Lord Clare's Dragoon's?

[El Cid]

Maybe this could be of help:

The History and Topography of the County of Clare by James Frost

Part III. History of the County of Clare
Chapter 30. Reign of James II. and William and Mary. 1689 to 1700.

Clare’s yellow dragoons sent to Ulster; The regiment acts badly at the Boyne; Letter from Lord Clare to Donogh O’Brien of Ennistymon, ordering him to arrest and imprison all Protestants found in the county; Names of some of these

At the opening of the campaign Clare’s Dragoons were sent to Ulster in charge of Sir James Cotter. There they formed part of the numerous and well-appointed force commanded by Lord Mountcashel and destined to reduce Enniskillen. On the 26th of July, 1689, they were encountered, near Lisnaskea, by two troops of horse and two companies of foot, directed by Captain Martin Armstrong. An ambush was prepared for them, and Armstrong, attacking them with his horse, made a feint to retire as if in disorder. They, pursuing their opponents, fell into the ambuscade, and, while the enemies’ foot poured a volley into their midst, they were set upon by the horse, and almost cut to pieces. The next year the regiment was called out under the name of Clare’s Dragoons, and it was engaged at the Boyne. There it acted badly, its conduct being the more disgraceful because of the superior style in which the other regiments of James’ cavalry fought at that battle. In the December of 1690, they were quartered at home, and, as on account of their misconduct there at a former time they had been severely punished, Sir Theobald Butler, James’ Solicitor General, wrote to Sir Donogh O’Brien, the high sheriff, a letter, apologising for again sending them into the county of Clare, and suggesting that they should be quartered as the high sheriff should appoint, with injunctions that they were to suffer condign punishment for any outrage they may perpetrate against those upon whom they might be billeted. [4] Whatever the faults of Clare’s Dragoons may have been while in the condition of raw recruits, their shortcomings were afterwards, in many a field, “from Dunkirk to Belgrade,” gloriously expiated.

[quindia]

Did we ever come to a consensus on this? I am getting ready to paint Clare's Dragoons. It seems like the French supplied uniforms rather than cloth if de Boisseleau re-equipped his regiment as the supplies arrived. Would this mean Jacobite dragoons probably had red coats at the Boyne?

[obriendavid]

Did we ever come to a consensus on this? I am getting ready to paint Clare's Dragoons. It seems like the French supplied uniforms rather than cloth if de Boisseleau re-equipped his regiment as the supplies arrived. Would this mean Jacobite dragoons probably had red coats at the Boyne?

Depends if you think the French took the time to work out how many dragoon regiments James had and made a point of sending to correct uniforms and then that the correct uniforms got to them? Personally I would probably do them in a variety of uniforms but that's just me.
Cheers
Dave

[yar68]

I think the grey with yellow cuffs is the best bet, but then again I would!!

[Rebel]

Chaps,

easiest rule of thumb is as follows: Prior to James's landing in the spring of 1690, coats would be red for the mounted arm and either red* or civilian attire for the foot dependent upon how far down the army list you go (Dalton lists them roughly in order of creation per type), between James's landing and his flight after the Boyne the majority of coats would start to tend to the French gris-mesle, after James's flight and the October reorganizations the coats are almost all gris-mesle

Cheers,



Mike.

* Almost all of the coats of the Mountcashel brigade were sent back to Ireland for re-use whilst the troops themselves were re-clothed in gris-mesle.

[Rebel]

So units at - say - Derry or Newtownbutler would be most likely in red and then tending to gris-mesle or "civilian" as time goes on....


Mike.

[quindia]

Sorry to belabor the point, but do the coats of the mounted units eventually change to gris-mesle as well? I am leaning to painting all of Jacobites at the Boyne (except the guard units and de Boisseleau's regiment) in a mix of red, grey, and brown coats...

[Rebel]

Clarence,

this is the kicker - Whilst we know how many coats the french sent, the records of any colours are deep deep in the archives if they exist at all. But, as we know that the "standard" combination was gris-mesle with red distinctions (many colonels then paid for the coats to be refitted with different cuffs/linings) and also the "discussion" between Mountcashel and the French over the "repatriation" of the brigade's red coats to Ireland and the reissue of normal French ones. My view that the earlier "rule of thumb" should see you ok - Somewhere I may have a genealogy of the Jacobite army ca.1690, and obviously if the units can be traced there they would certainly be in red during the summer of 1690.

- Mike.

[Rebel]

And so in direct answer to your question, yes they do.

[quindia]

Thanks, Mike...