III. PHYSICAL SETTING

C. Human Figures

1. Spanish Forces

c) Arms and Accoutrements

(1) Muskets and Bayonets

The musket issued the regiment was “the regulation flintlock fusil of 15 ball to the pound caliber, introduced in 1752, with a French lock manufactured in Spain.” One of these weapons, in possession of the Army Museum in Madrid, has an overall length of 60 inches. The “ornamental butt plate, trigger guard, flash pan, and top and bottom rings are brass, all other metal parts white,” while the gun sling was made of buckskin.

Enlisted men wore a “straight, broad-based bayonet suspended at their left side.

Non-commissioned officers also carried a “short curved saber with yellow metal guard and black leather scabbard.”[55]

Captain Dubreuil reported on August 26, 1783, that Colbert’s people in their attack had captured from his soldiers “8 guns and bayonets with straps.”[56]

(2) Cross-Belting and Cartridge Boxes

In 1779 “Buckskin cross-belting with a plain black cartridge box at the right hip” came into use. The heart-shaped white patches at the turnback points were not specified by regulations, but are “shown in reputable reference works.”[57]

d) Captain Dubreuil’s Uniform and Accoutrements

His uniform would have been similar to those worn by the enlisted men. Around his cuffs he would have worn the silver lace of his rank. His neck was encircled by a plain gorget.[58]

Captain Dubreuil would be armed with a sword. The sword’s scabbard was girded to his waist by a “waistbelt of natural color buckskin leather with a square buck1e.”[59]

e) Illustrations

Plate No. 246, found in the Military Collector and Historian vol. 16, no. 3, depicts the uniforms worn by the Spanish Louisiana Regiment. A copy of this print is found in this report. A rendered copy of the subject print is on file in the Rare Book Collection at the Library of Congress..

For details, one should consult Sidney B. Brinckerhoff and Pierce A. Chamberlain, Spanish Military Weapons in Colonial America, 1700-1821 (Harrisburg, 1952).

f) Physical Appearance of Captain Dubreuil and Sergeant Pastor

Except for their approximate ages, it has been impossible to determine their physical appearance.

Jacobo Dubreuil Saint-Cyr was a sub-lieutenant in the Spanish army by 1767, and by January 1780, when he was promoted from adjutant to captain, he was probably in his mid-30s.[60]

Sergeant Alexo Pastor, a veteran of 20 years service, would have been in his late 30s or early 40s at the time of the attack.[61]