IT is with the military, as with all other professions, if the individuals of which are not properly appointed, and a suitable provision made for them, they will never be able to acquit themselves, or to give the satisfaction which may be required of them. And as this position is universally admitted, I conclude it will not be improper in this place to make some observations on the Dress, Arms, and Accoutrements, of our Soldiers; and to offer some amendments and alteration in the articles, where I shall judge them to be defective.

The Dress then of a Soldier should serve in the first place, to preserve health. Next, to give sprightliness and appearance to the men, and to characterize him in his profession. And lastly, to give reputation to [10] the service, in which he is engaged. Nor ought it to be less calculated for the purpose of Conveniences, having it so contrived, as neither to obstruct or impede him in his motions ; nor required in the easiest manner, and in shortest time. The above being the chief ends of a military Dress[ital.], what I shall offer concerning them, I propose to deliver under the following articles; namely, Cloathing, Convenience, and Appearance.

The several articles of cloathing ought, in themselves, to be substantial, strong, and good ; and adapted to the country or climate in which the soldier is to serve ; since the preservation of health, which is the chief intent of cloathing, will every where be found the greatest Economy[ital.]. His cloaths, therefore, ought to be well made and put together ; and sufficient to last, by ordinary repairs, the intended time. Nor should they be incumbered with any frivolous and finical ornaments, which are soon worn out, and easily defaced ; especially, where suitable materials cannot conveniently be had to mend or reinstate them.

It is an established maxim, that nothing is military which is in itself either tedious or inconvenient; consequently, the best materials for dress, if not well calculated for that end, lose of their estimation ; and, instead of their being convenient and satisfactory, become troublesome and disgustful. Now, to apply this [11] observation, I shall bring it home to ourselves ; our materials then, are in general tolerably good, but the purposes to which they are converted will admit of some principal exceptions, and those are as follow.

The first thing, then, which I shall touch upon, is our Grenadier-cap, which is so badly contrived, as neither to be fit for use or service. The height of it above the head is so enormous, that any inclination or agile motion of the body, will cause it immediately to tumble off. If the country, through which the man is ordered to proceed, happens to be either bushy or woody, off goes the cap at every branch, briar, or twig, which comes in its way ; and the same inconvenience he meets from every other object that it strikes against. If the weather be windy, the cap is every now and then blown off ; or it be dusty and scorching, it affords no sort of shelter whatever to the face and eyes ; or if the weather be rainy, it yields as little covering to the neck and shoulders. In short, it is so aukward a piece of apparel, as to have nothing to recommend or reconcile it to us, but our being accustomed to it ; except, like the whiskers of old, it may be deemed necessary to frighten an enemy, which no soldier will place the slightest dependance.

The Hat is another article of dress, which, though infinitely preferable to the cap, yet is not without some weighty objections; for by its projection over the shoulders, it is extremely incommodious to the man, when in the ranks or under arms, it being then liable, either by its own motions or by those of others, to be easily thrown off, which frequently happens. Nor is it much less troublesome than the cap, in a bushy or woody country, or in windy weather ; as those incidents [12] do ever occasion it, only to fall off, but to tease and incommode the man ; besides its being of that sort of apparel, which is easily disfigured by the cocks losing their set and form, and then nothing is more unbecoming.

These being some of the principal objections to Cap and Hat, the remedy which I would offer in order to remove them, is to substitute in their room, the small close leather Helmet, made not only sufficiently strong to resist the blow of a sword, but to have a curtain appending it, which may be occasionally used, either to roll up in dry weather, or in wet to let down for the purpose of preserving the neck and shoulders from the rain. Besides the advantage of the Curtain, I would also have that of a Flap or Frontispiece to let likewise down before, for the convenience of saving he eyes from dust, and from the heat and rays of the sun, which are circumstances, if not guarded against, that must ever be affecting to the sight of the man.

The Roler [sic] about the neck is another part of dress to which I very much object; because the man alone cannot, in that particular, dress himself, but must have the assistance of another to help him, which must be allowed a very inconvenient circumstance. And, by having his neck so swathed about with so long a bandage, the circulation of the blood is consequently obstructed; by which means, it is no uncommon thing to observe, when men are under arms, but more especially upon a march, that they frequently drop down into fits, and often expire.

To prevent circumstances so bad in themselves, I would recommend, instead of the Roler, a Stock with clasps, which the man can, of himself, immediately [13] put on or take off, and loosen or tighten at pleasure.

The make of the Coat is another article to which I have much dislike, on account of the great heap and load of skirts appending to it, which are neither long enough to keep the men warm in cold weather, nor short enough to render him active in cool where the agility and labour is required of him, an serving only to fatigue and encumber him in all his operations, and to be of no use or service whatever to him on any occasion; besides the injury the skirts do to his health, should he happen to lie down when they are wet, either upon his guard-bed or in his tent. In short, the inconvenience of the coat in this particular, is so well known to all those who follow any active laborious way of life, that they are seldom or never seen, while at work, with their coats on. To pursue then an example so well founded, both upon reason and experience, and to avoid the inconveniencies [sic] above mentioned, I would substitute instead of the coat, the common tight light Jacket.

