French military fashion during the Thirty Years War 1 Introduction For France, a lot of equipment is very common

to what we can find in the continent. But, for the player who wants to play a French army during the Thirty Years War (like me and I am definitively not alone), it is to short. It is exactly like playing Swedish army with figurines for English Civil War (two topics I like but not in the same time! Fortunately you made great Swedish). Indeed, some different kinds of fashions can be specifically attributed to French troops making a real ethnic aspect of the native French armies of the Thirty Years War 2 . As a player, what I would like to have, in an ideal world, are the following troops which are exposed in the following pages: 1. Infantry a. Musketeer of the 1640s. b. Pikemen of the 1640s. c. Swiss pikemen wearing heavy armor which also could be used (with some respect) for other nations like the United Provinces. 2. Cavalry a. The musketeer of the guard (Maison du Roi) which are also (and may be essentially) foot troops at this period. b. Heavy French cuirassiers liked to wear metallic hat (and may be some Savoyards helmet). Also, it would be great to have French heavy cuirassiers on foot (helmet and hat) for the army of Cond who used them as choc troops 3 . c. Some chevau-lgers in metallic hat which can also be used in an English Civil War army. As you asked me, I made some researches. Unfortunately (or not), I had a lot of work this year (book, articles, teaching and so on) and if I enjoyed it, I had not a lot of time to do something serious for you, even if it was what I wanted the most. I wanted to show you something before coming to Paris in 19-24 May where I will visit the Muse de larme. I have also access, here in the University Library of Cambridge, to the most important primary printed source of French army wrote and drew by Colbert de Lostelnau 4 which paradoxically is not often use, today, to depict the French army of the Thirty Years War even if the book was done right during this conflict 5 . So, here are my thoughts as a wargamer and, I hope, as an historian as well. I hope you will enjoy them.
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Some good transversals references for that period are Parrott 2001, LYNN 1997 (cf. bibliography at the end). It is definitively the same for Spain during the first half of the 17th century and I hope to see some of them too, to complete your impressive 16th century range. 3 See below for references. 4 LOSTELNAU 1647. 5 You know I like a lot THION 2008 but it is really a big setback he didnt use this source. Consequently, his book loses in accuracy.

1. French infantry of the Thirty Years War a. Musketeer The first wars of Louis XIII Two paintings of Claude Lorraine 6 show that during the 1620, the French musketeers (and more generally the French army) were not so far from the common fashion of the time. The only difference was the very specific way of wearing the large hat in the back side of the head. The two paintings are reproduced below.

Claude Lorraine, Le siege de La Rochelle 7 . War against the French Protestants.

Claude Lorraine, La passe de Suse 8 . Succession of Mantua. Painter from the 17th century (1602-1682). His two war paintings, La pass de Suse and Le sige de La Rochelle are today in the Louvre. 7 Sorry for the poor quality of the photo but I found no good reproduction. For the events, cf. PARROTT 2001, pp. 8891.
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The Thirty Years War During the Thirty Years War and more precisely in the years 1640s, the French musketeers adopted a very specific fashion. Several drawings from the period show that. You will find two typical examples in 1.a.1. and 1.a.2.

1.a.1. French musketeer of the period of the Thirty Years' War, from LOSTELNEAU, Le mareschal de bataille (1647). The culotte-style pantaloons would appear to have been unique to the French infantry. (from The French Army of the Thirty Years' War: Line Infantry By Curt Johnson).

1.a.2. French musketeer in 1646 quoted by BACHELOT 2003, plate 4.

The specificities are more numerous than the ones explained in the text of fig 1.a.1.: 1. Culotte. The culotte-style is indeed the first main difference between French and other Western European soldiers, even if the British also used this fashion. Note the ribbon at its bottom! French liked feather and ribbons during the 17th century. Very often, the bottom of the culotte was finished by a decorative fringe (1.a.3, 4 and 5). Note that the officers also wore this kind of culotte.
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Quoted by Parrott 2001 (cover and back). For the events, cf. PARROTT 2001, pp. 91-100.

2. Sock. What is also extremely French fashion is the specific way to attach the socks in a kind of flower. Sometime it is said that this comes from the shoes themselves but, following the drawing of that period it is clear that the flower is made with the socks. For that, please see the example of 1.a.2. which is very clear. It makes sense anyway as the socks are no more bound by the trouser but only by a string. 3. Vest. The vest (if my English is correct) is a little bit shorter than in other countries but it is not very evident. 4. Hat. The hat is less large than the ones used in other armies. 1.a.3. shows also cap and fur cap which is always fun to make armies more original. If the norm was the hat, Lostelnau quoted those different caps and so on. Note the presence of feathers on all of them. 5. Hairs. The French fashion was also to have mi-long hairs a little bit longer than the English ones. Here also it is something very important as it is the beginning of a use which will conduct to the adoption of wig.

1.a.3. Musketeer of the very beginning of Louis XIVs reign (Rocroi period)

1.a.4. Musketeer of late Louis XIIIs reign

1.a.5. Musketeer of late Louis XIII-beginning Louis XIVs reign. In HAYTHORNTHWAITE 1983, p. 115, based on LOSTELNAU 1647.

b. Pikemen The pikemen followed the same fashion than the musketeers as is shown by Lostelnau (1.b.1): 1. Helmets. The helmets displayed on 1.b.1. and 1.b.2. 9 were the most used in the French army and, by some aspects, are very typical of this nation, even if others used it also. 2. Armor. It is wrongly said that the French didnt use armor as it is clearly shown by Lostelnau. However, like in the British armies, some units/soldiers didnt use them so a current army had both armored and unarmored pikemen. 3. Culotte, sock, vest and hairs are identical to the French musketeers.

