Private's Jacket 1822-30

This very well preserved jacket of the 42nd can be dated within a few years because of changing styles in that period. It has the tufted wings usually worn only by flank companies (grenadiers and light company) but in 1822 the men of the Highland regiments were permitted to have these, and they were worn until the Crimean War. The cuffs are round with bastion shaped button loops. In 1830 the design of the cuff was changed to the slash flap with three button loops on the red flap, laid over, and at right angles to the plain blue cuff. The coat tails were shorter than those of the English and Lowland regiments. In 1836 the style was changed again so that the tails were confined to the rear of the coat and could not be seen on the front. The other change was the discontinuance of the red line in the white lace. Up until that date the infantry regiments had been distinguished by their special patterns of lace, a tradition dating back in some cases to the early 18th century. The Black Watch had retained the lace with a red stripe down one side since 1768. Now they were to have plain white lace, but still formed into bastion shapes. The buttons were of white metal at this stage.

Regimental Details | Uniforms