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Military Uniform

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Soldiers were issued one uniform per year. They were expected to keep it in good condition and looking tidy, but it was not necessarily clean. It consisted of shoes, socks, breeches, a vest, a justaucorps (overcoat), and a chemise (shirt) which usually came to just below the soldier's knees. Around their neck they wore a crevatte (a type of neck warmer). On their heads they wore a tricorn hat (a hat with three points). A cadet, who would have been the son of an officer, wore a braid hanging from the shoulder of his uniform.

Each regiment wore a different colour uniform. The infantry wore blue and gray with brass coloured buttons and gold ribbon around the edge of their hats. The artillery regiment (cannoniers) wore red and blue uniforms with pewter buttons and a silver ribbon around the edge of their hats. The drummers wore almost the exact uniform as the artillery but with two significant differences; the drummer's uniform had brass buttons and they wore the king's livery (a type of braided sash sewn onto the justaucorps).

An officer wore a white justaucorps with blue cuffs. Since an officer was a gentleman his clothes were finer and cleaner than those of his troops. A noticeably different part of an officer's uniform from that of his troops was a gold gorgette which he wore about his neck. The gorgette was considered to be the remnants of a knight's breast plate, and was somewhat similar to a modern day neck plate.

An important part of the uniform; the belt, held a cartridge case, a powder horn, a sword, and a bayonet. The cartridge case held nine cartridges with a pick and a brush for cleaning parts of the "lock" of the musket. The powder horn, a real animal horn, was used for priming. The sword was usually used as a sign of authority. The bayonet had three sides and was attached to the barrel of the musket.

The Musket