Month: June 2014
The 1777 Garrison of Setauket
Greetings, readers! We’re kicking off the TURN postseason with a series of posts by Todd Braisted covering a number of heavily-requested topics related to the Battle of Setauket. Today’s post covers the British — or rather, not-so-British — military presence in Setauket in 1776 and 1777, and includes a primer on the distinctions between American-born “Provincials” and British regulars. Contrary to what we’ve seen on screen, Setauket was not awash in a sea of redcoats in the months leading up to the Battle of Setauket in August 1777. In fact, there were likely no redcoats stationed there at all… -RS
The first season of TURN has brought the central Long Island town of Setauket to life, showing us residents of one political persuasion or another living amongst a garrison of British soldiers. In TURN, the townspeople, though technically British colonists, are not thought of as “British,” and the scarlet-clad soldiers shown interacting with the residents certainly wouldn’t be considered American. But how does the Hollywood setup compare to what actually happened? In this piece, we will examine the actual troops that were in town during the time the show has covered in its first season, from December 1776 to August 1777. The historic reality may surprise you…
For the bulk of this time period, the main British and Hessian forces were located around New Brunswick, New Jersey under Sir William Howe, or in New York City and its immediate environs. Located nearly 60 miles from lower Manhattan, the Setauket garrison was quite isolated from other British posts, the bulk of which were in Brooklyn or Queens. The job of the troops stationed there was simply one of defense and the protection of the countryside from rebel incursions from Connecticut. The British therefore saw little need to waste valuable European troops in Setauket. Instead, they used loyal American forces.
Throughout the 18th century, the British had authorized their colonies to raise their own regiments to augment the relatively limited number of British Regulars available to fight the French and/or Indians during the different wars then raging (known collectively as the Colonial Wars). During the French and Indian War of 1756-1763, these Provincial Forces, or “Provincials,” consisted of tens of thousands of Americans who provided valuable service in successfully driving the French out of North America.
At the outbreak of war in America in 1775, the British saw no reason not to repeat the process: Let the “good” Americans help subdue the “bad” Americans. But the process for doing this in the American Revolution would be far more complicated than during the previous wars. Previously, colonial legislatures, flush with subsidies from Parliament, had raised regiments on a colony by colony basis to serve against the French – but there was no such infrastructure to do that in 1776. The British, therefore, needed to rely on influential individuals to raise troops both where the British held sway and more commonly, clandestinely behind the lines. One such individual, as we have seen on TURN, was Robert Rogers, whose Queen’s Rangers became one of the first Provincial regiments raised in the New York City area. In September 1776 though, the wheels would be in motion to raise troops specifically on Long Island. Lots of them.
By 1776, Oliver DeLancey had been a prominent New York politician for decades. Through his political and family connections, he was a man involved in all aspects of the colony’s governance. He had seen service in the French and Indian War and was considered by the British as both influential and reliable, having a son then serving as a captain in the British 17th Light Dragoons. On 5 September 1776, the senior DeLancey was authorized to raise a brigade of three battalions for service “Solely for the defence of [Long] Island and to reestablish Order, and Government within the Same, to Apprehend or drive all Concealed Rebels from among his Majesties well Affected Subjects & other essential Purposes…”
DeLancey immediately set about picking out the men he wished to lead his battalions. They in turn would issue warrants to those who would recruit the men (their success in recruiting would earn them their commissions as officers). Based on family names, the 1st Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel John Harris Cruger appears to have been raised primarily in Suffolk County, the 2nd Battalion under Colonel George Brewerton from western Long Island, New York City and Connecticut, while the 3rd Battalion under Colonel Gabriel G. Ludlow was heavily recruited in Queens County. It was actually Colonel Ludlow’s loyalist battalion, not any British redcoats, that formed the garrison of Setauket during the time when TURN takes place.
Far from the spiffy looking British portrayed in the show, the 3rd Battalion of DeLancey’s would not have even had uniforms of any sort until clothing arrived from England at the end of March 1777. And it would not have been the red coats folks are used to seeing Crown Forces wear, but rather a green regimental coat, with white lapels, cuff and collar. This was the uniform worn by the 5,000 or so Provincial troops raised in the New York City area at that time. Prior to this, the men would have served in whatever they wore from home, looking much like their rebel counterparts.
