Thomas Coveney of Hawthorne, California, an almost incredibly learned student of military uniforms, has turned up some faux pas in our captions for “The French Connection” (December, 1974):
On pages 50 and 55 are two illustrations of groups of French Army uniforms. On page 50 one of the figures is listed as showing the uniform of the French Royal Navy. The uniform shown is the regiment No. 11, La Marine. This unit was not part of the Royal Navy. It was a regiment of line infantry and had officially heen part of the French Army since before the Seven Years’ War. On page 55 another group of uniforms is pictured. According to the caption only one regiment, No. 41, Soissonnois, is shown. In fact three different regiments appear in this illustration. They are No. 41, Soissonnois; No. 43, Limosin; and No. 47, Bretagne. A careful study of the three figures shown in the foreground will reveal that there are indeed three different uniforms. One shows a figure with rose lapels, white cuffs, and three buttons below the lower edge of the lapel on each side. The next figure has rose lapels and rose cuffs, but no buttons below the lapels. The third figure, which is reclining, has white lapels trimmed with rose, rose cuffs, and three buttons below the lower edge of the lapels on each side. All the regiments of the French Royal Army were grouped together according to the colors of the facings of their uniforms. It is quite clear that the figures shown on page 5” belong to one group that wears blue facings, and the figures on page 55 belong to another group, one that wears rose facings.