Lieutenant 1819

This portrait by J Watson is titled Captain William Drummond (1796 -1881) 10th Hussars, and dated 1819. But in 1819 William Drummond held the rank of lieutenant, he did not appear as a captain until 1823. His last appearance on the regimental list was 1827 with the rank of major. The portrait shows him in the uniform of the 10th Hussars, but less flamboyant than other hussar portraits. The scene is reminiscent of his service in the Peninsula but Drummond did not join the 10th Hussars until 1815, probably one of the officers brought into the regiment after the expulsion of the Elegant Extracts in 1814. His active service in the Napoleonic Wars was with another cavalry regiment but he instructed the artist to depict him in the current gold laced regimental uniform of the 10th, in marching order, with grey overalls instead of white breeches and hessian boots. There are no tasselled caplines attached to his busby, and the bridle is devoid of the cowrie shells worn in review order. So it is odd that he has included the very expensive gold embroidered scarlet shabraque which would have been left in store at the depot when the regiment were in Spain. It is unusual for portraits and prints of this period to show a busby being worn, as the red shako was adopted in 1815, replaced by a black shako in 1820. It seems that the officers of the 10th may have worn the busby on campaign in the Peninsula and at Waterloo while the men wore shakos.

Regimental Details | Uniforms