What is not known is exactly when the DeLancey’s 3rd Battalion (i.e., the battalion led by Colonel Ludlow) arrived at Setauket. In the beginning of 1777 the battalion was at Huntington NY, moving to Oyster Bay the 2nd week of May. Ludlow and his men were then relieved by the 1st Battalion and the King’s American Regiment about three weeks later, at which point they most likely moved to Setauket. WhileColonel Ludlow may have led the troops there in early June, the command soon devolved upon the battalion’s second-in-command, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hewlett. Yes, the real Hewlett, who (like Robert Rogers) was an American-born Loyalist.
We have a very good idea how many men were in town at the time of the Battle of Setauket (which we’ll discuss in a forthcoming post), as muster rolls of the battalion are dated just two days after the attack took place in August 1777. In addition to Lieutenant Colonel Hewlett, there were five other named officers, along with 5 lieutenants, 4 ensigns, 4 or 5 staff officers, 13 sergeants, 14 corporals, 5 drummers and 145 privates present and fit for duty, organized into five companies. Others were either absent elsewhere or sick. Relatively speaking, as far as battalions and garrisons were concerned, this one was pretty small.
While it may have been confusing for a general audience, it would have been wonderful to see an accurate portrayal of green-coated Loyalists – mostly native Long Islanders – interact with the residents of a Long Island town! Of course, “British vs. colonist” confrontation is easier to write, easier to portray, and easier for most to relate to. To expect more of an entertainment series is probably just wishful thinking, but still… (n.b. What an incredible dynamic that would have created!)
In any case, the Setauket garrison would be short-lived. On 17 November 1777, Sir Henry Clinton, commanding at New York and stripped of troops to reinforce Sir William Howe at Philadelphia, ordered Setauket abandoned and the fortifications there destroyed. Lieutenant Colonel Hewlett and his men dutifully complied, moving to Herricks, Queens County, about 35 miles to the west. While British troops would again occupy posts in Suffolk County, Setauket would generally spend the rest of the war free from a military presence, other than troops occasionally passing through.
As for Lieutenant Colonel Hewlett, we will cover him (and his men) in greater depth over the next few weeks. He’s not going anywhere. And while the series is off for the summer, someone should tell Burn Gorman — aka “Major Hewlett” — that he needs to lobby Craig Silverstein and the producers for a promotion!
(n.b. For more information about the men and officers of the Provincial brigades mentioned in this post, check out the library of transcribed primary source documents on royalprovincial.com.)
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Todd W. Braisted is an author and researcher of Loyalist military studies. His primary focus is on Loyalist military personnel, infrastructure and campaigns throughout North America. Since 1979, Braisted has amassed and transcribed over 40,000 pages of Loyalist and related material from archives and private collections around the world. He has authored numerous journal articles and books, as well as appearing as a guest historian on episodes of Who Do You Think You Are? (CBC) and History Detectives (PBS). He is the creator of the Online Institute for Advanced Loyalist Studies (royalprovincial.com), the largest website dedicated to the subject. Braisted is a Fellow in the Company of Military Historians, Honorary Vice President of the United Empire Loyalist Association of Canada, and a past-president of the Bergen County Historical Society.
TURN officially renewed for Season 2 with ten new episodes in Spring 2015
Earlier today, AMC officially announced that it was ordering a second season of TURN. Ten new episodes are slated to air in Spring 2015!
The news broke on Twitter shortly after 2:00pm Eastern time this afternoon — and happy TURN fans have been posting rather fantastic celebratory posts all day since.
For commentary from some other entertainment websites, check out the following links. (Most sites have brief announcements and/or copy and paste from AMC’s official press release; the sites below offer some of their own commentary as well.) From the sound of it, renewal was not guaranteed, and the ratings have been almost universally described as “modest.” FYI: The “Live+3” stat that many of these articles mention means the total viewing numbers of the original airing and all subsequent re-airings over the next three days.
- Entertainment Weekly: AMC’s Revolution Will Continue
- Hollywood Reporter: AMC is Sticking with TURN
- TV.com: AMC Renews TURN for Season 2 Even Though It’s Doing Only So-so
- A/V Club: AMC gives TURN another season to see how this Revolutionary War thing pans out
With an airdate of next spring, that gives us plenty of time to cover all the historic topics of Season 1 in detail here at the blog! More about our off-season (inter-season?) plans coming soon. In the meantime, enjoy the good news, TURN fans!
