Napoleonic French Uniforms in Egypt

[whiskey priest]

I don't want to come over all button countery but I need to check that I have the changes in the uniform of the Army of the Orient right in my head before I make some expensive choices. Obviously the troops would have been in the standard revolutionary army uniform, with Bicornes etc, at the start of the campaign but when would that have changed to the Kléber uniform. In my head the change wouldn't have happened until the start of the Syrian campaign but it could well have been earlier. And am i right in thinking that there was only a single uniform colour for all the battalions until after the return from Acre. So the multicoloured uniforms would be for the period when they were fighting the British on land? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Arthur]

The infantry of the Army of the Orient wore three uniforms between 1798 and 1801 : the regulation European habit à la française which proved totally unsuited for the Egyptian climate and was only used for a few months, the dark blue cotton coatee introduced in late 1798 and worn throughout 1799 (including the Syrian campaign), and ultimately the so-called Kléber uniform which was issued to the troops in late 1799 and early 1800.
 
The multicoloured uniforms were worn during the brief Heliopolis campaign of March 1800 (and the subsequent putting down of the Cairo insurrection) as well as the 1801 campaign against the Anglo-Turkish invasion force.