Adjutant, Dress 1815

The full dress coat was worn for formal evening wear. An officer of the 4th would have looked like this at the Duchess of Richmond's ball before the Battles of Quatre Bras and Waterloo. The tails are longer than the parade jacket and the white lining can be seen on both sides of each tail. The full lapels fold back and reach to the waist, displaying gold lace button-holes. The blue cuffs also have laced button-holes but the artist has made a mistake in placing them in pairs. This would only be the case if the lapel buttons were in pairs.
A gold epaulette was worn on the right shoulder of battalion company officers below field rank. Majors and above had two, but the adjutant wore one fringed epaulette on the right shoulder and an unfringed one on the left.
His crimson sash and sword belt are worn under the coat and the decorative sword, which was only worn on special occasions, carried in a white frog. The white breeches and stockings were part of the dress. The medal is the Army Gold Cross awarded to officers who took part in the Napoleonic wars and the American War of 1812-14.

Uniforms | Regimental Details