Deep Dive on Uniform Research: The Pelisse Trim of the "Death's Head" Hussars

Accurate Vorstellung der sämtlich Koeniglichen Preusischen Armee
(Society of the Cincinnati Library, Washington, DC)

Dear Reader,

Today, I want to examine a topic near and dear to many of our hearts: researching the details of uniforms from the eighteenth century. Although this post follows one uniform detail and my search for answers regarding it, my hope is that it will provide enthusiasts and amateur historians of material culture with a step-by-step processes for evaluating and answering their own questions regarding uniforms and material culture from the eighteenth century.

Obviously, this is not a comprehensive guide on how to research material culture, nor is it is a comprehensive guide to eighteenth-century uniforms. For further advice on these matters, I highly recommend contacting archaeologists and specialists from your particular field of interest. For all eighteenth-century uniformology questions, Dr. Matthew Keagle at Fort Ticonderoga is an excellent place to begin. When his dissertation, 'An Uniform is Granted by all to be Absolutely Necessary’: A Cultural History of Military Dress in the Revolutionary Atlantic, is widely available, it will be a necessary starting point for understanding military dress. If you are new to this process, my first piece of advice is find someone who (regardless of their profession or credentials) has spent serious time doing primary research in your field of interest. If you need advice on who to contact for your specific question, feel free to reach out to me. I have many friends digging deep into the world of eighteenth-century uniforms.

Step 1: Formulate a Question. 

Several months ago, I became interested in the uniforms of one of the most iconic mid-eighteenth-century military units: The Reusch Hussars, or Hussar Regiment 5 of the Prussian Army. Colloquially, this regiment has received the "Death's Head" or Totenkopf, nickname as a result of the skull and crossbones which featured prominently on their mirlitons. As I looked more into this regiment's uniform, it became apparent that there was some disagreement regarding the color of the trim on the outer coat (or Pelisse) worn by the hussars. Some believed that the trim was black, the same color as the body of the Pelisse, others believed that it was white, contrasting sharply with the body of the coat. I had arrived at my question: During the reign of Frederick II,what color was the trim on the Pelisse of this hussar regiment?

Various examples of secondary sources 

Step 2:  Examine Multiple Secondary Sources to see if your question has been answered. 

For those not versed in the lingo of historians, a secondary source is distilled historical knowledge easily accessed by the public: a website, book, journal article, or dictionary could all be examples of secondary sources. When beginning research, it is extremely helpful to survey secondary sources, to see what others have written regarding your question. You may, in select cases, find that there is sufficient evidence in a secondary source to answer your question, ending the process. This step alone may satisfy your curiosity. As it often happens, however, secondary sources do not always agree. Casting about for more information regarding the trim of Hussar Regiment 5, I examined the secondary sources that I possessed around the house (Hans Bleckwenn, Dorn/Engelmann, and Hohrath) as well as looking for resources online, (such as Kronoskaf). In my case, the secondary sources disagreed. Hans Bleckwenn, the father of modern old Prussian army uniformology, indicated that the Pelisse of the hussars possessed a black trim. Likewise, Günter Dorn and Joachim Engelmann's book portrayed these hussars with a black trim. Kronoskaf, a Seven Years War themed wikipedia, indicated that the trim was black, but that certain visual primary sources indicated that was white. Finally, Daniel Hohrath indicated that the Pelisse was black, trimmed with white sheepskin, but provided no source for this assertion, except the period images already described by Kronoskaf.

Having looked at four secondary sources, I had not yet reached a definitive conclusion regarding my question. The source that I trusted the most as a result of its recent publication and depth of research (Hohrath), indicated one thing, while most of the older secondary sources asserted a different answer to the question. In the face of such disagreement, I concluded that my question had not been answered to my satisfaction. I did not simply choose to agree with the sources that I preferred, instead, I decided that it was time to proceed with my own evaluation of primary sources.

Plan von der Koeniglichen Preussischen Armee worinnen ein Officer und Gemeiner von Jeden Regiment zu Sehen
(Society of the Cincinnati Library, Washington, DC)

Step 3: View Multiple Primary Sources and evaluate their authority to answer your question.

