By Franco | Last update : 25 dec. 2024
The emblematic look of the French Musketeers
In the absence of a truly comprehensive article on the subject, I’ve decided to make my own small contribution by summarising a large number of sources. For simplicity’s sake, the particularities of musketeers’ clothes can be divided into several major periods or categories: the infantry musketeer, the musketeer of the Royal Household under Louis XIII and Louis XIV before 1673, then after 1688 with a marked change in uniform, and finally, the short-lived musketeer of the Restoration (1814-1815).
There are few official sources that provide a precise definition of the clothing worn by the infantry musketeers and the King’s Military Household throughout their existence. In the absence of detailed orders, we have to rely on the memoirs of officers and iconographic representations of historical value to try to draw up a coherent vision of their now-famous dress.
The artistic representation of the Musketeer, greatly popularised by Alexandre Dumas, always depicts the same archetypal ‘blue cloaked’ character, more or less fanciful depending on the historical precision of the authors, and we are systematically presented with Musketeers from the House of Louis XIII squabbling with the Cardinal’s Guards. Of course, there isn’t just one historical uniform, as the existence of our French musketeer spans more than 3 centuries, and not all musketeers served the military House of the King of France.
The infantryman musketeer
It is reasonable to assume that the first soldiers known as ‘musketeers’ were, during the reign of Charles IX, those who tested the first modified Spanish muskets supplied by Colonel General Strozzi in 1572 for the siege of La Rochelle.
Until the middle of the 17th century, during the early reign of Louis XIII, as during that of his predecessors, the infantry and cavalry regiments wore no distinctive clothing. Soldiers used their own personal clothing, and each one dressed according to his whim and the fashion of the day. Only the richest and most zealous company captains could finance a special uniform for their men to define their ‘colours’. The only similarities between the soldiers lay in their defensive weapons, their helmets or, for the horsemen, their boots.
It is important to note that, under Louis XIII, there were still few permanent corps. In the event of war, new troops were recruited on a temporary basis, often from rough or destitute men of various origins. Their living conditions were miserable, marked by petty theft and violence. These soldiers served in their clothes from the day of enlistment, sometimes in rags, and their pay, often irregularly paid, did not allow them any superfluous expenses. Against this backdrop of clothing chaos, the losses due to confusion and ‘friendly fire’ were considerable. At most, they painted a cross on themselves to distinguish themselves from other nations. ince the 14th century, the white cross has been the distinguishing mark of the French; it was worn on clothing and standards (the Protestants replaced it with a white scarf). Subsequently, it became customary to wear distinctive objects on clothing and hats. In 1622, during the siege of Nègrepelisse, Louis XIII prescribed that white cloth or objects be worn on hats to facilitate identification during confrontations. During the siege of La Rochelle in 1627, Richelieu ordered a collection of clothes from French towns to support the troops. As the clothes sent by the various towns were all the same colour, the soldiers were dressed uniformly for the first time on this occasion.
So our infantry musketeer in the 16th and mid-17th centuries wore his civilian clothes, which varied according to fashion and region, embellished with all sorts of gallantry and other decorative elements. In the better-endowed companies, some luxurious decorations such as lace or velvet facings and ribbons were introduced by the captains to make a good impression on the other companies in a sort of race for elegance.
Clothing was also subject to various abuses: in some corps, for example, soldiers were given canvas clothes instead of sheets to save money, or captains kept new clothes for reviews and left soldiers ragged the rest of the time. The captains retorted that in isolated garrisons, particularly abroad, deserters could easily sell their belongings. The real reason was that the charges incurred by these recent uniform requirements were too high for the company captains, whose reimbursement was always slow and uncertain.
The armour of previous centuries, which was gradually discarded, had become useless in the face of powerful firearms; it was replaced in the cavalry and for the musketeers by a thick, solid casaque-buffletin made from buffalo or elk hide. This garment had the advantage of being light and, to a certain extent, cushioning sword blows. It is completed by a large gored collar to protect her chest and sheet bags secured at the knee by garters. The musketeer is wearing leather shoes. In keeping with their weaponry, the soldiers wore buffalo, cow or horsehide harnesses from the right shoulder to the left thigh, supporting their swords and muskets, as well as a shoulder strap with powder charges in small cylindrical leather-covered wooden or tin cases. He also carries a leather pouch containing the bullets for his musket, a powder flask and a pulverin (very fine gunpowder, used in the past for priming). Like the hunters, the soldiers also carried a canvas bag (‘canapsa’) with a leather shoulder strap containing their personal belongings (shirts, shoes, stockings, bonnet and food for two or three days). The length of the harnesses was said to be inconvenient, especially in the rain, and very cumbersome for moving around easily during assaults.
In 1664, the French Guards (Gardes françaises) were already wearing a uniform, but each company had different clothes. A common uniform was only imposed on foreign troops in 1668, on all infantry in 1670 and on cavalry in 1690. The infantry regiments gradually began to be dressed in a uniform manner and the captains of the French regiments adopted grey-white sheets that were cheaper than those in other colours. The justaucorps (jerkin), which was the garment most people wore at the time, was loose-fitting, with wide waistbands and long sleeves that could be rolled up. Jerkins, jackets and breeches had to be made of cloth, but for reasons of economy they were often made from canvas. Stockings were made of wool or draped.
