"2 quick questions regarding WAS/Jacobite Brits" Topic

I've been planning out War of Austrian Succession armies using the Rebels and Patriots ruleset and I was wondering if anyone could answer either of these questions, please

1) I don't know how true this is, but I read that prior to the French Revolutionary Wars, the British would use German allies, irregulars, and mercenaries as light infantry instead of homegrown units. Would anyone happen to know the name of a regiment or unit that would be classified as "light" to match up against French Chasseurs de Fischer?

2) I seem to be finding conflicting information regarding British units and turnbacks in a combat setting. I know that turnbacks certainly existed prior to the 1740s, but in looking at period paintings and historical reproductions I see both fastened and unfastened. I know that during the SYW it was up to the colonel, but what about during WAS/'45?

British Army dress has always been up to the Colonel, or Commanding Officer, and to sone extent still is. So the simple answer is that it would vary. That is why some units were able to cut their coats and hats down during the 7 Years War in North America (FIW).

I remember, during a liaison visit to USA, some of their EOD (Bomb Disposal) guys admiring a photo of the red wings we painted on our EOD vehicles at that time. I said, why don't you copy it. They said the US Military Police would arrest them for doing so. I said that no British Military Policeman would ever dare to try to arrest anyone for something authorised by the unit Commanding Officer.

Incidentally, British King's Regulations are written all about the powers of the Commanding Officer, with authority upwards and downwards stemming from that.

Rod

Fascinating, thank you Rod for sharing your info!

Another way to look at it mmight be that, increasingly during the C18th, central authority ('Horse Guards') strove to assert regulation practice in relation to a regiment's uniform and accoutrements, both in terms of uniformity/discipline and of quality control to protect both the government and the soldier from exploitation by Colonels for whom a regiment was an accepted source of income. The more cheaply a Colonel equipped his regiment the more money left over from the amount alloted to him by government which he could pocket.

Hence the Warrants of 1751 and 1768. Hence annual inspections by general officers to ensure that regiments were being properly organised and trained thus maintaining the dignity of the King's service. Their archived reports regularly shortcomings in equipment and deviations from regulation uniform. THis was a trend that grew in the second half of the C18th

Permitted distinctions in the form of buttons, coloured coat 'facings' and button hole'lace' were important but hardly made individuals stand out. Colonels who took interest in the regiments in their charge, and the Lieutenant Colonels who took pride in their commands, might promote variations that added to the smartness of their regiment as they saw it.

Generally these deviations from regulation were decorative and minor: adjustments to the cut of the coat; the form and size of the hat, or a non-regulation feather behind the cockade. The 5th Regiment's habit, on gala days, of parading in bearskin caps taken as trophies from the French were a more notorious infraction.

Local adaption of uniforms for field service, was of course, a different matter. First employed systematically in America, under the guidance of forward looking commanders, this something which became increasingly common and at which the British soldier became adept. Rigours of service also meant that, within reason, sensible commanders were philosphical regarding the appearance of soldiers in the field.

As for the W.A.S., the 1740s was a period of increasing uniformity as the Duke of Cumberland's 'Cloathing Book' of 1742 makes clear. At least by then all regiments of foot were wearing red coats!
At the turn of the century, regiments might still be cloathed in blue or grey.

Regarding light troops in the 1740s, it was the performance of Semple's Highland Regiment at Fontentoy in 1745 that persuaded the government that the Scots Gaels might be a useful source of 'exotic' light infantry, although the 'Black Watch'as they were known, formed from paramilitary 'watch' companies, operated essentially as line infantry. I believe the Imperial army's access to Balkan irregulars provided the allies with a considerable number of exotic irregulars during the 1740s and 1750s.

Weren't Fischer's chasseurs raised in imitation of the Emperor's 'Croat' irregulars?

I'm fairly well up on the Jacobite rebellions and can say, from my research, that this period was much "looser" than those that came afterward. In the '45, for instance, there was no true "light infantry" to speak of in the British Army. Infantry battalions were composed of line and grenadier companies only, and pretty much all that distinguished them were uniform details and perhaps picked men being detailed as grenadiers (depending on the colonel's involvement).

Far as uniform specifics go about coat turnbacks, the way the coat was worn probably depended on circumstances and officers' whims. On parade, or in mild weather, the coat tails might have been fastened back to expose the facing colors more prominently. In cold or wet weather, or on campaign, the coats may well have been left loose, for better protection against the elements. Miniature sculptors might favor one form over the other, but both are valid.