Light Dragoon 1795

This sketch by Percy Sumner, a uniform historian working in the first half of the century, is all we have to show us what troopers wore in the 13th Light Dragoons at this time. He made numerous drawings of other soldiers of the period, copied from a book that does not seem to exist now. The original drawings did not have the dates on and in many cases were not named. So Sumner had to work them out for himself. This one was named but not dated. The only information gived was that it was the 13th Light Dragoons and there was a buff plume. The plume was always on the left side of the helmet and at this time was supposed to follow the facing colours of the jacket which for the 13th, since 1784, were buff. The turban round the base was also buff. There was no badge on the right side of the helmet, that came a little later.
The dark blue jacket is in fact a two part garment. The under jacket is a waist length dolman, like the ones that came later, with yellow braid across the chest and buff coloured cuffs. Over this was worn a sleeveless jacket with an upright buff collar and shoulder wings. It was open at the front and turned back below the waist.
Sumner dated this as being between 1793 and 1796 since the pouch changed from white to black in 1793 and the sleeveless shell jacket was discarded in 1796.

13th Light Dragoons: Uniforms | Regimental details