The Army of the Kingdom of Italy 1805-1814 Stephen Ede-Borrett

The Army of the Kingdom was, perhaps not surprisingly, amongst France’s most reliable allies but it is usually confused with what the French termed the Armée d’Italie – a different, if related, entity. The author explains why these two are not synonymous and why they should not be confused. The elements of the Navy of the Kingdom that served alongside the Army are covered in a separate section.

Illustrated in full color throughout, with over a hundred additional color illustrations, this study covers not just the regulation uniforms, although unusually the regulations were somewhat sparse, but also the numerous variations recorded in contemporary documents and plates, and in surviving items. This new edition also covers, for the first time in English, the little-known, and highly esoteric, provisional uniforms of the Army’s early years.

The uniforms of what the French called the Tête de Colonne were never regulated properly and could change from issue to issue and year to year, often depending solely on the availability of cloth or the personal idiosyncrasies of the Colonel. The author has tried to cover all of the known changes and variations in these uniforms including some additional variations that have been brought to his attention since the first edition was published.