Now whilst it may be fair to say an army marches on its stomach, crucially it actually marches on its feet! Information about French army footwear in this period is “helpfully” vague and, as with many other issues, the first time any official standard was set was during the reforms of the late-1780s. We therefore sought to find any indication of distinctive “French” styles of shoes, beyond the widely worn contemporary convention of a round-toed straight-lasted low-cut buckled shoe.
Our salvation was the shipwreck of the Machault, which sank in 1760 during the Battle of Restigouche. Many shoes were found in the excavations of the wreck, and these were used to inform the reproductions by our “tame” cordwainer Andy Burke Historical Shoes and Boots. One detail which particularly surprised him was how far back the dog leg seam (at the side of the uppers) was. This first pair have also had a thorough application of blackball, made by Timbrell Cockburn Cunha, such that water now runs off the leather like mercury.
Like with all our kit, if we discover further information in the future then we will endeavour to correct it, but we thought you’d like to see this first step (pun *absolutely* intended) nonetheless.
Le Régiment Gatinois 