“A la Françoise” — French Military Dress in America, 1780-82, with Dr. Matthew Keagle

On May 6, 2021, the Newport Historical Society hosted Dr. Matthew Keagle for the virtual lecture “A la Françoise” — French Military Dress in America, 1780-82. Dr. Keagle, a former Adjunct Curator for the NHS who now serves as the Curator at Fort Ticonderoga Museum, explores the intricate details of French uniforms during The American Revolution.

The last time many Rhode Islanders had seen French troops was on the other side of the battlefields of the French and Indian War. Since their catastrophic defeat in that war, the French military undertook a comprehensive series of reforms, affecting everything from warship design to the buttons of soldier’s uniforms, which dramatically altered the army’s appearance.

Dr. Keagle studies the material culture of the early modern military, and has researched and spoken widely in the US, Canada, and Europe, with an emphasis on military dress in the18th-century.