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From then on, the red coat continued as a dress item only, retained for reasons both of national sentiment and its value in recruiting. The British military authorities were more practical in their considerations than their French counterparts, who incurred heavy casualties by retaining highly visible blue coats and red trousers for active ...
It included a diced bonnet, short red coat with white facings (collar, lapels, and cuffs) and white lace with a red worm, a Government Sett kilt, and diced hose. The kilt and hose were typically only worn while in garrison. In the field, the regiment wore the standard British Army gaitered trousers. In the summer, they were made of linen.
A final possibility is that red is the primary color in the Royal Standard, the Royal Coat of Arms, and is the color of St George's cross (St George is the patron saint of England). During the Napoleonic Wars , the British Regulars were a well disciplined group of foot soldiers with years of combat experience, including in the Americas, the ...
Between 1775 and 1781, the regular army increased from 48,000 to 121,000. In 1778 the army adopted some non traditional recruiting measures to further augment its strength, a system of private subscription was established, whereby some 12 new regiments totaling 15,000 men were raised by individual towns and nobles.
Colonists such as Richard Henry Lee proposed forming a national militia force, but the First Continental Congress rejected the idea. [2] On April 23, 1775, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress authorized the raising of a colonial army consisting of 26 company regiments. New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut soon raised similar but ...
For example, older participants' testimony in later life about Lexington and Concord differed greatly from their depositions taken under oath in 1775. All now said the British fired first at Lexington, whereas fifty or so years before, they weren't sure. All now said they fired back, but in 1775, they said few were able to.
Light Horse Harry Lee gained national fame from his service with the 1st Continental Regiment at the Battle of Paulus Hook and in the Southern Campaign. [4] On 31 March 1777 in General Orders, George Washington named promoted officers of the 1st Light Dragoons. Theodorick Bland Esqr., Major, Comdt. to be Colonel thereof. Capt. Benjamin Temple ...
Notable exceptions were Charles's Lifeguard, who were issued with blue coats faced with scarlet, as were the Royal Ecossais; the Irish Brigade, as the lineal descendant of James II's Royal Irish Army, wore their traditional red coats. The well-dressed cavalry were used in an attempt to impress the local populace in several places: an observer ...