Post
by Rob Herrick » Mon Jan 24, 2011 9:08 pm
The best answer I can give is all of the above.
QM's would tend to distribute the oldest stocks first. Also, I believe uniforms were issued on a pro-rated basis, with some things like headgear and coats being expected to last longer than shirts, breeches, etc. Naturally, things would tend to break or be lost, and thus had to be replaced. You would also get drafts of recruits called up and fed into units as replacements and reinforcements. You would also have men called up from secondary theaters (like the Army of Italy) who had campaigned less and therefore were at their depots more. Finally, uniforms - especially on campaign - were rather flexible in the French army, and a colonel could get away with a lot. Not even Napoleon could get line grenadiers to give up their bearskins, or colonels to give up their Eagles, for example.
So, it's a pretty safe bet that you would have a combination of men with equipment issued in 1805, 1806, and 1807, depending on how well they maintained things, how often they lost things, wounds and injuries, and combat. I believe it's Suchet writing in November 1809 that they'd finally gotten rid of the bicornes and white uniforms.
I personally put my 1809 troops in a mix of bicornes and shakos, and will put a splash of the white uniform in regiments we know were issued them. I think to looks nice on the table and has a very French feel to it.