the soldier looking sharp (as
well as out of mischief) required him to keep his hair clean, combed,
greased, powdered, and generally in good soldierlike order.
Two military hairstyles dominated by the middle of the 18th century.
These were the braided plait ("plat") and the folded club, both of
which involved long hair on the back of the head. Swiss painter David
Morier's well-known series of oil paintings executed around 1751 shows
all grena diers and musicians of the British Army wearing the plait,
tucked up into the back of the cloth miter cap, with a variety of side
hair styles. Some have tubular side curls, others just tufts of hair.1
Officers in the period 1740-1770 are frequently depicted with
sausage-like tubular side curls, singly or in pairs, or even in
threes. A collection of com mon styles is illustrated by artist Gerry
Embleton.2
In the 1740s general Maurice Hermann, Comte de Saxe minced no words
when he wrote, "Hair is a dirty ornament for a soldier; and, once the
rainy season has arrived, his head is never dry."3
Whether Saxe's writings or immediate practical matters triggered it
is not known, but during prepa rations for the 1758 summer campaign,
hair cutting was ordered for the entire British Army in America.
Writing from New York City on 31 May 1758, a member of General
Abercrombie's army wrote:

… [George] Lord Howe… has ordered all the coats of his regiment
[the 55th] to be cut short, to make them as light as possible; and has
sacrificed a fine head of hair of his own, as an example to his
soldiers, which they have followed, so that not a man is to be seen
with his own hair…4

Enemies and friends alike noted this change and remarked on it.
French Captain Francois Pouchot wrote that Lord Howe had:

… induced the army to cut their hair short leaving it not more than
two finger's breadth long…5

Pouchot's estimate for the length of British short hair works out to
between 1½ and 2 inches.
Mrs. Ann Grant recorded that

Hair well dressed, and in great quantity was then consid ered as the
greatest possible ornament, which those who had it took the utmost
care to display to advantage, and to wear in a bag or a queue, which
ever they fancied. Lord Howe's was fine and abundant, he, however,
cropped it, and ordered everyone else to do the same.6

During June of 1758 the fad for military haircutting spread beyond
Howe's own 55th Regi ment through the rest of General Abercromby's
Army. British Surgeon Richard Huck wrote:

We are literally an army of round Heads. Our hair is about an inch
long…7

The new short hair may not have lasted much beyond the death of Lord
Howe himself, slain in action that July near Fort Ticonderoga. Less
than two years after his death, the Army was returning to its old hair
cutting habits. Proof of this can be seen in the regimental orderly
book of Captain James Stewart's company of the 42nd Regiment of Foot,
stationed on 31 January 1760 at Halfway Brook, NY. With the war
entering its last active year in North America, details begin to
accumulate indicat ing that soldiers' hair was now longer:

The men to take the field with 4 shirts each, if new 3 will be
sufficient together with two pairs of shoes. 3 pairs hose and leggans,
it is also necessary that they shold be completed in sufficient hair
cockades for their bonnets, two dimity stocks and stock buckle, 2
yards black tape for their hair and red tape garters, with tomplines
for their packs before they take the field…8

Twenty-one months later, on 9 September 1761 in camp at Staten
Island, NY, the same orderly book detailed this hairstyle, which
heralded the official return of regulated longer locks:

The men to provide powder for their hair before the review and every
man to have a pair of Scarlet tape garters. The regimental barber is
to cut the mens hair of an uniform length, allowing ten inches below
the tying, eight inches of which to be Qued with ribbon and the tow
inches at the end to be formed in a curl. The non-commis sioned
officers to take care that the men comply with this order.9

Twenty-seven months had passed since the Black Watch had participated
in General Abercromby's ill-fated attacks on Fort Ticonderoga,
adequate time for the survivors to grow hair long enough to queue and
tie. It is not known whether 72 inches of black tape was used as a
single tightly- wound spiral or if it was cut into shorter lengths,
perhaps between 27 and 36 inches.

British Hair Styles Between the Wars
Inevitably, army authorities could not resist creating elaborate hair
regulations after the shooting ended. Only five years after the Treaty
of Paris Bennett Cuthbertson, formerly a captain-lieutenant of the 5th
Foot, was suggesting in his new book of military advice:

Chapter XIV Article IX.
The Hair of the Non-commission-officers, Drummers and private Men,
look tightest, when turned up behind, on a comb, and loosely platted,
with a black ribband or tape (three quarters long) [i.e. a 27 inch
long ribbon] in a bow knot, at the tye, which must never be permitted
to be made too close to the Head, as such a practice cuts the hair,
which should be encouraged by every means, to be as thick as full as
possible, on order to enlarge the appearance of the plat, which therby
looks more ornamen tal: to promote that end, no fore-top must be
allowed, and only as much short hair at the sides, as will make a
little turn back, of about an inch and a half in length; when all
these aids are not sufficient, from the natural thinness of the Hair,
a false plat must be added, which if properly fixt on, can never be
discovered: this method is also to be pursued, when a Soldier's Hair
is but barely long enough to tye, as it will contribute much to the
uniform appear ance of a Battalion, particularly after received any
number of Recruits.

X. A Soldier must never be allowed to wear a wig, if it can possibly
be avoided; but when there is an absolute Necessity of so doing, it
should be made to imitate the regimental form of dressing the Hair, as
much as can be: and it should be a rule, to take off the wigs from
Recruits, whenever the season of the year will admit of it, although
the Hair be ever so short, as even that looks more mili tary, than a
peasant's Wig.

XI. As nothing promotes the growth of Hair, more than frequent
combing, the Soldiers should be enjoined to accustom themselves to do
so, both morning and night, by which they will be under the necessity
of undoing their Plats, before they go to bed, and thereby prevent the
Hair from getting thin, which nothing sooner affects, than a neglect
of this precaution; but as Soldiers are not to be depended on in any
thing, let it be ever so much for their advantage, the Serjeants and
Corporals must often examine into this particular, and insist on a
compliance; and it will also be of infinite consequence to the improve
ment of the Hair, to permit them, when not on duty, to appear at
morning Roll calling, with their hair only tyed, and hanging down at
the back; by which the Officers will be more certain of their being
combed in a proper man ner, at least once a day, which cannot be the
case if the Hair be platted up.

