Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 60, No. 370, August 1846 — John Shaqi
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 60, No. 370, August 1846Various
History
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 60, No. 370, August 1846
Various
England -- Periodicals; Scotland -- Periodicals
The doctor further disapproves of scarlet as a colour for uniform, because
"a man clothed in scarlet exhibits the dress of a mountebank rather than
of a British warrior going forth to fight the battles of his country," and
also "because it is the worst adapted for any hard work of all the
colours, as it immediately becomes shabby and tarnished on being exposed
to the weather; and a single wet night in the bivouac spoils it
completely." Here we must differ from the doctor. The chief advantage of
scarlet, we have always considered, and we believe the same opinion to be
generally held by military men, is that it looks well longer, gets white
and shabby later, than a darker colour. The preparation of the cloth and
mode of dyeing, may, however, have been improved since Dr Fergusson's
period of service. With regard to the colour, there is a popular prejudice
in its favour, associating it as most persons do, from childhood upwards,
with ideas of glory and victory. Had our uniform been yellow for the same
period that it has been red, we should have attached those ideas to the
former colour; but that would be no reason for continuing to dress
soldiers like canary birds. Apart from association, scarlet is unmilitary,
first, because it is tawdry; and, secondly, as rendering the soldier, when
isolated, an easier mark than a less glaring colour. We doubt also, if it
would harmonize well with the black belts, which we desire to see adopted;
and on these various accounts we must give our vote in favour of the sober
blue of the Prussians, assuredly no un-British colour, and one already in
use for many of our cavalry regiments. The Portuguese troops, as they are
now uniformed, or were, when last we saw them, offer no bad model in this
respect. Blue coats and dark grey trousers are the colours of their line
regiments, and these we should like to see adopted in our service,
preserving always the green for the rifles, who ought to be ten times as
numerous as they are, as we shall discover whenever we come to a brush
with the Yankees, or with our old and gallant opponent, Monsieur
Nong-tong-paw. One would have thought that the picking off of our officers
at New Orleans, and on other occasions, and the stinging practice of
French tirailleurs during the last war, would have taught our military
rulers a lesson in this respect; but the contrary seems the case, and on
we go at the old jog-trot, heavy men, heavy equipments, and slow march,
whilst seven-eighths of the French army are practically light infantry,
and it is only the other day that they raised ten new regiments of
sharpshooters, the Chasseurs de Vincennes, or some such name, little light
active riflemen, trained to leap and to march for leagues at double quick,
and who would scamper round a ten acre field whilst a heavy British
grenadier went through his facings. The cool steadiness and indomitable
pluck of our fellows has hitherto carried the day, and will doubtless do
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