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| Royal Navy uniforms in PotC; (Resource) | |
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| Topic Started: 22 Nov 2007, 11:03 PM (1,222 Views) | |
| Brendan | 22 Nov 2007, 11:03 PM Post #1 |
A Legend. In regimentals. Pwn.
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Introduction This article was written to provide a description of the uniforms of the Royal Navy, from 1748 when uniforms were first authorised, until just before the American Revolution. Also included in this article is a description of the Marines, from their establishment in 1755 until just after the American Revolution. Unlike the Royal Navy/Marines For Dummies article, this write-up is designed to illustrate the differences between the uniforms seen in PotC and the actual uniforms of the period. Pictures are provided where possible and sources are cited at the bottom of the article, with numbered notations to each source made within the article. The article is broken up as follows: Part One - The 1748 regulation and the first Royal Navy uniforms. Also includes uniform changes made in 1767. Part Two - Royal Navy uniforms as seen in PotC. Comparisons are made between the uniform representations in the movie and how the uniforms actually looked. Part Three - The 1755 regulation and the subsequent changes made to the Marines' uniform pattern. Also includes a brief description of uniforms worn in the 1740s. Part Four - Marine uniforms as seen in PotC. Comparisons are made between the uniform representations in the movie and how the uniforms actually looked. Note: This article is designed to be informative, but is not meant to be taken as an unimpeachable document. Members who wish to know more are encouraged to do their own research. Members are cautioned, however, to be aware that some sources are less reliable than others and care should be taken when referencing certain sites. Part One Prior to 1748, officers and sailors in the Navy did not possess a single, standardised uniform. Sailors were "uniform" largely due to making their clothes from bulk-bought cloth or old sails, but officers furnished their own clothes and thus there was a great variety in officers' attire. The officers themselves, however, wanted a standard uniform that would distinguish them as men serving the Crown. In 1748, the first uniform regulations were issued by Lord Anson, "to overcome 'the inconveniences arising from the want of an establishment of rank and precedence between His Majesty's Sea and Land Officers as well as from the want of a due distinction among the Sea Officers themselves'. These regulations remained unchanged for nearly twenty years. Both were worn by all officers including Midshipmen."1 There were two forms of uniforms established - best uniform and working rig. The Royal Navy's website describes these two forms as follows: "The best uniform comprised a knee length embroidered blue coat with white facings. It was known as a 'frock' and was worn unbuttoned with white breeches and stockings. Differences in rank were shown by the shape and cut of the lapels and cuffs. The working rig was simpler with less embroidery and thus cheaper to buy."1 The working rig of 1748 became the best uniform in 1767, when an even simpler design was approved as the new undress uniform. The 1748 regulation resulted in the following: "The hats are three-cornered in shape, one is trimmed with silver or tarnished gold lace, and both bear the silk cockades instituted by George I. Lace and frills being then worn, there are no collars to the coats : they are made of thick blue cloth, the lappels which button back are blue, but the cuffs of the captains' coats are white, and the sleeves of all are purposely made short to allow the laced sleeves of the white kerseymere waistcoats to show beyond. There are two kinds of button—one flat, bearing a rose, the other round and plain."2 An Order-in-Council dated 18th July 1767 saw the regulation changed. It was decided that "the embroidered uniform clothing of flag-officers, and the full-dress uniform of captains, commanders and lieutenants was to be discontinued, and that the " frock-uniform clothing "was to be altered. Admirals' frocks were to have narrow lappels down to the waist, small " boot " cuffs, and single instead of treble plain lace of mousquetaire pattern down to the side skirts. The lappels on the captains' and commanders' frocks were also to go down to the waist, and lieutenants the same, but with slash cuffs and lappels like the commanders, and without lace. The cuffs and lappels of the lieutenants' coats were ordered, in the following year, to be white instead of blue."2 The officers' uniform was becoming more regulated, though there were still a great deal of opportunities for officers, particularly in flag ranks, to add their own embellishments to their uniforms. Remote stations, such as the West Indies, often continued to abide by the old regulations, even after official changes were instituted. The regulations being made affected only commissioned officers, which meant that warrant officers still had to furnish their own uniforms and clothing in whatever colour and style they could afford. This, of course, meant that while the commissioned officers wore blue and white as the dominant uniform colour, warrant officers such as the ship's master were forced to make do with what they could find. Part Two According to information regarding Curse of the Black Pearl, the time period is between 1720 and 1750. References to a more precise time, roughly 1740, are made, but of course there is nothing definitive put forth to