Reconstructing Wars of Spanish Succession Uniforms for Wargaming and Reenactment
The uniforms from the 1701 to 1714 conflict are deceptively straightforward but come with more variation than most people expect. I spent about three years building a collection of French and British regiments at 28mm scale and the biggest headache wasn't the basic colors. It was the provincial differences, the period of the war, and the fact that records are incomplete for half the units involved. The main problem with sourcing accurate references is that there's no single authoritative source. Most published material falls into two categories: British sources that overrepresent the English army, and French sources that are either too general or focus on the Guards rather than line regiments. The best documents I found were regimental pay tables and muster rolls from national archives. For the British side, the National Archives at Kew has digitized many of these. The French side is harder because the Archives Nationales didn't digitize as thoroughly, though the Service Historique de la Défense in Vincennes has the core documents. If you're looking for ready-made visual references, the Plate series by George C. Leeson remains useful despite being old. His engravings were based on actual surviving coat specimens and regimental records from the early 1700s. The problem is he sometimes guessed at details when records were unclear. I always cross-reference his plates with the contemporary prints from the period, especially the ones published by artists like Nicolas de Larmessin who documented uniform changes during the war itself.
For digital resources, the Napoleonic Wars website at napoleon.org has an extensive section on pre-Napoleonic uniforms that covers this period well. The Spanish side is even more neglected in print, which is why I spent considerable time with the Archivo General de Simancas records online. Their digitized uniform ordnance lists from 1702 to 1706 gave me specific fabric quantities and color designations that no secondary source mentions.
How the Uniform Systems Actually Worked
Every major power used a system where the coat body color and facing color identified the unit. This is standard knowledge but the implementation varied wildly. In the French army, the standard was a blue coat with red cuffs and turnbacks, white breasted lining, and a white sash. But this wasn't universal. The foreign regiments serving in French service, like Irish and Swiss units, wore different colors entirely. The Irish brigades under French command typically wore green facings. The Swiss regiments had their own traditional colors that predated French standardization. British regiments during this period were still transitioning from the buff coats of the Restoration era to the more colorful system that developed later in the century. Around 1700, many British regiments wore buff or flesh-colored coats with various colored facings. By the time of thewar, most had shifted to red coats with colored facings that identified the regiment. The facings could be blue, yellow, pink, green, or orange depending on the colonel's preference and the regiment's seniority. This creates a problem for anyone trying to build accurate forces because regimental colors changed during the war itself. A regiment that started with blue facings in 1702 might have switched to yellow by 1708. Austrian uniforms followed a similar principle but with different default colors. The standard was a blue coat with white facings, but again the foreign and specialty units diverged. The Hungarian Hussars and other light troops wore distinctly different clothing that was more suited to their scouting and harassment roles. These light troops are often overlooked in reconstructions but they played a significant part in the campaign warfare of this period.
Get the Full Details
Spanish uniforms are the most inconsistent and least documented. Spain entered the war on the Bourbon side and adopted French-style uniforms to some degree, but regional variations persisted. The Spanish regular infantry often wore brown or grey coats with colored facings, while the tercios maintained older traditions. Naval infantry and coastal defense units had their own conventions that differed from the field army.
Practical Construction Approach
When I started building my collection, I used commercially produced figures from companies like Reaper Miniatures and Warlord Games. The problem with most mass-produced figures is that they apply a generic early 18th-century template across all units. A French grenadier and a British foot soldier will look almost identical if you follow the painting instructions from the box. The key differences are in the facings, the cross-belt arrangements, and the headgear variations. French grenadiers wore epaulettes made of wool fringing on the right shoulder. This was a practical innovation because grenadiers threw grenades with their right hand and needed a left shoulder clear for the arming piece of their musket. The epaulette identified them as grenadiers at a glance. British grenadiers did something similar but their epaulettes were often simpler and sometimes omitted in the earlier part of the war. The cross-belt configuration is another area where assumptions lead to errors. French soldiers typically wore a white belt crossing from the left shoulder to the right hip, carrying the cartridge box on the right hip. British soldiers wore a similar arrangement but with black belts instead of white. The cartridge boxes themselves were shaped differently between the two armies. French boxes were more rectangular with a sloping top, while British boxes were more rounded and sat lower on the hip.
One thing that trips up most beginners is the gaiters. Soldiers in this period wore cloth or leather gaiters that covered the lower leg and attached to the breeches above the knee and the shoe below. These were essential for campaign wear because they kept out debris and provided some protection. The gaiters were typically white or buff in color and wrapped diagonally. Missing these details makes figures look too clean and modern for the period.
Headgear and Its Complications
Tricorne hats dominate the visual landscape of this period but the way they were worn varied significantly. French soldiers typically wore their hats with the brim turned up on three sides and often decorated with a simple edge. Some regiments added a feather cockade, but this became more common later in the century. The hat band was usually the same color as the facings, which provided an additional identification method.
