Spanish Napoleonic Puzzler

[Neanderthal]

For better or worse I am trying to produce a Spanish Napoleonic era army for the pre 1812 era. There is much information out there but I can not find out what colour their infantry packs were with the 1806/1808 uniforms. I am basically using the Osprey 1792 - 1808 which doesn't seem to mention it. Most of the guides on the net seem to neatly avoid the issue but one illustration suggests white. Does anyone have any information on the subject please?

Chris

[FreddBloggs]

If in doubt, haythornthwaite, uniforms of the penninsula wars.

[RMD]

One of those wonderful sketches of the Romana Division in Hamburg appears to show light-coloured 'hairy' packs (presumably goatskin?), but they're only glimpsed over the side of an arm, so it's hard to be sure. Another sketch (of a light infantryman) has a side-view of a black pack.

[FreddBloggs]

I thought they were goat, and natural, so a variety of possible colours.

[Neanderthal]

I've been trawling the net and there are some of those 'just a corner visible' pictures which seem to show white and some black. I have also phoned my acquaintances with the books mentioned - no luck from the books. Perhaps no one knows. I'm too mean/penurious to pay £28 for a book of original plates on the off chance so if I don't hear otherwise it's hairy brown leather for me as white just seems crazy even for Godoy's Spain. The one I did brown as an experiment which looks O.K. but I bet there's someone out there who knows better or thinks they do. They seem to have used black packs at a later stage but all the ones I have seen are with the British supplied uniforms.

Chris

[ochoin]

Going by the Haythornthwaite book, 3-4 illustrations show fairly respectable glimpses of light to medium brown packs of a decided hairy nature.

In the plate commentaries, there are telling comments about "items" of uniform made in the British style & even manufactured in Britain, which might explain black packs. There are also comments on great variety of uniforms & equipment even in the same units.

I would imagine a certain amount of French capture being worn as well.

So my opinion is, use a variety of colours. Could the white packs be some sort of canvass example?

donald

[World2dave]

Er, brown?

[tim.w]

The French packs were goatskin weren't they? Highly collectable by other armies due to being waterproof.

[Vintage Wargaming]

Bueno, who should really be your first port of call, doesn't have many rear views of figures with packs but when he does they are lightish brown (think Vallejo Saddle Brown) or a bit lighter. They seem to have some white edging to the flap and the front of the sides of the pack. It has two white straps securing the flap.

[RMD]

The ones I saw were definitely very hairy. Sorry I can't link pics from the work computer. The black one was smooth and probably oilskin or something like that - this was Romana's Division in Hamburg, so drawn while they were allied to France and before they'd received British items.

The British Army had white hairy goatskin packs for a time during the 18th Century, so they're not all that unusual.