Lt. Richard Williams and the 23rd RWF Fusilier cap

 

 Here is a watercolor of a fusilier of the 23rd Royal Welch Fusiliers on guard duty in Boston in 1775. 

   It is part of a multi plate watercolor  panorama of Boston done by Lieutenant Richard Williams of the 23rd.   He mentioned in his journal sitting stop a hill in Boston to paint this.  A full size copy of the entire panorama is on display at the Battle Road Visitor Center, Minute Man National Historical Park, Lincoln, Massachusetts. 

  Did Fusiliers wear their caps in America?  I am not sure if the 7th or 21st did but the 23rd most definitely.   Here is a  fusilier of the 23rd on guard duty in Boston in one if Williams watercolors.  He is identified by his cap, the blue facings on his coat, no shoulder wings and the three feathers of the Prince of Wales in his cartridge box and rear of his cap.  All of which are very clear in the original works.

  Just before the 23rd were sent to America in 1773 they were inspected and it us mentioned they had just received new caps.  Prior to that they had paraded in hats (i.e. cocked hats).    

  The new caps was light weight and folded flat.  It was constructed around a tin front plate which gave the cap it's outline and shape.  The bear skin was sewed around it.  Here are pictures of a original cap's various pieces to show how it was put together. Note the bear skin sewed in shape, the tin plate it is attached to and front plate to cover it.  There is a linen cap inside the cap and decorative cords outside.  The only part missing is the red wool covering the back.

   For daily wear Grenadiers or Fusiliers would wear a cocked hat.  The cap was worn for guard duty, parades and also sometimes early in the war into battle.  At the Battle of Brandywine September 1777 the commander of the 2nd Grenadier battalion Colonel Meadows addressed his soldiers, "Grenadiers, put on your caps (bearskins); for fighting and drinking I'll match you against the world!". So it is possible that Fusiliers likewise wore their unique head great into battle.  In 1779, according to records the 23rd asked their agent in London to not send replacement caps to America. 

 For additional information please see;
Nichipor, Mark A. "Richard Williams and the Cartridge box badge of the Royal Welch Fusiliers."
 Military Color for and Historian, 37 (summer 1985), pp. 93-94.