Right - From an 1895 French magazine illustration showing attending the Sultan on parade:
The Imperial Guard were formed into an Army Group during the reign of Abdul Hamid II (ruling from 31 August 1876 until he was deposed on 27 April 1909).
The IG units represented in the Abdul-Hamid II Collection (Library of Congress), created between 1880 and 1893, has photo captions identifying the following units.
Right - Extracted from a group photograph tiltled: "A platoon from the First Battalion of the First Infantry Regiment of the Imperial Guard (Abdullah Frères)", Abdul-Hamid II Collection (Library of Congress), created between 1880 and 1893. Clearly shows a soldier from the 1st Line Infantry regiment, between 1876 and 1908.
Till 1876, there had been two Imperial Guard Infantry (1860-1876), dressed in zouave uniforms, in addition to the line infantry [1].
After, 1876, this organisation disapears, and is replaced by a much expanded Imperial Guard, that appears to have taken as volunteers from the 1st Army Corps infantry regiments 1-8, leading to the soldiers having dual appointments in two different regiments (i.e. 1st Imperial Guard, and the 1st Infantry, at the same time).
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[1]
The Imperial Guard infantry wore individualised numbered tunic buttons to identify each regiment (following the French, and Austrian Army models) [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8].
The double postings of guardsmen only changed in 1908, with the disbandment of the Imperial Guard, and the "the old IG, the members of which have gradually been sent home and mustered out of service” (Foreign Correspondence’s "SOLDIERS OF TURKEY FAVOR NEW REGIME", THE NEW YORK TIMES, December 27, 1908).
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[1] Right - The 1st Imperial Guard Division, composed of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Imperial Guard infantry regiments wore their own individually numbered button. Evidence for these numbered tunic buttons is: 1st Regiment Button: Illustrated in Askeri Müze ve Kültür Sitesti Komutanligi. (1986) Osmanli askeri teskilat ve kiyafetleri: 1876-1908 [Ottoman military organization and uniforms] Yayinlari; The 2nd regiment, found by the Great Arab Revolve Project archaeology digs in 2009; and one in a US Collection. The 3rd regiment also found by the GARP in 2009.
[2] Right and Above/Right - Two examples of 2nd IG Regiment buttons. One in the Andrew Hall's collection, Australia; One in a US Collection. The last in a US Private Collection (shown on Axis Forum). The button back details are damaged, but displays BREVETE near a star and crescent. This was for "T.W. & W. / Paris / Brevete", who extensively supplied the pre-1908 Ottoman Imperial Army, from 1845 to 1902 (the word "Brevete" is French for Patent[ed]).
[5] Callwell, C.E. (CAPT.) (1892) Handbook of the Turkish Army. London: Harrison and Sons, St. Martin’s Lane (HMSO): 9-10, 21. Makes no mention of the Imperial Guard, except for the ‘zouave regiments’.
[6] The only other regiments mentioned stationed in the Constantinople garrison are the 1st-8th line Infantry regiments.
[7] The four-battalion firemen regiment is listed as well (Callwell, C.E. (CAPT.) (1892) Handbook of the Turkish Army. London: Harrison and Sons, St. Martin’s Lane (HMSO): 9-10, 21).
[8] The 1892 ‘Handbook of the Turkish Army’, also states: “The zouaves and firemen are attached to the 1st Ordu ... [military district] ..., and belong to the garrison of Constantinople”.
Right - The Sapeurs of the Imperial Guard, was an African unit based on the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte's ‘Grenadier Sapeurs of the Imperial Guard’.
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[1] It should be noted that the significance of the green keffiyeh, at the time “denotes a man who has religious privileges” (The War Office. (2008) 1915 Notes on the Turkish Army: With a Short Vocabulary of Turkish Words and Phrases. N & M Press: 19).
Callwell, C.E. (CAPT.) (1892) Handbook of the Turkish Army. London: Harrison and Sons, St. Martin’s Lane (HMSO): 9-10, 21. Mentions the ‘zouave regiments’, describes one regiments, stating it has two battalions – “One is Albanian, the other Tripolitan”; and, “The man are mostly volunteers, or are specifically selected and form a species of guards”.
Above - These troops were dressed in uniforms based on traditional Albanian national costume, which were made to resemble the French 4th Zouave regiment uniform. Confusingly, the Albanian regiment are often referred in modern books on the Ottoman military as one of the four battalions of Zouave troops. The Albanians wore a distinctively uniform:
Were equipped with a traditional Balkan weapons belt, incorporating a belly wallet, called a “Bensilan” (pictured below).
In addition these troops were also armed with M1874 Peabodies, fitted with the socket type bayonets.
As a final note, each soldier in the regiment could have a red star and crescent badge on their cuff, identifying them as Aides-De-Camp to the Sultan.
Right - Dating from 1898, the Albanian regiment first received their white uniform, with black embroidery.
The colour plate is from the NYPL collection, and this appears a close match for the New York Times description of a 1898 special Imperial Guard uniforms used for the visit of the Kaiser.
The Albanian regiment's white uniform, with blue embroidery is taken from the 1908 dated illustrations in 'Askeri Muze ve Kultur Sitesti Komutanligi. (1986) Osmanli askeri teskilat ve kiyafetleri: 1876-1908 [Ottoman military organization and uniforms] Yayinlari.'
“The Tripolitan zouaves wear short blue jackets and waistcoats with braiding of green, baggy red pantaloons, scarlet cummerbunds, white gaiters and ankle boots, and fez with green turban; the cloak is dark grey.” (Callwell, C.E. (CAPT.) (1892) Handbook of the Turkish Army. London: Harrison and Sons, St. Martin’s Lane (HMSO): 13). This passage suggests that the Tripolitan zouaves originally wore the 1860's Rifles' zouave uniformjackets and waistcoats.
The Regiment of Zouaves of the IG were later uniformed in the 1861 Ottoman zouave uniform, this was a copy of the French 4th Zouave regiment.
In addition to which, they wore a green keffiyeh (the traditional Arab cloth headdress) under a fez, with it wrapped around the base. It should be noted that the significance of the green keffiyeh, wrapped turban-like around the base of the Fez, at the time “denotes a man who has religious privileges” (The War Office. (2008) 1915 Notes on the Turkish Army: With a Short Vocabulary of Turkish Words and Phrases. N & M Press: 19).
Above/Right - Illustrated in Askeri Müze ve Kültür Sitesti Komutanligi. (1986) Osmanli askeri teskilat ve kiyafetleri: 1876-1908 [Ottoman military organization and uniforms] Yayinlari [1]; the officers in the Regiment of Zouaves of the IG, wore:
Right - A figure of a Zouave Regiment officer (identified by his red pants with black side stripes), is seen walking to the side of the Sultan’s carriage in a colourised picture postcard that reads “S.M.J. le Sultan se rendant au Selamilk après la Proclamation de la Constitution 1908.” [Sultan visiting the Selamilk after the Proclamation of the Constitution 1908] The Selamilk was the Sultan’s palace reception hall where traditionally white uniforms were worn.
This was known as the 'First Regiment of the Imperial Guard Corps of Engineers'.