Part 1:

Washington did wear a uniform of Blue and Buff- The Uniform worn by the Fairfax County troop of horse, of which he was colonel, prior to becoming c-in-c of the continental army. The depiction of the said uniform in John Adams is generally correct- Though the fit-- which is too loose and baggy-- is way off, the cut slightly less so. CW Peale's earliest portrait of Washington in his distinctive blue and buff uniform, dated 1776, shows the uniform he wore early in the war. The collar buttons onto the top button of the lapel (some of Peale's later portraits do not show this), and the coat is adorned with uniform, large, flat gilt buttons. The uniform in the TV series is worn with a type of cuff seen in the later Peale portraits. The 1776 portrait shows a more typical, indented-v shaped cavalry-style cuff. In the portrait, the waistcoat is laced with a thin filigree of gold lace.

Turn's depiction of the 2nd Continental Light Dragoons draws heavily from John Trumbull's paintings. Trumbull depicted this regiment in French-style dragoon helmets, with leopardskin turbans, blue coats faced white. Not only was this was a uniform adopted later in the war-- Detmar H. Finke and Marko Zlatitch place it as c. 1780-83-- but this regiment did not even exist in 1776! Light Cavalry duties were instead taken up by various state troops of light horse, such as the Philidelphia Light Horse who frequently served as Washington's bodyguards.

The question of what the Contiental Army wore when is a complicated subject, which could fill volumes (and, indeed, has). What follows is a quite incomplete sketch of the development of the dress of the Continental Forces. Hopefully, the books listed below should provide you with more in-depth material.

Throughout the war, the Continental Army was plagued by a distressing inability to acquire uniforms. The system of supply was something of a tripartite affair, with Congress, the States, and Regimental Commanders each struggling to outfit their troops. The army often fell short of ideal uniformity, but it should also be remembered that officers worked hard to maintain a soldierlike appearance in the ranks. Though the rag-tag and bobtail Continental is much beloved in American memory, such an image is not the complete story of the Continental's dress: the American soldier could just as often present an elegant appearance to rival, or even surpass, his British foes or French allies.

The Massachusetts forces encamped around Boston in 1775- with a few exceptions-- wore no uniforms, prompting Washington to authorize a stop-gap regulation in July of 1775, in order that officers might be distinguished from men. General officers, general staff, and brigade majors were distinguished by various colored ribbands, worn beneath the coat and over the waistcoat. The commander-in-chief wore a blue ribband, major generals pink (later purple), brigadier generals pink, aides-de-camp and brigade majors green. Regimental officers were distinguished by cockades: field officers wore red or pink, Captains yellow, and Subalterns green. These distinctions persisted until June of 1780.

The first Continental Troops to be provided with uniforms were, in fact, the Northern Army under Arnold sent to invade Canada. On 2nd November, 1775, Congress ordered its agents in New York to purchase 3,000 felt hats, 3,000 caps, 3,000 prs. of Buckskin Breeches, 3,000 waistcoats, 3,000 shoes, and 300 watchcoats of fearnought or duffel. Such uniformity did persist through to 1777. A Hessian observer remarked that none of the American soldiers under Horatio Gates wore no uniforms of any sort.

In October, Washington sought further to establish some uniformity in the ranks when he, in a meeting with representatives of the Congress at the Army Headquarters in Cambridge (it should be remembered that, at the time, the army under Washington was encamped and laying siege to British troops pent up in Boston). Brown was decided upon as the color for soldiers' coats, with regimentally colored facings, the cost of which (10s) was taken out of the soldiers' pay. The actual clothing turned out to be of all colors-- And evidence shows blue, brown, and green cloth, faced in any number of colors, in use. Captured British regimentals filled in where locally made uniforms could not be procured. In May of 1777, James Mease, the Clothier General, proposed to outfit the newly raised regiment of the 4th Continental Light Dragoons in captured uniforms of the 8th and 21st Foot. The Webb's Additional Regiment, not part of any state line, was outfited in Red faced Yellow uniforms, much to the chagrin of the Commander-In-Chief. Later, imported French coats of Blue and Brown cloth lined red or white, with white smallclothes, were assigned to the various regiments. These were of very good quality cloth, lined with serge, white wistcoats and breeches made for knee-buckles (though these last were not supplied). The lappels could be buttoned over the belly in cold weather, and the coats were adorned with white buttons and slashed sleeves. Even with these imports, the army frequently fell short of ideal uniformity, and at any given time a number of men were rendered unfit for duty for want of clothing.

The lack of uniformity seen in the continental ranks owed something to the haphazard nature of supply. It should be remembered the colonies formed an army, essentially, out of whole cloth-- And there existed no domestic institutions with the requisite means of supplying such a force on such a scale. From its inception in 1775, through to 1778, Congress held responsibility for clothing the army. Initially, in 1775, the Quartermaster General Thomas Mifflin in the army headquarters at Cambridge dealt with the headache of clothing the troops of Washington's army. Early on, Congress sought to suplement insufficient local supplies with imported cloth. Some of these ventures were successful-- in 1776, the Happy Return sailed into Providence carrying 2,000 yards each of brown and blue cloth. In October of 1776, a Comissary was appointed to each of the two armies under Congress's control-- George Measam for the Northern Army, and the confusingly similarly named James Mease, who assumed the broader role of Clothier General in 1777. In the mean time, Congress encouraged the states to supply their own troops with clothing upon enlistment, and many continued to do so as Congress proved ineffectual in its job of outfitting the army. Regimental commanders, too, stepped in to procure uniforms where they were wanting-- and could be bankrupted in the process.