-RS
Setauket Sojourns and (Spy)curious Silences
There has been an awful lot of suspicious silence circulating through the TURN community lately. For example, If your only means of following “TURN to a Historian” is through this WordPress blog, you may have wondered if the historians have TURNed to hibernation, or if this blog was another shocking casualty of the TURN Season Finale. (Don’t worry — we’re not going anywhere! More on that in a moment.)
More curious, however, is the deafening silence surrounding the renewal of TURN for a second season. While showrunner Craig Silverstein has talked at length about his big plans for season 2, there is still no official word from AMC about whether they’ll renew TURN at all. I’m no TV industry insider, but it seems very strange that there’s no official word from the network two weeks after the season finale aired. (TV/film buffs: Is this standard operating procedure for 21st century TV shows? Feel free to chime in!)
We’ll post notice of TURN’s renewal (or non-renewal) as soon as we hear official word from AMC – both here on the main blog and on the other Spycurious social media sites. (I’ve been working on a long retrospective about TURN’s inaugural season, but have been holding back on publishing it, since the news of the show’s renewal/cancellation will definitely affect the tone of that post.)
And just in case you needed another reason to follow @spycurious on Twitter (or tumblr, or Facebook): if your only subscription to “TURN to a Historian” is through the WordPress blog, you likely missed this very interesting exchange on Twitter regarding the ratings for the TURN season finale:
@spycurious @Boston1775 I heard it’s not good, unfortunately. Plus, it’s numbers with young ppl – audience everyone wants – were way down.
— Joe Waters (@joewaters) June 10, 2014
@joewaters @spycurious @Boston1775 Numbers are v.v good, esp. vs GoT. Improvements across board + Netflix rights, Amzn d/l, audience growth. — Alexander Rose (@AlexRoseWriter) June 11, 2014
Like I said before: I’m a historian, not a TV industry insider; since I don’t know how to interpret the information linked above in its proper context, I’ll let these numbers — and opinions — speak for themselves. Clearly some people think the finale numbers are cause for concern, while Alexander Rose (who is not an official spokesperson for AMC, despite whatever inside information he may have) sounds quite optimistic. Only time will tell!
In other news: Hopefully this blog’s little post-season hiatus provided enough time for everyone to digest the craziness that was the season finale (a.k.a. Episode 10: “The Battle of Setauket”). The writers certainly crammed an impressive amount of dramatic plot into a mere 60 minute timeslot, that’s for sure! For all of you who have been aching for some historically-accurate input on the real Battle of Setauket, you’re in luck: Loyalist scholar Todd Braisted is in the middle of writing a multi-part series on the Battle of Setauket, including some much-requested commentary on the occupation of Setauket and everyone’s favorite law-abiding Loyalist Major Lieutenant Colonel: Richard Hewlett.
One of the primary reasons for the post-season blog hiatus was that the site manager was temporarily “detached for special service” on Long Island, which included attending an event that was less than two miles from the historic Setauket Village Green. I’ve visited Setauket many times before, but managed to snap a few fresh photographs of a couple of historic sites last weekend. I plan on going back to Long Island in the near future to take some more professional-grade photos of the many sites that have a historic connection to Revolutionary war espionage. This summer — time permitting — I hope to start a new site project which will feature pictures, histories, and visiting information for these — as well as others in Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey — under the heading of “Spy-curious Destinations.”
In conclusion: We’re back! I’ll post a little more about these “Spy-curious Destinations” and other ambitious summer plans for “TURN to a Historian” soon. For now, enjoy the small sampling of first-run photos below! Click on the thumbnails to see the full images with their respective captions.
-RS
Links to recent posts
(Insert joke about British sabotage here.)
Hmm. There appears to be a glitch in TURN to a Historian’s home page that inserts several hundred blank lines instead of the TURN Historical Family Trees post of June 5th when scrolling down past today’s new posts.
Here’s hoping this is a temporary glitch, after which this post shall self-destruct. But since it’s Season Finale Day and some of you might want to catch up on your spy-curious history before 9:00pm, you can also access recent blog posts from the list below or in the sidebar to the right under “Recent Posts.” Enjoy!
