THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL IRISH ARTILLERY HISTORY The Royal Irish Artillery’s involvement in the American War for Independence, although brief, was a part of the largest Artillery campaign to-date in North America. The Royal Irish Artillery was not brought to North America as a distinct unit, but as drafts for the British Royal Artillery during Lt. General John Burgoyne’s New York campaign of 1777. This detailed history continues in this paper written by David Dooks UNIFORM
During the Burgoyne Campaign, uniforms were cut down to short coats and the tradition cocked hats were cut down into a LI style type of helmet. In recreating the RIA we have chosen to adopt the look of the uniforms as they would have looked "stepping off" the boat in Quebec in 1777, prior to the alterations made by Burgoyne’s Army. Our button remains somewhat elusive. The two examples of the button found in Calver and Bolton’s book History Written with Pick and Shovel shows two that were found New York. We are currently trying to get a good quality, accurate reproduction made of one of these buttons. |