Uniforms have been a part of military life for centuries. Their absence in earlier times accounts for the importance of standards and colours (flags) as rallying or identification points. Uniforms were introduced during the days of chivalry. Armour obscured the combatants which could have resulted in friend fighting friend. Knights, therefore, adopted symbols and colours which they displayed on their shields etc. Each family was identified in this way.
As warfare became more complicated, greater organization was needed not just for the common soldier, but for officers as well. Rank insignia were needed so that officers could give orders to troops not known to them. At first, scarves and sashes of silk were adopted for this purpose.
Red was the uniform colour adopted by the first permanent regiment of the British Army, the Yeoman of the Guard, (the Beefeaters), during the reign of Henry VIII. In 1645, this colour was adopted when the first permanent army was raised. Red was not used in order to hide blood stains. Rather, every army adopted certain colours as their national colours. French soldiers tended to wear blue; Russians wore green; British wore red.
With the infantry wearing a bright red colour, with white crossbelts and shiny brass, weren't they easier targets? However, in the 1860s battle tactics were much different from those applied today. Before 1866, British longarms were muzzle-loading weapons. To load these weapons required a soldier to:
1) stand upright to load a gunpowder charge and bullet down into the muzzle.
2) get very close to the enemy in order to hit them, due to the inaccuracy of the musket.
3) stand close together for volley firing.
It was the quantity of projectiles that mattered, not camouflage.
By 1867, however, warfare and the times were changing. With the advent of breech-loading rifles to the British Army in 1866, the quality of small arms changed considerably. Faster rates of fire, from a much more accurate weapon, which could be loaded in the prone position, slowly began to change the tactical doctrine of the Army. The change in tactics was not as swift as it might have been because during the last half of the 1800s, the British Army did not fight a modern, similarly equipped army. In essence, the tactics used were ones that made sense with the older style of firearms; the tactics still had to evolve to take advantage of the newer weapons.
It was surprising that the lessons of the new weapons recently demonstrated in the American Civil War (1861– 1865) were not absorbed by the British. Although most European nations had observers on both sides, lessons that should have been learned were dismissed, as it was felt that this war was an isolated case determined by a geography unlike any in Europe. Further, it was deemed an ‘unseemly brawl between undisciplined armies.’
It was not until the late 1800s that a Khaki uniform was issued, the British Army finally realizing that drab coloured uniforms provided better camouflage in response to more accurate, faster firing weapons using smokeless gunpowder. Once again, tactics continued to lag behind and it took the carnage of the First World War to convince authorities that there was a requirement to seek cover and remain hidden as opposed to standing up in battle formations.
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