"Coat colors per squadron ?" Topic

Hello everyone,

Did the horses of the line French cavalry have specific coat colors per squadron?

In principle, but most, other than the Guard, would be lucky to get a good mount regardless of the colour, for what it's worth this is what I've seen:

French Cavalry Horses
Line Cavalry: Dragoons, Lancers, Chasseurs à Cheval, Hussars by company (Trumpeters on greys)
1st company on blacks,
2nd company on bays,
3rd company on chestnuts,
4th company on greys and whites
5th company on browns and blacks
6th company on bays
7th company on chestnuts
8th company on greys and whites
Horse Carabiniers
Black horses. Later on blacks, browns and dark bays. Trumpeters on black?
Cuirassiers
Blacks, browns and dark bays. Trumpeters on greys.
Regiment of Horse Grenadiers of the Imperial Guard
blacks and a few browns. Trumpeters on black?
Regiment of Guard Dragoons
Chestnuts and some bays. Trumpeters on greys.
1st Regiment of Light horse-Lancers (Polish) of the Imperial Guard
1st squadron on chestnuts 2nd Squadron on bays 3rd Squadron on blacks 4th Squadron on dark greys.
2nd Regiment of Light horse-Lancers (Dutch) of the Imperial Guard
Chestnuts and bays.
1st Regiment of Horse Chasseurs of the Imperial Guard
Bays (mostly dark bays). One squadron on chestnuts.
Squadron of Guard Mamelukes
Bays (mostly dark bays). Trumpeters on greys.

Russian Cavalry Horses
No uniformity except for the Imperial Guard.
Guard Cavalry Regiment
1st squadron on bays, 2nd squadron on chestnuts, 3rd squadron on greys, 4th squadron on blacks.
Lifeguard Uhlan Regiment
1st squadron on dark bays, 2nd squadron on light bays, 3rd squadron on chestnuts, 4th squadron on blacks.

Austrian Cavalry Horses
Dark bay, brown or black. Squadrons tried to limit colour variation.
Prussian Cavalry Horses
8th Hussar regiment before 1807
chestnut horses. Trumpeters on white horses.
Prussian Guard cavalry
black horses
British Cavalry
Household cavalry on black horses
Scots Greys on grey horses
2nd Dragoon Guards (Queens Bays) on bay horses
Some RHA batteries have the same colour draft horses

@BillyNM

Well done and thank you, this is the kind of information I'm looking for, it's too good to be true,but this certainly could not be implemented…

Also not the question answered entirely is found out artillery in many countries used color coordinated limber horses to keep units vehicles separated.

I suspect in peacetime and parades and esp for elite units, this was indeed a priority. But any nag that could pull a gun was welcome, in any army, by 1813/14. But we must allow Blucher's quoted comment about the quality of RHA horses in 1815, even if he did not address their coat colours.

All well and good, until the squadron began to need remounts. Then, they took what was available.

@14Boron

The artillery of which nations?

@deadhead

At the start of a conflict it had to be like this.

@Mad Anthony Jones

Yes, but at the start of a conflict it had to be this way.

Reading Prussia so thinking Russian

@14Bore

Thank you,I will remember this.

1st Dragoon Guards
1800: Troopers on black nag tailed horses; Trumpeters on grey long tailed horses and Officers on either chestnut, brown or bay nag tail horses.

@Prince of Essling
Only the 1st Dragoon Guards in 1800? And in 1815?

@Paskal,

The information was extracted from The Rev. Percy Sumner's article "UNIFORMS AND EQUIPMENT OF CAVALRY REGIMENTS, FROM 1685 TO 1811" in the Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research Vol. 13, No. 50 (SUMMER, 1934), pp. 82-106 (28 pages) Published By: Society for Army Historical Research. He utilised the War Office and other records available in the Public Records Office to produce the article (and others which I have yet to read through, so will add if further information is relevant).

The horse colours having read the intro more fully now says the info applies to all Horse Regiments and the 1st Dragoon Guards. Rev. Sumner only went as far as 1811 because "after that date there is no scarcity of pictorial and other evidence available.".

@Prince of Essling,

Rev. Sumner only went as far as 1811 because "after that date there is no scarcity of pictorial and other evidence available.".

Me I don't trust the painters' paintings.

I had to google "nag tail".

Did Prussian Life Hussars ride Greys?

@Erzherzog Johann

?

@Rosenberg

When ?

See also here:

TMP link

@Oliver Schmidt

Yes thank you

This is an interesting study. Based on horse sales, the Scots Greys had a lot of bays.

PDF link

@Trockledockle

Bravo and thank you, the Scots Grays had a lot of bays ?

So from now on we will call them the Scots bays.

French Cavalry Horses

Line Cavalry: Dragoons, Lancers, Chasseurs à Cheval, Hussars by company (Trumpeters on greys)
1st company on blacks,
2nd company on bays,
3rd company on chestnuts,
4th company on greys and whites
5th company on browns and blacks
6th company on bays
7th company on chestnuts
8th company on greys and whites

Denis-Charles Parquin, 20e Chasseurs à cheval 1803 :
1st squadron (1st 2nd Coy) blacks
2nd squadron (3rd 4th) bays
3rd squadron (5th 6th) chestnuts
4th squadron (7th 8th) greys with regimental trumpeters and musicians

Victor Dupuy, 7e Hussards 1814
the same as Parquin per squadrons
The effect of these different colors was beautiful; but it was very good for the garrison, because, in war, it would have been difficult, if not impossible, to maintain these distinctions

@Lilian

Bravo, this is exactly the kind of information I'm looking for, even if in war, it would have been difficult, if not impossible, to maintain these distinctions.

@ TD

Thanks for posting that, I'd heard of the Scots Greys selling off bays but I hadn't seen the source of the information.

Interesting that they sold 193-odd bays and 248-odd greys and did so roughly in alternating batches. If they were reducing, you could imagine they would sell the bays first so as to maintain the rationale for their name, but it seems not. That total of 440-odd is also almost exactly the strength they sent to trounce Boney in 1815. So either they got rid of or replaced every last horse, or they had quite a few more horses than troopers. Or were they flogging the bays to replace them with fresh greys, and retiring the older ones?

Who has their Scots Greys mounted on bays?

So from now on we will call them the Scots 1/4 bays or the Scots 3/4 Greys.LOL

Pierre Auvray 23e Dragons 1809

when entering town the march was opened by seven handsome sappers, who rode black-haired horses, then, mounted on white horses, followed twenty-four trumpeters and twenty musicians sounding the march and playing musical tunes, after, came the colonel and his staff, followed by the elite company, all men and horses chosen under black hair, then the other seven companies strong of one hundred and twenty-five mounted men

1er Régiment de Gardes d'Honneur 1813
light cavaly volunteers from Bourgeoisie and Nobility wealthy class who should pay their uniforms and provide their horses, however not all were able to have one, it was asked to the Prefects to direct to the Depot of Versailles
all the colours but whites and greys

Very well thank you.