Portuguese uniforms in WSS

A section devoted to questions and answers for this period.
Post Reply
Old John
Sergeant Major of the Army
Sergeant Major of the Army
Posts: 112
Joined: Thu Jun 12, 2014 7:02 am

Portuguese uniforms in WSS

Post by Old John » Sun Oct 06, 2019 8:44 am

i'm wanting to create a small Portuguese Army but having trouble finding good sources/colour plates/info etc, only sources i have are listed below so any guidance will be much appreciated

Bob Marrion colour plates
Kuhn part 22

Portuguese Army in WSS by Pat Condray, from Editions Brokaw, published 1992, in their series Wargaming in Age of Marlborough,

painting Guide for Portugese Army, got from an old blog/website, many years ago

cheers Old John
User avatar
Friedrich August I.
General of the Army
General of the Army
Posts: 2182
Joined: Fri Apr 29, 2011 4:23 am
Location: Vienna, Austria

Re: Portuguese uniforms in WSS

Post by Friedrich August I. » Sun Oct 06, 2019 11:02 am

„Macht Euch Euren Dregg alleene“

"Sort your filth out by yourself!" The King of Saxony Friedrich August III., at his abdication 1918, referred to the quarrels in the parliament and the squabbling within the provisional government.
Old John
Sergeant Major of the Army
Sergeant Major of the Army
Posts: 112
Joined: Thu Jun 12, 2014 7:02 am

Re: Portuguese uniforms in WSS

Post by Old John » Mon Oct 07, 2019 7:34 am

many thanks for taking time to send info, much appreciated, afraid got all the links and plates from Pinterest already. getting info on Portuguese proving difficult , thanks again
cheers Old John
TheRightfulKing2013
Master Sergeant
Master Sergeant
Posts: 71
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2013 11:46 pm

Re: Portuguese uniforms in WSS

Post by TheRightfulKing2013 » Wed Oct 16, 2019 4:26 pm

I used to have Pat Condray's book on this, which was black and white paperback.

Regarding references to the "livery" colours, the book does list those but we don't know for certain whether those liveries were the same colours as the uniforms. In some cases it was those.

Nearly all the infantry seems to have worne white/grey coats with various cuff colours including red. A painting mentioned in the book from around 1720 shows the Porto regiment wearing white grey with red cuffs. The Campo Maior regiment wore blue coat with red cuffs. The Lisboa regiment wore light blue, and had white lace. I also have a book by Manuel Ribeiro Rodrigues, the Portuguese military historian, which mentions cloth orders for the Lisboa regiment in 1754 still being light blue.

Theres also a description (in Pat Condray's book) and sketch of a militiaman (referred to as the "Tercos Auxilios" I think), wearing whitegrey coat and cuffs with red stockings. Interestingly he is wearing a bandolier similar to the one known in England as the "twelve apostles".

The marines (Terco da Armada) wore a green coat with yellow or orange cuffs from the 1680s until 1725, when it changed to green coat with red cuffs. The stockings had been yellow at one point but eventually changed to white.

The cavalry are described in the book by an English observer as not having uniforms and in some cases wearing caps described as "montero caps" but it seems in 1707 or 1708 an order went out for grey coats.

Red sashes for officers seem to have been introduced, replacing the green and green/white of the late 17th century.

The book says that the pikemen were ordered to train with muskets in I think 1703 or 4 (I lost the book some years ago but I remember this), so thats likely when the pikemen were abolished.
Post Reply