10th Hussars' Cartoons 1824


The officers of the 10th Hussars gained a reputation for arrogance and snobbery whilst serving in Ireland in the 1820s. Prior to the Union of Britain and Ireland in 1800 there was a distinction between those troops in Ireland and those in Britain so that the English 10th Hussars were not required to serve in Ireland before 1800. It must have come as a nasty shock to the officers to be posted there in 1822. In May 1823 they were moved to Dublin, having previously been headquartered at Cahir in the south.

The cartoons of the period, mostly produced in London, highlight two stories that cropped up during their time in Dublin. The first was the reluctance of the officers to involve themselves in Dublin society, brought to light by their announcement that “the Tenth don’t dance”. The other story was the conflict between the Marquis of Londonderry, Colonel of the Regiment, and Cornet Battier. According to Liddell’s History of the 10th, the Marquis visited his regiment in May 1824 when he reviewed them in Phœnix Park. Later a matter of discipline arose concerning Cornet William Battier, and this was put before the Marquis. He decided against Battier and the quarrel began. The cornet did not accept the judgement and challenged his Lordship to a duel. A Fairburn cartoon of 12 May 1824, and a Fores cartoon of 17 May, illustrate this. Battier fired first and missed. Then the Marquis fired into the air. Londonderry was severely reprimanded for duelling by the Commander-in-Chief, and Cornet Battier was gazetted out of the army. His name appears in the Army Lists only for the year 1824.

The Index to British Military Costume Prints published in 1972 by the Army Museums Ogilby Trust (AMOT) lists eleven of Fairburn’s Tenth Hussars caricatures, and eight of Fore’s. The book also lists caricatures published by McCleary of 32 Nassau Street, Dublin, seven of which deal with the 10th. I have managed to find most of them from the Brown University, the British Museum, and some from other sources. John Fairburn published cartoons and prints at Broadway, Ludgate Hill, London. The artist for two of Fairburn’s cartoons was George Cruikshank although one is signed R Cruikshank and the rest either unsigned or attributed by the Index to ‘Williams’. The other publisher was S W Fores of 41 Piccadilly, London. The artists working for Fores were William Heath and Marks. McCleary’s cartoons do not have an artist’s signature so they were most likely drawn by McCleary himself.


Fairburn’s Cartoons April - May 1824


A Tenth Rejected Arrogance (or Nonchalance)
Saint Shela
Heroic Exploits of the Tenth with Nobody Drilling One Tenth of the Military
Catching Goose!
The Cornet Battiery The Tenth Can’t Shoot
The Tenth Taking advice of Counsel


Fores’s Cartoons March - May 1824


Chesterfield Sent to Coventry Sic Transit Gloria — Decimi
Symptoms of Humility
An Irish Tilting Match The Lame Duel
Drumming Out


McCleary’s Cartoons


Military Nonchalance The Tenth are the Dandies
The Somerset, or the 10th taught to Daunce
The Progress of the 10th with Nobody in Ireland The Wonder, or the Parson rejecting the Tenth
Interior of a Dancing School


Regimental Details


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by Stephen Luscombe