WSS Spanish Bourbon Infantry Uniforms at Almanza

[Arthur]

Having just bought some of the excellent Ebor WSS Spanish infantry figures with the intention of painting them for Almanza, I'm currently trying to determine whether the recently introduced white coats had fully or partially replaced the old coloured uniforms. Most Spanish sources depict the Bourbon infantry dressed in white coats at Almanza, but the occasional reconstruction also shows older uniforms such as these, which seem a bit anachronistic for 1707 :




To be more specific, here are the regiments I'm interested in : can any of you learned gentlemen confirm the uniform info below is substantially correct ?

1/ Regimiento de Castilla (formerly the Tercio de los Morados Viejos): the grey/white coats with purple facings would appear to have replaced the old purple coat with red cuffs by 1707. The plate below shows a grenadier drummer (on the left) wearing what is essentially the old uniform with added lace. Would musicians have retained the old purple coats while the rest of the men adopted white coats ?  



Another plate shows a Castilla grenadier wearing the new white coat next to an officer clad in the old Morados Viejos uniform. I suspect the latter would have also worn the white coat by 1707, or am I mistaken ?  



2/ Regimiento de Badajoz (originally raised as Estramadura Viejo in 1694) : grey/white coats faced pale blue as shown below. Would the musicians have worn a specific livery, or just the enlisted man's coat with added red and white lace ?


  
3/ Regimiento de Murcia (raised 1694 as Tercio de los Azules Nuevos): grey/white coats lined blue, replacing the former pale blue coat lined dark blue. The fifer on the left seems to be wearing the 1690's pattern coat. Again, would the musicians have retained coloured coats while the rest of the rank and file switched to white ? The yellow breeches and red stockings seem to indicate an order of dress that would not have been seen after 1704/1705.  

[emosbur]

The "Ordenanza de Infantería" from December 30 1706 established the white as the uniform for the infantry. The uniforms were made in France, so is possible that not all regiments were uniformed white in 1707. The problem is to know which regiments. Is it possible, too, that some individuals retained their old jackets, until they wear out. The drummer in your plate (from Dragona magazine) is in the Royal Livery. What you see as purple, I think it is Royal Blue. May be that some musicians retained their old jackets with lace.
What to do? Well, I would use the Dragona plates "as is", because it was a well researched magazine. Leave a few officers in their old colour jackets, and a few drummers too. And paint most infantry in white.  Nobody is going to say you are wrong.
Finally, look here:
http://asociacion1707.blogspot.com.es/
http://almansa2007.usuarios.tvalmansa.com/
These spanish reenacments wear inverted colours for their musicians.

Emilio.

[Arthur]

Thanks for the links, Emilio : I was familiar with one of them, but not the other.

Are you sure the Castilla drummer is supposed to wear the royal livery ? The coat strikes me as definitely purple rather than royal blue : look at the drum case, the Guard grenadier's uniform or the other soldiers' cuffs and stockings, which are very clearly blue,  and you'll see the difference in hue. It seems to me the grenadier drummer is wearing the old morado uniform with added lace, which appears to have been a common practice in the Spanish army (though confusingly colonels were apparently allowed to clothe their drummers in their personal livery from 1707/1708, no doubt in imitation of the French)

[emosbur]

Well, yes, it looks like purple. But, who knows? Do you have the text that explains the plate? probably it says what colour is the jacket.
About your first question about Bourbon regiment: my opinion is that a regiment with that name, must be between the first in receiving the new white uniforms. Moreover, that regiment is not an old spanish one, with coloured jackets. In fact, I can´t find that regiment in the list for Felipe V reign!!
http://www.reocities.com/pentagon/8745/infanteria/1704-09.htm
May you tell me where did you find the information for that regiment?

Emilio

[Suber]

I'm also trying to get some more info on the subject, but there are some aspects I simply cannot find. However, I'll try to add some things to the wonderful explanation Emilio has done .

The "Tercio de los Morados" ('of the Purple ones') got that colloquial name because of the colour of the coat, coming from their former position as a Royal Guard (until 1662). They got the name of “Regimiento de Infantería de Castilla” by the Real Orden of Feb 28th 1707 (which adapted and fully enhanced the reformation concepts from the previous Real Orden from Sept 28th 1704). Those Royal Orders (specially the 1707 one) try to settle the white uniforms for all the Spanish Regiments, though each one would keep their original colour on the sleeves and other pieces of the uniform. Only the Royal House troops (and the Regimiento de Castilla was no longer part of that), but including the recently created Real Regimiento de Artillería and the Cuerpo Facultativo de Ingenieros kept on using the traditional deep blue uniform with a red badge. You can see that, for example, in the battle illustration, the blue uniform soldier is indeed listed as a Grenadier from the Spanish Royal Guards (Reales Guardias Españolas, RR.GG.EE)

There most probably was a slight messy mixture of uniforms al the Battle of Almansa, however, depending on supply coverage (coming from France) for different Regiments, their level of engagement and location, and so, though later illustrations tend to just simplify and use the ‘official’ uniformity that was supposed to be used by then.