1.b.1. French pikeman, beginning of 1640s 10 .

This helmet is well shown in the book THION 2003, pp. 23-24 of the French edition (arrival of the Great Cond, wrongly attributed after the battle of Rocroi by the way) even if it is a more recent painting. 10 LOSTELNAU 1647.

1.b.2. Musketeer and pikemen 1640s.

c. Swiss pikemen The Thions book shows very good photographs of Swiss armour 11 . I think I will not be able to do better. It is also a very important feature of the French army of the Thirty Years War that numerous Swiss regiments were employed by Louis XIII and Louis XIV. The Swiss pikemen used to be more heavily protected than any other unit. They, for example, kept the tassette until the Nine Years War and so, during the first half of the 17th century, they were more like 16th century pikemen. This kind of troops could be great in any French army. For the musketeers, I didnt see any specificity and so, what you did for German troops would be just perfect in those units.

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THION 2008, p. 47 of the French edition.

Armour of Swiss pikemen (made in the years 1620-1630) 12 .

2. The musketeers of the Maison du roi and the cavalry a. The musketeers of the guard Those troops are just omitted from any comprehensive range of that period. It is really not a good idea to not have them yet as this unit13 was used mounted sometime but also, most of the time dismounted as elite troops to storm the enemys fortresses (as they did in La Rochelle for example). Actually the musketeers intervened in many occasions which were not all recorded. Anytime the king was near the front, the musketeers were there but most of the time they were fighting under some prince of the blood (prince de sang, the most well known being Cond) or even some great captain. So, what is very important, for playing French during the Thirty Years War or the Frond (battle as well as skirmish) is that this troop was available in horse and foot with a complete command that is officer, ensign and drummer. At this period, the officers wore also the tabar (which was not the case in the 18th century). The musketeers of the Maison du roi wore the very first uniform available in France. Actually, all what was compulsory was the famous tabar. The tabar appeared at the very end of
Quoted by Thion 2008, p. 47, armor kept in the Muse de larme. Essentially the king musketeers as the guard of Richelieu was used as bodyguard. However, there was no difference in their design.
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the 1630s as far as we can know. It was very ample with lace and bearing a white cross in its middle. The drawings depicting the musketeers of the Maison du roi or of Richelieu are based on pictures like La reddition de la ville de Montauban (2.a.1.). The tabar is not a kind of poncho as the arms themselves were covered by it. Note also the very large hat with feather (2.a.2.). The rest of the equipment was in charge of the musketeers themselves. It seems that the officers tried to be as dandy as possible with feathers, ribbons and so on. The compagnie was disband by Mazarin in 1646 and rebuilt long time after. During the beginning of the personal reign of Louis XIV, in 1663, the musketeers were sometime used as marines to conquer some place in North Africa. It is unknown but a very interesting detail14 . It shows how important, good and flexible were those troops.

2.a.1. La reddition de la ville de Montauban 15 .

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Bachelot 2003, pp. 126-128.. Quoted by THION 2008, p. 16 of the French edition.

2.a.2. Musketeer of the guard in the 1640s

2.a.3. Musketeer of the guard in the 1640s

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b. The cuirassiers The French cuirassiers were no different from the others. However, it seems that the metallic hat was very popular in cavalry (2.b.1.). This kind of helmet was used in both cuirassiers and chevau-lgers units as well as in the English troops of the English Civil War.

2.b.1. Armor of cuirassier from the Gendarmes de la Masion du roi in the 1630s and 40s 16 .

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Quoted by THION 2008, p. 88 of the French edition.

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In my knowledge, no one makes cuirassiers with Savoyards helmet which could be useful at least for both French and Spanish armies. The Muse de larme is full of 17th century armour and I will take a lot of photographs in May and send them to you.

2.b.2. Savoyards helmet used in French and Spanish armies (but not only) 17 .

At last, concerning cuirassiers, the Great Cond used them in foot as choc troops 18 . It would be great to have the possibility to build one unit of that kind (please!).

c. Chevaux lgers To finish, chevaux lgers in metallic hat as shown in 2.b.3. would be very useful to have typical French or English cavalry units.

17 18

Quoted by THION 2008, p. 64 of the French edition. GUTHRIE 2003, p. 211.

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2.c.1. Chevaux lgers in metallic hat 19

Conclusion As I hope you can see, making a typical French army is quite possible. With your impressive range of Thirty Years War armies, it would be great to see it (as well as Spanish troops that is another story). Technically, the Swedish and the French were the great winners of that war and I hope you will not neglect the second ones. Anyway, it was a pleasure to write these few lines and you can be sure that I will remain one of the best TAGs fans! Philippe Clancier
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Quoted by THION 2008, p. 92 of the French edition.

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Bibliography used for these pages

BACHELOT, Bernard. Louis XIV en Algrie. Gigeri 1664. Editions du Rocher, Paris, 2003. GUTHRIE, William. The Later Thrity Years War. From the Battle of Wittstock to the Treaty of Westphalia. Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut, London, 2003. HAYTHORNTHWAITE, Philip. The English Civil War, 1642-1651. An illustrated Military History. Blandford Press, Poole, Dorset, 1983. LOSTELNAU, Colbert de. Le Mareschal de Bataille. Contenant le Maniement des Armes, 1647. LYNN, John. Giant of the Grand Sicle. The French Army, 1610-1715. Cambridge University Press, Cambride, 1997. PARROTT, David. Richelieus Army. War Government and Society in France, 1624-1642. Cambridge University Press, Cambride, 2001. THION, Stphane. Les Armes Franaises de la Guerre de Trente Ans. LRT Editions, Auzielle, 2008.

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