The Height of Warfare: a History of the Shako 

A friend of mine is a keen military historian and collects, amongst other things, shako plates from the Napoleonic wars. He was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to by a French shako. He sold his world war 1 bayonets to buy it. When it arrived he took it out of the box and was hit by a strong and unpleasant smell that he described as being like really old tobacco. Of great interest was a noticeable white salt mark around the sweat band from the original soldiers head sweat. From the regimental shako plate he was able to trace the history of the regiment. The regiment was fairly new and only saw action once, in Napoleon’s Russian campaign. The entire regiment was wiped out in one battle. A very interesting, but very sad, artefact.

As a combat headgear, the shako didn't disappear until late 1914. At the beginning of the war, it was still the regulation field headgear of the Belgian infantry, still with a pompom, but also concealed with a black oilcloth cover. It only really disappeared in the last months of the year, replaced first by the regulation forage cap, and then by khaki peaked caps when the new uniforms were supplied. A long history of use indeed !

I always wonder how much time these hats and uniforms (french napoleonic ones lets say) took to make. To think that millions of these hats, uniforms, pouches and backpacks were made in a pre industrial era really makes me wonder the amount of people it took.

Point of order- 'csákó süveg' in fact means 'tall cap' the association with 'peak' has been misunderstood, relating more to the height of a mountain peak than the peak of a cap. Salud.

Male civilian dress often picks p its styles from the military. It was in the Napoleonic era, just as the shako topped army uniforms everywhere in the world, that the broad-brimmed “cocked” hat, tricorn or bicorn, came to be replaced by the cylindrical “top hat,” essentially a shako with the military visor replaced by a small curled brim identifying it as a “hat” rather than a “cap.” The top hat eventually became an article of formal wear and is now virtually extinct. But like many articles of masculine dress now considered more or less “formal,” it started out as informal, everyday wear; and with a touch of military dash about it.

We called the hat a “tar bucket” and we called the plume on the top the “shako” on our full dress parade headgear at West Point. I think your explanation is more historically correct. Thanks!

I’m here because I’m reading Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett and I didn’t know what a shako was.

While the shako disappeared in the french army by the late 19th century, the french would still ornament their képis with feathers when wearing their T31 uniform, the so-called Grande Tenue, before fully removing all ornaments by the early 1910’s. One thing that is also interesting to mention is that the colour of the "casoar", the shako worn by the french cadets of the École Spéciale Militaire, comes from Britain. When Queen Victoria first visited France, Napoléon III ordered the cadets to wear red and white feathers since they would be charged with doing the Honor Guard for the Queen. Victoria was very pleased with the result and asked the commander of the school to make the change permanent, which he did, and the students didn’t like that at all in the first place, but ended up being very proud of their very distinguishable uniform (even making a song about it, Les Casos). While the cadets, platoon commanders, company commanders and battalion commanders of the École Spéciale Militaire wear the casoar; the NCOs still adorn their shako with a pompon, and the commanding colonel’s shako is adorned with the "aigrette" (one of the last four historical aigrettes that are still in use in the french army). One thing that is worth mentioning is the fact that not all cadets of the Army Academy (in french AMSCC, for Académie Militaire de Saint-Cyr Coëtquidan) wear the shako. The AMSCC groups three schools, the ESM (École Spéciale Militaire), the EMIA (École Militaire Interarmes) and the EMAC (École Militaire des Aspirants de Coëtquidan), and only the students of the ESM wears the shako.

One point most people miss about line warfare is the concept of danger space. Smoothbore muskets had high, looping trajectories so the "danger space" was only about 10 or 20 yards on either side of the sighted range. A musket ball sighted at 300 yards might hit a man standing in that narrow danger space but it would pass over anyone standing closer and fall short of anyone standing further behind. Even a relatively small error in aiming or range would result in the ball missing the target. So standing in a long thin line actually reduced the chances of getting hit and the lines were spaced far enough apart so shots aimed at the first line would hopefully fall short of the second. By the time World War One rolled around rifle trajectories had gotten so flat that the danger space covered just about everything within any practical range and standing in a line just made you better targets.

Thank you. I always wondered about that hat style. Makes more sense now. It's facinating how much time, effort and resources went into making these for thousands and thousands of soldiers.

On the practicality side, something I think you missed is that they are straight rather than flaring out at the sides like the cocked hats they replaced. That made them infinitely more practical when shouldering long muskets - the necessity of which had previously led to soldiers having to wear their cocked hats at an angle and sometimes knocked then off, which didn't happen with the shako. The European armies of the late 18th century were looking for something without that problem to replace their cocked hats (the standard civilian dress until the shako helped bring in the top hat) and the shako just fit (excuse the pun).

Tall hats (shako’s and busby’s) actually have a protective function against downward sword blows from cavalry). Greatcoats and pelisses also had a similar protective function with British cavalry in the Crimean War finding it almost impossible to cut through Russian greatcoats.

