Kilts... Napoleonic Period...?

[james a. husky]

Well...

Conjecture is all we've got for the period of the Seven Years (French & Indian War) and the American Revolution. Some paintings, some letters and commentary, some supply paperwork, etc.!

The Gordon philebeag of about (IIRC) 1790 is the most recent one about... 4 yard, box pleated, sewn pleats, no liner and not fitted.

But... The WHOLE upper part of the British Highland Regimental uniforms underwent quite a bit of change in the next 25 or so (1790-1815) years! How's 'bout the philebeag, itself???

I'd like to replicate a philebeag of the time of Waterloo (though, preferrably the 42nd). I'll start searching the reenactment forums for that period (I don't know much about anything past 1783 re: uniforms). I thought I'd start here first, however.

Any ideas on information sources?

Thank You!

Jim aka kiltiemon

[Lachlan09]

I would recommend hunting the bookstores and second-hand bookshops.

By the period of which you are talking, there were British military regulations of course (the first proper regulations were 1751 on the behest of the Duke of Cumberland). I used to have very good books on British military dress and regulations through the years, but alas the books are long gone. One excellent hardback book was by W.Y. Carman, though I can’t remember the title. It enlightened me about your period, by which time the little kilt was regulation issue. Another good author on dress regulations was Major Money Barnes.

Until from about 1793 (?) to 1810, for full-dress the kilt was worn with a separate large triangle of matching tartan which was fastened by one corner with a loop to the shoulder and the other two corners had tapes which fastened round the waist. It was long enough for the “billow” to hang down and give the effect of the great kilt (belted plaid) of old. Presumably this item was introduced partly to make fatigues less cumbersome, but the assemblage could be made fancy when needed, but mainly because there were so many Highland regiments popping up in the 1790’s and there weren’t enough Highland recruits to go round, so Lowlanders, Irish, English, Welsh and even Continentals were signed up, who were unfamiliar with Highland dress and it had to be made easier for them. Also, even among the Highlanders, it is doubtful if by the 1790’s many knew how to don a great kilt properly and the Army didn’t have the time or inclination to train them in an item largely redundant even amongst civilians. After 1810, the fly-plaid was introduced for full-dress.

The Gordon kilt you mention, if regimental, would presumably be more like 1793/4 when the 92nd was raised.

[Bigkahuna]

You might want to check out www.93rdhighlanders.com. This is a reenactment group doing Napoleonic War period Highlanders. As an interesting note: The 93rd won all their battles until they changed to trousers. The battle they lost was New Orleans.

[macwilkin]

You might want to check out www.93rdhighlanders.com. This is a reenactment group doing Napoleonic War period Highlanders. As an interesting note: The 93rd won all their battles until they changed to trousers. The battle they lost was New Orleans.

The 93rd didn't "lose" Chalmette -- whilst other British regiments broke and ran, the 93rd stood fast under a hail of fire from the Americans, and withdrew in good order when ordered. One of the Light Companies of the 93rd briefly seized an American redoubt, but was not reinforced -- if only!

T.

[Lachlan09]

Too right Cajun ! The 44th Essex forgot the scaling ladders and the 93rd were left hanging around in line formation awaiting their arrival. Then the American sharpshooters popped the 93rd's officers and the regiment was left standing there without orders, survivors filling up the gaps in the ranks of the shrinking battalion. Eventually, the battered remnants of the 93rd were marched off the battlefield, still in good order.

I presume they wore trews for that expedition as Louisiana was considered a pestilent area. Likewise, Highland regiments in the West Indies, India and the Nile had given up kilts and wore plain breeches, trousers or trews. The 91st Argyllshire wore trews during the mosquito-ridden Walcheren Expedition (Netherlands) of 1809.

I understand the old song sung as sung by Johnny Horton, Zachary Richard etc isn’t quite right (about the running !):-

Well, in eighteen and fourteen we took a little trip
along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississip.
We took a little bacon and we took a little beans,
And we caught the bloody British near the town of New Orleans.

We fired our guns and the British kept a'comin.
There wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago.
We fired once more and they began to runnin'
down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.

Well, I see'd Mars Jackson walkin down the street
talkin' to a pirate by the name of Jean Lafitte
He gave Jean a drink that he brung from Tennessee
and the pirate said he'd help us drive the British in the sea.

The French said Andrew, you'd better run,
for Packingham's a comin' with a bullet in his gun.
Old Hickory said he didn't give a dang,
he's gonna whip the britches off of Colonel Packingham.

We fired our guns and the British kept a'comin.
There wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago.
We fired once more and they began to runnin'
down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.

Well, we looked down the river and we see'd the British come,
and there must have been a hundred of 'em beatin' on the drum.
They stepped so high and they made their bugles ring
while we stood by our cotton bales and didn't say a thing.

Old Hickory said we could take 'em by surprise
if we didn't fire a musket til we looked 'em in the eyes.
We held our fire til we see'd their faces well,
then we opened up with squirrel guns and really gave a yell.

We fired our guns and the British kept a'comin.
There wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago.
We fired once more and they began to runnin'
down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.

Well, we fired our cannon til the barrel melted down,
so we grabbed an alligator and we fought another round.
We filled his head with cannon balls and powdered his behind,
and when they tetched the powder off, the gator lost his mind.

We'll march back home but we'll never be content
till we make Old Hickory the people's President.
And every time we think about the bacon and the beans,
we'll think about the fun we had way down in New Orleans.