Our Spatterdashes, are another part of dress, to which I have likewise great objections. The Spatterdashes I mean, are those made of canvass, to button tight, and to come half way up the thigh, with upwards of two dozen buttons to each. I need not represent how long a time it will take up to put on a pair of those Spatterdashes, as it will easily be conceived. But besides the trouble of this tedious operation, there is the well known perplexity of every now and then tearing open a button-hole, an the pulling off a button ; and by the delay thus accidentally occasioned in the mending of which, I have known [14] many a good soldier punished for the not appearing at the time appointed. But, besides this great inconvenience in putting them on, there is another very strong objection to them; for by the leg and part of the thigh being thus buttoned and braced up, the agility at the knee is of course obstructed. And as the legs of most men will on or after long walking, swell a little, the pain then arising becomes quite intolerable, by the want of room in the Spatterdash for the limb to ease itself. And next, by their being made of canvass, they are but very ill calculated to defend the legs against briars and thorns ; besides their being soon worn out about the ankles and knees, by the continual stress and friction which they are exposed to in those parts.

Now what I would offer to obviate, those several inconveniences, is to substitute the sort of Spatterdashes commonly worn by gentlemen in riding. They are made of supple leather, and topped with a piece of what is strong and stiff. They come so high as to cover the caps of the knees, and there fit as close and tight s light boots commonly do ; but I would have them to come rather higher, the better to defend the knees, and to preserve the breeches, when the men come to kneel, either at their exercise, or on any other occasion. Each of these sort of Spatterdashes has but two buttons, one just below the knee, and the other close to the foot. Those buttons are made of a bit of flat iron, so as to turn and make fast after they have entered a small iron button-hole. And in order to keep them close to the legs, there is also added to each edge of the spatterdash, a piece of strong flated wire, fastened at each end to the buttons and button holes. The advantages of [15] those Spatterdashes are, that they are so soon put on, as scarce to exceed the time of half a minute, and are so pliant to the legs, as to give way to them occasionally. But it may be objected, that the expence of them will be too great for Soldiers. I answer not for as they will last considerably longer than those made of canvass, they will in the end be found to be much cheaper.

The Dress of the Hair is another very essential article in point of convenience and cleanliness, of which we seem altogether unmindful; having at present no other form, but either the Tuck, the Cue, or the Club. The time of adjusting either is evidently so very tedious and troublesome, of which the men themselves are so sensible, that in order to avoid that inconvenience, and to have more time for other purposes, they frequently let their hair remain in one or other of those forms for some days together, giving it occasionally, without opening and combing it, a sort of outward slight dressing, by way of concealing their neglect from their officers ; the ill consequence of which is, that the man [sic] by not daily combing his head, the skin contracts, in a small space o time, not only stagnated humours, which break out into scabs and ulcers, but an accumulated mixture of filth, dirt, and vermin, which proves as pernicious to the man himself, as it becomes infectious to other.

To prevent on one hand so great an inconvenience, and on the other to guard against the bad consequence attending to it, I would have the hair cut short and tapering, and to come no lower than the upper sedge of the Stock, by which means the head will easily be kept clean and cool, and the inconvenience of a tedious dress will be as much avoided.

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The Appearance of a Soldier consists in being always dressed in character, and conformable to the rules of his corps. He ought therefore to appear clean and neat in his person ; his hair well combed ; his hat well brushed and cocked ; his cloaths in good order, having neither dirt, dust or spots upon them ; and his linen, stockings, shoes and buckles, clean and in repair. In short, every thing about him should appear good calculated for decency and use, and adapted to the times, whether upon or off Duty; or whether in the condition of the private or public man.

The advantages of this Appearance are many; It gives a reputation to the service and corps in which he is, and is a strong inducement to others to enter into ; and, above all, it naturally inspires a man with a pride of spirit, which is the greatest preservative against mean and unbecoming actions.

There is another article in the Dress of a Soldier, which, above all others, contributes the most to a stately carriage of his person, and which I think is not in general sufficiently attended to; I mean, the wearing well of the Hat. I have often lamented an oversight of such consequence, there being no one part of Dress which makes a man appear to greater advantage than that alone; it is a circumstance so striking in itself, that it commonly conveys a characteristical idea of the man; and according to the impression his appearance so makes, a conclusion is often formed of him. The rule therefore I shall give is as follows:

In wearing the hat as thus directed, there is and advantage as well as an ornament in it. It may be observed, that when a man stoops or holds down his head with hi hat off, the very decline of his face will prevent, in a great measure, his having an elevated or horizontal view; and should he, in that attitude, wear his hat according to the above rule, it is evident that his view will be the more obstructed by the intervention of the cock of the hat. This being the case, and he finding the inconvenience of it, he will naturally, in order to avoid it, hold up his head that he may have the advantage of a better view; and by so holding up his head the consequence will as naturally lead him to carry his body erect, which becomes an ornament to his person. Hence then it I, that there is no instance where a man wears his hat pressed well down upon his eyebrows whose carriage has been otherwise than constantly erect.

Indeed there I, besides the above, another very considerable advantage in this wear of the hat; it may likewise be observed that the forehead is the only inexpressive part of the whole face, every other feature having both action and significance in it. Hence it is, that by the forehead being thus hid by the hat and nothing presented to view but the animated parts of the face, the man appears no less considerable in his aspect than elevated in his person.

As to the form of cocking the hat, I acknowledge myself a little timorous about prescribing a rule for it, there being so great a variety of opinions on that head; but were I to choose I should prefer that cock which would keep its form best and longest, and at the same time cause a man to look sprightly in his appearance.

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