Peninsular War Painting Guide: British Foot

This covers all the infantry that wore British uniform, including:

• Foot
• Light Infantry
• Rifles
• Fusilier
• Highlander
• Foreign

Foot

This section covers all British foot (Foot Guards, Line, Light Infantry, Fusiliers, Highlander) plus the foreign regiments wearing British uniforms. Main sources are Rafferty (1988a), Sapherson (1991), Haythornthwaite (1995)

Item	Default	Light Infantry	Rifles
Headgear	Default: Black Shako with Brass plate and Black cockade * Captains and lieutenants wore the same shako as the men, Officer’s above Captain: Black Bicorn. Highlanders: As default with red and white check band at base. Fusiliers: Fur cap with a peak. Small Brass plate on front Small red patch at the back	Black Stovepipe Shako with Brass bugle horn Regimental number	Black Stovepipe Shako with Brass bugle horn Regimental number
Plume	Centre: white-over-red Grenadier: white Light: Green	Dark Green	Dark Green
Cords and tassels (used on Belgic but unusual on Stovepipe Shako)	Centre Coy: White Grenadier Coy: White Light Coy: Dark Green Officers: Gold with crimson thread	Dark Green	Dark Green
Jacket	Other Ranks: Red Sergeants and Officers: Scarlet Long tailed coats for officers otherwise short tailed jacket	Other Ranks: Red Sergeants and Officers: Scarlet. Officers of 43rd wore a Pelisse over the jacket.	Very dark Green. Officer’s Pelisse had brown or dark grey fur trim.
Collar, Cuff	Regimental Facing piped in Regimental Lace
Turnbacks	White
Chest Lace	White Regimental pattern
Epaulettes	Centre Coy: Straps Grenadier Coy: Red wings Light Coy: Green wings Fusiliers: Red wings Guards: Red wings Sergeants: Silver Epaulettes Officers: Regimental Epaulettes	Other ranks: Green wings Officers: Regimental Epaulettes
Buttons	White		White
Overalls / trousers	Grey overalls; white or brown trousers.		95th: Very dark Green 5/60th: Grey or blue Officers: Grey
Waist sash	Sergeants: Crimson Officers: Scarlet. Highland officers wore it from left shoulder to right hip instead.
Footwear	Black Shoes	Black Shoes
Webbing/Straps	White	White	Black
Bayonet or Sword Scabbard	Black with brass tip	Black with brass tip
Cartridge box	Black	Black
Knapsack	Black, light brown, dirty white, fawn.	Black, light brown, dirty white, fawn.	Black, light brown, dirty white, fawn.
Water bottle	Greyish-blue with light brown strap
Haversack (left hip)	White		Light Brown, dirty white, fawn
Greatcoat (often rolled at top of Knapsack)	Grey		Grey
Gun barrel	Browned	Browned
Drummers	Red-over-white plume. Reversed colours until 1812. Drum in facing colour.

* Originally the British Infantry wore the Stovepipe Shako (Haythornthwaite, 1995; Sapherson, 1991). In 1812 the Belgic Shako began to replace the Stovepipe, but even then several units retained the older model to the end of the war. It is probable that few Belgic Shakos were actually used in the Peninsular.

The regimental list below is those that served in the Peninsular (Haythornthwaite, 1995; Sapherson, 1991). I have only put references if they disagree. Bastion lace had the ends sewn to a point. The number of battalions comes from Sapherson (1991).

