Headgear
As noted above, grenadiers were distinguished by their head-gear from the ordinary musketeers (or Hatmen) who made up the bulk of each regiment of foot. While there were some exceptions, the most typical grenadier headdress was either the mitre cap or the bearskin. Both began to appear in various armies during the second half of the 17th century because grenadiers were impeded by the wide brimmed infantry hats of the period when throwing grenades.
The cloth caps worn by the original grenadiers in European armies during the 17th century were frequently trimmed with fur. The practice fell into disuse until the second half of the 18th century when grenadiers in the British, Spanish and French armies began wearing high fur hats with cloth tops and, sometimes, ornamental front plates. The purpose appears to have been to add to the apparent height and impressive appearance of these troops both on the parade ground and the battlefield.
The mitre cap, whether in stiffened cloth or metal, had became the distinguishing feature of the grenadier in the armies of Britain, Russia, Prussia and most German states during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Spanish, Austrian and French grenadiers favoured high fur hats with long coloured cloth hoods ("bags") to them. The mitre was gradually replaced by bearskin hats in other armies and by 1914 it only survived in three regiments of the Prussian and Russian Imperial Guards. Russian grenadiers had worn their brass fronted mitre hats on active service until 1809 and some of these preserved for parade wear by the Pavlovsky Guards until 1914 still had dents or holes from musket balls. Some have survived for display in modern museums and collections.
While Northern-European armies such as Britain, Russia, Sweden and various German states (perhaps most famously Prussia) wore the mitre cap, southern countries such as France, Spain, Austria, Portugal and various Italian states preferred the bearskin. By 1768 Britain had adopted the bearskin.
The shape and appearance of fur hats differed according to period and country. While France used smaller bearskins, Spain preferred towering ones with long flowing bags, and while Britain had its tall cloth mitres with lacing and braiding, Russia would sport equally tall leather helmets with brass front-plates. The first headdresses were fairly low, and in the case of Spain and Austria sometimes contained elements from both mitres and bearskins. At the beginning of the 18th century and briefly during the 1770s, French grenadiers wore tricorn hats, rather than either mitre or fur cap. Gradually, both began to increase in size and decoration, now showing devices such as pompoms, cords, badges, front-plates, plumes, braiding and also various national heraldic symbols.
By the advent of the Napoleonic Wars, both mitres and fur hats had began to fall out of use in favour of the shako. Two major exceptions were France's Grande Armée (although in 1812, regulations changed grenadier uniforms to those more similar to the ones of fusiliers, except in guard regiments) and the Austrian Army. After the Battle of Friedland in 1807, because of their distinguished performance, Russia's Pavlovsk Regiment were allowed to keep their mitre caps and were admitted to the Imperial Guard.
During the Napoleonic Wars, British grenadiers had normally worn the bearskin only for full dress when at home, since the fur was found to deteriorate rapidly on overseas service. Following their role in the defeat of the French Old Guard at the Waterloo the 1st Foot Guards was renamed the Grenadier Guards and all companies of the regiment adopted the bearskin. All British infantry grenadiers retained the fur headdress for parade dress until shortly before the Crimean War, where it was only worn by Foot Guard regiments.
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