French Lottery Uniforms

As I walked into the library last week, I noticed that the display in the front hall window was a variety of Revolutionary War uniforms. One was a long-tailed coat that I immediately recognized as one that soldiers in the Continental Army wore. The identification card said “French Lottery Uniform” and it had belonged a soldier in the Pennsylvania 2^nd Regiment. I asked inside why it was called a French lottery uniform, but no one seemed to know. I let it go then for I had many things on my mind.

Yesterday, after our monthly book group meeting, at which we discussed “1776” by David McCullough, I returned to the library and when I went in I again saw that uniform. I resolved to find out.

In 1778, France was supplying the colonies much of what they needed to carry on the war with England. In addition to food, weapons, gunpowder, and the like, France was also providing clothing, especially uniforms for the Continental Army. Ben Franklin and Silas Deane were instrumental in making a deal with the French to provide about 40,000 uniforms, consisting of coats, waistcoats, and breeches in addition to other pieces of clothing.

The rest of the uniforms being the same, the difference was in the coats. Most were in blue with red cuffs, while a lesser number were brown with red cuffs. In order to determine who got what – since almost everyone wanted the blue – Washington had his aides develop a lottery in which each state drew for the uniform color that their soldiers would get.

(The above photos are from historytube.org/2013/08/revolutionary-military-attire) 

Nine states were in the lottery. Rhode Island and Connecticut had their soldiers outfitted by private clothiers from their own states by the firm Otis & Andrews. The lottery results were that North Carolina, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York drew the blue uniforms. Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts drew the brown uniforms. 

Afterwards, when it was determined that additional blue uniforms were available, a second lottery was conducted for the “brown” states, and blue uniforms were issued in the priority to Massachusetts, Virginia and Delaware together, New Hampshire, and lastly, Pennsylvania. 

Since the uniform I saw in the library belonged to a Pennsylvania unit, one can question how well the lottery seemed to have worked. Just sayin…

(Cambria 13 font)