establish a more accurate time frame. The uniforms pictured in CotBP, however, don't entirely fit within the thirty-year span suggested by the scriptwriters. The frock coats for all officers - excepting, naturally, the midshipmen - are embroidered with gold braiding, on the lapels and cuffs. The coats worn by several officers also have collars with gold braiding and have white cuffs and turned-back lapels. This suggests these men were captains, but the 1748 regulation stipulates that lapels were blue, not white. It also mentions that collars were not to be included on coats. There is, of course, the distinction between two different ratings of captain, under which captains who have less than three years' seniority wear blue lapels, and captains who have more than three years' seniority wear white. In the beginning of the movie, we see officers in dark-blue frock coats and gold braiding, much the same as what is shown throughout the movie, even though there is an acknowledged gap of several years in between. Even taking into account the scriptwriters' stated time period, it's difficult to credit their use of uniforms - particularly when the uniforms shown are clearly from a later period than what is claimed. For example: Lieutenant Norrington is shown in the frock coat of what is later shown to belong to a lieutenant. The hat, however, is plain black, and matches the hat shown to be worn by midshipmen. During his promotion ceremony, the soon-to-be-Commodore Norrington is shown wearing the undress frock of an admiral. This painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds, done in 1765, depicts Admiral Sir Charles Saunders3 wearing the flag officer's undress uniform of 1748 - 1767. There is a crowd of officers assembled in the background, behind Norrington. These men have a variety of different uniforms themselves, which prove interesting. This officer is wearing a coat with white lapels and white bucket cuffs, which fits the description of a post-captain with over three years' seniority. There is another officer, this one, who is shown wearing coat with blue lapels and white cuffs, and the same style of waistcoat as seen in the above screencap. This painting of Captain Sir Edward Hughes by Violante Beatrice Siries, done in 1761,4 shows a post-captain wearing a coat with blue lapels. Note the colour of his breeches. It was the regulation during this period that breeches were to be blue, not white or cream - as is shown in the movie. Another item of interest is the coat that Norrington is wearing for the rest of the movie. Unlike the admiral's frock we see him in at his promotion, he turns up with a post-captain's coat in almost every scene afterward. The Royal Navy considered the position of "commodore" to be little more than an honourary. It was not an actual rank, but rather a temporary title given to a post-captain who was in command of a squadron. There were two classes of commodore, first and second. These two classes are described as follows: "In the eighteenth century the Commodore evolved into two distinct quasi-ranks, often called Commodore 'with a captain' and 'with a pendant', and formally distinguished in 1805 as First and Second Class Commodores. The Commodore with a flag-captain was a Captain appointed by the Admiralty as commander-in-chief of a squadron or station, and was for all practical purposes (including pay and uniform) a temporary Rear-Admiral. The Commodore with a pendant (i.e. with a pendant alone) was a senior Captain ordered by his commander-in-chief to hoist a broad pendant and command a detached squadron or a division of the fleet..."5 This, naturally, means that as commodore, Norrington was most likely a post-captain with a pendant, as there is no reference made of a captain serving subordinate to him. The coat he wears, therefore, is not actually wrong in the design sense, though it is still outside the time period set down by the scriptwriters. The lieutenants shown throughout the movie also have frock coats that are too decorated to be from the initial period of uniforms. This lieutenant's dress coat6 from 1748 is much too plain, whereas Gillette's coat has been given gold braiding on the lapels and cuffs, and also has pocket-flaps with gold trim. This style reflects the designs following the 1767 regulation, as does the majority of the other frock coats and waistcoats that are shown throughout the movie. Part Three To understand the progression of Marines' uniforms, one should be at least passingly familiar with the history of the Marines. Unlike the Royal Navy, which was more or less a permanent service, regiments of soldiers for sea service were raised at the start of wars and disbanded afterward. Regiments of Marines existed since the 17th century, but it was not until 1755 that the Marines were established as their own corps. Prior to this, regiments and battalions of Marines were subject to the whim of the regimental or battalion chief, which meant that uniforms in various units tended to be different from each other. It was not until the establishment of the Marines as a corps that the facings of their uniforms became white. Prior to this, facing colours had been varied, from green to yellow. In the earlier 1740s, ten regiments of Marines were raised in order to fight in the War of the Austrian Succession. At this time, the formation of regiments followed the Army system - regiments were named for the colonels placed in command. Uniforms were largely standard, however: "All the Marine Regiments wore a cap similar to, but not exactly like, the grenadier cap of the army. It had a high front with a rounded top in the colour of