Wellington's Rifles: The Origins, Development and Battles of the Rifle Regiments in the Peninsular War and at Waterloo from 1758 to 1815 by Raymond P. Cusick FINS

Author:Raymond P. Cusick FINS
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HISTORY / Modern / 19th Century
ISBN: 9781473828544
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2013-07-09T16:00:00+00:00

Rifle Green

Patterns for uniform clothing were decided in May 1801 and a clothing warrant was issued dated 20 May 1801. 1800 was a time of change to King’s Regulations regarding uniforms for the infantry regiments of the line with the long coats and cocked hats being replaced by short jackets and shakos for NCOs and rank and file.

The uniform for the 95th was new to the British Army as it was designed to make them inconspicuous on the battlefield, a reversal of the usual practice. It tended to follow the European pattern for chasseurs and jägers by using a dark bottle-green material, known later as rifle green, dull buttons, no lace and black leather accoutrements. Because of this dark, almost black aspect, they became known by other regiments as ‘the Sweeps’. The French who later saw them darting from cover called them ‘Grasshoppers’.

Part of the hurried developments taking place at this juncture was the suggestion that red as a uniform colour for infantry was unsuitable. That suggestion probably met with a fusillade from Horse Guards. Modified plans suggested that the new light infantry regiments planned should be also dressed in green, but Sir John Moore had his own views on that subject. (The appellation of Green Jackets was traditionally applied in the past to both the King’s Royal Rifle Corps and the Rifle Brigade.)

In 1797 the 5th Battalion of the 60th was formed with an intake of 365 from Hompesch’s Chasseurs a’ Pied Regiment in British pay. They retained their original jäger uniforms of green jackets, blue pantaloons and an Austrian-style belltop shako, the first regiment in the British Army to wear a shako. In 1799 they were supplemented by a draft of 550 from another hired regiment, Lowenstein’s Chasseurs, who wore grey uniforms with green facings. The battalion was attested to serve in the British Army as the 60th Regiment but only permitted to serve on foreign postings as they were recruited from foreigners, mainly German speaking. The uniforms of both regiments looked distinctly foreign and were kept until worn out.

During the war with France from 1793 to 1815 many cases occurred of mistaken identity, or what is termed today as ‘friendly fire’. It was the Duke of Wellington who during the Peninsular Campaign recommended that the uniform design of British regiments should look distinctly British, even when seen in silhouette against the sky line, to lessen such mistaken identities.

The Hamilton-Smith Tests 1800

An experiment was carried out in 1800 through controlled tests on the range of the effect of aimed fire on coloured targets, representing the different colours of uniforms, being red, green and grey. The tests proved that grey was the target most difficult to discern and registering least number of hits. It was therefore presumed that grey was the most suitable colour for a uniform and recommendations were made for its adoption by the new rifle regiments and other light regiments.

The tests were supervised by Charles Hamilton-Smith of the 60th Regiment, a well-known military illustrator of regiments

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