Mounted Officer and Sentry c1886


In this painting by Orlando Norie we see the officer in review order, wearing gold lace belts, and his charger caparisoned with the embroidered shabraque. The red valise is no longer to be seen on the back of the saddle. Unfortunately the artist has forgotten to include the black leather sabretache which should be suspended from the officer's waist-belt. The red and black horsehair throat plume is also not visible.

The sentry is a private in undress stable jacket. By the 1880 the men had serge frocks and field caps to wear in undress but the stable jacket and pill-box forage cap were reserved for occasions, like guard duty, that required a greater degree of smartness but less than was provided by the dress tunic. From the mid 1890s the stable jackets were only worn for walking out. They were abolished at the end of the century. He has a pouchbelt and carries a Martini Henry carbine. The trousers and ankle boots were worn for dismounted duty, although spurs were still worn. His forage cap has a white cap-band but is tilted so that we cannot see the colour of the button or tourie on the top. This is usually depicted as red but sometimes white.


Regimental Details | Uniforms


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by Stephen Luscombe