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Preuss -> The best and worst dressed of the Nappy Wars (12/21/2002 4:51:11 AM)
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The Napoleonic Wars were the last in which beautifully attired troops marched in ranks bringing panoply and majesty to an otherwise grisly business.
The US civil war found the opponents in several shades of blue and grey (often brown) slogging it out in the woods. It wasn't so pretty.
The Crimean war saw the French and Brits still in blue and red, whilst their enemies had converted to a dirty grey green. The charge of the Light Brigade was made by the well-dressed, but the fellers in the uglies won the day.
The Austro-Prussian war of 1866 saw the Austrians still in white, whilst the Prussians had converted to feldgrau. Here, the white didn't help at all, for Breech loaded rifles wielded by men in less obvious uniforms fighting in open order put paid to the notion of well-dressed men and well-dressed lines.
So I ask you...Who were the best dressed?
Who wore the ugliest uniform?
My vote for the best dressed goes to the Pavlov Grenadier Regiment of the Russian Army. Not only is the green jacket with red facings very snazzy, but added to it, gold petlitzi on cuff and collar made it even more impressive.
The attention getter of the Pavlov's, was of course the Brass fronted mitre with red backing, and white pompon. Being a longtime fan of Frederick the Great's forces, I could only wish that fewer armies had advanced to the shako.
For the worst dressed...the British infantryman in the stovepipe shako. Red is fine, if it's really red. But often, it didn't quite make it to red. And the stovepipe shako...hideous. A bit too tall, and with no outward flare as it rose...it just looked silly. Tis a good thing they were the most disciplined (regular, not guard) infantry in the world, otherwise they'd have been laughed off the field.
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