Private c1811

In this detail taken from a Goddard & Booth print, no.23 out of 27 prints of British soldiers. The figure in a red coat is 2nd Life Guards but the man on the right is a hussar of the 10th. The dating of this print is in question but the style of the headdress would suggest c1813 as other images of that date also show the peakless shako. There is, however, a glimpse of yellow collar which dates this as pre-1811. The Prince of Wales was appointed Regent in February 1811. On 6 March 1811 His Royal Highness conferred the designation ‘Royal’ on the regiment and ordered the facings to be changed from yellow to red. Under normal circumstances it would have taken several weeks for a regiment to have the uniforms altered but the 10th Hussars were stationed in Brighton from May 1810 to May 1812 while the Prince spent his summers at the Pavilion, so he would have pushed for speedy tailoring. It should be said that there are copies of this print in which the collar has been coloured red which suggests that some were coloured yellow in January and February 1811 and others coloured red after it became known that the facings had changed.
This hussar is dressed for campaign as he has overalls which are blue with brown leathering up the inside leg and around the ankles. He has a red stripe down the side of the trousers, although a Denis Dighton painting of 1813 shows a white stripe. The peakless shako was probably only worn on campaign while a fur busby would be worn for ceremonials and reviews. It is not known how long the regiment wore this cap but certainly by 1815 the 10th fought at Waterloo wearing a red peaked shako.

Regimental Details | Uniforms