Foot Guards Regiment	Name	Facing	Lace	Officer’s Lace	Type	Remarks
1st		dark blue	single	gold	Guard	Flank company wings
2nd	Coldstream Guard	dark blue	pairs	gold	Guard	Flank company wings
3rd	Scots Guard	dark blue	threes	gold	Guard	Flank company wings
Line / Foot Regiment	Name	Facing	Lace	Officer’s Lace	Type	Remarks
1st	Royal Scots	blue	square, pairs	gold	Line
2nd	Queen’s Royal	blue	square, single	silver	Line
3rd	East Kent, Buffs	buff	square, pairs	silver	Line
4th	King’s Own	blue	bastion, single	gold	Line
5th	Northumberland	gosling green	bastion, single	silver	Line
6th	1st Warwickshire	Deep yellow	square, pairs	silver	Line
7th	Royal Fusiliers	blue	square, pairs	gold	Fusiliers
9th	East Norfolk	Bright yellow	square, pairs	silver	Line
10th	North Lincolnshire	Bright yellow	square, single	silver	Line
11th	North Devonshire	deep green	bastion, pairs	gold	Line
14th	Buckinghamshire Bedfordshire until 1809	buff	bastion, pairs	silver	Line
20th	East Devonshire	yellow	square, pairs	silver	Line	Sapherson (1991) says dark yellow facing, but Haythornthwaite (1995) says pale yellow.
23rd	Royal Welsh Fusiliers	blue	bastion, single	gold	Fusiliers
24th	Warwickshire	green	square, pairs	silver	Line
26th	Cameronian	Pale yellow	square, pairs	silver	Line	Haythornthwaite (1995) says square, pairs but Sapherson (1991) say bastion, single.
27th	Inniskilling	buff	square, single	gold	Line
28th	North Gloucestershire	Bright yellow	square, pairs	silver	Line
29th	Worcestershire	buff	square, single	gold	Line	Haythornthwaite (1995) says buff but Sapherson (1991) says yellow.
30th	Cambridgeshire	pale yellow	bastion, single	silver	Line
31st	Huntingdonshire	buff	square, single	silver	Line	Haythornthwaite (1995) says buff but Sapherson (1991) says brown.
32nd	Cornwall	white	square, pairs	gold	Line
34th	Cumberland	Bright yellow	square, pairs	silver	Line
36th	Herefordshire	gosling green	square, pairs	gold	Line
37th	North Hampshire	Bright yellow	square, pairs	silver	Line
38th	1st Staffordshire	Bright yellow	square, single	silver	Line	Haythornthwaite (1995) says square but Sapherson (1991) says bastion.
39th	Dorsetshire	pea green	square, single	gold	Line
40th	2nd Somersetshire	buff	square, pairs	gold	Line
42nd	Royal Highlanders	blue	bastion, single	gold	Highland	Government pattern tartan (Rafferty, 1988a)
43rd	Monmouthshire Light Infantry	white	square, pairs	silver	Light
44th	East Essex	yellow	square, single	silver	Line
45th	1st Nottinghamshire	dark green	bastion, pairs	silver	Line
47th	Lancashire	white	square, pairs	silver	Line
48th	Northamptonshire	buff	square, pairs	gold	Line
50th	West Kent	black	square, pairs	gold	Line	Haythornthwaite (1995) says gold but Sapherson (1991) says silver.
51st	2nd Yorkshire Light Infantry	grass green	square, pairs	gold	Light
52nd	Oxfordshire Light Infantry	buff	square, pairs	silver	Light
53rd	Shropshire	red	square, pairs	gold	Line
57th	West Middlesex	Bright yellow	square, pairs	gold	Line
58th	Rutlandshire	black	square, single	gold	Line
59th	2nd Nottinghamshire	white	bastion, single	gold	Line
5/60th	Royal American	red	square, pairs	Silver	Rifle	Rifle armed. (Sapherson, 1991). Sapherson says the facings were Red with grey trousers but Rafftery (1988a) says dark green facings and dark blue trousers.
61st	South Gloustershire	buff	square, single	silver	Line
62nd	Wiltshire	buff	square, pairs	silver	Line
66th	Berkshire	gosling green	square, single	silver	Line
67th	South Hampshire	Pale Yellow	square, pairs	silver	Line	Sapherson (1991) says served in the Peninsular.
68th	Durham Light Infantry	bottle green	square, pairs	silver	Light
71st	Highland Light Infantry	buff	square, single	silver	Light	Being Scottish had a red and white chequered band around the base of the Shako (Rafferty, 1988a)
74th	Highlanders	white	square, single	gold	Highland	What tartan?
76th	Hindostan	red	square, pairs	silver	Line
77th	East Middlesex	yellow	square, single	silver	Line
79th	Cameron Highlanders	dark green	square, pairs	gold	Highland	Cameron pattern tartan (Rafferty, 1988a).
81st		buff	square, pairs	silver	Line	Haythornthwaite (1995) says square but Sapherson (1991) says bastion.
82nd	Prince of Wales’s Volunteers	yellow	bastion, pairs	silver	Line
83rd		yellow	square, pairs	gold	Line
84th	York and Lancaster	yellow	square, pairs	silver	Line	Haythornthwaite (1995) says served in the Peninsular.
85th	Bucks Volunteers Light Infantry	yellow	square, pairs	silver	Light
87th	Prince of Wales’s Own Irish	Dark green	square, pairs	gold	Line
88th	Connaught Rangers	yellow	square, pairs	silver	Line
89th		black	square, pairs	gold	Line	Haythornthwaite (1995) says served in the Peninsular.
90th	Perth Volunteers	buff	square, pairs	gold	Line	Sapherson (1991) says served in the Peninsular.
91st		yellow	square, pairs	silver	Line
92nd	Gordon Highlanders	yellow	square, pairs	silver	Highland	Government pattern tartan (Rafferty, 1988a)
94th		Dark green	square, pairs	gold	Line
95th	Rifles	black	–	silver	Rifle
97th	Queen’s Own	blue	square, pairs	silver	Line	Haythornthwaite (1995) says square, pairs but Sapherson (1991) says bastion, single.
Foreign Regiment	Name	Facing	Lace	Officer’s Lace	Type	Remarks
	King’s German Legion Line Battalions	Dark Blue	??	Black	Line	All officers wore white gloves and their trousers had a broad silver stripe (Sapherson, 1991). All light companies carried rifles.
	King’s German Legion Light Battalions	Black	–	Black	Light	Dark green coats and turnbacks, grey overalls, silver shako badge (Sapherson, 1991). All officers wore white gloves and their trousers had a broad silver stripe. Officer’s of 2nd battalion wore a Mirliton cap.
	Dillon’s	Yellow	??	??	Line
	De Watteville’s	Black	??	Silver	Line	Wore white trousers or breeches rather than grey overalls (Sapherson, 1991).
	De Roll’s	Light Blue	tufted, pairs	Silver	Line	Centre company wore white trousers and had red-over-white plumes (Sapherson, 1991). The light company wore dark green coats faced black with white-edged wings, and grey trousers, and carried rifles (Haythornthwaite, 1995).
	Chasseurs Britannique	Light Blue	??	Silver	Line
	Batallón Blandengues de Buenos Aires					A Spanish regiment formed from prisoners of war and equipped by the British (Partridge & Oliver, 1998). A Their nickname was the “Russets” (Los Colorados) because of the brick-red British tunics they wore.
	Majorca Cazadores	black	–	silver	Rifle	Haythornthwaite (1995) says they were uniformed as the British 95th in 1812.

