Introduction The Napoleonic invasion had a cataclysmic effect onSpain and her Army. Even though Spain was no rival forthe mighty French eagles, she was never completelyannihilated and always managed to rise from the as-hes, one defeat after another. When Ferdinand VII fi-nally ascended to the throne, he gained control of aprofessional army that was far from negligible. None-theless, the kings absence during the conflict and theassumption of power by the Juntas meant that somesectors of the revived army, like the militia, had strongLiberal affiliations.

Plagued by Liberal coups and Absolutist counter-coups, the turbulent reign of Ferdinand VII witnessedhow the nations army was broken apart and itsranks, decimated in search of enemies of the Crown.In the 1830s, however, the tables would turn. AfterIsabel was named legitimate heir to the throne, themost conservative sectors became more radical andDon Carlos began to win over supporters. Given this,Ferdinand VII knew he had no choice but to turn to themoderate monarchists and his old enemies, the libe-rals, for support. The monarch again resorted to pur-ging his enemies, though this time his sights were seton the Carlists.

When the Carlist uprising broke out after the kingsdeath, the bulk of the army remained loyal to the newregime. However, after nearly two decades of confron-tation with the Crown, the government forces were notprepared for a new conflict. Whats more, the econo-mic crisis that affected post-war Spain had seriousconsequences on the heart of the Armed Forces. Des-pite the initial half-heartedness of the Absolutist re-

volt, the Isabelino army was unable to stamp out themovement, allowing their enemy to reorganise andgain strength. Concentrated in the mountains of nor-thern Spain, the Carlist forces under the expert lea-dership of Zumalacrregui seemed unbeatable.

However, just as it did during the Peninsular War, thearmy managed to weather tough initial setbacks andgradually acquired greater fighting versatility and ability.

The Isabelino Infantry The geo-strategic peculiarities of the First Carlist War(shortage of horses and money, rough terrain, etc.) re-quired the infantry to become the backbone of the ar-mies on both sides.

Unlike the Carlists, most of the Isabelino troopswere recruits. In theory, there must not have been sig-nificant age differences among the new soldiers sin-ce most of them would have come from the samedraft (and the same social class -those from well-offfamilies could avoid military service by paying a fee).There were also volunteers, although these soldiersknown as peseteros- were usually posted in specialunits. This nickname was directly related to their rea-son for joining the army and gives us an idea of themercenary-like character of most of these troops.

Oddly enough, the sources on the uniforms of theIsabelino army -the government army at that time- aremore scarce, confusing and contradictory than thoseon the Carlists. It is actually quite easy to find litho-graphs of this period that show these uniforms, butwhat is missing are current interpretations and syste-matizations of them. This by no means is a problemfor us. Quite the contrary, the lack of sources, in a

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way, gives us the freedom to vary and even improvisewhen painting our battalions (though, of course, wi-thin certain limits). Even though I have chosen to fo-llow a specific uniform scheme for each unit in this ar-ticle, I also include possible variants and some ideasthat you can use to slightly alter the appearance ofyour troops.

We will first take a look at the regulation uniforms.Although the regulations on uniforms were in forceduring the entire war, the troops gradually incorpora-ted clothing that was more useful on campaign. Thejacket was replaced with a simple blue frock coat ora grey greatcoat in winter. The shako, which usuallyhad a water-proof cover on it, was often replaced witha forage cap which became so popular among thesoldiers that it was known simply as the Isabelino.Fortunately for the troops, the heavy calfskin knap-sacks were replaced with the saco-morral (a simplelinen or white-cloth bag), which was similar to theones used by the Carlists, and espadrilles replacedthe expensive, poor-quality and scarce shoes. Giventhat, the general appearance of an Isabelino soldiernear the end of the war differed very little from theirenemies, except for the txapela (traditional Basqueberet).

We will paint all the figures with the usual techniquesover a black base. The paints we will be using are fromVallejo Model Color (numeric references), Andrea Color(AC references) and Citadel Colour (00-00).

Line InfantryIn 1833, the 19 line infantry regiments had either 2 or3 battalions each, though once the war broke out all re-giments were made up of three battalions. Nonethe-less, as during the Peninsular War, regiments were me-rely administrative units and their battalions often didnot fight together and were even assigned to differenttheatres of operation. Consequently, the basic tacticalunit was the battalion which was made up of 8 compa-nies (six fusilier companies, one grenadier companyand one light company -tiradores) and had a theoreticalstrength of 740 men.