J'aime beaucoup regarder les épisodes dans les 2 langues car mème si elle se ressemblent, il reste des détails intéressants expliquer autrement ou des ajouts/nuances car j'imagine que de faire le montage et la sortir avant te fais évoluer dans la correction de l'autre qui en fait une petite update! Bon épisode, excellente idée d'aborder l'histoire par le chapeau, ça apporte une entrée différente sur l'histoire

You know, conspicuously absent from your presentations is the classic peaked cap that is the still the standard dress headgear in the world's military organizations to this day, once widely-popular in civilian uniforms ranging from police to the merchant marine, yachtsmen, milkmen, bus-drivers, cab drivers, and even the Maytag Repair Man.

I love the comprehensive review of the Shako. This is well done. But you may have missed a benefit of the headgear specific to the time of its introduction. Since muskets are slow to load and inaccurate, if the attacker can elicit a volley from the defender at a deceptively long range the attacker will have an advantage. The Shako and the great coat rolled and carried atop the backpack will enlarge the siluette of the approaching attacker, causing the defender to fire too soon and have them miss into the dirt. This will of course be amplified on a smokey battlefield. This has to have occurred only a few times for natural selective pressure to make the Shako a favored item of military dress until more accurate rifles reduced the advantage and the liabilities you mention to predominate.

Yess! I have been waiting for this video

Been waiting for an upload about this hat. Bravo! 👏👏👏

It's all in the presentation. Great channel !

I was actually looking for a video on this on your channel a month ago, neat! Very distinctive

That was great - thank you!!

I wore a shako in high school marching band. I never knew that was they were called.

J’aime trop ta chaîne et regarde les deux versions. Merci beaucoup

Toujours une belle érudition, c'est un bonheur de vous suivre . Merci 😊

Do the polish Czapka hat next it's like a triangular shako seen in polish soldier 1800's and cavalry:D

As usual: Well done, congrats!

I am certainly no expert but it strook me as to how much time and effort must have gone into maintaining such a fine example as the one you exhibit here. All those various parts to clean & polish - then there was the rest of the uniform & accoutrement too. Amazing!

trop bien comme toujours

Love your videos! Where I volunteer at an historic site in the US, we've moved from our 1820s uniforms to the post civil war, but We Really Miss Our Shakos!

Always enjoy your videos. Thanks for another fun and interesting upload. Any plans to do the Homburg?

My high school marching band wore shakos with a tall black plume that was detachable for storage. And I'll never forget what style of hat it was because we'd get chastized by the directors if we ever dared refer to it as a "hat" instead of a "shako"

I wonder if the common policeman's flat peaked cap is a direct descendant of the shako.

I always love your videos. I'd love to see you do the czapka sometime, too!

More of that little French singing at the start would have been nice. Just found your channel absolutely loving it! Cute little French guy.

The Royal Military Police (Koninklijke Marechaussee) of the Netherlands still uses the Shako for ceremonial occasions at the royal house.

I read somewhere that the shako was considered a military equivalent to the civilian top hat, and the latter did coming into vogue about the same time in male civilian dress.

Very interesting indeed ! I'll also watch the French version.

Excellent 🎉

9:00 I think the Royal Military academy of Belgium also wears the Shako if I am not mistaken. Great video as always!

STOUT SHAKO FOR 2 REFINED

As a former reenactor of the Napoleonic Wars, I agree that shako is a heavy, clumsy and uncomfortable outrage.

YES FINALY!

Hi, great video, really liked it. Regarding csákó, the origin of shako, the "cs" at the beginning of the word is pronounced like "CH" in chocolate, or change, so phonetically it would be something like chako.

Philippine Military Academy also wear shakos as well for their ceremonial dress. Though that's because the PMA is hugely based on the USMA or West Point since it was founded during the American colonial era

How headgear went from the practical and comfortable tricorn to this gaudy monstrosity is beyond belief.

Would love a video on the Chapeau a Bec / bycocket

Would you do an episode on peaked hats? Another great video.

The grey uniforms of West point is also very interesting and comes from a war with the British

As a small note, the spanish cap is called a "Ros", named after the spanish general Ros de Olano that introduced it in 1855. Despite of its similarities with the Kepi, is a different evolution of the Shako. Great video btw ;P

Ahh, the Shako! My favorite hat (kepi mabey same level that though)

Thank you for resolving the problem of the pronunciation of shako. It’s a short a like awesome, not long like rake. By the way, yes this has actually been bugging me.

Chako style fur hats were worn at least century before by the Krabat cavalry in the Thirty Years War alongside neck tie. Overall grenz infatry was majority catholic (Hungarians, Croats, Germans), with orthodox under half (Romanians, Serbs) and some protestant Germans.

Ah yes, the days when the battle was won by the side that could make the boldest and most definitive fashion statement...I have read that the Scots Highlander bonnet with its wire frame did protect against saber blows.

