Hi John
I made the Pontooneers for a friend and he supplied several pictures of the French Pontooneers in this style of uniform with Corsehut head-dress, so it must have pre-dated the uniform with the shako in the earlier Napoleonic era. I painted them as the elite company with red epaulettes shown on another contemporary illustration of the unit.
see one attached example link below:
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/...uroldquo7AtildeumlmeCompagnie_zps0f48582a.jpg
Regards
Dave