[Arthur]

Well, yes, it looks like purple. But, who knows? Do you have the text that explains the plate? probably it says what colour is the jacket.
About your first question about Bourbon regiment: my opinion is that a regiment with that name, must be between the first in receiving the new white uniforms. Moreover, that regiment is not an old spanish one, with coloured jackets. In fact, I can´t find that regiment in the list for Felipe V reign!!
http://www.reocities.com/pentagon/8745/infanteria/1704-09.htm
May you tell me where did you find the information for that regiment?

Emilio

Unfortunately, I don't have a copy of the magazine in question, which probably isn't available outside of Spain : the jpg's I posted above are mostly scans I hotlinked from the Alfons Canovas blog.

Re the Bourbon uniforms; I think you misunderstood my original post. I wasn't inquiring about the uniforms of a specific Bourbon/Borbon regiment (which did not exist then as you rightly point out) but rather using the noun in a general sense to refer to the infantry in the service of Philip/Felipe V, as opposed to the Spanish troops fighting for Charles III.    

[Arthur]

I'm also trying to get some more info on the subject, but there are some aspects I simply cannot find. However, I'll try to add some things to the wonderful explanation Emilio has done .

The "Tercio de los Morados" ('of the Purple ones') got that colloquial name because of the colour of the coat, coming from their former position as a Royal Guard (until 1662). They got the name of “Regimiento de Infantería de Castilla” by the Real Orden of Feb 28th 1707 (which adapted and fully enhanced the reformation concepts from the previous Real Orden from Sept 28th 1704). Those Royal Orders (specially the 1707 one) try to settle the white uniforms for all the Spanish Regiments, though each one would keep their original colour on the sleeves and other pieces of the uniform. Only the Royal House troops (and the Regimiento de Castilla was no longer part of that), but including the recently created Real Regimiento de Artillería and the Cuerpo Facultativo de Ingenieros kept on using the traditional deep blue uniform with a red badge. You can see that, for example, in the battle illustration, the blue uniform soldier is indeed listed as a Grenadier from the Spanish Royal Guards (Reales Guardias Españolas, RR.GG.EE)

There most probably was a slight messy mixture of uniforms al the Battle of Almansa, however, depending on supply coverage (coming from France) for different Regiments, their level of engagement and location, and so, though later illustrations tend to just simplify and use the ‘official’ uniformity that was supposed to be used by then.

Thanks for posting this, which recoups the research I had done on my own. Given that the December 1706 royal warrant was a relatively recent one, it seems indeed likely that a mixture of white and coloured uniforms was worn at Almanza, as I doubt the entire army would have been re-outfitted in just four months. But then again some units - perhaps most - had probably been wearing the white coats for a few years already.

The most vexing issue is probably that of the drummers' liveries : besides being an object of intellectual curiosity, they are aesthetically important in a wargames units as they provide some measure of visual contrast (I normally include two drummers in my 30 figure battalions and place them in the front rank of the central 6-figure base along with the standard bearers, to ensure they get maximum visibility).

Ultimately, I will probably go with purple coats lined red and and laced in red and white for the Castilla musicians: I have no idea whether this is correct or not, but the colour scheme will contrast nicely with the white coats faced purple of the rank and file. For Badajoz, I will probably paint the drummers in the same white uniform as the musketeers, but with added lace (which appears to have been what regulations dictated anyway). The jury's still out for Murcia : dunno if I'll use the light blue coat faced dark blue. We'll see.  

It would have been nice to have a few colonel's liveries to spice things up a bit, but I may well be looking for info that does not exist here.  

[emosbur]

Re the Bourbon uniforms; I think you misunderstood my original post. I wasn't inquiring about the uniforms of a specific Bourbon/Borbon regiment (which did not exist then as you rightly point out) but rather using the noun in a general sense to refer to the infantry in the service of Philip/Felipe V, as opposed to the Spanish troops fighting for Charles III.    

:
Sorry, I understood "Bourbon infantry regiment" 

[emosbur]

You can find some articles from Dragona here:

http://www.tercios.org/R_D/R_D_PPAL.html

The magazine is not more available, and the autor lose all his files in a PC crash. So he can´t resurrect most articles. Very sad.

Emilio

[Arthur]

Muchas gracias, Emilio : some very useful links here