We fired our guns and the British kept a'comin,
But there wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago.
We fired once more and they began to runnin'
down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.

Well, they ran through the briars and they ran through the brambles
And they ran through the bushes where a rabbit couldn't go.
They ran so fast the hounds couldn't catch 'em
down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.

We fired our guns and the British kept a'comin.
But there wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago.
We fired once more and they began to runnin'
down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.

[WClarkB]

The 93rd didn't "lose" Chalmette -- whilst other British regiments broke and ran, the 93rd stood fast under a hail of fire from the Americans, and withdrew in good order when ordered.
T.

Have I missed a definition change for "win" and "lose"?

At the end of the engagement was the 93rd in possession of the field? They surely did not "win" nor "draw" and unless I am mistaken the alternative is still to "lose." That they acted honorably, is granted, even with terrible losses among the men AND officers.

[Lachlan09]

I believe Cajun's saying that yes the British lost the battle, but it wasn't lost due to the 93rd's actions that day, but by a number of frisson factors, good American marksmanship and some incompetence by other British units.

If you want a prime example of a stupid battle and futile loss of life, forget the Great War - New Orleans was it ! As we all know, the war had already finished and the combattant countries were at peace some weeks before. If only North America had the Napoleonic telegraph/semaphore system !

[macwilkin]

I believe Cajun's saying that yes the British lost the battle, but it wasn't lost due to the 93rd's actions that day, but by a number of frisson factors, good American marksmanship and some incompetence by other British units.

If you want a prime example of a stupid battle and futile loss of life, forget the Great War - New Orleans was it ! As we all know, the war had already finished and the combattant countries were at peace some weeks before. If only North America had the Napoleonic telegraph/semaphore system !

I thank you sir! That is exactly my point. A comment was made implying that the 93rd lost Chalmette because they were wearing trews. While that was most likely an attempt at humour, I simply wanted to point out that the 93rd performed honorably that day and held the line as long as they could. I never claimed that the 93rd "won" New Orleans, just that they (the 93rd) certainly didn't lose it for the British.

T.

[OC Richard]

The Gordon philebeag of about (IIRC) 1790 is the most recent one about... 4 yard, box pleated, sewn pleats, no liner and not fitted.

But... The WHOLE upper part of the British Highland Regimental uniforms underwent quite a bit of change in the next 25 or so (1790-1815) years! How's 'bout the philebeag, itself???

That's a great question! I would guess that there's not much evidence either way.

I thought I read somewhere that the Highland soldiers at that time were not issued kilts but rather tartan cloth which was made up into kilts by regimental tailors or perhaps by themselves (we have to recall that sailors of that time often sew their own uniforms).

Of course kilts usually look pretty much the same from the front... the trick is finding clear paintings etc which show the rear of the kilt.

I wonder when the Gordons switched from boxpleated to knifepleated. What about the Black Watch? They might have been boxpleated orginally also?

In Wellington's Highlanders, Stuart Reid says:

"Plaiding is traditionally woven in a 27 inch width...

Surviving 18th century documentation relating to the provision of material for kilts indicates that 3 1/2 yards was considered sufficient for a soldier and 4 yards for a Sergeant...

Two surviving ORs kilts worn by the Gordons in the 1790's are box-pleated.

Since box pleats are no more than squared-off gathers very much less material is required and the 3 1/2 yards quoted are entirely adequate. [I wonder if a kiltmaker might dispute this assertion. Seems to me that if each pleat shows a certain line in the sett, the kilt will use the same yardage regardless of whether it's knifepleated or boxpleated, given the same number of pleats.]

No lining was provided.

Knife-pleating was in use by the 1820s if not rather earlier.

In place of the modern arrangement of three straps and buckles fastening the kilt, reliance at this time was placed upon pins (indeed the Black Watch continued to fasten their kilts with three pins down either side of the apron until about 1914).

The Gordons kilt in the SUSM, on the other hand, is fastened with two small flat brass buttons set into the very top at either side of the apron. There is some evidence of damage to the material caused by the prolonged use of pins, and the buttons seem to have been an expedient intended to avoid further damage. "

Somewhat later than your period, but this painting of the 79th in 1852 is wonderful in that you can see the pleating quite clearly. Looks like around 5 yards in the kilt perhaps? And boxpleated.



So a four-yard boxpleated kilt, 27" high, might be the way to go! What tartan the Black Watch wore at Waterloo, though, is a good question as Stuart Reid says:
"The red overstripe in the tartan was certainly used as late as 1812 but may have been discontinued by 1815..."

[james a. husky]

My understanding, per very extensive research by our former Capt. Paul Pace, was that our Plaidies (Great Kilt) were pleated to the line and that it was what we would call knife pleated. It must have been because I can't begin to figure out how one would box pleat a belted plaid and hoist it up with a belt.

Because of that knowlege (from experience), and because there is mention that the 42nd maintained the knife pleat in the philibeag in later years after other regiments had gone to the box pleat, I've knife pleated my 1770's philibeag to the line and sewn in three horizontally sewn lines of stitching on the belted area. I have nothing fitted and I have no lining.

The later philibeag (based on the Gordon) I've box pleated to the line and sewn the pleats vertically. Still no fitting and no lining as per the Gordon.

The supply paperwork to the Regiments would indicate whether or not the tartan was issued as a kilt or as raw fabric. I just need to do more research into that period.

The early 1800s was a time of many changes in technology and chemistry, as well as other areas.

Thanks!!!

Jim aka kiltiemon