"Rhode Island Infantry" Topic
10 Posts
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StoneMtnMinis | 11 Jan 2018 1:44 p.m. PST |
Need information on the headgear worn by Rhode Island troops during the AWI. TIA Dave |
Winston Smith | 11 Jan 2018 6:37 p.m. PST |
There's this famous image of an African American Rhode Island soldier wearing a Light Infantry type cap.
I will bet dollars to donuts that 90% of all depictions of soldiers wearing Light Infantry caps are of the Light Infantry Company, and the rest of the regiment wore plain cocked hats. |
lucky1oldman | 15 Mar 2021 10:24 a.m. PST |
Forgive me but i'm a little confused as to the uniform & head wear of this unit. According to An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Uniforms from 1775-1783 – (in 1781) they wore blue coats with white facings p.98, while Uniforms of the American Revolution (Mollo) says the light coy wore white coats with red facings plate 192. Osprey's General Washington's Army (2) 1779-1783 shows the Ensign from 1782-83 wearing a white coat with blue facing. (which I assume means the rank & file wore blue coats with white facings or am i wrong in this assumption?)Was there a colour/color change over time or are there conflicting sources? Regarding head wear, the infantry wore hats with the tip pointing to the left of the wearer while the artilleymen wore hats which had the tip pointing to the right of the wearer. Any help/clarification is greatly appreciated. |
Brechtel198 | 15 Mar 2021 11:54 a.m. PST |
'There are three sorts of uniforms for every period of history: those described in the uniform regulations; those shown by the artists of that period; and what the soldiers really wore.'-Roger Forthoffer. Any Continental regiment, even if well-clothed and unformed, might still present a varied appearance depending on the year and the availability of any cloth for uniforms. Units at any time could be wearing a variety of colors and cuts of uniform coats along with some in the ranks wearing hunting shirts of various colors and shades. The Rhode Island infantryman shown in the primary source above may or may not have been in the light infantry company of the battalion as the Rhode Island cap may have belonged to the Rhode Island units as a whole, as worn early in the war by the Rhode Island artillery. According to the author of the Osprey referred to above, the Rhode Island battalion, which was separate from the two, later one, Continental battalion(s) already in existence in June 1780. The new battalion was to be uniformed in either a linen frock or a hunting shirt. The above primary source probably shows a linen frock. The other comment in the Osprey regarding Rhode Island uniforms describes them in 1780 as being 'clothing of every description.' The two illustrations in the referenced uniform encyclopedia has the two Rhode Island figures uniformed as per the 1779 uniform regulations which had Rhode Island assigned uniform colors of a dark blue coat faced white with white waistcoats and overalls. |
lucky1oldman | 15 Mar 2021 12:55 p.m. PST |
Thanks for the information Brechtel, what about the hats? One leaning one way for infantry & the other way for artillery? It seems strange to not be "pointing" in the same direction. As far as the infantry are concerned I guess I could go with white coat red facings as an early version & then blue coat white facings for a later period. And use their peculiar hat for the lt. coy. & a "regular" hat for the line coys. |
John the OFM | 15 Mar 2021 1:45 p.m. PST |
Hi Winston! Still popping up after all these years! Let me add on to what he/we said back in 2028. One of the main things to realize about Continental "uniforms" was how the same unit could have several vastly different ones over the years. This was partially due to the inability of both Congress to raise sufficient funds. The contractor could have purchased many yards of brown cloth, so the uniforms for the Class of 1778 are brown but in 1777 they were blue. You can see from various bookkeeping surviving invoices that the contractor would purchase "200 yards of brown cloth, 400 yards of blue cloth" and with smaller bundles for facings, if any. Friends on TbS have done extensive research on this. And if your coat looks "good enough", you keep it and make do. Deserter descriptions do not suggest a high degree of uniformity. Sometimes a unit may get brand new complete uniforms. Weren't they lucky! Washington even thought that the proper uniforms should be hunting shirts. Maybe. As for the caps. If they're leather caps, I would think that they would be reserved for the elite company, as was British practice. If they're cut down and modified unblocked hats, like in Burgoyne's army, then there is the possibility of uniformity. In 28mm, my suggestion would be to get LI cap heads from Kings Mountain, along with their appropriate hunting frock figures. Alternatively, same heads but on Old Glory or other bodies. Adjust proportions as you wish. |
John the OFM | 15 Mar 2021 1:51 p.m. PST |
One of my uniform books shows RI artillery wearing brown coats, faced red. I never noticed which way the tip was pointing. Sorry about that. But the uniforms could have been supplied by different contractors, and possibly RI had reasons for the different tips. There's much more that we don't know, than what we do know. When there's a conflict between uniform books, I like to fall back on the phrase from the various British uniform Warrants. "…as the Colonel shall decide." In this case I recommend that the Colonel/painter go for the Cool Factor. |
lucky1oldman | 16 Mar 2021 4:27 a.m. PST |
Thanks John, I guess i'll go with "unique" hats for the lights & "regular" hats for the rest. As far as the uniforms I guess I could go with both white coat/red facings & blue coat/white facings…or white coat/blue facings…or…As well as a mixing of different "races" as well (if that use of language is acceptable) |
doc mcb | 16 Mar 2021 4:48 p.m. PST |
I bought both the OG packs of "black infantry", one in LI caps and one in regular tricorn/bicorns. They are mixed in with compatible "white" figures. Coats are blue or white, but a brown or two would not be amiss. Facings are red or white. Trouser wear out fastest, and mine have a lot of variety. In other words, they are a hodge-podge. I DO tend to have the four minis on a stand be in similar dress. (My battalions are 9 stands of four, and I have two from RI.) So uniformity within a company but less so across a battalion. I have no idea whether that is accurate, and neither does anyone else! The RI flags (Flag Dude) do stand out. |
lucky1oldman | 17 Mar 2021 8:39 a.m. PST |
Thanks for the imput doc, sounds like i'm going with a couple of options. |
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