Spanish militia 1808 uniform query.

[rikk]

Hello,

   i'm trying to find some info about  the uniforms of  Spanish militia 1808.

  The  provincial militia  wore (i think)  white with red facings, but not too sure of the urban militia uniforms. White  or blue with various coloured facings ?

Pat.

[Aksu]

Hi,
Please check out my article on the topic on our GeMiGaBoK club site
http://www.the-ancients.com/gemigabok/spanish-militia-uniforms-in-may-1808/

Basically you are pretty safe painting them brown.
Cheers,
Aksu

[Rob]

Druhizna's list of links has Spanish Militia at Talavera (1809)

http://warfare2.netai.net/19C/Spain/Militia.htm

Cheers, Rob   

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

D comes up trumps!

[Aksu]

Hi,
D shows indeed the regulation white uniform of the provincial militia. However, It is most likely that only the grenadier battalions actually had these in 1808, most of the others had brown. But as almost half of the battalions were unable to give details to the royal scribes, no one can blame you for painting them either white or blue to make your army look nice. That's what I do with my Spanish. Please note that some of the battalions listed in the primary document did not even have uniforms, so you can use civilian etc patterns for them.
Sorry I couldn't give you more info about the urban militias yet.
Cheers,
Aksu

[rikk]

Thanks for the replies and links,

  Pat.

[Aksu]

Hi Pat,
Dug around a bit. The urban militias were disbanded in 1802 after the peace of Amiens. In 1808 the various Juntas started raising volunteer units in cities and elsewhere, therefore you can follow whatever guidelines you find for the various early war uniforms. Brown, white and blue are safe bets for jacket and breeches. Top hats are safe for headgear. You can come across interesting examples online of individual units wearing tarleton helmets similar to the older light infantry, etc.
Cheers,
Aksu