XII. Pains must be taken to introduce a method of pow dering the Men's
hair to advantage, that the powder may not be in cakes, on one part
more than another, but rather have the appearance of being equally
frosted over; for which purpose it will be right for each Company to
appoint a Soldier, who seems to have at taste for it, not only to
powder all the men of the Company whenever necessary, but likewise to
keep their Hair well cut at the sides, and the Plats properly done up;
for which, and to furnish powder, (and shave if required) he should be
allowed a* half penny per week, from each Non- commision-officer,
Drummer, and Private Man, with some little exemptions in point of
duty; this will be a certain means of ensuring uniformity in the
management of the Hair of a Battalion, and will not be a greater
expence to the Soldiers, than if they had furnished powder for themselves.
(* The Frizeur, by purchasing a quantity of powder, gets it cheap,
and as he uses it to best advantage, he can but afford to serve the
Company on those terms.)10

Note that the side hair ("well cut") is only 1½ inches long. Creating
tubular side curls is impossi ble with hair at this short length. In
Cuthbertson's mind, even short hair is considered better than a
civilian peasant's wig. Presumably few if any mili tary wigs existed
to be issued to soldiers. Also, the method of collecting the hair is
given as simply rolling up on a comb, presumably a double-sided comb.
Exactly how the comb was then extracted is not indicated; perhaps it
was left in place.
To be fair to Cuthbertson, he was not promulgating new rules but
rather elaborating on current and past practice. Other regiments in
the Army were saying much the same thing, and some times giving little
regimental tweaks to the general appearance. Regimental orders for the
23rd Regiment of Foot on 20 April 1770 stated:

Hair to be plaited and turned up behind with a black ribbon or tape,
three quarters of a yard long, in a bow knot at the tye. Those men who
have their hair so short that it will not plait are to be provided as
soon as possible with a false plait.11

Only six days later Major-General Williamson's Garrison Orders for the
Royal Artillery read:

The Non-Commissioned Officers, Gunners and Private Men's hair is to be
plaited, and turned up behind with a black ribbon or tape, three
quarters of a yard long in a bowknot at the tye. Those men who have
their hair so short that it will not plait, must be provided, as soon
as possible, with a false plait.12

The 1768 description of an artilleryman who de serted in America shows
us that false plaits had been in use for some time in the Royal Artillery:

Deserted from Captain David Hay's Company of the Royal Regiment of
Artillery, viz. Thomas Seal, Matross, aged Twenty seven Years, 5 Feet
9 Inches high, born in the West of England, he pretends to be a
Coachman, has a fresh Complexion, dark brown Hair, and wore a false
Tail, when he went away; we cannot describe his Clothes, as he left
his Regimentals. Whoever secures the above Deserter, shall have Two
Guineas Reward, from Captain David Hay, of the above Regiment.
N.B. He has his Wife along with him, she is a thick short Woman, sandy
Hair, fresh Complexion, aged about 32 Years, born in Ireland, and has
served some Years in Philadelphia as a Nurse.13

If one regiment discovered a distinctive style others might copy it,
as another Artillery detach ment was ordered to do on 3 May 1770:

Men's hair is to be clubb'd the same way as the Foot Guards, …the
Drummers and Fifers, wearing caps, are to have their hair plaited.14

Despite the intentions of the commanding officers, soldiers
frequently weren't wearing the latest regulation style. Some were
recent enlistees, some may have lost their hair due to illness or had
it cut for medical reasons, and some had deserted and cut their hair
to escape detection. In most cases we have no explanations.
The soldier of the 18th Regiment described below was probably a recruit:

Deserted, on their march to Fort Pitt, from his Majesty's 18th, or
Royal Regiment of Foot of Ireland, and Captain Lord's company, Thomas
Maguire, aged 26 years, 5 feet 6½ inches high, born in Ireland, has
short curled hair, a smooth face, and fresh complexion, is well made,
and has been a servant to several gentlemen in Ireland…15

A deserter from the 29th Regiment in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, however,
had spent his entire life in the army but nonetheless had short hair
at age 19:

Deserted from the 29th Regiment of Foot, William Simpson, Fifer, aged
19 years, 5 Feet 8 Inches high, born in the Regiment, straight and
well made, fair Complexion, thin Face, long Visage, large Nose, large
Limbs, short brown hair, blue Eyes…16

The 4th Battalion Royal Artillery orders by Colonel Cleveland on 28
May 1772 show them still clubbing the hair, and now powdering it also.
Two months later, officers were to club their hair:

The 4th Battalion to be under arms tomorrow. The men to be in white
breeches, white stockings, black half spatter dashes, and their hair
clubbed.17

Standing orders for the 37th Foot, circa 1775, prescribe side curls
of some form for officers:

Regulations for the Officers… Upon all duties with arms. The hair to
be queued, dressed with side curls, but upon a march turned or twisted
up…18

The club, plait, and queue hairstyles had be come typical enough by
1772 that they were recom mended in one of the most popular military
texts:

…An Officer, when dressed for Guard, should have his hair queued…
The Officers [on field days], should have their hair queued… The
Non-Commissioned Offices and private men must plat and tuck up their
hair…
No Serjeants, Corporals, Drummers, Fifers, or Private soldiers are to
appear in the barrack-yard, or street, without their hair being well
platted and tucked under their hats; their shoes well blacked,
stockings clean, black garters, black stocks, buckles bright, and
clothes in thorough repair.19

Another author identified the three military hairstyles in vogue,
highlighted their drawbacks, and urged a short haircut in the name of
health and to save the soldier's time:

