Uniformology, Victoria, TX (2026)

09/10/2024

My new Book "For Queeen & Empire is now on sale at Caliver Books and Amazon.Com (UK). IN the USA at On Military Matters
For more details go to Uniformology.com

06/14/2020

With its roots in the upheavals of the Napoleonic Wars, Italy’s long struggle for unification (The Risorgimento) came close to fruition after Sardinia and France under Napoleon III defeated Austria at the battle of Solferino on 24th June, 1859. A few months later, the Neapolitan Army was defeated at Gaeta leaving only a portion of the Papal States, with Rome as its capital and Venetia left out. Despite this, on 17th March 1861, the Kingdom of Italy under Victor Emmanuel was proclaimed................

It was probably natural that the uniforms and structure of the Army of the Kingdom of Italy would be based on those of Sardinia. See the rest of the story here ....

http://www.uniformology.com/WORLD-19-CENNI.html

05/08/2020

THE PRUSSIAN ARMY OF 1843-1850

On 23rd October, 1842, by a Cabinet order (AKO) from the Prussian High Command, a headdress was introduced into the Prussian Army known as the Pickelhaube (Spiked Helmet) which was a dramatic departure from the prevailing shakos, bell topped and tapered that most armies of the time wore. The following year they also introduced the tunic, a simpler and less costly item than the coatee with tails. This uniform would come to influence military fashion for the next seventy years, partly because of its practicality and mostly because the Prussian army came to dominate the armies of Europe on the battlefield.

The first of these uniforms were striking and illustrators rushed to portray them. For the next forty years the uniform would change somewhat but remain largely the same. The helmet was lowered several times and the skirts on the tunic shortened but the profile of a Prussian, later German soldier would be unmistakeable.

The dress adopted in 1843 used the same equipment of crossbelts for the first few years. The artillery, dragoons and most branches wore the tunic. However, it would be ten years before the Hussars and Uhlans took them into wear.

See them here:
http://www.uniformology.com/WORLD-18-PRUSS45.html

04/06/2020

The Royal Berkshire Yeomanry

Ranked No. 26 in Yeomanry Order of preference
A Yeomanry troop was raised in Abington in 1794 followed by further troops in 1800 and 1804. Known as 1st Regt of Berkshire Cavalry in 1804. Eastern Berkshire Yeomanry in 1820. All troops disbanded in 1827. In 1831 Regiment was re-raised, growing to three troops only one of which, the Hungerford troop survived by 1838. By 1853 Title became Royal Berkshire Yeomanry.
Formed 39th coy of 10th Bn and 58th coy of the 15th Bn Imperial Yeomanry from 1900 to 1902

Uniform
The yeomanry units in Berkshire generally were dressed conventionally in blue from the beginning. When re-raised in 1831 they adopted scarlet coats (possibly because William IV had ordered all British cavalry into scarlet during his reign). A bell topped shako was worn until 1852 when a black japanned helmet with black plume was adopted. In 1858 scarlet tunics were taken into wear much in the style of the contemporary heavy cavalry tunic. Blue overalls were worn with a broad scarlet stripes. At the same time a white plume replaced the black one on the helmet. By 1880 a white metal 1874 Albert pattern helmet was adopted which had overtones of the old 1847 version with the leaf patterned socket plume holder and a strip of brass on the helmet seam both back and front. The tunic remained the same and although the cuffs retained the "V" shaped lace with button, the collar had a wide strip of white lace on the top and front of the collar. The rear skirts were decorated with scalloped flaps edged blue. Unlike the regular heavy cavalry, there were only two points to the scallops each with a button and two buttons at the waist.
Scarlet stable jackets were worn in undress and the pattern seems to have remained unchanged since the 1850s. The men's were plain with blue collar and pointed cuffs while sergeants and above had silver lace on collar and cuffs. Sergeants and above had a crown above their chevrons. The white shoulder cords were replaced by blue shoulder straps in 1898. Pillbox caps were blue with scarlet band and crown lace for other ranks all in silver for SNCOs.
In 1900 they went to war in khaki and the scarlet uniforms were put into store and in 1903 they were wearing khaki with scarlet collars and cuff piping with slouch hats. By 1908 they had adopted blue staff pattern caps with scarlet bands and blue serge frocks with scarlet collars and pointed cuffs and shoulder chains.

Berkshire Yeomanry Mounted Band
The Hungerford troop had a band as early as 1842 and had received kettledrums in 1853.
From about 1879 the band had adopted a distinctive uniform based somewhat on that of the Household Cavalry. The tunic was edged all round with silver lace and there was half-inch silver lace on the top, and bottom of the collar and on the top and rear edge of the gauntlet cuffs. On the collar and cuff lace there were small 'eyes' traced below. the rear skirts had two single straight lines of lace from the buttons. The plaited shoulder cords were also silver.
The helmet was the same as the rest of the regiment except that it had a white over red plume.
The band stable jacket had silver edging to the front and lower edges and on the collar and cuffs. There were shoulder cords instead of straps. The pillbox cap had a silver edging to the crown and top of the red band.