The uniform consisted of a deep blue jacket withwhite piping on the turnbacks and cuffs, white cuffflaps and a white collar with a blue patch on the front.The buttons and officers lace were gold. The trouserswere white in the summer and grey in the winter. Theshoes, cartridge box and shako were black and theshako had a brass emblem on the front, brass chins-cales and a red cockade with a yellow loop. The com-pany colour was worn on the top band of the shakoand the pompom: yellow for fusiliers, red for grena-diers and green for tiradores. In addition, the prefe-rencia (elite) companies had epaulettes in the com-pany colour and yellow bars (sardinetas) on theircuffs. The knapsack was made out of calfskin and thesoldiers usually carried their rolled coats stored in ablue-and-white stripe bag on top. All belts and strapswere white.

The most common variations of the line infantry uni-forms found in lithographs correspond to collar colours.Sometimes they are reversed, that is, blue with a whitepatch or even all blue with a white sardineta, and inother cases they are blue with the patch in the companycolour. There are also some cases in which the turn-backs are all white.

GARMENT BASE COLOUR 1st HIGHLIGHT 2nd HIGHLIGHTJacket Flat Black (AC-26) Prussian Blue (AC-22) Prussian Blue (AC-22)

+ Medium Blue (963)Summer Light Grey (990) Light Grey (990) White (951)trousers + White (951)Winter Neutral Grey (992) Neutral Grey (992) Neutral Grey (992) trousers + Flat Black (AC-26) + White (951)Shako and Flat Black (AC-26) Flat Black (AC-26) cartridge box + Neutral Grey (992)Knapsack Chocolate Brown (872) Wood (AC-41) Straps and Sky Grey (989) White (951) greatcoat coverOfficers lace Wood (AC-41) Yellow Ochre (913) Burnished Gold (61-62)Fusilier colour Wood (AC-41) Flat Yellow (953) Tiradores Napoleonic Olive Green (AC-3) colour Green (AC -38)Grenadier Reddish Brown (AC-18) Red (947) colour

Light InfantryGiven the difficult characteristics of the conflict, the light in-fantry played an important part. The 6 pre-war regiments we-re expanded to 8, plus a battalion of guides made up of Car-list deserters. Each regiment had two battalions, except theRegiment Reina Gobernadora, which had three. Like the lineinfantry, each battalion had a theoretical strength of 740 menand was made up of eight companies (six chasseur compa-nies, one carabinier company and one tiradores company).

The uniform scheme is similar to that of the line in-fantry, except that green was used instead of blue and ye-llow instead of white. The jacket was green with yellow pi-ping on the turnbacks and cuffs, yellow cuff flaps and ayellow collar with a green patch on the front. The buttonsand officers lace were silver. The trousers were green, butthey also wore white trousers in the summer and greyones in the winter. The company colours were: green forthe chasseurs, red for the carabiniers and yellow for the ti-radores. Lastly, the cockade loop and the cuff bars of theelite companies were white. All of the equipment was si-milar to that used by the line infantry. Please note that thedescription given here does not apply to the Regiment Rei-na Gobernadora, which had a special uniform.

The uniform variants depicted in the sources are likethose of the line infantry, with two exceptions: in somecases the cuffs do not have flaps and one lithographyshows the line infantry soldiers wearing blue uniformswith yellow facings.

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Line infantry on campaign. Here you can see both regulation uniforms andcivilian clothing as well as plenty of unshaven faces and patches. On the left,the colonel leads the advance on his horse. Next to the drummer is a corporal,distinguished by the double red bars on his sleeves.

GARMENT BASE COLOUR 1st HIGHLIGHT 2nd HIGHLIGHTJacket and Napoleonic Green Napoleonic Green (AC -38) 1st Highlight trousers (AC -38) + Tan Yellow (912) + Tan Yellow (912)Shako and Flat Black (AC-26) Flat Black (AC-26) cartridge box + Neutral Grey (992)Knapsack Chocolate Brown (872) Wood (AC-41) Straps and Sky Grey (989) White (951) greatcoat coverOfficers lace Neutral Grey (992) Light Grey (989) Mithril Silver (61-55)Chasseur Napoleonic Green Olive Green (AC-3) colour (AC -38)Tiradores colour Wood (AC-41) Flat Yellow (953) Carabinier colour Reddish Brown (AC-18) Red (947)

