The Three Guards Regiments 1846

This lithograph by MA Hayes shows a Grenadier Guards officer standing with his back to us. He is in summer trousers which were white for Guards regiments but by this time the line infantry regiments had changed to dark blue. His sword is inserted into a white leather shoulder-belt and the scabbard is black leather and gilt. The mounted officer who is the CO of the Scots Guards has his sword suspended from a waist belt and is in a field officer's all-gilt scabbard. All Guards mounted officers wore their swords like this. The back of the Grenadier Guards officer's coatee shows that his collar is red like the coatee of the 1830s. His bearskin with the white plume looks very tall but should be 12 inches high according to the 1846 Dress Regulations. It was reduced to 8 inches in 1853. The gilt chin-chain is now a feature. The soldier on the right, a Coldstreamer, shows the uniform of other ranks at this period. He has a stripe down the side of his trousers which was introduced for other ranks in 1833.
The officer on the left, wearing a frockcoat, has a soft-topped forage cap with a black band. The frockcoat was similar for all the Guards regiments, being dark blue with 5 black mohair loops across the chest and is worn, here, with a black leather sword-belt round the waist over the top of the crimson sash.

Uniforms | Regimental Details