"White Grenadier Bearskin" Topic

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Can anyone tell me what unit the white bearskin is from?

Not sure if it's true but some sources list white Grenadier goatskin caps for the 40th Regt.

The only white bearskins I am aware of are some of the regimental drummers might have worn them.

Terry

The buff facings, accoutrements and small clothes worn by that Perry figure would tally with the notion of the 40th Regiment but a white fur cap being worn by the grenadier coy of the 40th would seem to be speculative.

The Ms'grenadier book' in the Royal Collection, which depicted grenadiers of the regiments of foot wearing the uniform ordered in the 1768 Warrant, indicates "the grenadiers having their caps edged with white fur, an unusual regimental peculiarity" as described by Captain Raymond Smythies in 'Historical Records of the 40th ( 2nd Somersetshire ) Regiment' ( 1894 ) .

Smythies goes on state that "the white edging of fur to the grenadiers cap was in contravention of the regulations, and in all probability did not appear in the next issue of clothing." ( p.463-64 )

The Victorian rendering of the Grenadier book image in Smythie is shown here: link

Without having seen the original, I wonder if the 'white edging of fur' was more likely to be a white feather, both technically and also in light of the later adoption of the white feather as a grenadier distinction.

A white bearskin is perhaps more likely to be found being worn by drummers of the 40th Regt. Smythies makes no mention of that but it does ring a bell, although I am unable to offer more on that possibility at the minute.

One of my buddies did a SYW "Imaginations" army of the Norwegians. His Svalbard Grenadiers wear white (polar bear) bearskins.

Reputedly they were part of a consignment of polar bear pelts sent to George III by Catherine the Great prior to the AWI which were dished out to various officers who were aides etc to the King at the time. Apparently, the 40th Foot got enough to kit out the entire company, but most units who got them gave them to the fifers and drummers (12 men in all) – one such unit was the 3rd Foot Guards. They were almost certainly not worn in the AWI.

I can't remember my source for this particular gem so take it or leave it.

Yeah, I remember a similar story, but don't remember where I saw it
But we're always looking for tiny bits to differentiate our units, and polar bear bearskin caps is as good a way as any. Even if it MIGHT be fantasy.

I have a feeling that polar bear pelt is not the same sort of fur as that of the black bear. It has different 'pile,' better suited to the polar bear's aquatic habitat, and would therefore not have been as suitable a material for making bearskin caps as that of the glossy black bear.

It also seems unlikely that the King would make a gift of white pelts to a Colonel so that he could dress his grenadier company in entirely non-regulation headgear. If something of the sort did happen it seems more likely the distinction would have been restricted to drummers, as for instance the white fur caps worn by drummers and fifers of the 25th in Minorca, 1771.

Returning to the 40th: the regiment spent the first sixty years or so of its existance in North America, barring ten years in Ireland 1764-75, which not only raises the question of when the gift of pelts would have been made, but also why. It clearly was an event that did not form part of regimental tradition, and escaped the regimental historian's attention entirely. Perhaps the white fur edging worn briefly by the 40th on their 1768 Warrant cap has caused some confusion and been misinterpreted somewhere down the line.

PS. C.P.Lawson records both the 13th and the 14th Regts ordering white fur caps for their drummers in 1765 (togther with black caps for their grenadiers, pre 1768) and the Third Foot Guards providing their drummers with white caps in 1768.

He also records the grenadier of the 40th being provided with white fur caps "probably goatskin," but I have a sneaking feeling that this is a misinterpretation, given the illustration in the Ms grenadier book and a Inspection Report of May 1768 (in Strachan) that noted "Grenadier caps are edged with white fur."

The goatskin theme is probably worth exploring further.

It was also the 40th that are seen in the Xavier Dellagatta painting of Germantown. They're wearing the famous short coats and plumed "pimp hats". Grenadiers would be unlikely to have bearskins, let alone white ones, at this time.

As for polar bear fur being different from black bear fur, consider this. Your gracious King has given you a gift of many large white bearskins. What do you do? "Sorry Your Majesty. Wrong sort of fur."
I think not. More likely "Thank you very much, Your Majesty! The lads will look splendid wearing white bearskins!"
A few weeks later… "I don't care how difficult they are to use! Tell the damn tailor to make those damn hats NOW!"

"As for polar bear fur being different from black bear fur, consider this. Your gracious King has given you a gift of many large white bearskins. What do you do?"

We might consider it, but did it happen?

As far as grenadiers are concerned, if the King was minded to promote deviation from the Regulations so recently issued in his name, those distinctions would surely have been published. In addition, regimental tradition would be likely to record the honour and associate it with some achievement or event- either with some basis in history, or not. I don't believe we have evidence of either.

However, the uniforms worn by drummers were chosen at the discretion of the Colonel. We have record of white fur caps being ordered for the drummers of a few regiments in the 1760s and the evidence of the Minorca paintings of 1771. What the material used to make these might have been is not clear but the term 'white bearskin' is used in relation to the 13th and 14th Regts ca. 1765. As we have seen, it has been suggested goatskin might have been used rather than white bearskin.

Certainly, if polar bear skin was used- either by gracious gift of HM King George or some other reason- and it didn't didn't wear well, then it would soon have been superseded. Drummers were meant to show the regiment at its smartest. The fashion was not widespread nor does it appear to have lasted very long.

The Lancashire infantry museum claims that in 1755 the 30th Regiment was "the first was the first in the Army to wear bearskin caps, black for the Grenadiers and white for drummers."
link

Apart from the fact that grenadiers of the 42nd Highland regiment were wearing bearskin caps as early as 1747, the authors of 'Historical Records of the XXX Regiment' (1887) are mute on the subject.

It would be interesting to know more about the white cap worn by the drum major of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards today.

Actually in the Battle of Germantown painting the grenadiers of the 40th are wearing bearskins, jackets, and gaiter-trousers. Interestingly while the ORs are in jackets and gaiter-trousers, the officers are wearing breeches and short gaiters.

If you mean the dell Gatta painting of Germantown, I think not. I don't believe there is a bearskin in sight. They are all either 2 LI or battalion coys of the 40th Regt.

I believe dell Gatta shows the officers of the 40th also wearing trousers, but with what look like short gaiters. You might be thinking of McGregor's illustration in Mollos 'Uniforms of the AWI', which-IRRC- does show an LI officer in breeches and stockings. There is also an undated portrait of an LI officer, Lt James Stewart of the 42nd RHR (at Edinburgh Castle), where he is dressed in white breeches and stockings but that looks very much like an off-duty pose.