Editing Camouflage (section)

==== 19th-century origins ====

[[File:Green jacketed rifleman firing Baker rifle 1803.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own)|Green-jacketed rifleman]] firing [[Baker rifle]] 1803]]

The development of military camouflage was driven by the increasing range and accuracy of infantry firearms in the 19th century. In particular the replacement of the inaccurate [[musket]] with weapons such as the [[Baker rifle]] made personal concealment in battle essential. Two [[Napoleonic Wars|Napoleonic War]] skirmishing units of the [[British Army]], the [[Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own)|95th Rifle Regiment]] and the 60th Rifle Regiment, were the first to adopt camouflage in the form of a [[rifle green]] jacket, while the Line regiments continued to wear scarlet tunics.<ref>{{cite book |last=Haythornthwaite |first=P. |title=British Rifleman 1797–1815 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |year=2002 |page=20 |isbn=978-1841761770}}</ref> A contemporary study in 1800 by the English artist and soldier [[Charles Hamilton Smith]] provided evidence that grey uniforms were less visible than green ones at a range of 150 yards.{{sfn|Newark|2007|page=43}}

In the [[American Civil War]], rifle units such as the 1st United States Sharp Shooters (in the [[Union (American Civil War)|Federal]] army) similarly wore green jackets while other units wore more conspicuous colours.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historynet.com/killers-in-green-coats.htm |title=Killers in Green Coats |publisher=Weider History Group |date=20 February 2008 |access-date=8 July 2012}}</ref> The first British Army unit to adopt [[khaki (colour)|khaki]] uniforms was the [[Corps of Guides (British India)|Corps of Guides]] at [[Peshawar]], when [[Harry Burnett Lumsden|Sir Harry Lumsden]] and his second in command, [[William Stephen Raikes Hodson|William Hodson]] introduced a "drab" uniform in 1848.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Khaki Uniform 1848–49: First Introduction by Lumsden and Hodson |journal=Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research |year=2004 |volume=82 |issue=Winter |pages=341–347}}</ref> Hodson wrote that it would be more appropriate for the hot climate, and help make his troops "invisible in a land of dust".<ref>{{cite book |title=Twelve Years of a Soldier's Life in India, being extracts from the letters of the late Major WSR Hodson |publisher=John W. Parker and Son |last=Hodson |first=W. S. R. |editor=Hodson, George H. |year=1859 |url=http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark:/13960/t14m94h66;view=1up;seq=9}}</ref> Later they improvised by dyeing cloth locally. Other regiments in India soon adopted the khaki uniform, and by 1896 [[khaki drill]] uniform was used everywhere outside Europe;<ref>{{cite book |last=Barthorp |first=Michael |title=The British Army on Campaign 1816–1902 |volume=4 |issue=1882–1902 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |year= 1988 |isbn=978-0-85045-849-7 |pages=24–33}}</ref> by the [[Second Boer War]] six years later it was used throughout the British Army.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chappell |first=M. |title=The British Army in World War I (1) |publisher=Osprey Publishing |year=2003 |page=37 |isbn=978-1-84176-399-6}}</ref>

During the late 19th century camouflage was applied to British coastal fortifications.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Barrass |first1=S |date=2018 |title=British Military Camouflage Prior to 1914 |journal=Casemate |issue=111 |pages=34–42 |publisher=[[Fortress Study Group]] |issn=1367-5907 }}</ref> The fortifications around Plymouth, England were painted in the late 1880s in "irregular patches of red, brown, yellow and green."<ref>{{cite book |last=Lewis |first=JF |date=1890 |title=Permanent Fortification for English Engineers |publisher=The Royal Engineers Institute |page=280 }}</ref> From 1891 onwards British coastal artillery was permitted to be painted in suitable colours "to harmonise with the surroundings"<ref>{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Details of Equipment of Her Majesty's Army Part 2 Section XI B – Garrison Artillery |publisher=War Office |date=1891 }}</ref> and by 1904 it was standard practice that artillery and mountings should be painted with "large irregular patches of different colours selected to suit local conditions."<ref>{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Regulations for the equipment of the army. Part 2. section XII (a) |publisher=War Office |date=1904 }}</ref>