…The Dress of the Hair is another very essential article in point of
convenience and cleanliness, of which we seem altogether unmindful;
having at present no other form, but either the Tuck, the Cue, or the
Club. The time of adjusting either is evidently so very tedious and
troublesome, of which the men themselves are so sensi ble, that in
order to avoid that inconvenience, and to have more time for other
purposes, they frequently let the hair remain in one or other of those
forms for some days together, giving it occasionally, without opening
and combing it, a sort of outward slight dressing, by way of
concealing their neglect from their officers; the ill conse quences of
which is, that the man by not combing his head, the skin contracts, in
a small space of time, not only acumulated humours, which break out
into scabs and ulcers, but an accumulated mixture of filth, dirth, and
vermin, which proves as pernicious to the man himself, as it becomes
infectious to others.
To prevent on one hand so great an inconvenience, and on the other to
guard against the bad consequences attending to it, I would have the
hair cut short and taper ing, and to come no lower that the upper edge
of the Stock, by which means the head will be easily be kept clean and
cool, and the inconvenience of a tedious dress will be as much avoided.20

Although pertaining to a dragoon regiment in England, orders given in
1778 suggest the desired length of hair for plaiting or clubbing:

Such Officers and Quartermasters or Privates whose hair is short to be
plaited or clubbed in the style of the Horse Grenadiers are desired to
provide themselves with false hair of the colour of their own 22 ins
wherefore it is tied behind.21

Changes During the War for Independence
The outbreak of war in Massachusetts in April 1775 caught the British
Army in its peacetime mode. Headquarters and regimental-level orderly
books and journals make no mention of alterations in the method of
wearing hair during the time the army was in Boston.
Significant clues emerge afterwards, however, indicating that the
British Army went into another early-wartime hair cutting mode
sometime during mid-1776, for the second time in less than twenty
years. Much of this evidence is circumstantial, and the logical
inferences behind this conclusion are based on this author's own
experience.
As a student of the Revolution, I knew of contemporary wartime
experiments in hair cutting, but I assumed that any soldiers who cut
their hair did it only once a year. To my way of thinking, the hair
would be short early in summer's heat and would be long again by the
onset of winter cold weather. This concept turned out to be entirely
at odds with the available evidence.
It was after a monthly trip to my barber in August 1996 that three
key insights occurred which enabled me to make sense of the scattered
18thcentury "hair evidence" I had already compiled. After I had
casually asked her how long it would take to grow out my hair in order
to have a tied-back queue ready for a joint NWTA/BAR-NWD event
scheduled for the following year, the barber pro vided me with a
critical piece of data that could be consistently applied to hair in
two different centu ries. It was merely this – human hair under the
most optimum conditions grows at a rate of half an inch per month, or
six inches per year. With this knowl edge anyone could calculate the
"calendar time" needed to grow hair to the length required by a
particular hairstyle. Further, if one knew the starting length of hair
at any date, future hair length at other dates could be accurately
predicted.
The second piece of valuable information came a few minutes later
during that same visit. The top of the head was the critical area.
When I asked about the total hair length I would need to achieve in
order to tie my hair back in a proper military club the barber replied
"about 24 inches" (compare this to the 22 inches mentioned in the
dragoon orders above). Immediately I knew I would be lucky to have
enough time to grow a simple ponytail barely capable of being tied.
Clubbed or platted hair would require twice as much time as I had
available! Abandoning my original goal, I settled on growing a simple
tieback, which would require only six to eight inches to look
respectable and connect all the loose strands. However, at least eight
inches is required by that hair which grows above the ears, and at the
top of the head, because hair from those areas has a greater distance
to travel when pulled into a bunch at the back of the head. I'd have
trouble achieving my goal in twelve months because the hair from those
spots would fly free.
The third insight occurred outdoors on a windy day in early June
1997, ten months after I began. The hair in the back of my head had
been steadily growing and it was getting to be a functional nui sance.
Frustrated by hair flying alongside my eyes, I discovered that the
rearmost hairs could at last be held back by a rubber band. It had
taken more than ten months to achieve a simple stub of a tieback, with
a total length of six inches of hair. So, starting with a one-inch
initial length, ten months was the minimum period necessary for
attaining a sufficient length of hair to tie in any fashion.
Combining these three insights made it possible to at last connect
the scattered examples of "short" hair mentioned in the British Army
both in 1758- 1760 and 1776-1778.

Howe's Army, 1776-1778
Certain elements of General Sir William Howe's army cut their hair to
an approximate length of one inch sometime during the summer of 1776.
How long this cutting spree lasted or the extent to which it was
adopted by the different regiments under Howe's control is not
completely clear. However, not long after the hair clippings hit the
floor (or perhaps the deck, during the voyage from Halifax to New
York), came an express order from His Maj esty George III for troops
in America to wear the hair in the clubbed style.
From London on 27 July 1776 went a Com mander in Chief out-Letter
from the Adjutant General to (among others) Lord George Lennox:

…The King has lately expressed his intentions that the hair of all
the infantry should be tied behind in one uniform manner, and that the
mode which is commonly called clubbed should be observed. I take the
liberty of mentioning this to your Lordship, as what His Majesty
wishes, though no order has, as yet, been given out.22

Too late! Orders being orders, however, the army complied with King
George's directive and began to grow the hair longer, at the usual
rate of half an inch per month. It is at this point that addi tional
clues about short hair start to emerge.
Doctor Benjamin Rush of Philadelphia made it his life's work to
suggest to others new techniques, practices and habits for the
improvement of their lives. The fact that others did not always
readily accept these deterred him not at all. Thanks to one of his
outbursts of unsolicited helpfulness, we have our first bit of British
Army short-hair evidence. In late September 1776 Rush wrote a letter
from Philadelphia mentioning that a British prisoner sent to that city
had short hair, perhaps one inch long. Rush wanted the letter's
recipient, his friend Colo nel Anthony Wayne, to adopt a similar style
in Wayne's own 4th Pennsylvania Battalion, then stationed at Fort
Ticonderoga.

