League of Augsburg / WSS (ish) - French Dragoons in hat/tricorn?

[toxicpixie]

Alack & alas, I have slipped whilst ordering and instead of French Dragoons in fetching fur & bag hat I've ordered a pack of Allied Dragoons in boring everyday tricorns.

Before I do them as Bavarians does anyone know if anybody the French Dragoons regiments wore tricorns? There were forty off by the time peace briefly broke out, that's a lot of furry caps to buy, maybe there's one in floppy hat/informal brim down tricorn/what ever you want to call it hat?

[Scorpio_Rocks]

ALL French dragoon regiments had tricorns / floppy hats - when and if they chose to wear them is the issue.

From Robert Hall's Guidons and Uniforms of the French Dragoons under Louis XIV 1688-1714:

Dragoon regiments seem to have been as slow as the infantry to adopt uniform but certainly the dragoon
cap was typical. For a rider dismounting to fight it was more convenient to sling the musket over the
shoulder. Slinging the musket was hindered by the broad-brimmed hat of the day and so, similar to the
grenadiers, it became usual to wear a simple peasant cap. This cap was typical of the peasant clothing of
the day, a type of ,,sleeping cap" edged with fur. Rapidly accepted as the ,,dragoon headgear" it became
enlarged, formalized and, a special mark of distinction, was also adopted by the officers. Dragoons were
always issued with the usual tricorn hat as well. The hat was worn off-duty and probably also in bad
weather. The cap was to be worn when passing review before the King, princes or the Colonel-Général. It
was worn while foraging and attached to the horse's head during musters in front of an inspector. An
exception was the regiment Colonel Général, which wore the cap only when being reviewed by the King.

So you could claim that it was raining over by that unit... or they chose to wear their hats today

[toxicpixie]

Bad weather Dragoons it is then