Post
by Arthur » Mon Apr 22, 2013 11:30 pm
The thing with the Dutch War is that it was a transitional period for uniforms, which were gradually adopted between the late 1660's and 1680. There are a few eyewitness reports of what some units wore between 1666 and 1678 but the majority of regiments remain largely undocumented and terra firma is only reached after 1680-1685 when it comes to information regarding coat and facing colours for the whole army - or at least most of it.
The treasure trove you mention does exist in real life, though : the French army's War Archives in Vincennes contain a wealth of period papers detailing all aspects of military life during the reign of Louis XIV. But as with all research work involving archives and period documents, sifting through endless cartons of material requires a certain experience, not to mention the fact that it is fastidious and time-consuming work that demands the patience of a benedictine monk. People like Hall, Chartrand or Boeri have been working out of that source for a while already, but it will be a long time before its is thoroughly explored and exhausted. I've occasionally fancied having a go at it myself (all the more so as I live about three miles from Vincennes), but I simply don't have the time to do it.
Back to the subject at hand, Chartrand gives the Choiseul livery in his Osprey book on Louis XV's cavalry (page 39) and his source is Beneton de Morangue's book on heraldry published in 1739 and entitled Traité des marques nationales.
Re the issue of liveries, the king's livery was used by all units bearing the royal distinction (including some foreign corps such as Royal Italien or Royal Savoie) and by those regiments named after French provinces. Since nothing was ever simple during the ancien régime, there were nevertheless a few exceptions : Lyonnais had special permission from the king to use the Villeroy livery of green and orange you mentioned above, a prerogative that survived until the mid 1730's. And Maine, which had been Turenne's old regiment until 1675, used the red lined blue livery of the Duc du Maine who took over after Turenne's death (and also happened to be Louis XIV's favourite bastard son).
All other units were known as gentlemen's regiments (régiments de gentilshommes) and would have their musicians clad in the livery of their mestre de camp, or colonel proprietor in the parlance of the day. Which is of course the source of many headaches for painters and wargamers : the prominent households such as Condé, Bourbon, Turenne, Aumont, Boufflers or Orléans are not a problem since their liveries are well known and abundantly illustrated in period documents, but the lesser noblemen are often poorly documented, especially if their tenure as mestre de camp was a brief one - and some regiments changed hands five or six times during the reign of Louis XIV alone, which adds further complexity to the matter.
One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas I'll never know.