The Big Season Finale Party Post: Drinking Songs, John Andre’s Parties, Glassware, and 18th Century Recipes
This post began as a random collection of reader-requested topics, but as I started writing I noticed that several of them shared a common and rather… festive theme that I thought would be quite appropriate for commemorating TURN’s season finale. Enjoy!
Drinking Songs and John Andre’s (In)famous parties
Episode 8 of TURN, “Challenge,” involved so much wild partying that even the most sober viewers may have had a hard time following along. In the midst of all the Bacchanalian revelry, however, you might recall hearing a tipsy Abraham Woodhull sing a very familiar tune about halfway through the episode, albeit with strange and unfamiliar words. And for some of you, that may have triggered the thought: “Wait a minute. Wasn’t the Star-Spangled Banner based on some old drinking song? Didn’t I hear that back in grade school/at a cocktail party/on the Internet somewhere?”
While one should always be wary of Internet history memes, this is one popular piece of vague historical trivia that’s actually true! Francis Scott Key is known as the author of the United States’ National Anthem, but to be precise, while he penned the words to the Star-Spangled Banner, he borrowed the melody from a very popular folk tune of the time. The tune’s earliest and most popular incarnation (before Key came along) was “To Anacreon in Heaven.” As you can see from the Smithsonian’s website on the history of the National Anthem, the (literally Bacchanalian) lyrics “To Anacreon in Heaven” render it a very fitting song for John Andre’s party in Episode 8.
Now is an excellent time to brush up on your knowledge of The Star Spangled Banner too, since the Smithsonian is celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Star-Spangled Banner on Flag Day – this Saturday, June 14th, 2014 – with a nation-wide celebration. Check out their party page for details, and don’t forget to sing along with the rest of the country at 4:00pm Eastern time this Saturday!
Speaking of parties (and Episode 8 of TURN), John Andre had quite the historical reputation as one heck of a party host. In 1778, Andre orchestrated “the Meschianza,” one of the biggest parties in Philadelphia’s history, in honor of General William Howe upon his departure of the British-occupied city. It was considerably grander than the party depicted in TURN – in addition to a formal dinner and ball, the day-long event included a river parade, music, dramatic performances, and fireworks. Andre and his compatriots spared no expense on the lavish fête, much to the chagrin of many of Philadelphia’s struggling, war-weary residents. For an overview of the Meschianza – and Andre’s reputation as a Renaissance man and party host – check out the Library Company of Philadelphia’s page here. (If you want to avoid spoilers pertaining to the historical fate of John Andre, skip the third paragraph)! You can also read this wonderfully annotated blog post which covers the (in)famous party in much greater detail.
18th Century Wine Glasses and Drinkware
A few weeks ago, 
I received a message from an especially clever reader who was wondering about Major Hewlett’s rounded (and quite ubiquitous) wine glass, pointing out that most 18th century wine glasses were less bowl-shaped and more angular and conical. Indeed they were, as you can see by perusing the links below. (You may want to have a glass or two of wine under your belt before looking at any prices, however.)
- The World is Made of Glass: Collectors and sellers of original 18th century glassware
- Georgian Glassmakers: Fine reproduction 18th century glassware
Now to be completely fair, this is normally a detail that I would consider far too small to bother mentioning, since it has no real bearing on the greater historicity of the show. That level of nitpicking is a bit much, even for me! (Furthermore, plenty of other glassware seen in the show is very historically appropriate.) However, Georgian glassware is an especially shiny and gorgeous subset of 18th century material culture and I’m happy to have an excuse to show it off. (And it’s a very fitting topic given the overall theme of this post.)
Yes, we did mention the topic of wine glasses in a tumblr post last week, but I’m sharing the links here in case you missed them the first time around (or have no idea what ‘tumblr’ is).
Additionally, you can head over to the 18th Century Material Culture Resource Center for plenty of fascinating contemporary images of punch bowls, mugs, and tavern scenes under the headings of “Foodways” and “Drinking.” (Remember to take note of where the sources come from! Many of the artifacts and prints hail from Continental Europe and therefore may not be fully representative of tavern culture in the American colonies. The British-based sources, however, might give you a good idea of what certain British officers were accustomed to at home.)
