De Rampjaar (Diaster year 1672) louis 14th

[gringo]

Gents

trying to gather some information on this paerticular year in relation to

louis 14ths army..uniforms and flags..i have the opsreys but they

are vague and lack in depth info.

would appreciate any help members could give me re books etc

or a few plates?

best regards

Ged

www.gringo40s.com......maybe Arthur might know!!

[Phil Robinson]

Hi Ged,

Have a trawl through this blog

http://rampjaar.blogspot.co.uk/

[Phil Robinson]

Oh, and this one

http://warsoflouisxiv.blogspot.co.uk/

[Patrick R]

Some good sources here :

http://www.leagueofaugsburg.com/fightingtalk/index.php

[Arthur]

The links above are very useful, but bear in mind that our knowledge of Louis XIV's army uniforms before 1680 is fragmentary at best. Infantry flags are relatively well known (thanks to Pierre Charrié's seminal book on the subject), cavalry standards less so, and while we have reliable period evidence regarding the coat and facing colours for some of the foot units, no complete description of the army exists as of today.

There is some dispute as to how widespread the use of uniforms was, though it is reasonable to assume that the majority of front line units were uniformed by 1674/1675. Trouble is, we do not necessarily have reliable primary sources regarding what specific infantry units wore during the Dutch war.

The horse is theoretically simpler to deal with as they were supposed to wear grey coats lined grey (and later red) for line regiments after November 1671, royal units having blue coats subsequently faced red - though we don't know how long it took for these regulations to be enforced. Buff coats probably remained quite common until the mid-1670's for all we know.  

For an in-depth look at Louis' army, have a look at John Lynn's excellent book on the subject, but don't expect anything in the way of uniform details. Not cheap, but worth the money the publisher is charging for it :

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0521032482/ref=ox_sc_act_title_9?ie=UTF8&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

Hope this helps somewhat, though it's short on specifics.    

[Arthur]

And not to be picky or anything, but it seems to me this topic would be better at home on the Pikes, Muskets and Flouncy shirts board.