First Maryland, Circa 1780

American Mid-Atlantic Musician

Why is he in a red coat?

     American and British Musicians of units during the revolution wore a coat that was "reversed" from the coat colors that the infantry wore.   In this case the infantry would be wearing a blue coat with red colors and cuffs.

     This musician is wearing a French Lottery Style coat.   Lottery Coats were supplied to the American Army by the French during the revolution.  Which units got which coats was decided by a random drawing, hence the name, Lottery Coats.  The fifer is wearing buff breeches (the pants) when the regulations called for white.  This often happened due to fabric shortages or a make due if breeches wore out before the unit was resupplied.  You can see that his shoes are black leather and have buckles (the shiny bit) rather than laces.  Shoes of this period were made straight lasted, which means they had no right or left shoe.  Each shoe could be worn on either foot.

Back to Uniforms Page

Home