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18th Century Recipes for the Modern Kitchen (and bar)
Finally, I’m very happy to share one of my favorite history resources here: the “History is Served” blog, where the intrepid staff of Colonial Williamsburg’s Department of Historic Foodways translate 18th century food “receipts” into 21st-century recipes. Each recipe uses modern-day language, measurements, and instructions so anyone can make historic food in their own kitchen (no beehive oven required). Best of all (well, for history buffs), they show the original 18th century recipe language alongside each of their 21st century versions. The blog contains all sorts of recipes, from beverages to main courses to side dishes to desserts, and they’ll be resuming their regular schedule of updates later this month (just in case you were wondering how to spend your Sunday nights now that Season 1 of TURN is wrapping up).
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Since nearly all of these recipes require a fair amount of prep time, you probably won’t be able to use them for any season finale festivities tonight. But the possibilities are endless! (Flag Day, Father’s Day, Independence Day, 1776 the Musical viewing parties… I’m not the only one who has those, right?) This blog isn’t the only one where you can find original 18th century recipes, but if you’re new to historical fare and/or don’t have a 200+ year old hearth kitchen in your home, it’s the best place to start.
Finally: Don’t forget to tune in tonight at 9:00pm Eastern for the season finale of TURN! While there’s no official word on whether or not we’ll see a Season 2 of TURN, I remain optimistic (along with fellow fans) that we’ll soon hear good news that’s worthy of a festive toast, regardless of your preferred style of wine glass or tankard! Once we hear word of TURN’s future status, we’ll post the news here on the blog. We’ll continue to publish updates as the week goes on, including a post on the Battle of Setauket, more reader request topics (time permitting), and an announcement regarding TURN to a Historian’s summer schedule. (Don’t worry, we’re not going anywhere!)
As usual, I’ll be live-blogging the show on tumblr, Twitter, and Facebook. Enjoy the show!
-RS
A Tallmadge or Woodhull by any other name: TURN historical family trees
There seems to be quite a bit of confusion surrounding TURN’s curious habit of misnaming “real” historical characters throughout Season 1 — especially family members immediately related to the show’s protagonists. This post is intended to straighten out the issue with the help of some handy charts and other primary sources, since we’ve received so many questions about it. (If you’re not familiar with the rather tedious ins and outs of genealogy, you might want to grab a shot of espresso before reading on.)
Episode 9 of TURN, “Against Thy Neighbor,” introduced yet another example: The good Reverend Nathanial Tallmadge, fiery patriot and dutiful father to our favorite dragoon major. His refreshingly straightforward character is pretty much impossible not to like. If his speech from Episode 9 doesn’t rouse your inner American Revolutionary, you’re probably a Loyalist then I don’t know what will.
However, if you’re a viewer who is interested in historical accuracy (and you likely wouldn’t be here if you weren’t), you might be surprised to learn that Benjamin Tallmadge’s real father — who was indeed the pastor of Setauket’s Presbyterian church and opposed the loyalist occupation of his town — was also named Benjamin Tallmadge. (Benjamin Tallmadge Senior, of course.) In fact, there is no “Nathanial Tallmadge” in Major Tallmadge’s immediate family tree.
Thankfully, Benjamin Tallmadge himself clears things up for us on the very first page of his memoirs (pictured at right). In a similar case of mistaken identity, it was actually Benjamin’s eldest brother William, not his brother Samuel, who perished as a prisoner of the British Army in 1776.
The Tallmadges, however, aren’t the only Long Island family that might look funny to any genealogists who happen to watch TURN. The Woodhull family tree is also beset by a number of identity (and existential) crises. While Abraham Woodhull did have an older brother who died just before the Revolutionary War began, his name was Richard, not Thomas. Similarly, when Abraham finally did get married and have children (which wasn’t until 1781, as seen on the Historical Timeline), he did have a son, but he was named Jesse, not Thomas. There is no Thomas Woodhull anywhere in Abraham’s immediate family tree.
The two charts below contain biographical information about the branch of the Woodhull family tree that’s of most interest to TURN viewers. Note that there’s no “Thomas” to be found anywhere. The images are screencaps from longislandsurnames.com, a site I highly recommend to any TURN fans who want to investigate the family histories of Long Island revolutionaries for themselves. You might want to bookmark the site if you’re trying to keep track of the multiple families mentioned on TURN.
