1758 Campaign Uniform Modifications.
Soldier of the
55th Regt. – 1758.
By Gary Zaboly,
Courtesy of Tim Todish. Used with
permission.
In April of 1758 Lord Howe met with Robert Rogers to confer about
wilderness warfare.[i] Howe then went about transforming Abercromby’s army into a ranger-like force, using his own
regiment as the example. He had the
coats cut so that they were “shorter than the Highlanders” and the lace taken
off. The men’s cocked hats were made
into round hats with brims 2 ½ inches wide.[ii] They were provided with woolen leggings to
replace canvas gaiters. The men were to
“put their provisions in their haversacks and roll them up in their blankets
like the rangers.”[iii] Muskets were shortened and “blackened.” The
ten best marksmen of the regiment were armed with rifles.[iv] The officers were not immune to his changes
either, they were ordered to cut down on their camp equipage, forbade of “all
displays of gold and scarlet…[Lord Howe] himself wearing an ammunition coat,
that is to say , one of the surplus soldiers coats cut short,” and ordered not
to wear sashes.[v] The men were trained in bush fighting, “so
that it is said, [Lord Howe] has made them [the men of the 55th
Regiment] as dexterous as it almost as the rangers.”[vi]