Being unaware of any surviving examples of Pelisse from Hussar Regiment 5, I proceeded to the next most likely source: images of Hussar Regiment 5 drawn during the reign of Frederick II.  I found nine depictions of the Pelisse of Hussar Regiment 5. I have had the good fortunate to examine two of these groups of images in person at the Society of the Cincinnati Library, the rest were made available by the generosity of the institutions currently holding them. Of these depictions, 6 depicted the Hussars with white trim, 2 depicted them with black trim, and 1 depicted them with grey trim.

Using MS excel as a place to chart my progress, I evaluated the sources with reference to when and where they were created, their provenance in 2020, their accuracy in answering other questions, and their usage by secondary sources. By weight of numbers, white trim seemed to be the likely answer. One of the images which showed black trim, the Wellner Manuscript, had been discredited by previous usage when compared other agreeing sources. In some cases, my research would have ended here, but I still possessed lingering doubts, and so I proceeded to step 4.

Step 4: Do not rush to conclusions, assertions, or dissemination of your research. 

In the internet age, this is perhaps the most important and difficult step. Sharing research with interested friends is always a happy experience, but it is important to distance yourself from your project sufficiently to understand if you have reached a balanced conclusion. The careers of historians are often ruined by judgement calls made in error. Christopher Duffy's Ph.D mentor, Hugh-Trevor Roper, was (unfairly, perhaps) discredited as a historian when he authenticated the supposedly legitimate diaries of Adolf Hitler, and these diaries were later proven to be a careful forgery. It is better to sit on a project that you are unsure about, than rush to a conclusion which might be inaccurate. While sitting on such a project, it is possible to continue light research into it, leading us to step 5.


Step 5: Always keep your eyes open for new information, whether it agrees with your conclusion or not. 

Photograph of the Pelisse of a Prussian Hussar Regiment, Swedish Marine Museum

Over 2 months after first thinking about this question and evaluating the available primary sources, I was laying in bed, reading about the Battle of the Lagoon of Stettin in 1759. I was on the website of the Swedish Marine Museum, searching for objects using Swedish language search terms.  As I did, an object jumped out at me. It was the Pelisse of a Prussian Hussar, likely dating from the Swedish naval descent on Brandenburg in 1759. Despite the lateness of the hour, I was immediately awake. This is the type of connection that historians live for. I immediately returned to Step 3, and began to evaluate the relevance of this object for answering my research question.

The Pelisse in its display case at the Swedish Marine Museum

The Hussar Pelisse had clearly been through a lot in the intervening two hundred years. It is possible that the coat had been modified, reconstructed by conservationists, and altered by its Swedish captors. Lace loops, ordinarily present in large numbers on the Pelisse, had been stripped off, likely by Swedish enlisted men looking to make a profit. The white sheepskin trim was matted, in some spots by what looked like blood, in other cases it was missing entirely. However, on the right cuff of the Pelisse, there was what appeared to be relatively intact white sheepskin wool trim.

Prussian Mirliton in the Swedish Marine Museum

There were no guarantees that this was a Pelisse from Hussar Regiment 5, at least initially. Hussar Regiment 8/9 also wore black Pelisse with white trim, although that regiment wore green braid loops on the breast of their Pelisse, and this coat, though most had been stripped, still possessed four white braid loops. Supporting evidence for the coat belonging to the Death's Head Hussars included the fact that the Swedish Marine Museum also possessed a Black Death's Head mirliton, with the same provenance of the Pelisse. The combination of the white braid loops, and Hussar Regiment 5 mirliton, lead me to believe that tentatively, we should attribute this Pelisse to Hussar Regiment 5. Now, for step 6: what does it all mean? 

Step 6: Formulate an answer to your question. 

Based upon the existing evidence, both from visual sources and from existing material objects, it now seemed more likely to me that during the reign of Frederick II, Prussian Hussar Regiment 5 possessed white fur trim on their Pelisse. The combination of quality and quantity in terms of visual primary sources, combined a likely surviving example of the object under study leads me to assert that the Pelisse of the Reusch Hussars possessed white trim during at least a portion of the reign of Frederick II, and likely did so during the Seven Years War. 

Uniformes Prussien et Saxonne
(1750s)

Step 7: Share the answer to your question. 

In public history, answering your questions is only useful if  you share your findings with others. This step is easy, I have just done it above.

I hope this has been a helpful guide, which will enable you to answer your own questions regarding uniforms in the eighteenth century. Research into material culture is extremely rewarding, as a result of the wide array of primary sources that can be utilized in the course of answering questions.

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Thanks for Reading, 

Alex Burns