Informal Officer Group 1866

This group photo was taken in India probably at Campbellpore around the same time as the fully uniformed group of 1866. The CO Henry Stannus is not in this group but the white-bearded man, most likely the Colonel, Lt-General Carmichael sits in the middle wearing mess dress. There is one other officer in mess dress, seated second from the left. They both have red waistcoats showing but Carmichael's is fastened to show his white shirt whereas the other officer has a waistcoat that fastens up to the neck. Unfortunately we cannot see his cuffs as it would help with the question about the style of stable jacket worn at this stage.
The young officer seated on the ground towards the left of the photo is in stable dress wearing a buttoned up stable jacket, as opposed to the open jacket worn in mess dress. Not only does he have small gilt buttons instead of olivets but he has a different cuff decoration. The gold Russia braid forms a small Austrian knot above and a trefoil below the point of the cuff. The cuff decoration worn on the sleeves of stable jackets in the other 1866 photo show a simple loop, as worn by Carmichael in this photo. Another officer, Robert Alexander, standing second from the left is also in stable dress. He has olivets but we cannot see his cuffs. The three jackets with olivets suggests that this is the regimental pattern, and leads us to conclude that the officer sitting on the ground is from another regiment.
Other recognisable figures are; Riding-Master Willis standing on the left, wearing a frock coat, Chevenix-Trench fourth from left, Arthur Broadhurst next to him, Cecil Mangles third from right, David Budd seated on the right, McClintock Cotton seated third from right.
Image Courtesy of Ben Giffard

Regimental Details | Uniforms