British soldiers wore similar tricorne hats but with a heavier brim and often a more pronounced fold. The cockade on British hats was typically made of white stockinet or linen and was tied in a specific knot. Regimental distinctive elements were usually applied to the left side of the hat where the cockade would sit. This is where the facing color showed through most obviously. Officer headgear was different in degree if not in kind. Officers wore finer quality hats with more elaborate lace and decorations. The amount of lace on the hat brim indicated rank to some extent, with more lace meaning higher rank. This is useful information for painting because it gives you a quick way to distinguish officers from ranks without needing to paint individual facial features in great detail.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
The biggest mistake I see in reconstructions is applying later period uniform conventions to this earlier period. Many people painting War of Spanish Succession figures use red coats for British units and then add blue facings, which is correct for many regiments but represents a trend that became standardized later. In the early 1700s, the color palette was more varied. Some regiments still wore buff coats. Others had unexpected facing colors because the colonel had bought the cloth himself and chose what he preferred. Another common error is assuming that national uniform distinctions were as sharp as they appear in later periods. In practice, there was a lot of mixing and borrowing. French soldiers captured during the war were sometimes issued with captured British equipment and vice versa. Soldiers from one nation serving in allied units often adopted aspects of their hosts' dress. The Duke of Marlborough's army was a particularly good example of this international mix, containing British, Dutch, Danish, German, and Portuguese units operating together. Weapon and equipment confusion is another issue. The musket types varied between nations and between different periods within the war itself. The French fusil de l'ordonnance was the standard issue, while the British used a variety of muskets including the Goddard pattern and later the Land Pattern. The bayonet attachment method also differed. French soldiers used a socket bayonet that allowed the musket to be used as a pole weapon while still allowing muzzle loading. The British also adopted socket bayonets during this period but earlier models sometimes used the ring Bayonet that required one hand to hold the musket and the other to wield the weapon.
A Specific Problem I Faced
When I was assembling a Dutch contingent for a battle recreation, I ran into a genuine difficulty. The Dutch States Army in this period had an enormous number of regiments, each with its own facing color determined by the province that raised it. I found references that listed about thirty different facing colors for Dutch infantry regiments. Trying to paint all of them accurately for a force of any reasonable size was impractical, and I was also unsure whether the sources I was using were consistent with each other. The workaround was to accept that I could not achieve perfect accuracy for every unit and to focus on getting the major regiments right while grouping the rest into reasonable approximations. I identified the regiments that had the most detailed documentation and painted those faithfully. For the remaining units, I grouped them by their provincial origins and applied consistent facing colors within each provincial group. This meant that instead of thirty different colors, I was working with perhaps eight or nine distinct variations, which was manageable. I also noted in my records which regiments fell into each category so that if better information became available, I could update accordingly.
Recommended Source Material
For British uniforms, Ronald Summison's series of books on British uniforms is authoritative but can be expensive if you need all volumes. The plates are accurate but the text can be dense with archival citations that are hard to follow. I found his work most useful for checking specific regimental details rather than reading it cover to cover. For French uniforms, the works of Philippe Chartron are excellent. His books on the French infantry of the Louis XIV period cover the transition into the War of Spanish Succession well. The color plates are based on original documents and contemporary illustrations, and he discusses the uncertainties where they exist rather than presenting guesses as facts. The German states are perhaps the most neglected area in uniform reference material. If you need information on Austrian, Bavarian, or other German troops, the books by Jürgen Krause and the publications of the Österreichisches Staatsarchiv are among the few reliable sources. These are in German, which is an additional barrier, but the illustrations and documentation are thorough.
For the Spanish side, Manuel Lucía Prieto's work on Spanish uniforms is probably the best available resource in any language. His research into the Spanish army's organization and dress during the early 18th century filled a real gap. The book is academic in tone but the plates and tables are directly useful for reconstruction purposes.
Final Practical Notes
Building an accurate collection takes time and the references are rarely complete enough to leave no questions. The uncertainty is frustrating but it's also a genuine reflection of the historical record. The armies of this period were still developing standardized uniform systems, and many decisions were made locally by regimental officers or provincial authorities rather than by central ordinance. If you're starting out, I'd suggest focusing on one nation and one or two major battles rather than trying to cover the entire war. The Siege of Lille, the Battle of Blenheim, and the Battle of Ramillies all have reasonably well-documented order of battle records that can anchor your research. Once you understand the uniform systems for one side in one engagement, applying that knowledge to other conflicts becomes much easier. The visual impact of accurate uniforms at a display or recreation is significant. People notice immediately when the colors are right or wrong, even if they don't know the specifics. Getting the basic palette correct and the major identifying features in place will serve you better than obsessing over minute details that even experts disagree about. The goal is historical plausibility, not perfection, and that's a distinction worth keeping in mind throughout the process.