the regimental facings, at the bottom front was a small flap of the same facing colour, both were edged in red piping. On the high front were embroidered badges of the Crown over a reversed Cypher, and on the small flap an embroidered Garter Star. The crown was of red cloth with a white worsted tuft on the top, a flap in the facing colour at the base of the crown bore a badge of a Foul Anchor. The coats of Corporals and 'Private Centinels' made of red cloth with facings in regimental colours, pewter buttons, and regimental styled lace. The coat of the 6th Regiment differed from the rest in having a turned down collar and no lapels. The breeches were of red kersey material, brown canvas gaiters with small pewter buttons were worn on active service by all except the 6th and 9th Regiments who wore blue and white ticken breeches and gaiters. The equipment consisted of a buff leather waistbelt and bayonet frog, two black leather cartridge pouches on a black leather sling belt worn around the waist, a canvas haversack on a leather belt worn over the left shoulder, and a musket with a buff leather sling."7 Following the end of the war, these ten regiments were disbanded. An Order-in-Council dated 5 April 1755 ordered "50 independent Companies of Marines be raised totalling 5,000 men organised into three divisions stationed at the naval towns of Chatham, Portsmouth, and Plymouth, 'The Grand Divisions', and put under the direction of the Lord of the Admiralty."7 With this order, Marine regiments were no longer to be raised and disbanded as wars began and ended. They had become a part of the permanent establishment, and accordingly, they required a standard uniform regulation. At this time, the uniform was described as follows: "Information on the dress of these newly raised marine companies is rather vague; Francis Grose, in his Military Antiquities (volume I, page 160) published in 1786, stated: 'In the year 1755 a number of companies of marines were raised...The marines are clothed and armed in the same manner as His Majesty's other corps of infantry; their uniform is scarler [sic] faced with white; white linings, waistcoats and breeches; they also wear caps like those of fusilier regiments'. Although Grose gives the breeches as white, red kersey breeches were certainly worn, along with red waistcoats. Regulations decreed that waistcoats were to be made out of old coats and the wearing of red breeches was referred to in Divisional Orders, in other words following the dress of fusilier regiments of the line. "The fusilier caps of the marine corps had embroidered badges on the front consisting of an Anchor and Cable within a Garter Star surmounted by a Crown on the body, and a White Horse of Hanover within the motto NEC ASPERA TERRENT on the small flap. From Millan's Succession of Colonels we are told that the worsted lace worn on their appointments by men of the Marine Corps was 'Blue with red worm'. White 'spatterdashes' - long cloth leggings reaching from the ankles to mid-thigh and buttoned on the outside - were worn on ceremonial parades and buffish/brown, or sometimes black ones, when on campaign. A whitened leather pouch belt was worn over the left shoulder and the same material was used for the waist belt which carried the bayonet and frog, and a sword. A black leather ammunition pouch was worn at the front below the brass buckle of the waist belt. "Officers' uniform at this time comprised the tricorne hat bound in gold lace, scarlet coat with gold lace and gold shoulder knot, white facings and linings, white gold laced waistcoat, white breeches and black leather boots. Their equipment included a fuzee, a white leather waistbelt and pouch, a gilt-hilted sword with gold sword knot, and buff gauntlet gloves. A crimson silk sash was suspended from the right shoulder and tied under the left arm. On duty, officers wore a gilt gorget suspended on crimson ribbons which hung round the neck and rested on the upper chest."7 Like the Army, the Marine battalions had a grenadier company, a light infantry company, and battalion companies. Their uniforms, therefore, varied depending on the type of company a marine served in. This distinction lasted up to, during, and after the American Revolution. The uniform regulation set down in 1755 was changed in the 1760s, when the styling of coats and overall appearance of the uniform was altered. While the Marines' uniforms were not covered in the Royal Warrant of 1768, references to them were made in divisional orders in the preceding year. The uniform pattern in the years leading up to the American Revolution underwent alterations, so that in the 1770s, Marines' uniforms were similar to those of Army regiments. The typical pattern is described as follows: "The dress for officers and men of this period can be reconstructed from portraits and surviving Divisional Orders. In 1771 an order dated 13 May states that the Grenadiers hats were to have no lace but to be 'cocked, with White Looping with two White Tassels on the Right Side'. From this it appears that Grenadier companies did exist in the marine corps in 1771 although they were not then wearing the fur cap. "The general appearance of Marines closely followed that of land infantry regiments, crossbelts had superseded waistbelts in 1772; grenadiers had adopted the fur cap; battalion companies wore the tricorne hat, and the light infantry company their special headdress."7 Another description of the Marines' uniform clarifies with: "The Marines wore the same basic uniform as did the army. For other ranks, the coat - a man's "regimental" - was made of heavy, coarse wool, dyed brick-red in color, with