Officer, India 1848

In the Second Sikh War the officers wore stable dress on campaign. This illustration by Pierre Turner taken from Michael Barthorp's book on British Cavalry Uniforms is based on the Henry Martens print of the charge of the 14th Light Dragoons at Ramnuggur in Nov 1848. Although an undress jacket it was very smart, blue with scarlet facings, decorated with gold lace and many small gilt buttons down the front. These were purely decorative as the jacket was fastened with hooks and eyes. Most cavalry regiments had a white leather undress pouch-belt for officers but the 14th differed in having a black leather belt. The waist-belt was also black, supporting the undress black sabretache and sword. His shako is of special interest because it is the 1844 pattern straight-sided type that replaced the bell-topped shako. In hot climates it was protected with a quilted white calico cover that had a detachable neck protector. The gold cap-lines were wound over the cover and around the neck. Officers' undress trousers had red stripes instead of gold. They did not have leathered bottoms like those worn in the Crimea.

Regimental Details | Uniforms