I have seen this day a prisoner belonging to the 23rdRegiment taken by
our people near New York. I was much pleased with the fashion of his
hair. It was cut short all round by General Howe's orders. Count Saxe
recom mended this fashion in his Memoirs. It saves time and trouble
and prevents lice. It moreover prevents a soldier from suffering from
rain, which often keeps the hair wet for hours afterwards. Suppose you
introduce it in your regiment? If you begin with yourself, every
private as well as officer must follow your example.23

At this time no specific orders for such a drastic haircut in the
British army or in any individual regiment has been found. Besides
being Commander in Chief, General William Howe was the Colonel of the
23rd Foot. Whether he issued the haircut orders, in either capacity,
is not known. Assuming, how ever, that the practice was army-wide, we
ought to be able to find other examples of short British Army hair at
this time.
And find them we do, though in a roundabout fashion. An innocuous
order in an orderly book of the 40th Regiment of Foot, dated Amboy,
New Jersey, 2 June 1777, reads:

Black tape to be provided immediately to tie the Mens Hair. NB. It is
to be had in Amboy. The Mens Hair that is not properly Cut, to be done
this Day.24

The significance in this regimental order cannot be overstated. When
one thinks back to the late September 1776 hair length of that
prisoner from the 23rd Foot, this early June 1777 entry suggests that
the men in the 40th had also cut their hair the previ ous August. If
there were no subsequent back-of- the-head haircuts (because the King
had specifically ordered the clubbed style), the men of the 23rd
Regiment would be growing hair barely long enough to tie back by early
June 1777. And this was the exact time when the 40th foot was freshly
issuing its battalion company men black tape with which to tie up
their hair. One would expect that men with long hair in back would
have already had this tape or ribbon with which to tie their clubs,
and that they would not need to be explicitly told to tie up hair if
that was already the longstanding practice. But there are no such
previous tie-up orders in the orderly book. It appears that for the
past ten months there had been no need for hair ribbons, and that by
June the men no longer possessed them.
The part about properly cutting the men's hair probably refers to the
continued trimming of the toupee (crown), foretop (front upper edges),
and sides. Substantial numbers of recruits from Great Britain were
joining regiments in Howe's army from late October of 1776 through the
following June; these men probably did not have their hair cut short
as was done during the summer of 1776. In the interest of uniformity,
these recruits may have had their hair trimmed to the same stage of
regrowth as the other men in their units. This is logical given the
repeated orders for uniformity of appearance in new clothing in the
40th Regiment orderly book.
The description of a deserter from the 10thRegiment of Foot suggests
that his hair was growing out from having been cut in the middle of 1776:

West Caln, Chester County, July 15, 1777.
The following articles were last night stolen from the subscriber,
viz. a brown regimental coat, faced with yellow; two jackets, one
white, the other striped with red and white; a pair of buckskin
breeches, almost new; a pair of shoes; a beaver hat, bound with silk
ferret; a silver hatband, and a silver watch. The thief is a deserter
from the English army, named Henry Mitchell, near 5 feet 10 inches
high, about 25 years of age, much pitted with the smallpox, and short
black hair, tied behind; he had on him a Regular coat of the Tenth
regiment, faced with yellow. Whoever secures said clothes and thief,
shall have Eight Pounds reward, or in proportion for any of the
clothes. Patrick Shields.25

Henry Mitchell was transferred into the grenadier company of the 10th
Regiment in May of 1777 after having served in a battalion company. He
deserted on 23 June 1777, while the British army was operat ing in the
area of Short Hills, New Jersey.26 If his hair had been cut to about
an inch long in the sum mer of 1776, by the following summer it would
have been just long enough to be "tied behind."
It is noteworthy that the three regiments men tioned so far as having
short hair (10th, 23rd and 40th) did not serve together in the same
brigade. The 10thwas in General Jones' 3rd Brigade, the 23rd in Gen
eral Agnew's 6th Brigade, and the 40th in General Grant's 4th Brigade.
Short hair, then, was not or dered only within a single brigade.
There also exists some visual proof. The 1782 Xavier della Gatta
gouaches of the battles of Paoli and Germantown in September and
October of 1777 show rank and file of the 2nd Battalion of Light
Infantry and an officer wearing what appear to be "Beatle cuts". The
shaggy hair at the backs of their necks hangs straight down as far as
the shirt or jacket collar. The Germantown gouache clearly shows
wounded men from the 2nd Battalion of Light Infantry with this type of
haircut riding in a wagon. The hair at the back of the head is
collar-length.27
My own experiments with hair growth show that this is exactly where
one's hair on the back of the head would be in late 1777, had it been
cut short in early or mid-August 1776, fifteen months earlier! Had the
2nd Light Infantry's hair been cut short (1 to 2 inch length) only in
the summer 1777, it could not have grown to the top of the collar
length by late September of that same year. What we are seeing is
continuing regrowth after cutting the previous year. On the other
hand, it is possible that the Light Infantry trimmed their hair more
frequently than other troops due to the active nature of their duties.
The British Army stressed the point of uniform appearance whenever
making changes. During the regrowth period from autumn 1776-summer
1778, the troops had to be told what not to cut. It seems likely that
a long-haired replacement soldier from Great Britain had the back part
of his hair cut to match the length of the regrown hair of the veteran
men in his new unit. A replacement with short hair would have had to
grow his hair out until it matched the rest of the regiment.
Scholar Linnea Bass has also noted that, except for the 40th's
haircut and tie orders, there are no known British orders concerning
hair between the summer of 1776 and November of 1777! Yet after this
date we see British warnings not to cut the hair anymore. This implies
that the Army's hair was at last long enough again to tie. It would
have grown to approximately eight and a half inches long since
September of 1776.
Over the winter of 1777-1778, while the British army was in
Philadelphia garrison, we find various additional regimental orders
not to cut the hair, but rather to let it grow out "from this time
forward". The Brigade of Guards received such an order in November
1777 in Philadelphia, admonishing the men not to cut their hair; those
who had already cut it were to have it tied. The meaning of "ty'd" for
men who had already cut their hair is not clear.28
On 10 January 1778 at the same location, Brigadier General James
Patterson ordered to his Royal Artillery Brigade:

