Moura Cavalry

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Origin and History

The regiment was created by decree on August 20 1715. It formed part of the garrison of Elvas.

During the Seven Years' War, the regiment was under the command of:

• in 1762: Manuel António de Sousa, till his death
• from April 16 1762 to 1784: Dom José da Costa

Service during the War

From August 7 1762, the Portuguese army was camped not far from Abrantes, between this village and Zezere in place chosen by the count of Lippe-Bückeburg. Each day, the count was leaving on horseback, accompanied by some of his officers, to reconnoitre the country between Guarda and Castelo Branco, in order to establish his plan of operation. From this location, he could defend the entry to the valley of the Mondego. Observation posts in the vicinity of Viseu and Celorico were already occupied by forces under the command of general Townshend and field-marshal count of Santiago. By August 20, the first line under their orders consisted of 8 Portuguese infantry battalions, 67th Lambert's Foot, Moura Cavalry, a detachment of Burgoyne's Dragoons from the Voluntários Reais, and 10 pieces of artillery.

Uniform

It is very likely that the uniform of this regiment in 1762 was similar to its uniform after the Lippe-Bückeburg's reform of 1764 for which we have a contemporary painting.

There is also a possibility that the coat had yellow lapels before the reform of 1764.

Privates

Uniform in 1762 - Source: Ibrahim90

Uniform Details as per
a painting of 1777 and orders for materials for uniforms

Headgear	black tricorne laced white with a cockade fastened with a small brass button
Neckstock	black
Coat	dark blue lined yellow with brass buttons on the right side, 1 brass button on each side in the small of the back and small brass buttons on each side to fasten the basques Collar yellow Shoulder straps white epaulettes Lapels none Pockets none Cuffs yellow with 3 brass buttons and 3 narrow white buttonholes Turnbacks yellow
Waistcoat	most likely yellow with brass buttons (it might also have been off white but there is no mention of white-cloth in the order for fabric for this regiment)
Breeches	yellow or buff leather
Leather Equipment	Crossbelt natural leather Waistbelt natural leather Cartridge Box n/a Scabbard black Footgear black boots
Horse Furniture	Saddlecloth dark blue bordered yellow (as per Amaral) Housings dark blue bordered yellow (as per Amaral) Blanket roll dark blue

N.B.: in 1762, in a cloth order, the colonel of the regiment asks for 532 pairs of shoes and the same number of hats. He also orders 133 grosses of brass buttons to make the coats (1 gross is the equivalent of 144 units). Dividing the number of coat buttons ordered by the number of coats (532), we get the ratio of 36 buttons per uniform. However, we have no detail on the placement of these buttons on the uniform.

Officers

Officers wore uniforms similar to those of the privates with the following differences:

• a red sash with blue tassels under the coat around the waist
• silver epaulettes

Musicians

no information available yet

Colours

The exact pattern of the Portuguese colonel colours during the Seven Years' War is unknown.

The ordonnance colours were chosen by the colonel of the regiment. For the moment, we have found no source depicting specific colours for this regiment.

Please refer to our article on the Portuguese Line Infantry Colours for more information.

References

Amaral, Manuel, O Exértico Português em finais do Antiguo Regime

Kirby, Mike, The Portuguese Army - Seven Years War, Seven Years War Association Journal, Vol. XII No. 3

Acknowledgment

Manuel Ribeiro Rodrigues and Joseph O'Neill for the information and counselling provided for this article.