"Early Reiter Cavalry" Topic

Starting my French army under Francis I and have two units of early reiters. However, finding any examples of their uniforms is proving a challenge. Anyone have pics they can share or guidance on locations with those details? These are TAG figures with boar spear and pistol both. Any help truly appreciated! (I'll name a general after ya…)

I may be wrong about this, but I thought that reiters only became a thing after the death of Francis I? I stumbled upon a book that might interest you: David Potter's Renaissance France at War.

Reiters are an interesting topic, one of my favorite solder types. I'm not sure there would be uniforms, blackened armor would be a good choice. I gave most of my reiters somber clothing colors and gave them a certain feather color as an identifier. I based this look on a color plate in the book Cavalry by Vuksic and Grbasic. If I recall correctly the Osprey on the Battle of Niueport, mentions that unit at that time (1600) would wear uniform cassock colors over their armor.

I think Reiters first come on the scene around the 1540s and the early fellas had the boar spears, with the wheel lock pistols becoming more commonplace a few years later you start to see them with pistols and not spears. I'm at work and not near my sources so these dates may be a bit off.

Reiter are a later troop type than the army of Francis I. The pistol was not developed until the 1530/40s?

Early Reiter were armed with a boar spear and pistols, so were slightly different to the caracoling type later in the 16th century. Not really sure how their tactics differed, but the inclusion of a boar spear as a presumably primary weapon would indicate an intent to close rather than shoot.

No such thing as uniforms I'm afraid. Personal attire for clothing and blackened armor over it. They were mercenaries so would probably be carrying flags of whoever was hiring them.

Good luck.

I always liked George Gush's 'Renaissance armies' illustrations:

I think these 2 give an idea, or perhaps inspiration?

No reiter units for Francois I as far as I can determine. And certainly no uniforms.

You can give the army of Francic "Reisige", or mercenary Reiters with lesser horses, no horse armour and low personal armour, but they should not use pistols. Using boar spears was probably following the Jenetes & Albanians or could be just lesser lances, as many would be second to fourth son poor nobles – or in imitation of nobility.
That said, cavalry was not really what Francis was in need of. He did hire Stradiots but had a good supply of Gensdarmes, which included roughly half or more of lesser armed mounted who were, when in need, detached from the heavy gensdarmes. Contingents will probably have existed, but will play no crucial part in the French army as the Landsknechts did as infantry.

A single pistol may show up here and there, but not in force before 1540 – which may see some for the 1544 camapaign, however, but not many. Just check the contemporary depictions of forces to test that.

The website Weapons and Warfare,

link

has a note about Reiters in French Service, with some illustrations. At least some of the text on the website appears to have been substantially copied from David Potter's "Renaissance France at War."

Potter has this to say about German Reiters in French service:

"Germany [also] produced mercenary cavalry (‘Cleves horse' played an important part in the campaigns of the 1540s). During the 1550s, French armies were increasingly accompanied by squadrons of German [light] horse known as Reiters (in France reîtres), sometimes also called pistoliers or ‘black riders,' from their black cloaks." The bracketed words were in the Potter book, but not in brackets, but were omitted on the website.

I'm not sure what "Cleves horse" were, and a quick search yields mostly notes about Anne of Cleves as the "Cleves mare."

Francois I died in 1547, and the first French references to reiter seem to date to 1544 – see PDF link (particularly p.18) – but I'm not clear if these passages place any of them in French service – one is to a couple of French cavalrymen killed by the new-fangled pistols of the enemy.

Sorry for the delay in response – 3 day wait as new member.

Appreciate all the posts and assistance here, but nothing new here for me. I should have been more explicit in the first post. Yes, I'm starting with Francis I, but actually building out a Valois French force for multi-period use, thus the Early Reiters ask. My challenge isn't what they looked like or the historical elements behind them, I have some great materials on that. I also know there was not true uniform and that's pretty much everyone in the period. What I don't have are pics of what early reiters looked like. The ones w/o the heavy armor, typically a chain "skirt" worn about the neck and clothing.

Any pics is what would really help me. Thanks!