The non-Commissioned Officers and Men are at all times, on or off
duty, to wear their Hair tied up and Clubb'd, it is the Generals
positive orders that such of the men whose hair is now too Short to
tie up, do let it grow from this time forward. Anyone who shall
presume to cut it Short behind in disobedience of this order may
depend upon being severely punished.29

Notice that this order pertains only to the hair "behind," with no
mention of the front or sides. In April of 1778, the Brigade of Guards
were given similar orders specific only to the hair on the back of the
head.30 Both the Brigade of Guards and the Royal Artillery procured
"roses" for their men during early 1778, further confirming that hair
was long enough to tie in some fashion.31
This author has found no further mention of British Army haircutting
in the American Revolu tion. Presumably, once the short haircuts of
1776 (countermanded by His Majesty's orders later that summer) had
grown out, the army conformed to His Majesty's order for clubbing.
Considering the heat of summer operation in Georgia and the Carolinas,
one would expect to find additional mention of either cutting or
growing out, but none have been found.

The Army in Canada
With one exception in 1783, all located references to the British army
in Canada, including that part which went on Burgoyne's 1777
expedition, indi cate a continued adherence to the common pre-war
styles of plaiting, clubbing and queuing.
In the summer of 1776, when Howe's army appears to have been cutting
hair, the Royal Artil lery in Canada received orders to queue their hair:

the NonCommissiond Officers & Gunners to draw up on the Right of their
Companys and to wear their hair Always Qued…32

Eight weeks later, another order was given which is challenging to
interpret:

The Noncommissiond officers and Gunners to Cut their hair at the top
and Sides quite Close, the Matrosses & Drummers to Cut their hair as
Short and as near the patern given at Portsmouth as possible33

This suggests that some of the personnel were to cut only the top and
sides of their hair, implying that the back was to remain long,
presumably to queue. Without knowing the pattern "given at
Portsmouth", it is impossible to know how the matrosses and drummers
were to wear their hair. Presumably, this refers to a style in use at
the depot in Portsmouth, England, which probably means a style that
was long and dressed in the back.
Hair styles in the army in Canada are illustrated in watercolors by
Captain Friedrich von Germann, a German officer.34 Eric Schnitzer at
Saratoga National Historical Park made the following obser vations
about British hair styles in these pictures:

20th Foot – Unpowdered with no side curls. Much of his club is
obscured by his shouldered musket (as are most in the series, except
for the sentry), but the bottom extends to just below the top of the
shirt collar, which is folded over the neck stock.
21st Foot – May be powdered and may have a side curl or a fulness.
The bottom of the club extends to just below the top of the jacket's
fall-down cape (collar).
24th Foot – Unpowdered with either a very short side curl or a
fullness. The bottom of the club extends to just below the top of the
jacket's fall-down cape (collar).
33rd Foot detachment – Powdered hair with either a very short side
curl or fullness. The bottom of the club extends to just below the top
of the jacket's fall- down cape (collar).
47th Foot – Unpowdered with either a very short side curl or a
fullness. The bottom extends to just below the top of the shirt
collar, which is folded over the neck stock.
62nd Foot – Powdered and a fullness or no curls. The bottom of the
club extends to just below the top of the jacket's fall-down cape
(collar).
Royal Artillery – Unpowdered. Fullness or definite side curl. The
bottom extends to just below the top of the shirt collar, which is
folded over the neck stock.
Royal Highland Emigrants – Powdered. Either a very short side curl,
or a fullness to the side of the head. The bottom of the club extends
to just below the top of the jacket's fall-down cape (collar).
British sentry, regiment unknown: Unpowdered. Shaggy fullness to the
side of the head, without side curls. Clubbed, with the top of the
club being just above the top of the shirt collar, which is folded
over the neck stock, and the bottom of the club laying just over the
top of his blanket coat.

While all of these pictures illustrate clothing heavily adapted for
use in America, including shortened coats, trousers (for some
regiments) and caps used on the 1777 campaign and heavy outer clothing
used in winter, all appear to show some variant of the typical
peacetime hairstyles. The side curls, when present, are small and
delicate, not the large-diame ter "sausage" curls often used in
reenactors' wigs.
Late in the war, the 29th Regiment was ordered to wear their hair cut
short with short clubs, tied with regimental pattern leather roses.35

Supporting Information from other Locations
Perhaps no clearer description of the prescribed clubbed style can be
found than in 1779, in Great Britain, within the standing orders for
the newly raised 22nd Regiment of Light Dragoons:

Hair to be clubbed behind, cut short on the top, and on both sides,
and always well powdered, but without grease…36

Similar orders were given to another dragoon regiment in 1782:

The Mens hair is to be clubbed of one uniform Length & Thickness;
false Hair will therefore be neces sary to many. It is to be cut every
two months on the Day before the Articles of War are ordered to the
Read, & it is to be short at the top and sides.37

One final remark is worth presenting, even though it pertains to a
different theater of war and dates from the late summer of 1784. An
officer serving at Pondicherry, India, reminds us that hair styles,
although subject to regulations, often changed due to the necessities
of local conditions including climate. Ensign James Gatliffe of the
52ndFoot reminisced upon his duel with the vain light infantry
Lieutenant William Bathurst Pye of the same regiment:

[Lieutenant] Terrot, myself, and the majority of the others,
conforming to the military custom of this Country, had our hair cut
close to the head; but Pye had never allowed the scissors near the
locks of which he had such an astonishing quantity. These were braided
and turned up behind, whilst the crown of his head was capped with
light brown bobs…

Conclusions on British Hairstyles
The evidence that has been presented indicates that the typical
British army hairstyle during the 1770s in America consisted of the
following:

Short hair on the front, top and sides of the head. The front
sometimes worn as bangs, and the sides sometimes worn in a small curl
over the top of the ear.
Long hair in back, ideally around 24 inches, tied and dressed in a
plait, club or queue.
Natural hair worn if possible, with false hair worn in the back only
for men whose hair had not, or would not, grow sufficiently long.
There is no evidence of wigs being used at all, only false hair in
the back.