Love these videos! Do you own all the hats you show in your videos?

Nice

Serbian here, great video bro. Interestingly enough hussars are also of Serbian origin.

This kind of reminds me of the bearskin hats used by the royal guard. Except these are ornate and those are more fuzzy.

One less obvious aspect to mention: I play computer games, and when an opponent has an elaborate and flashy head decorations, it does make it harder to aim for their actual head instead of hitting those decorations. I think it translates to real life.

The shako, respectfully portrayed in Ridley Scott's fantastic directorial debut The Duellist !

In Austria we called this hat Tschako

winner of least tippable hat

you look damn good in that thumbnail

For me it is an anti cavalry hat vs "anecdotal evidence" 5:00 The height makes you tall enough to not be walked over by horses. On the French side, grenadiers and pioneers, both there to close the gap between line companies, already carry tall hats. Soldiers holding a musket vertically and the limitations of line cavalry favors top down saber blows, and there the height, the leather visor and metal cheek straps protect from top down blows. The stiff high collar and shoulder pads finish the protection.

It's about time, Hat Historian really needed a Shak(e)o up.

Another interesting hat in the same style and era is the swedish "top hats" that were used by the infantry, they were like a top hat but with the left side of the brim larger and folded up! I have no idea what such a hat would be called. sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_m/1806 A wikipedia page with some examples of it^

Got my Shako for 2 refined

Fascinating how the hat of a humble serf evolved to become THE symbol of military professionalism and might

This dude is great

Did I miss your description of the Fur Shako or the British Ber Skin Fur Shako?

Bit special hat for me, because a man I once loved wore one when he was at the military academy.

with 2 to all skills 2 to all stats +life on char level / + mana on char level, physical damage reduced by 10% and 50% magic find the shako is a really good item that is easy to find yet works with most d2 builds

Made totally made my own, have a 1813 Prussian Fusilier officer and a 1812 Russian Artillery officer's

Do one for the Peaked cap

You have a young guard/middle guard shako.

love having napoleon teach me about shakos

Darn. All these years I've been saying "shake-oh".

As a high school marching band member these are the most hated item of parade dress. So heavy and hot. And with most parades in the summer it was awful.

Shako Khan, let me rock you Let me rock you, Shako Khan Let me rock you, that's all I wanna do Shako Khan, let me rock you Let me rock you, Shako Khan Let me rock you, 'cause I feel for you -I Feel For You, Chaka Kahn

Pour l'empereur!

Your 1000th like

If the shako shrinked at the end of its lifetime, is that where the kepi comes from? I saw hints of that here, with the top leaning forward resembling a kepi.

Were the shako & bako companion pieces? Did Shako Zulu wear one?

Anything that impedes movement like that was a must have during the cannon fodder era.

What material(s)?

You could partner with Luke Ranieri of polyMathy to do an episode on the Roman helmet.

Hello, may you do an episode on the bacon hat from the 19th century Or is it too similar to the top hat? Please let me know.

Where do you Aquire your Hats, I can't really find any sites which sell high quality hats.

Mind if you do a video on the chaperon hat?

C'est moi ou dans tes vidéo il y a une sorte d'easter egg sur le brochain chapeau ??? Car das ta dernière vidéo on a vu le shako alors peut être que la le prochain sera le chapeau asiatique qui est sur ta gauche

is that an infantry shako? or officer ? or grenadier of the line ?

Such a cool hat, a pity we all go for the most basic and dull things now ...even if the reasons make sense.

Beret is my favorite headgear! I used it as part of my Fire Service uniform (black), as part of Scout uniform (blue) or just as free time cap (khaki). I like the modern French style beret. Thanks again for all the information!

Few years after the Mexican war, the US cavalry replaced their services caps with shakos, very impopular and useless in the hot climates of the frontier, often the men preferred felt hats and similar.

It seems to me like these ornate and cumbersome hats military hats had several purposes. Amoung those, social conformity, always important to a military. And a way to get your enemy to aim for and shoot your hat, in a time of slow loading and smoke filled battlefield. In those ways, very practical.

J'adore tu fais des vidéos en anglais et finalement il y a pas mal de français qui le regardent 😂

Terapeuta: Francuski irytujący historyk nie istnieje, nie może cię zranić Francuski Irytujący historyk: Anyway, beside memes, as always wonderfull video. I cant wait for more historical hats. But may i sugest you, to make a video abour polish rogatywka? In my opinion it have pretty interesting history if it comes to changes in design, especially in napoleonic era

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Vive l'Empereur ! 🥰

So... Why did it replace the tricorn? Tricorns seem far more practical.

Where did you buy it?

Man from dawn of time: Let's make something to have on my head, Let's make it as ridiculous as possible, millions of others will copy my stupid design for centuries! Nobody will ever make anything practical