War of the Spanish Succession in Spain and Portugal
The war of the Spanish Succession is often thought of as Marlborough's war - we talk about Marlburian rules for example; but the fighting in the Iberian Peninsular was every bit as important I intend to look at the organisation of the armies involved as well as the history of the war. I have started by posting some uniform details of the Portuguese Infantry on the Uniform guide forum so I will start with the Portuguese Infantry organisation. At the start of the war the Portuguese infantry was organised into 22 tercios each of 1,000 men. the tercios were split into 10 companies conisting of a captain, lieutenant, ensign and a fourriel ( who I think is a junior officer of some sort ) 2 sergeants, a drummer, three corporals and 90 enlisted men. One of the companies was of Grenadiers there was also a staffof a mestre de campo, sergeant-major an auditor, adjutant chaplain, surgeon and a drum major; there may also have been a company of 80 horse attached as well. The Infantry was reorganised in 1707 into 34 regiments of 681 officers and men in 12 companies, 11 fusilier and 1 grenadier each company having 56 officers and men. the uniform information I have is posted in the uniform forum and the basic uniform was the usual form for the period with the main difference being that instead of a swordbelt a baldric was worn so the soldiers had two straps crossing over their chests.
The war of the Spanish Succession is often thought of as Marlborough's war - we talk about Marlburian rules for example; but the fighting in the Iberian Peninsular was every bit as important I intend to look at the organisation of the armies involved as well as the history of the war. I have started by posting some uniform details of the Portuguese Infantry on the Uniform guide forum so I will start with the Portuguese Infantry organisation. At the start of the war the Portuguese infantry was organised into 22 tercios each of 1,000 men. the tercios were split into 10 companies conisting of a captain, lieutenant, ensign and a fourriel ( who I think is a junior officer of some sort ) 2 sergeants, a drummer, three corporals and 90 enlisted men. One of the companies was of Grenadiers there was also a staffof a mestre de campo, sergeant-major an auditor, adjutant chaplain, surgeon and a drum major; there may also have been a company of 80 horse attached as well. The Infantry was reorganised in 1707 into 34 regiments of 681 officers and men in 12 companies, 11 fusilier and 1 grenadier each company having 56 officers and men. the uniform information I have is posted in the uniform forum and the basic uniform was the usual form for the period with the main difference being that instead of a swordbelt a baldric was worn so the soldiers had two straps crossing over their chests.