Notice that this style is ideally suited for almost any variation of
male-pattern hair growth. Baldness on the top of the head was covered
by the hat, while growth on the sides and back still supported the
common style. Side curls, when used, were located high and well to the
rear, across the top of the ear; the area of the temple just in front
of the ear was left bare.
In the summer of 1776, General Howe's army appears to have cut their
hair short, to perhaps an inch long all around. From this time on, the
hair grew out at a rate of approximately a half-inch per month. As
soon as it was long enough in the back, it was tied, resulting in a
variety of hair styles as the months passed. By the spring of 1778,
hair was again long enough to support the common hair styles.
In all cases, uniformity of hairstyle within a regiment was desired.
If a soldier's hair was too short in the back, false hair was used to
provide sufficient length; full wigs, on the other hand, were not
necessary to conform to any of the common hairstyles. If a man's hair
was longer than that of the rest of his regiment, as might be the case
with new recruits or drafts, his hair might be cut to match the length
of the regiment.
The next two segments of this article will look at Loyalist, German
and American hairstyles.

Notes

1. Percy Sumner, "Morier's Paintings of Grenadiers, 1751." Journal of
the Society of Army Historical Research 18 (1939), p. 212-223. Six
plates show twenty grenadiers, drummers and fifers of various
regiments dated circa 1751. All wear plaited hair tucked up. Some have
tubular side curls, others do not.

2. Robin May. Wolfe's Army. London: Osprey Publishing, 1974, p. 44.
Additionally, some of the 1751 Morier grenadiers excluded in Sumner's
article cited above are illustrated in this work.

3. Maurice de Saxe. My Reveries Upon the Art of War. Paris, 1757;
reprinted in Thomas R. Philips, Roots of Strategy. Harrisburg, PA,
1955, p. 195.

4.London Chronicle, 19 August 1758. Cited in Gary Zaboly,
"Descriptions of Military Uniforms and Equipage in North America,
1755-1764, Part 1." Military Collector & Historian 39 (1987) p. 15.

5. Frederick Benjamin Hough, ed. Memoir upon the Late War in North
America, between the French and English, 1755-60; followed by
observations upon the theatre of actual war, and by new details
concerning the manner and customs of the Indians; with topographical
maps, by M. Pouchot, Vol. I. Roxbury, MA: W. E. Woodward, 1866, p.
110. Cited in Zaboly, "Descriptions… Part I", p. 2.

6. Anne McVickers Grant, Memoirs of an American Lady With Scenes of
Manners and Scenes in America as they Existed Previous to the
Revolution. New York: Dodd Mead and Company, 1903, p. 22.

7. Richard Huck is quoted extensively in John R. Elting's Military
Uniforms in America: the Era of the American Revolution 1755-1795.
Originally published in Military Collector & Historian (Vol. 15 No. 1,
winter 1953, p. 4-5) as plate 225, "55thRegiment of Foot, 1758, by
John R. Elting and Frederick C. Ray, jr., p. 44-45. The loosely quoted
footnotes may originate with Norreys J. O'Connor, Servant of the Crown
in England and North America 1756-1761. New York: Appleton Century,
1938, p. 92- 95.

8. William B. Wilson, Transcriber. Excerpts from the Orderly Books of
Capt. Stewarts Coy. R.H.R. 1759-61. Perth, Scotland: The Black Watch
Museum, 1947, entry for 31 January 1760. Courtesy of Michael Breza,
Assistant Director, Oshkosh Public Museum, Oshkosh, WI. The length of
hair ribbon seems excessive, unless it was intended to be cut in half,
to make two ribbons at 36 inches; 19 months later a length of 27
inches was ordered. Since this order denotes the spare garments that
the troops were to carry, it is possible that the intent was to create
multiple ribbons from one long piece.

9. Ibid, entry for 9 September 1761. Here we see that the hair was
evidently longer prior to cutting down to ten inches below the tie.
This requires at least 24 months from a starting length of one inch.
The 42nd was present on Abercrombie's abortive 1758 summer expedition.
It is possible that they also cropped their hair before the disastrous
attack on Fort Carillon (Ticonderoga), and their hair finally regained
its old length, or at least a length of more than eighteen inches.
Either way, there was time for fanciness. The orderly book also
contained this regimental order dated at Watson's Ferry eleven days later:
"The men are to curl their hair and put some powder in it the evening
before they go to bed, which will make it dress more easily in the
morning, when it is again to be powdered and qued taking care to week
[sic – wick?] the powder off their ears and necks."

10. Bennett Cuthbertson, A System for the Complete Management and
Œconomy of a Battalion of Infantry, Dublin, 1768; reprint edition of
1776, p. 78-80.

11. A.D.L.Cary and Stouppe McCance, Regimental Records of the Royal
Welch Fusiliers (Late the 23rd Foot) Volume I, 1689-1815. London:
Forster Groom & Co, 1921, p. 401. This ribbon length of 27 inches is
echoed six days later by the Royal Artillery, and in 1777 by the 40th
Foot. The 42nd had specified 31 inches in 1760.

12. Hew Strachan, British Military Uniforms, 1768-1796; The Dress of
the British Army from Official Sources, London: Arms and Armour Press,
1975, p. 278.

13. The Pennsylvania Gazette, 7 July 1768.

14. Strachan, p. 279. These orders are dated at Woolwich Garrison in
Great Britain, 3 May 1770. It is possible that this detachment was to
appear in London along with the Foot Guards, and the orders were given
for the sake of overall uniformity.