Louvois, Louis XIV’s minister in charge of reorganising the army, decided to replace the soldier’s awkward shoulder harness with a belt for carrying a sword and to replace the musketeer’s shoulder strap with a gibern (a leather or leather-covered wooden case) for his supplies (powder, fuses, etc.). This was done in 1684 for the French and Swiss Guards and then in 1690 for all the regiments.
At the end of the 17th century, muskets were gradually withdrawn from infantry regiments and replaced by rifles in 1703. The musketeers then became fusiliers (riflemen). The name ‘Musketeers’ was retained for the King’s Musketeers, even after the muskets were abandoned, because the reputation of the elite that they had acquired under Louis XIII and during the wars of Louis XIV endured in the collective imagination, so much so that they wanted to keep it.
The emblematic blue cassock of the King's Musketeers (1622-1688)
As soon as the fifty riflemen of the company of Chevau-légers de la Garde were transformed into the ‘Mounted Musketeers of the King’s Guard’, just after the surrender of Montpellier in October 1622, it became essential to make them permanently visible and to distinguish them from the other companies. Louis XIII decreed that they would wear a blue cassock adorned with a fleur-de-lys (lily flower) cross, which they systematically wore during training exercises, reviews and on campaign, over their usual clothing.
The cassock has a very ancient origin and is descended from the Cotte d’Arme of the Middle Ages or tabard, the tunic marked with coats of arms that knights wore over their armour or chain mail. This clothing has always been a particular distinction of the Guards. So it’s logical that the Musketeers have adopted it. When it was adopted, it became a loose-fitting, four-sided blue moire (royal blue or duck blue) pelerine with a red lining that could be buttoned from top to bottom. Each flank was embroidered with a white velvet fleurdelisé (lily flower) cross, in keeping with the old custom, mentioned above, of embroidering or painting white crosses on one’s helmet or breastplate to identify oneself in battle. At the four corners of the cross were three-pointed red flames for the first company and five-pointed yellow flames for the second.
The clothing of the King’s Musketeers may have varied over time depending on the wealth of the musketeers, who could adorn their garments with luxurious decorations and ribbon bows, and a few adjustments were made between the Louis XIII and Louis XIV periods (length of cap, collar, etc.). Louis XIV himself had sumptuous cassocks and outfits designed for his musketeers for prestigious events and reviews, adorning them with diamonds or complementing them with velvet or buffalo clothing. The length of the cassock has also changed over time; it was lengthened because it was too short, causing water to run down the boots on rainy days.
This custom of wearing the blue cassock over a variety of garments lasted until 1646, when Mazarin dismissed the King’s Musketeers. In 1657, the Company of Mounted Musketeers of the Royal Guard was re-established and, in 1660, Mazarin gave his Company of Mounted Musketeers to the King as a wedding present.
As the two companies were not dressed in the same way, the matter was settled definitively by imposing red clothing on both companies of the King’s Musketeers from 1673 (Louis XIV).
Evolution of the uniform of the King's Musketeers under Louis XIV
After the capitulation of Maastricht (Dutch Republic) in June 1673, the musketeers of the king’s household were to be dressed in red (‘Red House’) to standardise the outfits of the two companies.
In 1688, Louis XIV decided to replace the famous cassock with a soubreveste, a kind of jerkin (long sleeveless waistcoat) that was shorter and only went down to the lower back. to which a belt was added, because the cassock, which had been lengthened over time, had become awkward for service on foot and in war; the musketeers had also developed the habit of no longer wearing it in combat when on foot and of throwing it back when on horseback, which greatly annoyed the king because his musketeers were no longer easily recognisable.
As for the appearance of the 18th century uniform, we can refer to the memoirs of Thomas-Jacques Goislard Villebresme, who joined the first company of the King’s Musketeers in 1772 at the age of 17, and who gave us a detailed description:
« The first company, which was based in rue du Bac, had a uniform with a collar, facings and lining in scarlet cloth edged in gold, gold buttonholes, gold buttons decorated with crosses of the same design as those on the soubreveste, double long pockets, yellow jacket and breeches, hat edged in gold, white plumeet, soft boots, silver spurs, blue soubreveste lined in red and trimmed with gold; double long pockets, yellow jacket and breeches, gold-bordered hat, white plumeet, soft boots, silver spurs, blue soubreveste lined with red, trimmed with a double silver border and white crosses embroidered on the front and back; finally, the horse’s equipment was of scarlet embroidered with gold. The uniform of the second company was the same, with the only difference that it had silver braids which we had gold.»
In his military works, General Louis Susane refers to ‘white breeches and stockings’ in 1760, then red without mentioning the date of this change.
