One of the interesting things about these port paintings for me is the depictions of French marines - they show an amazing amount of detail. How this translates to New France is unclear though as there's no evidence that a collar on the justaucorps or the giberne (shoulder strapped cartridge box) was ever worn by Marines in the Americas. However they do offer a fascinating insight with a dark blue facing colour, anchors on the turnbacks, a bonnet a la dragon on the giberne cross strap and much more. You might wonder why you usually see CfdlM recreated in a mid blue if these pictures show it a dark almost navy blue? I think the answer is Louisbourg - when they were researching the Marines they came to a conclusion that it was a light blue. I think it was like this but what do I know?
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Interesting discussion on the blue... may be actual uniforms lead them to believe it was a pale blue... but colors could have simply faded... but same here, what do I know?
ReplyDeleteBy the way, the ignorant me is learning from you about all these distinctions... which regiment was where... Where can I find which British and French regiments were in the Lake Champlain Valley (my place of interest) during New France time?
Yes I think they have a book of wool swatches of the period but I think they have probably faded and what do I know either?
ReplyDeleteIt should be relatively easy to find out who was where and so on. There's a book 'Redcoat Yankees and their Allies' which deals only with the Lake George Lake Champlain corridor - on google books.
I wonder when these were produced? I note the long weskits/waistcoats. Good pics, good post.
ReplyDeleteRegards, Keith.