15. The Pennsylvania Gazette, 7 November 1771. Four other deserters
were described in this ad, but hair length was not mentioned for any
of them.16. The New York Gazette or Weekly Post-Boy, 10 September
1770. Another puzzling ad from the same year (though in England) shows
that a deserting sergeant from Bennett Cuthbertson's own regiment also
wore short hair. From Trewman's Exeter Evening Post, 29 December
1769-5 January 1770:
"Deserted from His Majesty's… 5th Regiment of foot, JOHN READING
sergeant, aged 25 years, 5 feet 10 inches tall, ruddy complexion, full
face and freckled, red hair, cut quite short, his hands… freckled…"

17. Strachan, p. 280.

18. Strachan, p. 227.

19. Thomas Simes. The Military Guide for Young Officers. London, 1772,
p. 170, 199.

20. A New System of Military Discipline, Founded upon Principle, by a
General Officer[Attributed to Richard Lambert, 6th Earl of Cavan
(1722-1778)] R. Aitken: Philadelphia, PA: 1776, p. 15. Cavan was ahead
of his time in some regards. Unfortunately it appears that the
majority of his suggestions were widely ignored by British officials.

21. Percy Sumner, "Uniforms and Equipment of the Royal Scots Greys,
Part II: 1752 to 1799." Journal of the Society of Army Historical
Research 16 (Spring 1937), p. 34.

22. W.O. 3/6, page 46; cited in Strachan, p. 189.

23. L.H. Butterfield, ed. Letters of Benjamin Rush 2 Volumes.
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1951. Vol I p. 117.

24. Orderly Book of the 40th Regiment of Foot, 20 April – 28 August
1777. George Washington Papers, Series 6B, Volume 1, Library of Congress.

25. The Pennsylvania Gazette, July 23, 1777. The author would like to
thank the editor for locating this.

26. Muster rolls and pay lists for the 10th Regiment of Foot, WO
12/2750, The National Archives, Kew, London.

27. Stephen R. Gilbert, "An Analysis of the Xavier della Gatta
Paintings of the Battles of Paoli and Germantown, 1777, Part I."
Military Collector & Historian, 46 (Autumn 1994): 98-108. Part II was
published in Volume 47 (1995): 146-162.

28. Howe Orderly Book, 1776-1778 (actually an orderly book for the 1st
Battalion of Foot Guards). William L. Clements Library, University of
Michigan, entry for 5 November 1777.

29. Brigade Orders, Royal Artillery, 28 September 1777 – 21 February
1778. Royal Artillery Institution, Woolwich, entry for 10 January 1778.

30. Howe Orderly Book, 1776-1778, entry for 9 April 1778.

31. A rose was, apparently, an ornamental device to apply to the
ribbon used to tie the hair. An officer of the Royal Artillery in
Philadelphia was sent "a rose for the hair". Correspondence of
Brigadier General James Pattision. New York Historical Society. Letter
dated 24 January 1778. An account book for Colonel Wrottesley's
company of the Brigade of Guards dated May 1778 includes an entry for
"Rose" with a quantity of 5 having been issued. Orders, Returns,
Morning Reports, and Accounts of British Troops 1776-1781. Microfilm
Reel M922. National Archives and Records Service, General Services
Administration, Washington, D.C.

32. Orderly book of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, 8 May 1776 – 29
June 1777. Lloyd W. Smith Collection, Morristown National Historical
Park. Entry for 25 June 1776.

33. Ibid, entry for 15 August 1776.

34. The municipal archive in Braunschweig, Germany has a set of 22
images copied from Von Germann's paintings in the 1850s.

35. Public Archive of Canada, MG23, K1, Malcom Fraser Papers, Vol.
XXVIII (Orderly Book, 29th Regiment, 9 December 1781 – 16 November 1783).

36. Standing Orders and Regulations to be observed by the 22nd
Regiment of Light Dragoons. Printed volume in the National Army
Museum. Cited in Strachan, p. 127.

37. Dragoons Standing orders of 1782,
link

38. H.E. Gatliffe, ed. Stations, Gentlemen!! London: Farber & Farber,
1938, page 148.

>Note the wonderful portrait of the Marquis of Granby, showing >a bald head. IIRC, it was reported that during a cavalry >charge his wig fell off, so perhaps that is why he is shown >thus in the portrait.

Hence the expression "Going at them bald-headed."

There was more than powder involved in hair powdering. I believe tallow was also used. I cannot imagine how nasty/uncomfortable that must have been.

Now, I wear a wig (sometimes) during reenacting because I have roughly the same hair coverage as Dilbert's boss…

Not quite wig-related, but one British regiment was known as "the hand-and-tights" because their queues were (reputedly) pulled so tight as to make it impossible (I'd go with "uncomfortable") for them to close their eyes.

'hand-and-tights' c.f. 'Croydon face-lift' Which regiment was that?

The tallow was part of the main grooming operation, to in order to hold the frizz at the sides ensure there were no short hairs spoiling the line of the queue. The powder was merely to achieve uniformity.

How the ash blonde look became fashionable in the mid-C18th, I have yet to understand. Could it be down to one Bourbon Royal mistress or another?

Sorry, that should be "HARD-and-tights" not "hand". Sadly, I cannot remember, nor the name of the book in which I read it.

Roger that. Makes a little more sense!

Don't you hate that when you can't remember the book? I still owe 42nd a quote on the RAR at Quebec being in two lines. Does that mean we all have read too much? :-(

Well, I know I have processed more information in the last 10 years or so than the rest of my life before that. The amount of data we now have access to, and the rate at which we find ourselves consuming it, is phenomenal. With all the stuff that gets tucked away in pending rather than being incorporated in some sort of framework that we can refer to- a post, an article, etc., it's hardly surprising that we forget where we've stored some of our nuts.

And, hg, I hadn't forgotten….. ( In your own time)

By the way, I advise against Googling 'Hard-and-tights'

Good advice :-)

>Good advice :-)

Heheh, yeah, reminds me of the time my wife had to do a work search for a student group at PSU and she googled "Asian female students."

