The “Canada Cap”, also known as the “Canadian Cap”, one of the most well-known pieces of clothing unique to the Northern regions of the North America continent and one renown for not only its beautiful appearance, but also its practical use in withstanding harsh weather. When one thinks of the Province of Quebec in the 18th century (which included modern day Ontario), outside of the capote, this is possibly the second most recognisable item.
While commonly made use of by the civilian population during the era of the Revolution, the Canada cap also found its way into military service with the British Army in the North. From provincial and Germanic units to militias and regulars, the hat saw extensive use in service to the Crown, as well as on occasion with rebel forces.
Sadly, no Canada caps have survived to the present and details of their construction are not fully recorded, leaving us to only wonder how specifically the item should be constructed. In the case of the 8th Regiment of Foot Light Company and the Civilians of Quebec, we are working on our own pattern, one where the fur covers the entire interior of the hat, allowing the fur to be folded down, when needed, to cover the ears and back of the neck. One issue that we find is that the hats made use of often fail to be large enough to provide proper coverage.
The Death of General Montgomery in the Attack on Quebec
John Trumbull 1786
Friedrich von Germann, 1778
A few images from the period, or slightly after give us an idea of how these hats would have appeared, one such example being the von Germann sketch, showing specifically a tail (though not always made use of) and the Death of (the treacherous) General Montgomery by Trumball, which was painted after the war in 1786. The Trumball painting shows one common piece often also neglected, being the tuft of fur atop the hat.
As for documentation, there too we find that though detailed constructions methods are missing, there is no lack of records for use in the region, by regulars and by provincials. Thanks to Jason Melius of our friends in the 7th Regiment of Foot, we can see that the records of Trenton as it pertains to clothing captured as belonging to prisoners from the 7th, there are four Canadian, or “Winter Caps”, that were taken from the soldiers.( Peter Force American Archives: Return of Clothing: Page v4:817)
One of the more interesting records pertain as to how varied these caps may have been, in this case we see green caps with feathers, a departure from the traditional red cap:
October 1st, 1778 - Terrebonne, Quebec - Von Kreutzbourg to the Hereditary Prince
"I ordered fur caps for the entire corps made of the pelt of the American lynx to be worn during the winter duty. The crown is made of green cloth and has a cockade of feathers on the left side; my company’s feathers are white; Captain von Francken’s, white and black, striped lengthwise; Captain Count von Wittgenstein’s, white with a black border at the bottom; and, Captain Castendyk’s, black on top and white on the bottom. The effect is very fine if a company is assembled. The caps are made so that Jägers can turn down the sides and in that way they protect the entire head and neck as well as part of the shoulders. During the present cold weather these caps served to very good advantage."
(Journal of the Hesse-Hanau Jaeger Corps in America, Zuelger tr. Lidgerwood Collection of Hessian
Transcripts, Morristown NHP, 74.)
We see numerous accounts noting the existence of these hats throughout the conflict within the region, appearing in a series of store records, inclusive of those below. While these appear to be quite common, we stress that if you are going to make use of these items, that you research as to whether your unit did, or might have been likely to have made use of the hat. From our review, we can see that civilians and soldiers in harsh weather did make use of them, though with one possible exception, this appears to be strictly a “male” accessory and while we do see examples of green and adornment with feathers, this does not appear to be the case outside of the noted units and outside of German Regiments and Companies.
April 1 1783 – General Return Stores – Quebec
55 Red Canadian Caps
December 31 1778 – General Return Stores – Quebec
11 Canadian Caps
April 1 1779 – General Return Stores – Quebec
4 Canadian Caps
April 1 1781 – General Return Stores – Quebec
123 Red Caps
Finally, below, you will see one of our member's recreations of this item. Sam went with the tuft of fur at the top, but no tail in this case, turning down the hat to protect his ears and neck from the bitter cold.
Our pattern comes from from Head Mistress Trisha da Cunha and her shop, you can find it at www.tccunha.ca by searching for "pattern".
Marcio R. A. da Cunha M.A., L.L.B., B.Ed., OCT.
Comments