MilitiasDuring the First Carlist War there were two types ofmilitias, the Provincial Militia and the National Militia.The Provincial Militia, created by the Bourbons a cen-tury earlier, had a long tradition in Spain. It was ma-de up of 42 regiments in one battalion and was struc-tured like the line infantry. However, their elitecompanies were permanently transferred to the Pro-vincial Royal Guard (see below), so the battalions we-re reduced to six fusilier companies. The soldiers we-re recruited from the young men in each district andtheir training consisted only of two hours per month.Except for the lieutenant colonel, who was a profes-sional soldier, officers were landowners and wealthypeople. Although the fighting capacity of these unitsmust have been questionable, it seems that some ofthe battalions were comparable to the regular troopssince they were later incorporated into the line in-fantry.

The Urban Militia, which was first renamed the Na-tional Guard and from 1836 became the National Mi-litia, dated back to the Napoleonic period. It was cre-ated by the Juntas to resemble the French NationalGuard, which is why these units had a strong liberalinfluence. Ferdinand VII disbanded it when the Cons-titution of 1812 was abolished, though it was createdagain during the Liberal Triennium and, finally, whenthe king died. The National Militia was made up of in-dependent battalions, consisting of six to ten compa-nies each. Although, in principle, they must have be-en units of little military value, the National Militiaearned itself a good reputation. It was greatly streng-thened after the conflict, although the truth is that Im

not sure whether this was due to its performance onthe battlefield or liberal propaganda. As an exampleof their affiliation with the new regime, the battalionsof the National Militia were the first to use the redand yellow flag (which became the flag of the Stateand the entire Army in the 1840s), while the Provin-cial Militia had the same flag scheme as the regularArmy (which was basically white with the Cross of Bur-gundy).

The Royal Ordinances required the Provincial Militiato wear the same uniform as the line infantry. However,the National Militia wore deep blue jackets with yellowfacings, collar and turnbacks. The buttons were silver,which also must have been the officers lace colour. Theregulation trousers were sky blue and the shako wasthe same as the infantry.

Despite what was laid out in the ordinances, therewere probably some differences in the uniforms andequipment, and they possibly incorporated equipmentand clothing typically worn by other troops or even civi-lian clothing.

The Royal Guard When Ferdinand VII came to the throne, he reorganisedthe Royal Guard and turned it into a powerful and loyalshock force. The king was fascinated with NapoleonsGuard, which is why it was the model he used to createhis own guard.

The Guard was organised into two divisions: theRoyal Guard and the Provincial Royal Guard. The firsthad four regiments of grenadiers with three battalionseach, which were in turn made up of 8 grenadier com-panies with a total strength of 826 men. Theoreti-cally, the second division was made up of two regi-ments of provincial grenadiers and two regiments ofprovincial chasseurs, although in practice there wereonly two regiments of grenadiers and one regiment ofchasseurs, each with two battalions. As I said before,these battalions were created from the elite compa-nies of the Provincial Militia. As the war drew on, thesecond regiment of provincial grenadiers was disban-ded and these troops were used to form the third bat-talion of the first regiment. So, when the war endedthe Provincial Royal Guard only had two regimentswith five battalions.

Originally, their uniforms were very similar to thoseworn by Napoleons Old Guard. Over time they weregradually simplified, though they maintained a strongFrench influence. During the First Carlist War, the Gre-nadiers of the Royal Guard wore a deep blue jacketwith red piping on the collar and cuffs, red cuff flapsand turnbacks and white sardinetas on the collar andcuffs. Until 1835 the jackets had white lace on thefront. The buttons and officers lace were silver. Theblue full-dress trousers were replaced with white trou-sers in the summer and red ones in the winter. Thecompany colour for all the soldiers was red, which wasused for the pompom and the epaulettes. From 1834the fur cap was replaced with the shako which had awhite band around the top and a white plume that wasworn with the full-dress uniform.

The uniform worn by the Grenadiers of the Provin-cial Royal Guard was very similar to that describedabove, except the collar was all red and the buttonsand officers lace were gold. Given this, the sardine-tas must have been yellow. They kept the yellow lace

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Light infantry on campaign. As you can see in the photo, the regulationuniform has been slightly altered since the turnbacks are yellow instead ofgreen piped yellow. The knapsacks and the various elements added to themalso stand out.

on the front of their jackets until 1835 and their furcaps until 1838.

As for the Chasseurs, their uniform was similar to theProvincial Grenadiers, except they wore a shako thathad a yellow band on the top. Their pompoms and epau-lettes were also yellow. The buttons were gold and thesardinetas yellow.