Gosling-green was a yellowish-brown shade of green – see Fig 7c in Haythornthwaite (1995).

Light Infantry

British Light infantry wore a standard uniform, however, their Stovepipe shako had a green plume and cords and a bugle-horn badge (they never adopted the Belgic shako), and all men had green wings on their shoulders (Haythornthwaite, 1995). All companies in a battalion wore the same uniform.

Officers of the 43rd Monmouthshire Light Infantry adopted a scarlet pelisse (Haythornthwaite, 1995). At least one of these officers had a turban on their shako, and this may have been generally matched with the pelisse.

Rifles

The 95th Rifles had a distinctive “rifle-green” jacket and trousers with black facings and piped white, no lace, the light infantry stovepipe shako with green plume and bugle-horn badge, and black leather equipment ( Haythornthwaite, 1995). The cockade was white except for marksmen whose had a green cockade. As in other light infantry units some officers would wear hussar style uniforms including dolman, pelisse, corded sash and ‘sugar-loaf’ cap. Some men, perhaps only officers, adopted grey overalls.

The 5/60th Royal Americans had a similar uniform including a rifle-green jacket and light infantry stovepipe shako, however the men wore either grey overalls or dark blue breaches (Haythornthwaite, 1995; Rafferty, 1988a, Sapherson, 1991). Facings were red (although Rafferty says dark green facings).

The Rifle company of De Roll’s Regiment wore a green jacket faced black with white edged wings, grey trousers, and a shako with green cords and plume and white metal bugle-horn badge (Haythornthwaite, 1995; Sapherson, 1991, says light blue facings). Unusually for light infantry some men adopted the Belgic shako.

The two light battalions of the KGL wore rifle-green uniforms with black facings (Haythornthwaite, 1995). Dark green coats and turnbacks, no lace, grey overalls, silver shako badge (Sapherson, 1991). All officers wore white gloves and their trousers had a broad silver stripe. Officer’s of 2nd battalion wore a Mirliton cap.

In 1812 the Spanish Majorca Cazadores were uniformed like the British 95th (Haythornthwaite, 1995).

Fusilier

7th Royal Fusiliers and 23rd Royal Welsh Fusiliers served in the Peninsular (Haythornthwaite, 1995; Sapherson, 1991). The Fusiliers wore the standard uniform, generally with the shako, but in the early campaigns some men wore a fur cap with a peak. The cap had a small brass plate on front and a small red patch at the back. Fusiliers also had red wings like the grenadier companies.

Highlander

According to Haythornthwaite (1995) the 42nd, 79th and 92nd Foot wore Highland uniform in the Peninsular. This comprised a kilt, stockings, and a bonnet (Sapherson, 1991). Sporrans were part of the dress uniform but were rarely taken on active service. Stockings were red with white diagonal checks at the top. The dress uniform had no gaiters, although short black gaiters were worn on campaign. The black bonnet had a red and white checked band at the base, and was decorated with black ostrich plumes, with additional plumes on the left side in company colours. The 79th and 92nd had plumes in the standard company colours, however, the plumes of the 42nd were red over white for grenadiers, red over green for light company, red over yellow for drummers, and red for centre company. Officers and Sergeants wore their sash from the left shoulder to the right hip rather than around their waist. Other equipment was standard.