See more Yeomanry uniforms
http://www.uniformology.com/YEOMANRY-00.html

10/12/2019

The British Household cavalry regiments possess the most arcane set of uniform regulations of any active military unit in the world. Even trying to explain them gives you a headache. However, I have done my best to do so in the current posting on the subject. The interesting thing is that they haven't changed much since my study which takes place in the late Victorian era. Check it out here:
http://www.uniformology.com/HHC-07.html

08/29/2019

Much has been written about the wars that ravaged Europe for century after century. However, the conflicts in Central and South America have recieved little attention from historians. Following the Napoleonic Wars, the mostly Spanish ruled territories began to assert their rights to self-determination.

Among them was Argentina whose nationhood was won after two unsuccessful invasions by the British in 1806 and 1807. From 1814, the armies of the Argentine republic took a prominent part in the Liberation of South America from Spanish rule. The Army of the Andes under General San Martin in conjunction with those of Simon Bolivar ejected Spain from the sub-continent.

It didn't take long for territorial disputes to erupt into war and Argentine forces were involved in many of them. There was civil war in 1836-38 and in 1861 Buenos Aires after a short war, became the capital. The War of the Triple Alliance (1864-1870) was a major conflict that caused great suffering for all participants. Argentina emerged on the winning side but her appetitite for war waned afterwards. The remainder of the century saw minor campaigns against the indiginous peoples in the south.

See Them Here: http://www.uniformology.com/WORLD-14-ARG.html

08/06/2019

The French Spahis

The Spahis were like the Algerian Tirailleurs formed almost completely of native troops with both French and native officers. They were formally organized in 1834 with two officers from the Chasseurs d’Afrique commanding. Made up of men not used to the organizational confines of European military life the Spahis always remained a rather “free spirited” yet at times highly effective cavalry force.

The uniform was entirely modelled on the clothing of the North African nomadic tribesmen. At first, French officers wore native costume but by the 1870s, officers wore more traditional French uniforms reserving the native dress for patrolling in the desert. The only change came in 1910 when the officers adopted a madder red tunic to replace the light blue one. For the native Spahis, their dress remained the same until the Great War. The only change for them was in the weaponry they carried.

See them here http://www.uniformology.com/WORLD-12A-FR-AFRICA.html

08/02/2019

After their humiliating loss in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904, Tsar Nicholas II sought to improve his army's morale. To do this, in 1908 he had the uniforms of his army, especially the Imperial Guard redisigned to reflect the glory of the victory over Napoleon in 1812. Shakos and brighly coloured lapels on the dark green uniforms were issued and all the cavalry regiments returned to their former glory. The effects on morale may have been overstated. Six years later, the Russian Army marched off to war and the uniforms, along with their unfortunate wearers disappeared into history.

See the uniforms here http://www.uniformology.com/WORLD-13-RUSS-IG.html

06/26/2019

In march of 2015 the new rank of Army Sergeant-Major was created in the British Army. It mirrored the same rank adopted by the US Army some sixty years earlier. It was created to bring critical issues concerning other ranks to a higher level. It is the highest warrant rank in the British Army.
The first holder of the rank was Warrant Officer First Class Glenn Haughton, OBE. In 2018, WO1 Haughton was appointed to the new post of SEAC - Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chief of Staffs Committee. The term "Enlisted" is an American term and not used in the British Army and the word has been dropped from the description although SEAC acronym remains. The current holder is WO1 Gavin Paton, A Rifleman and his badge reflects that. The badge shown here is worn on the upper right arm in Full Dress and Mess Dress.

See all the badges here http://www.uniformology.com/BADGE04A.html

05/20/2019

The French Foreign Legion is one of the most iconic military units in the world. Raised in 1831 to help create the French colonial empire, it primarily fought in Algeria and North Africa. From that time forward it has served in most of the campaigns in French history from the Crimean War, the Mexican expedition through the first and second World Wars and today in many hotspots in Africa. It remains the only French unit whose soldiers come from other countries.

See illustrations of their uniforms by the famed military artist Lucien Rousselot here:
http://www.uniformology.com/WORLD-12-FR-AFRICA.html

05/07/2019

George Washington’s army suffered a major deficit in cavalry. For a rebellious but enthusiastic soldiery this lack of mounted troops was a major disadvantage. Luckily the British, in contrast to their European counterparts, were short of cavalry as well, which meant that there were few instances where cavalry made a difference. Cavalry was expensive in most respects which was a major hurdle in raising mounted regiments. The Continental Light Dragoons have not had much attention by military historians, so this series on Uniformology will fill a significant gap. See it here: http://www.uniformology.com/WORLD-11-ACD.html

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