RSM, TSM and Sergeant in Undress c1896

The three senior non-commissioned officers of the 10th Hussars demonstrate different types of dismounted undress in the mid-1890s. The Regimental Sergeant Major on the left has a stable jacket that is edged with gold lace and has cuffs decorated with lace formed into an Austrian knot. On his right forearm is a hall-marked silver regimental PoW Plume badge placed on the knot. Above this is a gold embroidered crown, the badge of RSMs until 1915 when it was changed to a Royal Arms badge.
The man in the middle is a Troop Sergeant Major dressed in a short-skirted patrol jacket that indicates his high non-commissioned status. It is a blue jacket with black braid that covers the edges and forms four rows across his chest with hanging ends. The three gold chevrons are richly quilted with the point extending downwards. The silver Plumes arm badge is above these, and the embroidered crown above that. The RSM in the 1894 Chapman cartoon also has a patrol jacket like this, and it is noticeable that Chapman has given him gold-laced trousers. The RSM in this line-up also appears to have gold laced trousers (and this is supported by another photo) but the other two men have yellow stripes. The TSM’s folding forage cap is blue with gold braid edges.
The sergeant on the right has a plain stable jacket with flat gold lace chevrons and a silver Plume badge above. His status allows him to have gold braid on his collar and cuffs, the latter with a single small loop. Instead of gold braid down the front, the jacket has 12 brass buttons. Rank-and-file stable jackets were similar to this but with yellow worsted braid on the collar and cuffs. Like the RSM he has broad gold lace around his pill-box cap.

Regimental Details | Uniforms