British in Eygpt 1800

[jcspqr]

What head gear did the British Guard and Fusiler regiments  wear in the Egyptian campaign?  Bearskin?

Jim

[Tony Barton]

I think the short answer is we don't know exactly for all units. There's no doubt that shakos were worn by the units that sailed from Britain, including centre coys of the Guards & Line; but whether the Fusiliers,  and Grenadiers of each Line and Guards battalion wore bearskins seems uncertain.
There's a local sketch of a drummer from the 61st( who came from India)wearing a bearskin, when the other soldiers are wearing round hats, so the climate doesn't seem to have been a factor.
 Shakos were available for Grenadiers generally ,as an option to the bearskin,  from the orders detailing their issue, so on balance I think it's likely that all ranks wore them, apart from those units from India who wore round hats.
Officers also mostly seem to have worn round hats to replace the official bicorne.
So I think it's up to you....

[Baron von Wreckedoften]

Further to Tony's answer, the rule of Fusiliers not wearing bearskins on campaign had been established prior to the Egyptian campaign, having been seen in both the SYW and the AWI (in the latter, all three Fusilier regiments had worn normal/adapted hats in the field).  The Foot Guards, of course, had not started wearing bearskins for all ranks in all companies, and would not until after Waterloo anyway.

It's difficult to know for sure whether any grenadier companies took their bearskin caps on campaign at this time, although by 1800 all companies would/should have been wearing shakos with coloured feathers anyway.  We do know that they stopped wearing bearskin caps in the field about mid-way through the AWI and went to hats (which all flank company men received as part of their annual clothing allowance anyway, in addition to their "specialist" kit) with white feathers instead.  However, whilst numerous "field mods" from the American war became official policy from 1785 (eg grenadiers losing the matchcase off their cartridge belt and their characteristic short sword) it cannot always be assumed that anything done in America automatically applied in other theatres.

That said, if your troops are in shakos, I would include grenadiers in that, for all units even the Guards; troops from India might have been wearing earlier uniform styles, but centre companies would certainly have been in round hats, as would troops from Minorca and other Mediterranean garrisons.