In both of these family cases, the relatives in question “did” exist, which makes TURN’s naming conventions even stranger. Benjamin’s clergyman father, Benjamin’s brother who died in British custody, Abraham’s son, and Abraham’s older brother who died prior to the start of the war were all real people in the historical record. But for some reason, the names for all these “real-life” characters have been swapped out for fictional ones in the show.
As the keeper of this blog and all the social media accounts connected with it, I often get asked why the writers and showrunners of TURN would alter history in the ways that they do. (For example: “Why would they change the names of real people like Benjamin Tallmadge’s father?”) In the case of the martyred ‘Samuel’ Tallmadge, the show implies (in Episode 6) that he was the inspiration for the first half of Abraham Woodhull’s “Samuel Culpeper” alias, so that’s likely why the writers swapped the names of the Tallmadge brothers. As for the others… well, since historical accuracy is evidently not a factor, your speculations are as good as mine!
Nor do I know why Abraham Woodhull’s alias is named “Culpeper” in the show, and not “Culper,” which was obviously the real name at the heart of the eponymous Culper Spy Ring. Since it was Washington’s suggestion in the show, it might have to do with his connection to Culpeper county, Virginia. Either way, I’m assuming that will be changed/explained in a future episode. Perhaps these other naming conventions will be, too. Hey, even MORE reason to call for a second season!
Bonus: “Abe and Anna”
While we’re on the topic of real-life genealogy of TURN characters, I’d like to take the time to gently remind viewers of the historical ages and marital situations surrounding Abraham Woodhull and Anna Strong, who have become quite… involved on screen. (Several blog followers via Twitter and email have asked about this issue as well!)
Both the TV show and the TURN Origins comic imply that Abe and Anna as roughly the same age and grew up as children together in Setauket. In reality, Anna was ten years older than Abraham. She married her husband Selah in 1760, when she was twenty and Abe was just ten years old. (Needless to say, there was never any promise of marriage between the two.) Anna was pretty well invested in her marriage, too: by 1776 she and Selah had six children, with more to follow soon (some of whom had fantastically patriotic names, as seen on Anna’s family page).
Of course, it’s no surprise that TURN (or any TV drama, for that matter) is chasing after sexual tension in hopes of pleasing a modern-day audience. But just in case there was any lingering doubt: the on-screen romantic relationship between Abraham Woodhull and Anna Strong has no historical basis whatsoever.
Well! There’s nothing like hard genealogy if you’re looking for a cold dose of historical reality. On a more exciting note: there’s only a few more days until the TURN season finale! Coming up soon: a short, reader-requested post on jewelry and accessories in the late 18th century. (Fewer charts; more sparkly things.)
-RS
Major John Andre’s mysterious white braid
Here it is, readers: the oft-requested, long-awaited Braid Post. Major Andre’s mysterious white braid has been the subject of heated discussion among TURN viewers since day one, who — regardless if they love it or hate it — are dying to find historical justification for its appearance in the show. If I had a dollar for every time someone mentioned John Andre’s braid in their discussion of TURN, I might have enough money to buy my own cabbage farm on modern-day Long Island. (Although, since I’m more of a Major Hewlett-esque oenophile, I’d probably opt for a vineyard instead).
The reason why I haven’t previously posted anything about The Braid is because my own searches for historical justification had been coming up short for weeks. (Well, actually, I did find a similar braid, but needless to say, it didn’t exactly have an 18th century provenance.)
After sifting through scores of contemporary images — including French fashion plates, satirical macaroni prints, British officer portraits, and even Native American hairstyles — I found nothing resembling the curious, tightly-braided strand that, by all appearances, seems grafted onto either Major Andre’s scalp or his natural hair. (I suppose it could also be his natural hair that he had somehow bleached white, but that would be an even stranger explanation.)
Plenty of 18th century wigs AND natural hairstyles featured braided queues, of course — but nothing like the tiny silver braid running down the side of Andre’s head. As we can see in the screencap to the right, Andre’s “side-braid” is not the same as the braided queue on his dress wig.
While the widespread lack of evidence does show that these little braids were not fashionable or popular during the American Revolution, I figured that the production team at AMC must have seen something that inspired them to include such a conspicuous and unusual fashion accessory for Major Andre’s character. So I held off on writing a post about The Braid, and kept searching.
