Officer and NCO 1808

The uniform of the 10th Hussars went through a period of several changes in the initial stages of their transformation from light dragoons to hussars. This was due to the obsessive interest shown by the Prince of Wales who had a family connection to the German States and was keen to compete with the continental cavalry and their flamboyant uniforms. This reconstruction by John Mollo is based closely on two paintings by Robert Dighton Junior which featured in the Journal for the Society of Army Historical Research vol XXX no.122 Summer 1952. W Y Carman saw the original paintings in an exhibition at the Tower of London in March 1952, of artwork from the collection of the Duke of Brunswick brought over from Marienburg near Hanover. There were paintings by Dighton of the 7th, 10th and 15th Hussars.
The illustration is a mixture of the two paintings depicting an officer and an other rank of the 10th. The unexpected aspect is the yellow busby bag on the other rank while the officer has a red bag. There does not appear to be any other evidence of this yellow busby bag as paintings of other ranks at this period are rare. The fur is light brown whereas the officer’s busby has grey fur, which agrees with other portraits. The pelisse is edged with white fur and the officer has grey, and the frogging on the pelisse has a white frame around it which can be seen on other paintings and prints. Unfortunately the barrel sash is hidden but Carman assumes it to be gold and black based on the small amount visible just below the corner of the pelisse. Mollo has painted both the tassel and cord as black but Carman says the tassel is ‘gold in colour’. The man holds a cane in his right hand indicating his NCO status.
The officer’s uniform agrees with the portrait of Sir Bellingham Graham of 1809 apart from the pouch-belt, which Mr Carman describes as silver with a yellow edges, the waist-belt which is red leather with silver decoration, and the sabretache. The face of the sabretache is red and the silver lace around the border is straight-edged. The devices are the Prince of Wales feathers, a crown and GP or GR cypher. In known examples the feathers are not part of the pattern until 1820.
The monochrome photo of the paintings is shown below.

Regimental Details | Uniforms