"The World Turned Upside Down - His Majesty's 1st Grenadiers" Topic

British Grenadier battalions were a ubiquitous formation in most British armies during the 18th century and certainly in North America, seeing action from the very start of the war, including Lexington and Concord and the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775, participating in major campaigns such as the New York/New Jersey campaign, the Philadelphia campaign, and operations in the Caribbean when France and Spain entered the war.

The 1st Grenadier Battalion, that fought at the Battle of Brandywine, contained companies that had endured the retreat from Concord, and the bloody assaults on Breed's Hill, and come close to ending the rebellion before the emplacements at Brooklyn Heights, Long Island in 1776.

If you would like to know more then just follow the link to JJ's

link

JJ

Terrific job as always

They look very good.

Unfortunately, looking at the pictures sent me off down a rabbit hole. You see, Europe has two species of bears, polar bears (white) and Eurasian Brown Bears (brown). So, were the caps of the grenadiers and fusiliers made of brown bears and dyed black, or did they use North American Black Bears for their caps?

I found that nowadays, the Guards regiments use North American Black Bears from Canada for enlisted men's bearskin caps and North American Brown Bears from Canada for officers' caps, because they are fuller (I'd say "fluffier," but that might get me in trouble). The brown bear furs are dyed black.

I suppose the same question could be asked about Napoleon's Imperial Guards. I guess I'd just never thought about bearskins as a trade commodity.

Anyway, impressive work!

Grelber