Capote Documentation and Notes

by
Justin Clement

Von Germann watercolors: Soldier on left and French Canadian townsperson at right.

Terre Bonne 23d decr 1781

Orders / The Commanding Officer is sorry to Say that he has Observed a good deal of Remissness lately in the Attention paid by they [sic] non Commissd Officers of this Cantonment to they mens dress & Particular in the article of Blanket Coats, the verbal dirictions already given for the Cutting & sewing them, he thought might have Been sufficiently Understood, with out Insisting Such Trivial Matters in written orders, but finding it Necessary now, through the Inattention of some, & the Neglect of others, to strictly order that the following derictions may be paunctually follow’d Respecting the Blanket Coats—

The Length from the ground to be all Round Exactly according to the Measures for the front and rear Ranks, to be found at S. Major wilkinon’s to which Measures Each Non Commiss’d Officer is to have Markd Upon his stick—
The Gusset Behind, with the Center Rose is to Come up Exactly to the Lower Edge of the waist belt—the fore lap when Buttoned Back is to have the upper Edge touching the Lower Edge of the belt—the Coats are to stand very full at the Bottom
The[y] appear at present to be much Confd Their, which it is Aprehended, must be owing to the Improper Putting in of the Gusset it is theirfor desired that the fault my be Remedeyd Immeadiatly—

Syn’d     A Campbell Major¹

15 Feb 1782 Montreil

R.O.: Bridgr Genl Specht having Signified His intention of Seeing the Regimt without Specifying what time, the Companys in the different Cantonments will be in Readyness to March to head Quarters Upon the Shortest Notice, the Soldiers Will Appear in fur Caps and Blanket Coat tucked Back thair Uniform leggings & Magason. Accoutrements put on According to the Regimtl Custom—the Officers to Appear in Regtl short leggings.²

Captain Pausch, November 9th, 1776 (Stone translation):

“One Canadian over-coat with a cape and facing of white sheeps wool, and bound with a light blue braid. The cape itself is made out of a whitish gray cloth a kind of melton. It is bound with light blue woolen ribbon, and in three places extending down in front to the waist it is fastened with rosettes—these latter being made out of this same blue ribbon. This garment is called throughout all Canada a capot.”³

Captain Pausch, November 9th, 1776 (Burgoyne translation):

“one Canadian overcoat, with hood and cuffs, made from white woolen blankets, with a blue stripe at the bottom of the coat. The hood and cuffs are of heavy white twilled cloth, drawn tight with a bright blue woolen tape, and are fastened down the front with three toggles. These are three rosettes made of the same cord on the coattails. This last item is called a “Capot” everywhere in Canada.”⁴

NOTES:

• The tails of the capote should be even all the way around. See the soldier in winter clothing from Von Germann for the length when fitting to the men. If there is no stripe on the bottom of the particular blanket, you may want to consider trimming the capote while worn on the soldier in order to cut it round. Make sure it is pinned closed in front before doing so. If there is a stripe on the blanket—screw it—it’s too late, so just leave it.

• The rear rank possibly had shorter tails, perhaps to keep them from crowding each other. This is more inferred than anything from the first quote. So, when sizing your ranks, put those with shorter capotes in the rear rank.

• The rosette above the gusset/vent should end exactly with the lower edge of the waistbelt. Look at the Von Germann image above where the rosette is visible just to the left of the cartridge pouch. It is just where the orders state they should be.
  IMPORTANT: most of the Yorker rosettes and the tops of the vents end somewhere below the butt, but these vents should be much higher. I tried to do that when reconfiguring the patterns, so some may not be high enough.

• “the fore lap when Buttoned Back is to have the upper Edge touching the Lower Edge of the belt” and “Blanket Coat tucked Back” means the front tails are capable of being buttoned back, just like a full-length Regimental coat. Place a small loop of cord on the inside of the front-tail corner wide enough to fit over the rosettes. The tails should be able to button back to the rosettes, increasing the mobility of the soldier.

• There is a translation issue obvious between the Burgoyne and Stone versions and I’m not convinced either one is necessarily better than the other. So, here’s my recommendation on how to bind the garments, just the be safe:
  • Given that the von Germann watercolors do not show any binding on the edges of the military capote, I would not add any in places where it is not strictly necessary. In other words, if it is a clean woven edge, leave it alone. If it is a cut edge, add the blue binding out of necessity. This will mean they are not all uniform, but I think it’s the best way to economize.

  • I like the idea of cuffs and a hood capable of being drawn. For the hood and cuffs, I would add the 1 7/8” wool braid and dye it a light blue for the binding. Make eyelets on the ends so that ¼” linen twill tape can be drawn through it and tightened. This is going from the Burgoyne translation, but I don’t know how well it will wear.

  • The ties making up the rosettes appear from both translations to be a different type of material. I would use ½” wool twill tape for the toggles/rosettes, dyed the same color as the binding. These you can make into little rosettes for the skirts. I would use the same material to make three pairs of rosettes on the front of the coat in such a way that they end in loops on one side and in little balls (the toggles) on the other side. You can make the toggles one the one side by folding or rolling the end over upon itself until it has enough volume and then stitching it in place. There is no evidence of wooden toggles.

  • If you want to follow the Stone translation, you can possibly line the capote with a different wool material, or even just the hood, so long as the binding is put on afterward. I recommend this only for the thinnest blankets. You don’t want to sweat in these things.

1. Orderly Book, 29th Regiment of Foot, 9 December 1781-16 November 1783, Malcolm Fraser Papers, Vol. 28, PAC, MG23, K1, transcribed by Todd Braisted, 1986.

2. Orderly Book, 29th Regiment of Foot, 9 December 1781-16 November 1783, Malcolm Fraser Papers, Vol. 28, PAC, MG23, K1, transcribed by Todd Braisted, 1986.

3. William L. Stone, ed. and trans., Journal of Captain Pausch, Chief of the Hanau Artillery During the Burgoyne, (Albany, NY: 1886), 94.

4. Bruce E. Burgoyne, ed. and trans., Georg Pausch’s Journal and Reports of the Campaign in America (Bowie, Maryland: 1996), 46-47.

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