We’ve recently received this wonderful photo from Martina Cammerata Photography from our trip to Versailles in July, featuring our dear friend and peloton tambour Guillaume! We’ve been thrilled to work with him this year, and we thought it a good time to address the obvious question: what did #18thcentury French drummers wear?
As you can see, Guillaume is not wearing white! Instead, the tambours of the French infantry wore the King’s livery – blue habits, with a red lace covering it, and the regimental designations of cuff/lapel. Guillaume therefore wears a blue habit, with the green of his regiment (the Saintonge). Unfortunately, he has not yet been able to source a good quality reproduction of the lace, which is a rather complex design, so the habit is still just plain blue. After all, aren’t all most impressions a work in progress?
He’s also carrying the French-style drum which was introduced in 1767. Rather than being made from wood, which they were previously, the brass was introduced to stop regimental colonels decorating them with their own designs!
Le Régiment Gatinois 