Military History | First Carlist War
First Carlist War Painting Guide: French Foreign Legion

Posted 21 Feb 2001

This is a painting guide for the French Foreign Legion when serving during the First Carlist War.

Item Description

Czapka Style hat - lancers only

Black with Crimson piping, a Red plume, bronze metal and white braid (based on Lancer from 1840)

Infantry Cap (like a tall kepi)

Red with a black peak (or covered in black oil skin)

Infantry Beret (stolen off a Carlist corpse)

Red with yellow roundel and whatever tassel it had when stolen.

Forage cap

Dark blue* with crimson tassel and piping

Frock coat (officers only)

Dark blue*, piped crimson

Shell jacket (Lancers and infantry)

Dark blue*, piped crimson. Unlikely to see this under the Infantry’s traditional Great coat.

Great coat (infantry)

Blue grey - kind of like Napoleonic French Blue but greyer.

Great coat collar tabs

Dark blue*

Epaulettes on coats & jackets

Officers: Gold/yellow

Grenadiers: Red

Centre: None

Voltiguers: Yellow

Lancers: White

Jacket/coat Buttons

Brass

Trousers

Red or white (Each man carried both colours. Varied depending on weather: White for good and Red for bad. Use Red as my figures are for a Winter campaign)

Gaiters

White

Shirt

White

Long johns (if showing)

Blue/Navy

Shoulder & waist belts

Black with Brass fittings

Belly box

Black or brown

Bayonet & Scabbard

Black with Brass fittings

Officers sword

Sword with Gilt hilt and Brass scabbard

Canvas haversack

White

Canteen

Brown or black or silver metal depending on style

Shoes

Black

Gun Barrel

Blued (dull metalic blue black)

Strap for musket

White

Lance

Natural wood with a French Tri-colour pennon

* The “Dark blue” could get very dark verging into what is described as “Midnight blue” (also called “French Navy”). Officers had some discretion in their uniform and their frock coats would tend to be ultra dark French Navy. French Navy is so dark that black was sometimes substituted when the real material wasn’t available. I personally have a coat in “French Navy” and on its own it is hard to tell that it isn’t black, although the blue tinge is obvious when it is next to a real black.

Roland - who painted my Carlist War armies - used the following colours:

  • The dark French colour is probably Tamiya blue with a tiny bit of black.
  • The FL colour is probably Tamiya medium blue (XF-18).

References

Cairns, C. (1994b, November). A Savage and Romantic War: Spain 1833-1840. Part II: The Cristino forces. Wargames Illustrated, 86, 36-46.

Haythornwaite, P. & Chappell, M. (1976). World Uniforms and Battles 1815-50. Hippocrene Books: NY.

See Figure 38 a.

Windrow, M. (1981). Uniforms of the French Foreign Legion 1831-1981. Blandford: Poole.