GARMENT BASE COLOUR 1st HIGHLIGHT 2nd HIGHLIGHTJacket Flat Black (AC-26) Prussian Blue (AC-22) Prussian Blue (AC-22)

+ Medium Blue (963)Trousers Reddish Brown (AC-18) Reddish Brown (AC-18) Scarlet (817)

+ Red (947)Shako and Flat Black (AC-26) Flat Black (AC-26) cartridge box + Neutral Grey (992)Knapsack Chocolate Brown (872) Wood (AC-41) Straps and Sky Grey (989) White (951) greatcoat coverOfficers lace Neutral Grey (992) Light Grey (989) Mithril Silver (61-55)Grenadier colour Reddish Brown (AC-18) Red (947) -

GeneralsAlthough the generals uniform was regulated by the or-dinances, there were variations that reflected each com-manders personal tastes. The full-dress uniform con-sisted of a deep blue jacket with red lapels, cuffs andturnbacks, gold braid and epaulettes and a crimsonsash with gold fasteners and tassel. Their trousers we-

re white in summer and red in winter with a gold stripdown the leg. However, on campaign their appearancewould not very different from the infantry colonel shownabove. In this case the figure represents Espartero inhis full-dress uniform adorned with braids and medals.The ribbon he is wearing across his chest is the Laure-ada de San Fernando, the highest Spanish military de-coration established in 1811 by Ferdinand VII.

GARMENT BASE COLOUR 1st HIGHLIGHT 2nd HIGHLIGHTJacket Flat Black (AC-26) Prussian Blue (AC-22) Prussian Blue (AC-22)

+ Medium Blue (963)Trousers and Reddish Brown (AC-18) Reddish Brown (AC-18) Scarlet (817)shabraque + Red (947)Bicorne Flat Black (AC-26) Flat Black (AC-26)

+ Neutral Grey (992)Plumes and Sky Grey (989) White (951) glovesDistinctive Reddish Brown (AC-18) Red (947) colour and sashLace Wood (AC-41) Yellow Ochre (913) Burnished Gold (61-62)Horse Flat Black (AC-26) Flat Black (AC-26) trappings + Medium Blue (963)

As for the aides-de-camp and the General Staff offi-cers, they might have also worn a simplified uniform. Infact, the figure of the colonel mentioned above could al-so be used as a General Staff officer if we paint the co-llar and cuffs of his frock coat sky blue. There is a post-war ordinance that regulates the uniforms worn by theaides-de-camp which most likely standardised the uni-form used at the time. The ordinance required them towear a red jacket with two parallel rows of buttons, de-ep blue trousers with gold braid, gold aiguillettes han-ging from the right shoulder, gold epaulettes, red clothsabretache with gold braid and the arms of Spain in thecentre, a hat piped with gold lace and red plume, a ri-ding sable whose belt and straps had the same goldbraid, and the same for the saddle. The Field MarshallAides had white collars, facings, turnbacks and bars ontheir jackets, the Lieutenant Generals green and theField Marshalls black.

However, in this case I have based my figures on a li-thograph from 1830 that depicts a general staff. I havemade an aide-de-camp in full-dress, for which I used thefigure of General Fernndez de Crdoba. His uniform issky blue, known as Cristino blue since it was the QueenRegents favourite colour. The collar, cuffs, front andturnbacks were red with silver braid.

GARMENT BASE COLOUR 1st HIGHLIGHT 2nd HIGHLIGHTJacket, trousers Prussian Blue (AC-22) Grey Blue (943) Grey Blue (943) and shabraque + Grey Blue (943) + White (951)Distinctive Reddish Brown (AC-18) Red (947) colour and sashBicorne Flat Black (AC-26) Flat Black (AC-26) and plumes + Neutral Grey (992)Lace Neutral Grey (992) Light Grey (989) Mithril Silver (61-55)Horse Flat Black (AC-26) Flat Black (AC-26) trappings + Medium Blue (963)

Author: El MercenarioSpecial thanks to Antonio Rico and Adolfo Ramos

Photographs: Beatriz PlanellesFigures from Perry Miniatures

Flags from Adolfo Ramos

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Grenadiers of the Royal Guard, post-1835 uniform. Their neat appearancecontrasts with that of the line infantry. For their full-dress uniforms they worewhite plumes and gloves.

Espartero and his aide-de-camp in full-dress uniform.