Red coat....?

Question

What was the name of the style of dress that a British Red Coat wore?

Answer 1

There was no particular name. It was just the military dress of the time. Just as all armies today tend to dress very much alike, so did those of the 18th century. The top coat may have varied in colour - there is a myth that the British redcoat was that colour to hide blood, but that is just that - a myth. The colour came about as one of the major groups that was formed into Cromwell's New Model Army was a militia raised by the Earl of Essex whose dress was red, and that gradually became to norm for the British Army.

Answer 2

To a modern generation, wearing a bright red coat into battle may seem a rather crazy thing to do. The red coat of the British infantry had first been introduced with the creation of the Parlimentarian New Model Army in 1644 and continued to be worn in Battle (except for some campaigns in India) until the mid 1880s.

During the Horse and Musket era it was normal practice for enemy scouts to be sent out to count the numbers of the opposing force lined up in battle formation. However the bright red colour of the massed British soldiers tended to optically blur into a solid wall of colour-thus making it extremely difficult for the enemy scouts to accurately assess the strength of the British forces arrayed against them.

Today the Redcoat survives only in the ceremonial dress of the Brigade of Guards and in some Military bands.

Answer 3

It was started by Oliver Cromwell when he started the new model army the first professionally paid army.His reasons for choosing red were it just looked good.

Answer 4

They were called the red coats because the coats that they were were red. they were also called lobsters.

Answer 5

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