Napoleonic Drums Info Page

Austrian

Brass bodies with Alternating Black and yellow diagonal stripping on the Top and bottom rings. The straps were white. 
jedgarbuf@mail.utexas.edu (James Bufkin) (From Osprey)

French

Brass bodies with Leather dyed blue for the top and bottom rings holding the skin on with White leather straps and "cords". 
jedgarbuf@mail.utexas.edu (James Bufkin) (From Osprey, Funken and others)

Prussian

Brass barrel, white cords and slides, red over white scaloped rims (white trinagles pointing down and red triangles pointing up for both upper and lower rims). This is true for the whole period, from the 1790 to 1815. Supported by white belt (at least for musketeer and grenadier battalions).Buff apron to protect the leg in the later period (1810-15). 
Rob Smith resmith@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu
The Osprey shows red and white vandyking with the red triangles pointing up for both hoops for #18 in 1805.

However, Rawkins says:

pre-1807 "The rims of the drums were painted with either diagonal stripes, vandyking, or diamond designs, usually alternate white and facing color, however, these designs sometimes were of a color scheme peculiar to the regiment or corresponding with the drummers lace colors, etc. Some known designs being as follows, 6th Regiment, gold over scarlet triangles, 12th Regiment, alternate light brick red and white diagonal stripes, 15th Regiment silver over poppy-red triangles, 30th Regiment, yellow rims with blue diagonal stripes edged white, 52nd Regiment, plain scarlet rims."

post-1806 "Rims were painted with alternated triagles of scarlet and white with the scarlet sections pointing inward."

Nash - red and white triangles

Waterloo books:
Percoli - illustration as Rawkins
Haythornthwaite - no illustration
North - the Prussian were at Waterloo!?

jcg@ElSegundoCA.ATTGIS.COM (Jonathan Gingerich)

Russian

Russian line, 1812, had green and white triangles on the top rim of the drum, with a brass drum and white cords.

Russian jagers, 1812, had black rims, brass drum, with black cords and black drum sticks. 

Alan Spencer aspencer@bnr.ca
Sources were Nafzinger's "The Russian Army: 1800-1815"
Osprey Men-at-Arms series Russian Infantry.
Jaeger drums were, of course, brass, as Haythornthwaite (Osprey) indicates and Nafziger means to imply. The cords and slides were white as H. indicates and N. ignores.

Looking at the recently published Parkhayev cards, I see that he illustrates the cords as a natural brown (for all), and shows black sliders on the jaeger drums. Indeed, some of the line illustrations in Zweguintzow show black sliders as well. 

jcg@ElSegundoCA.ATTGIS.COM (Jonathan Gingerich)
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