"Reversed clothing for British Drummers" Topic

I'm a little confused about the reversed clothing for British Drummers. What were the colours for their small clothes/short pants? Red for all drummers? Including all buff regts?

Also, what did they do for red faced units?

I assume they did not reverse for blue faced units??

Going from memory: all the reference books are still buried from the move. But blue facings denote royal regiments, so facings were not reversed. From a certain point of view, the entire regiment was wearing the King's livery, after all. (There was, of course, a lot of lace.)

I think the only "red-faced unit" was the 33rd Regiment of Foot--the Duke of Wellington's Regiment after the Cardwell reforms. Looking at secondary stuff and re-enactors, the drummers were probably white with red facings for the Revolution. "Reversed colors" should only be the coat, so everything else ought to match the rest of the regiment--give or take headgear, of course.

As always, my opinions are not binding on reality.

Well… it's complicated. 🙄
The 1768 Clothing Warrant set down rules for uniforms.
As noted above, the Royal Regiments, those with blue facings, did not "reverse colours".
I suggest you Google each regiment to see what exactly they did for musicians' uniforms. It may boil down to "as the Colonel shall decide". You will find Light Infantry that wore red waistcoats and some that did not. Many musicians, but not all, did the same. "As the Colonel shall decide".

Note that the Colonel was the Noble who got paid to run the regiment, but the Lt Colonel commanded in the field.

Buff facings regiments wore buff "small clothes". That referred to the waistcoat and breeches. But they generally followed the Warrant.

Red facings (including the purple (🙄) facings followed white facings practice. Yes. They did. 🙄

If your intent is accuracy, I suggest you get a book, like Lefferts, that have the 1768 Warrant, or find it on line. But also research the exact regiment.
The British army was … different. For uniforms, it USUALLY followed the rules, but "as the Colonel shall decide."

Also note that they almost universally ignored the Warrant when they got off the boat. It's more of a guideline than reality.
Burgoyne cut back the coat and altered the hats. So did Howe, but not as radically.

Also note that the Warrant paid for a limited number of musicians. In Highland regiments, the Colonel paid the pipers personally. Yes, the Black Watch were Royal. But those with white or yellow facings? 😄

Good luck.

You will also run inevitably into "In tonight's festivities, the part of the 43rd regiment will be played by the 24th, because I've painted them, and haven't painted the 43rd yet. Play nice and tip the waitresses."
You rarely have that issue with French Napoleonics.

But there were over 100 unique British regiments. And those right off the boat MUGHT be clothed to the Warrant, while those who have been there a while were very much "make do".

Here is Lefferts, the groundbreaking book on AWI uniforms.
link

Look around at the usual used book sites and you may find something cheaper.
It will have the 1768 Warrant.
It will also have many uniforms of the various combatants. Methinks he relies a bit too much on "deserter descriptions" for American troops, but that's just my humble opinion.

The only thing about Lefferts is the lack of color plates. But it is a must have reference. Also John Mollo's book and any of Don Troiani's books. The Osprey books are okay but not as helpful as the other books. Also check out the OFM's excellent post on uniforms for newbies.

Thank you all for your insights into this murky topic.
I'll try not to get too hung up on the "accuracy" too much & will probably go with John the OFM's very helpful suggestion of "as the Colonel shall decide".

Cheers!

Huzzah for the Realists!