Eugène Leliepvre’s illustration below gives us a very precise idea of these sleeveless jerkins that could be fastened to the sides with clips. A notch was added in the back for greater flexibility. It is provided by the King and you are obliged to return it when you leave his company. Senior officers did not wear the soubreveste. The number of braids around the waistcoat indicated the rank of the non-commissioned officers.
This soubreveste was kept in this form, with a few insignificant changes, until the disbanding of the King’s Musketeers under the Ancien Régime in 1776.
Headgear
The early infantry musketeers (16th century), who had just switched from the harquebus to the musket, still wore iron helmets. This was later replaced by a hat. Under Louis XIII, in battle, the hat could be reinforced with an iron skullcap (cervelière) worn under the hat to protect the skull from sword blows.
The musketeers’ hats were made of stiff, wide-brimmed felt. A feather is often curled at the base. As with the rest of the clothing, hats varied according to the soldier’s geographical origin.
In 1697, the hat was redesigned: its brims were turned up on three sides, taking the shape of a tricorn, known as a ‘lampion’, a style that had become classic and was adopted throughout the army. It was made of black felt edged with white braid, to which was added a bow in the colours of the regiment’s colonel. The hats of the King’s Musketeers were decorated with gold braid for the first company and silver for the second.
The boots
For a long time, the King’s Musketeers wore heavy cavalry boots, which they later abandoned (1683) in favour of lighter boots that suited their versatility. On horseback, they wore wide cowhide boots with spurs and, on foot, half-boots or shoes with gamaches (gaiters), as their equipment differed for service on foot and on horseback.
The Musketeers of the Restoration (1814-1815)
After Louis XVI disbanded the two companies of King’s Musketeers in 1776 (decree of December 1775) for economic reasons, a new uniform was introduced when they were briefly reconstituted in 1814, under the First Restoration. Louis XVIII ordered the reformation of the two companies of Musketeers, their uniforms and equipment being financed by the Musketeers themselves.
These uniforms included several outfits depending on the service (large ceremonial uniform, company uniform and small uniform): a dark blue soubreveste trimmed in silver, fitted like a textile cuirass. It was based on the famous fleur-de-lys (lily flower) cross of the old helmets, with a distinction in the colour of the flames specific to the 1st and 2nd companies. The outfits also included a coat, epaulettes, various grey and white trousers, a pair of gloves, gold and buff belts, spurred boots, feathered hats and a helmet.
The helmet emblematic of the Restoration Musketeers, probably of foreign inspiration (Russian, Prussian or English), varied slightly between the two companies of Musketeers and according to rank. It consisted of a silver-plated copper and gilded brass bomb. It was made from copper shells soldered with tin, and was fitted with a visor, neck cover and chinstraps. It was topped with an abundant mane and brush atop a crest and plume (of egret/heron or ostrich feathers).
This uniform lasted until the end of 1815, when both companies were dismissed, putting a definitive end to the existence of the King’s Musketeers.
Credit
Illustration principale entête :
Tri mushketera / Три мушкетёра (2013), de Sergey Zhigunov | Fond kino, Centre de production Sergueï Jigounov
Illustration “Les mousquetaires dans la représentation populaire” :
The Musketeers (2014-2016) | BBC One, BBC America, Showcase.
The Three Musketeers (1993) réalisé par Stephen Herek, avec Charlie Sheen, Kiefer Sutherland, Chris O’Donnell… | Walt Disney Pictures, Caravan Pictures, Buena Vista Pictures Distribution.
Les Quatre Charlots mousquetaires (1974) réalisé par André Hunebelle, avec les Charlots | Les Films Christian Fechner, Renn Productions, AMLF.
The Three Musketeers (1973) réalisé par Richard Lester, avec Michael York, Oliver Reed, Richard Chamberlain… | 20th Century Fox.
The Three Musketeers (1948) réalisé par George Sidney, avec Gene Kelly et Lana Turner | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Three Musketeers (1921) directed by Fred Niblo, starring Douglas Fairbanks | United Artists.
Sources bibliographiques :
Les Mousquetaires du roi – Une troupe d’élite au coeur du pouvoir (2023), par Julien Wilmart.
Les uniformes de la cavalerie de la Maison du roi vers 1691, par Christian Terana
Le costume historique, 1876-1888, par Auguste Racinet.
L’homme de 1643 – Le mousquetaire de Rocroi de Michel Pétard.
Histoire de l’infanterie en France, 1893-1902 par le lieutenant-colonel Belhomme.
Les Travaux de Mars ou L’art de la guerre – 1684 par Allain Manesson-Mallet.
Le Passepoil N°10 – 1930.
Souvenirs du chevalier de Villebresme, mousquetaire de la garde du roi, 1772-1816 par Thomas-Jacques Goislard Villebrsme (1897).
Historique de la maison du roi, 1734-1735 par Lamoral Le Pippre de Noeufville.
Histoire de la cavalerie française, par le Général Louis Suzanne.
Histoire de l’armée française (1887), par Paul Lehugeur.
La France militaire illustrée (1900), par par A. Dally.