Finally, I happened upon an obscure painting in the collection of the Huntington Library in San Marino, CA, titled “A Soldier, called Major John Andre.” Lo and behold, there appears to be a tiny silver plait running behind the subject’s left ear! Mystery solved! Historical justification for Major Andre’s braid in TURN. It’s an open-and-shut case, right?
Well… not entirely. For one thing, this isn’t actually John Andre. Not the John Andre we’re all thinking of, anyway.
If you look at the catalog entry for this painting on the Huntington Library’s website, you’ll see that the artist, the provenance, and even the date of the painting are all unknown. We do know, however, that John Andre belonged to the 7th Regiment of Foot, also known as the Royal Fusileers (or Fuzileers, if you use the preferred 18th century spelling). So if this IS the John Andre we’re familiar with, he should be wearing a Royal Fuzileers uniform appropriate to the era of the American Revolution.
Fortunately for us, several years ago this portrait came to the attention of a select group of historians who specialize in 18th century British military history and are perfectly capable of answering any uniform-related questions: William P. Tatum III, Justin Clement, Christian Cameron, and Professor Gregory Urwin of Temple University. Drawing upon their encyclopedic knowledge of British regiments, they weighed in on the subject of the painting and concluded that it was not Major John Andre of the 7th Regiment of Foot. I am indebted to Will Tatum for providing me with the following list, which sums up their main reasons:
- The lace on the regimental coat is the wrong metal– the 7th Royal Fuzileers had gold lace, while this officer has silver.
- The buttons are in pairs, a practice that is as yet undocumented to the 7th Regiment during the period in question, and which in general is more indicative of a later-war or into the 1780s date.
- The wing [patch] on the shoulder, while appropriate for light infantry, features the three feathers of the Prince of Wales. This was a special insignia reserved for a short list of regiments that enjoyed the Prince’s patronage — a list which did not include the 7th Regiment.
- The helmet is of the so-called Tarleton style, so identified because Banastre Tarleton sports one in his British Legion portrait. This one includes a leopard-skin turban, usually seen on Light Dragoons. The helmet does not match the style of light infantry cap authorized for British troops by the 1771 Light Infantry warrant [regulations], nor does it correlate with any of the non-regulation hat-caps and other light infantry headgear that have been documented to this period. There is some suspicion that the Tarleton Cap became the accepted light infantry cap after 1784, but there is as yet no hard documentation to back this idea up. Since the Tarleton Cap was a mid-war innovation, its presence suggests that the portrait dates from after 1777.
- Also notable is the portrait’s background: St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. This would be a strange choice for Andre, who served exclusively in America.
- Finally (though this point might be debatable), the facial features of this sitter don’t match well against other purported portraits of Andre that have superior provenance.
As you can see, the devil is in the details. In this case, the details overwhelmingly prove that the officer in this painting did NOT belong to the 7th Royal Fuzileers, and is NOT Major John Andre of Revolutionary fame. (Hopefully the above list will also help dispel any lingering Hollywood-fueled notions that “all Redcoat uniforms were the same.”)
It’s quite possible that this painting is of another completely unrelated British soldier named John Andre, which was not an especially unique name in late 18th century Britain. It’s also quite possible that this painting was mistakenly mislabeled sometime in its shrouded history. Either way, there is little doubt that this painting was the inspiration for Major Andre’s braid in TURN — so at least that mystery has been solved. It is also clear that this painting does not provide solid historical justification for the way Andre’s braid is depicted in the show. Regardless of the soldier’s identity in this painting, it is clear that the little braid is part of his wig, not grafted onto his natural hair or scalp. As we see in the pictures above, the designers went out of their way to show that the little braid is a separate entity. Even if Major Andre’s braid has some creative backstory that is slated to be revealed on a future episode TURN, it is clearly an example of historical fiction, not historical fashion.
So there you have it, readers — hopefully the above foray into historical fashion has shed some light on one of the most elusive and talked-about depictions of material culture in TURN thus far. (The other one being, of course, Abe Woodhull’s wool cap.) Spread the word! And if you have any more questions or braid-theories, send them this way via the ask page, tumblr, or Twitter. And don’t forget to follow along for the live-blogging on tumblr and Twitter tonight!
-RS
TURN to a historian 