the white facings that represented the Marines' connection with the Royal Navy. The inside was lined with light-weight white wool, and contained one or two large, bag-shaped pockets, as the outside pocket flaps were only for decoration. The coat was cut tight to the body, particularly in the sleeves, to allow for ease of movement when handling the firelock. Worn without "lace" during most of the war, the coat had 38 large, flat pewter buttons, and two smaller ones for the plain red epaulettes, each having the Marine patter of a serrated edge with a foul anchor in the center. Buttons were fastened on the coat either evenly or in pairs, which may have been a divisional or battalion distinction. During winter, the coat served as its owner's overcoat, in that the lapels could be unbuttoned across the chest and the turned-up cuffs could be unbuttoned to cover the hands. The white cotton or linen (for service in the Americas) waistcoat and breeches - "smallclothes" - contained up to another 35 smaller buttons in the Marine pattern, depending upon whether or not the waistcoat was issued with pocket flaps. The white shirt was worn with a black horsehair stock fastened around the neck."8 It was in this uniform that the Marines fought through the war. No great changes were made in the pattern until the 1780s, and those alterations made were largely confined to the hats and styling of coat collars. Part Four Unlike the Navy uniforms, which were more confined to one time period, the Marines' uniforms shown in CotBP and DMC are a mixture of different periods. The coats, hats, and equipment have been taken from various points over years and put together to make something that fits the writers' imaginations. This, unfortunately, makes it difficult to sort out which era the uniform is most likely to have come from, hence the rather long outline in the previous section. As nothing is mentioned about the organisation of the Marines in the movie, assumptions have to be made based on the styling of coats and hats that are shown. It would seem that all the Marines are part of battalion companies, owing to their tricorne hats. This is a structure used in the 1770s. If the scriptwriters' stated time period - 1720 to 1750 - is to be believed, the Marines are unlikely to have had white-faced scarlet coats in the styling depicted in the movie and they certainly would not have had tricorne hats. It was not until the period of the American Revolution that tricorne hats were worn by Marines, and then it was only the battalion companies who had it. Marine grenadier and light infantry companies - one of each was assigned to each battalion - had their own headdress,8 with the grenadiers wearing the typical fur caps and the light infantry wearing short leather caps. In the 1740s, Marines typically wore a tall cap that was similar to the Army's grenadier caps. In 1755, the headdress was changed to a fusilier cap. The red coats with the white turnbacks are also roughly from the 1770s. This painting by Charles Stadden shows a Marine light infantryman and a Marine grenadier, both wearing the white wings on their shoulders, as part of their particular uniform. Marines in the battalions companies did not have such a distinction on their uniforms. The light infantryman's coat most closely matches the coat shown in the movies, excepting of course the turned-back tails, the turned down collar, and the white shoulder wings. This Marine from the first movie shows the coat, waistcoat, and hat seen throughout the movie. When set against the painting above, the influence is fairly clear, but so are the differences. It was not until the 1780s that the Marines' coat collars were made upright instead of turned down. It was also during that later period that the crossbelts were given a belt-plate. Adhering to the scriptwriters' time period, the Marines' uniform should have looked something like this7, most likely with the buff-coloured gaiters. It's not until the establishment of the Marines as a permanent standing corps that the uniform becomes even remotely like what is seen in PotC. In this painting7 by Charles Stadden, the Marines in 1755 are shown with their distinctive white facings, but the style and cut of their coat was still very different. The breeches and waistcoats were either red or white during this period. This would have made for a very different look, had the Marines in PotC followed the proper time period. Going by what is shown rather than what is said, it is more accurate to place the Marines much later than 1750, which is the end year in the scriptwriters' time range. Sources 1 The History of Officer Uniforms, http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/server/show/co.../changeNav/3533 2 The British Fleet: The Growth, Achievements and Duties of the Navy of the Empire; Charles Napier Robinson (2007) 3 Admiral Sir Charles Saunders http://www.nmm.ac.uk/mag/pages/mnuExplore/...er=a&ID=BHC3012 4Captain Sir Edward Hughes, http://www.nmm.ac.uk/searchbin/searchs.pl?...978&flash=&dev= 5 Commissioned officers' careers in the Royal Navy 1690 - 1815, http://www.jmr.nmm.ac.uk/server/show/conJm...e.52/viewPage/2 6 Royal Naval Uniform, http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/explore/o...cture=2#content 7 Uniforms of the Royal Marines - From 1664 to the Present Day; Charles Stadden, George and Christopher Newark, and Major Alastair Donald, RM (1997) 8 "For the Glory of the Marines!" - The Organization, Training, Uniforms, and Combat Role of the British Marines During the American Revolution; Thomas Boaz (1993) |
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4:10 AM Jul 30
