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2nd Empire Army - Uniforms

A uniform is a distinguishing dress of a certain group or organization, as an army, society, etc. To obtain authentic records as to the first employment of costume devices, as they were then known, it is necessary to go back to the Crusaders. Armor was the badge of caste, and to distinguish one armored knight from another there were adopted and employed shields bearing what are now known as heraldic devices. Likewise the difficulty of distinguishing men at arms, and followers of a king or nobleman, especially in battle, brought about the introduction of a distinctive badge or pattern of dregs for all the retainers of a feudal lord or monarch. Thus in the Second Crusade the French wore red crosses on their sleeves and the English white.

Henry VIII of England is said to have had the first completely uniformed body of men, when at the siege of Therovame his archers were dressed in white gaberdines, with caps of uniform color and design. In 1526 he arrayed the yeomen of his household in a uniform of red and black, and this costume for the Yeomen of the Guard, or the Beefeaters, as they were formerly known, is still worn by the members of that distinguished corps.

France speedily followed England in uniforming the different corps of men at arms, and by the beginning of the seventeenth century all the countries of Europe had distinctive dress for their troops. Uniforms were first worn in France by the entire army in the reign of Louis XIII. In 1670, when the wearing of the prescribed uniform was made compulsory, the infantry were ordered to wear white coats, faced with red. The cavalry had a similar uniform with leather breeches and high boots. Under Louis XVI the uniforms were modified, the infantry wearing white, the light cavalry blue, and the heavy cavalry green. With the Revolution the uniforms were simplified-consisting of darkblue coats, white breeches, and high gaiters. Napoleon, on account of the difficulty of obtaining dyestuff, returned to white, but, substitutes for the old dyes being found, the colored coats were again introduced. During this period the French uniforms, particularly those of the officers, were probably the most elaborate ever worn.

Uniforms probably reached their height of splendor in the days of the Napoleonic wars, when the French Emperor made use of all possible spectacular effect to incite martial enthusiasm. From then until the end of the nineteenth century uniforms varied with the times, strongly influenced in cut and design by various changes in civilian costumes, such as wigs, long and short skirted coats, knee breeches, boots, and similar accessories, and what were the fashions of the tunes soon found their way into the dress regulations prescribed for the armies.

In 1815, with the restoration of Louis XVIII, the white uniforms were again taken up, only to give way to the blue in 1820. At the game time the famous red trousers were universally adopted for all branches of the service except riflemen, artillery, and engineers, who all wore blue. During the Second Empire a return was made to the extremely elaborate dress of the Napoleonic days, but the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 proved the uselessness of many of these uniforms for modern warfare. The Imperial French army started the war with splendid uniforms which had more than a nod to the glories of the army of Napoleon I. The various Guard and special units such as the Zouaves added rich splashes of color. By the Republican era this martial elegance was discarded by the vast majority of the army and shortages of basic material saw the French army equipped in a wide range of styles.

In the days when the arms used on the battlefield had but a limited range, the wearing of showy uniforms made little difference, as the enemy's troops, even when plainly visible, could not be readied by fire except at short distances. The improvement of firearms, however, completely changed field operations, and showy uniforms, except for parade and garrison duty, almost completely disappeared. With the reconstruction of the army after the war the general scheme of color (blue and red) was retained and the uniforms were put on a more practical basis which, except for slight modifications, are as worn at the present time. The dragoons and cuirassiers still wore their metal helmets, and the latter also the cuirass.