The 71st did not wear highland dress in the Peninsular (Haythornthwaite, 1995). In the Corunna campaign of 1809 they wore a mix of tartan trews and grey overalls . Their pipers, however, retained highland dress even when the the regiment converted to light infantry.

Similarly the 74th did not wear highland dress in the Peninsular (General de Brigade Discussion Forum: 74th Foot) They took their pipes with them but it is most likely the pipers wore normal line infantry uniforms like the rest of the unit.

The different units were assigned different tartans:

Unit	Tartan Name	Image from Tartans of Scotland
42nd Royal Highlanders 74th Highlanders (to 1809)	Government Tartan Universal Tartan Military Set Black Watch
71st Highland Light Infantry 74th Highlanders (from 1809)	Mackenzie
79th Cameron Highlanders	Cameron of Erracht
92nd Gordon Highlanders	Gordon

The grenadiers of the 42nd used the government set with a red over-stripe (Haythornthwaite, 1995)

When the 79th Cameron Highlanders were raised it was decided to use a new design instead of the red-based Cameron tartan (Wikipedia: Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders). The Cameron of Erracht tartan was based on the Macdonald sett with the addition of a yellow line from the Cameron tartan, and the omission of three red lines found in that of Macdonald.

The wear of campaign led the highland units to gradually abandon their kilts and adopt a variation on the standard uniform ( Haythornthwaite, 1995; Sapherson, 1991). This was not an even process. The 42nd still had kilts in 1814, although by then some men were wearing trews. Men of the 92nd were wearing trousers at Talavera (27-28 Jul 1809), although at least one officer was wearing a kilt at Vittoria (21 Jun 1813). Once a unit had abandoned highland dress their distinctive features were:

• The shako had a red and white band at the base.
• Some officers and men wore tartan trews rather than grey overalls
• The officers and sergeants wore their sashes over the left shoulder to the right hip, rather than around their waist.
• Pipers retained highland dress.

Foreign

Kings German Legion

The line battalions of the KGL wore British infantry uniform with dark blue facings, gold officers’ lace and white lace for other ranks (Haythornthwaite, 1995; Sapherson, 1991).

The two light battalions of the KGL wore rifle-green uniforms with black facings (Haythornthwaite, 1995). Dark green coats and turnbacks, no lace, grey overalls, silver shako badge (Sapherson, 1991). All officers wore white gloves and their trousers had a broad silver stripe. Officer’s of 2nd battalion wore a Mirliton cap.

De Roll’s Regiment

Uniform was the generally standard British Line Infantry uniform (Haythornthwaite, 1995). The centre companies wore red coat with light blue facings, white trousers, and red-over-white plumes (the reverse of the British standard). The silver officers lace had tasselled ends; other ranks had white lace with tufted ends and a blue stripe (in pairs). The light (rifle) company wore green faced black (from Haythornthwaite, although Sapherson says light blue facings), ‘Belgic’ shako with green cords and plume, and grey trousers. See Haythornthwaite (1995), fig 16a for painting details

Dillon’s Regiment

They wore standard British Line uniform with gold/yellow facings (Haythornthwaite, 1995). See Haythornthwaite, fig 16a for painting details.

Roll Dillon’s Provisional Battalion

Roll Dillon’s Provisional Battalion comprised three companies of de Roll’s regiment and five of Dillon’s (Haythornthwaite, 1995).

Chasseurs Britanniques

Chasseurs Britanniques wore the British line infantry uniform with light blue facings, silver lace for officers and light blue and red stripes for others (Haythornthwaite, 1995; Sapherson, 1991). See Haythornthwaite, fig 16b for painting details.

References

General de Brigade Discussion Forum: 74th Foot

Haythornthwaite, P. (1995). Uniforms of the Peninsular Wars 1807 – 1814. London: Arms and Armour Press.

Kannik, P. (1968). Military Uniforms in Colour. London: Blandford.

Rafferty, J. (1988a). Painting Guide to Napoleonics (Part One): British Infantry. Active Service Press.

Rafferty, J. (1988b). Painting Guide to Napoleonics (Part Two): British Cavalry. Active Service Press.

Rafferty, J. (1989a). Painting Guide to Napoleonics (Part Nine): French & British Artillery. Active Service Press.

Sapherson, C. A. (1991). Peninsular Armies 1808 – 1814. Leeds, UK: Raider Books.

Scottish Tartans Authority: Regimental Tartans

Tartans of Scotland

Wikipedia: Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders