I recently purchased a copy of Volume 5 of Histoire & Collections "The French Imperial Guard". This contains details of uniforms of the Imperial Guard Artillery Train, Wagon Train, Administration, Medical Service and Headquarters Staff.

Page 60 of this states that Imperial Guard Medical Attendants (male nurses) wore the uniform of the Guard Administration, entirely grey/blue with red trim.

However, Line Medical Attendants wore a quite different uniform of brown jackets faced with red, as shown on Page 62 of Elting's "Napoleonic Uniforms - Volume II" and also on Page 79 of Funken's "Arms and Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars - Part 1".

What did intrigue me however is that the Histoire & Colletions book does have an illustration on Page 59 of an actual uniform coat which is preserved in a museum in Holland. This is brown with crimson facings and Imperial Guard Medical Service buttons, in other words it is in a similar colour scheme to the line medical services. Does this imply that perhaps Imperial Guard medical attendants in fact wore brown and not blue/grey?

Rod