French Army Engineers C. 1792

[captnenglish]

I recently bought a figure that is base on this painting (figure with arm raised) and want to make sure that the uniform depicted is accurate since the figure is an historical personage. Would the facings and cuffs have been blue to match the rest of the jacket or black; I'm thinking black but this is way outside my comfort zone.

 

[gordy]

Do you have any more specifics, such as a regiment, or location presuming American Revolution period ?

 

[gordy]

Here is another picture, nothing much alludes to black cuffs, FWTW
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Joseph_Rouget_de_Lisle

 

[captnenglish]

Thanks Gordy, as you have I am sure figured out de Lisle was involved in the French Revolution (although since I almost never paint anything other than American subjects I can see why you thought AWI). That second image (the one you posted) gets almost none of the uniform details right. From what I have been told the facings and cuffs for the Empire Period would have been black so it is pretty safe to assume that they would have been during the revolution. The image you posted does give me some ideas on other figures IF I can find the appropriate ones in 1/35th.

 

[gordy]

You're welcome, I'd agree it's a safe assumption, nevertheless nothing contrary has been proven either! Frustrating

 

[captnenglish]

As an academic I would find that troubling, as a modeller, not so much

 

[Augie]

Hi Matt,

This might very well fall under "the blind leading the blind", but ck out this on-line reference: http://www.darnault-mil.com/Galerie/N1_Revolution/N1_Revolution.html. Go to pp. 124-25.

Not the clearest image, and the black on dk blue doesn't help, but Fig 2 is that of an officer in 1793.

Hope this helps!

Augie

 

[captnenglish]

Thanks Augie. My French ain't so good , but as they say, a picture speaks a thousand words. This makes me wonder what other Funcken books are on-line

 

[Augie]

Glad it was of some help. I canvassed the pp on either side of the plate, and not much on the uniform itself. There is a very short background blurb on the Engineers on p. 120, and the blurb on Rouget-de-l'Isle on p. 124: he apparently was promoted to Capitaine in 1791.

That site hosts two on-line Funcken books: http://www.darnault-mil.com/Galerie/index_galerie.htm. I would not be surprised if there were more.

Best,

Augie

 

[captnenglish]

Thanks again.

 

[gordy]

Nice find Augie with the additional keywords from Augie's link I've come across more possible good info:

 

[captnenglish]

Nice find Gordy!

 

[gordy]

Thanks, the right keywords and some perseverance we can get to the bottom of it

 

[Augie]

OUTSTANDING, Gordy! I think Matt's just about ready to roll with this one!!

 

[captnenglish]

Thanks, the right keywords and some perseverance we can get to the bottom of it

I googled everything in English I could think of , guess I should have taken French in HS instead of German; not that I remember much of my high school German anyway.

 

[captnenglish]

OUTSTANDING, Gordy! I think Matt's just about ready to roll with this one!!

Very true.

 

[Augie]

Hi Matt,

Great to hear!

For a rear view of the habit, scroll down to the end of the first posting on the page (#976): http://www.armchairgeneral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1353698

All you really need now are the rank insignia and the officer's distinctives. . .

Best,

Augie

 

[captnenglish]

Thanks. I most likely won't have to worry about the grenade insignia as those appear to be for the Imperial Guard and I am working on an earlier period, but it is good to know what the back looks like. Now I just need to clear off the WB so that I can get to this figure. In the meantime I can solidify the design of the piece.