Guías de Navarra

Their name was a misnomer: they were neither Navarrese nor guides, but captured Liberal troops from La Mancha, Valencia, Andalusia and other places who had been made prisoners at the Battle of Alsasua (April 22, 1834).

The Carlist troops had lacked a regular uniform and had used instead the black beret that was already worn in the Basque region.

When he created the Guías de Navarra, Zumalacárregui ordered that these red berets be brought to him and given to this new battalion, which was, in any case, used for the most dangerous missions.

The Álbum de las tropas carlistas del ejército del norte states that they were a battalion of 800 men and that their uniform consisted of a gray casaquilla (a kind of short and loose jacket with sleeves, which was worn over other clothes) with a yellow series of holes for the buttons on the breast of the check; a red beret; a bag; and alpargatas, a sort of light sandal made of hemp.

According to Alexis Sabatier, their yellow buttonholes on their gray cloaks caused soldiers from the other battalions to call the Guías de Navarra sardinas ("sardines").