I got a great laugh over that one.

I still owe 42nd a quote on the RAR at Quebec being in two lines.

I don't have the quote, but I believe it might be from Knox's book: An Historical Journal of the Campaigns in North America for the Years 1757, 1758, 1759 and 1760. (I should come clean and say that I only know this from postings on here by <<Thomas Mante>>.)

This from: The Regimental Museum of The Royal Welsh

"In the days when soldiers had pigtails they were worn powdered and greased. In order to protect their jackets the pigtails were enclosed in what was known as a ‘queue bag'. In 1808 hair was ordered to be cut close to the neck and the queue was abolished. The officers of the Royal Welch Fusiliers decided to retain the ribbons with which the queue was tied, and, using an old slang term for a wig, they were known as the ‘Flash'. In 1834, when the 23rd Foot arrived in England, an inspecting General complained about the ‘superfluous decoration on the collar of the coat' and the matter was referred to the King. King William IV was pleased to approve the Flash ‘as a peculiarity whereby to mark the dress of that distinguished regiment'. Until 1900 it was worn only by officers, warrant officers and colour sergeants of the Royal Welch Fusiliers, but in that year its use was extended to all ranks when in full dress. In 1924 it was approved for wear on ceremonial parades and when walking out. Today, the Flash is worn by all who are ‘badged' The Royal Welsh, including regular, territorial and cadet battalions. It is worn at the back, sewn inside the collar, in Full Dress, No 1 and No 2 dress, and consists of five black ribbons; the soldier's flash is 153mm (6 inches) long; that for officers and warrant officers is 230mm (9 inches) inches long."

link

Also see: That Astonishing Infantry by Michael Glover and Jonathon Riley. Pages 274-278, APPENDIX 4. which goes into the demise of the powdered queue in more detail.

Paul :)

A curious thing, one of several, about this tradition of 23rd Royal Welsh Fusiliers, is that, according to Lieutenant Thomas Browne, who joined the RWF in 1807, the officers' queue "was formed into a long braid or plait which was then turned up to the top of the head where it was fasted with a small comb" tucked under the cap or hat, in 'grenadier fashion', so there wasn't really anything to be enclosed in a "queue bag."

The men of the 23rd "were not allowed the plait behind. Their hair was permitted to grow about a foot long, when it was turned up in a single roll which we called a club- this was clasped by a polished leather strap about half an inch wide, in the centre of which was a platted Grenade."

The 'queue bag' is possibly a piece of C19th folklore, one of those assumptions that has become absorbed into the historical narrative. It is first mentioned in Broughton-Mainwaring's Historical Record of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers , published in 1889, a fertile period for miltary traditions. If there had been need for some kind of anti-macassar, it would have been universal and we would surely have some images of it worn by other infantry regiments. I'm not aware that we do, although, intriguingly, the Worcester Regiment museum has a coatee from circa 1803 that belonged to a militia officer and, apparently, "on the inside of the collar and hanging down over the back was a flash (worn to prevent grease from the pigtail damaging the coatee)"- It does occur to me that the curatorial note may have been influenced somewhat by the 23rd RWF tradition.

The reference to the 'queue bag' is particularly odd because it's not clear what it might have to do with the origin of the 23rd RWF's 'flash,' which appears simply to recall the Ends of Ribbon hanging on the Back from the Tie, as required in 1800 regulations, from the bow which bound the grenadier plait at the angle where it was turned up.

Another oddity is that Thomas Browne, in his account of the day the order to cut the hair short caught up with the 23rd, in 1809, describes the regret with which some of the vainer officers, inordinately proud of their flowing locks, hacked off their queues with carving knives, and the reaction little short of mutiny with which some soldiers' wives, who took immense pride in the dressing of their men's hair, greeted the news, but he makes no mention of a decision by officers to take the ribbons that had formerly bound their queues and attach them to their collars.

It would have been comprehensible as a mild protest at losing the turned-up plait,"applicable to the officers only, with whom this was a favourite distinction as differing from the pigtails worn by the rest of the army." At a time when the fusilier fur cap was being worn less and less, it was one of the grenadier distinctions, along with shoulder wings, which served to denote a fusilier officer. However, it did not happen; not immediately, anyway.

Nonetheless, although the adoption of the 'flash' appears not to have been a spontaneous reaction at the time the queues were removed, by 1814, however, Atkinson had executed the very fine watercolour of a sergeant major of the 23rd, seen from the rear, with 'flash' attached to his collar. Confusingly, though, he seems still to have a plaited queue turned-up and tucked under the rear brim of his fur cap.

My parents they warned me and oft-times they chided me,
"With those young flash girls do not sport and play!"
I never listened nor heeded their warning,
I just carried on in my own wicked way.

His poor old father and his dear old mother,
Often did warn of the gay city life.
But with those young flash girls his money he squandered,
And with those young flash girls he took his delight.

Down at the corner two flash girls were talking.
One to the other did whisper and say,
"There goes that young man who once was so jolly,
"Now, for his sins his poor body must pay."

- Various versions of The Sailor Cut Down His Prime

How is it that 'flash' came to mean 'prostitute' in the 19th century?

"In olden days a glimpse of stocking…"
+
A cant bawdy allusion relevant to this discussion which you're going to have to work out for yourself.

42flanker

Nonetheless, although the adoption of the 'flash' appears not to have been a spontaneous reaction at the time the queues were removed, by 1814, however, Atkinson had executed the very fine watercolour of a sergeant major of the 23rd, seen from the rear, with 'flash' attached to his collar. Confusingly, though, he seems still to have a plaited queue turned-up and tucked under the rear brim of his fur cap.

Hmm! Well I t seems to me that Atkinson is caught in two minds when he made that illustration, Rather a vague rendition don't you think?

Paul :)

I agree entirely. In addition, the shoulder wings were apparently borrowed from Edward Dayes' painting of a Third Foot Guards private, circa 1792.

He also appears to be something of a giant.