Adult British Redcoat Fancy Dress Costume Mens, Revolutionary War Halloween Outfit, Historical Colonial Jacket for Theater

Product Information

When a regiment was not on the battlefield they would have been settled in an established barrack or billet. The epithet "redcoats" is familiar throughout much of the former British Empire, even though this colour was by no means exclusive to the British Army.

For all ebook purchases, you will be prompted to create an account or login with your existing HarperCollins username and password. During the Venezuelan War of Independence, the Ejército Libertador (Army of Liberation) adopted the red hussar cavalry uniforms used by the British Legions' Company of Honor Guard for Simón Bolívar.Red coats were also worn by the Swiss mercenary regiments in the French Army from the mid-17th to early 19th centuries. Thereafter red coatees became the normal parade and battle dress for marine infantry, although the staining effects of salt spray meant that white fatigue jackets and subsequently blue undress tunics were often substituted for shipboard duties. Outside of Ireland or Britain, the English red coat made its first appearance on a European continental battlefield at the Battle of the Dunes in 1658. We pride ourselves on providing a surprising and fun educational experience and we are delighted to accommodate any special requirements. Life in the army was extremely disciplined [31] and even minor matters of misconduct did not go unpunished.

The red coat was widely (though not exclusively) used by the infantry units of the British military, including the British Army and Royal Marines, from the 16th to 19th centuries.In the Kingdom of Ireland, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the soldiers of the queen's Lord-Lieutenant were occasionally referred to as "red coats" by Irish commentators, from the colour of their clothing. John Cookson suggests that serving with the army did command a certain respect, and those men that became the holder of an office "could lay claim to the title of [being a] gentleman". Camp life was dirty and cramped with the potential for a rapid spread of disease, [2] and punishments could be anything from a flogging to a death sentence.

Irish commentators referred to soldiers of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland as "red coats" as early as 1561. A common recipe for feeding the troops was beef broth and potatoes – a hearty, warm and filling meal that could normally feed up to eight men. At the Battle of Edgehill, the first battle of the English Civil War, Royalist troops wore red coats, as did at least two Parliamentary regiments. It must be recognised that although questions did arise as to the need for a standing force, when fears of an invasion were widespread, the speed with which the government was able to utilise its militia and volunteer forces suggests how "the unreformed British state rested on the active consent of substantial numbers of its inhabitants". The public perception of the British Army gradually changed as the long war with Revolutionary/Imperial France wore on, contributing to the Duke of York's structural, recruitment and training reforms in the early 1800s.

However, none of these examples constituted the national uniform that the red coat was later to become. A contemporary comment on the New Model Army dated 7 May 1645 stated: "the men are Redcoats all, the whole army only are distinguished by the several facings of their coats. As part of a series of reforms following the Second Boer War (which had been fought in this inconspicuous clothing of Indian origin), a darker khaki serge was adopted in 1902 for service dress in Britain itself. The clash of empires exhibition will be huge - the largest artefact-driven museum exhibition on the Anglo-Zulu War, and it is happening in London in July.

Beyond its military significance, the red coat has etched itself into the cultural fabric of Britain. A trumpeter could be paid up to 2s 8d, while a drummer may have been paid 3s if he served with the cavalry. The reason for not generally reintroducing the distinctive full dress was primarily financial, as the scarlet cloth requires expensive cochineal dye dyed in the grain of the cloth by old-fashioned methods.In an earlier letter dated 13 October 1775, Washington used a variation of the expression, stating, "whenever the red Coat gentry pleases to step out of their Intrenchments. Red or purple had provided a rich distinction for senior clerics through the Middle Ages in the hierarchy of colours distinguishing the Roman Church. There had been instances of red military clothing pre-dating its general adoption by the New Model Army.