Officers 1862


This group painted by Orlando Norie shows a mounted officer in full dress with a gold stripe on his Oxford mixture trousers, and a state sash. He is the adjutant which we can deduce from the star rank badge on his shabraque. On close inspection his collar also shows a star on the blue cloth part, with a row of gold lace on the lower edge as well as the top. His rank is Lieutenant/Brevet-Major. The bridle is quite plain compared with that worn by mounted officers of the Scots Guards today. But there is a black horsehair throat plume which is not seen in other pictures of mounted Guard officers.

The officer who is talking to him is an ensign in guard order with a red stripe on his trousers and crimson sash. His rank is shown by the crown on his collar with no gold lace on the lower edge. He differs from the officer who has his back to us in that his belt is white, not gold. He has a Crimea Medal with two clasps which suggests that he missed the first two battles and joined the regiment in October/November 1854 which means that he had been an ensign for eight years. Of the two officers on the right, the one with his back to us, in a gold belt, is a lieutenant with a star and crown on his collar (and no gold lace on the lower edge). The other officer is in a blue frock coat with forage cap and crimson sash. He carries his sword suspended from a white waist-belt. It appears that he has no chin strap on his forage cap as per regimental custom.

The last officer who is mounted in undress must be the Commanding Officer. There were normally three mounted officers per battalion, the CO, the 2nd in command and the adjutant. This officer has a frock coat but no sash which suggests that he is not on duty but just happens to be riding by. He also has no sword belt. His forage cap has a chin strap which must be special for riding. The other ranks in the background are from the left, a sentry in guard order, two men in drill order, and on the right can be seen men in white fatigue jackets.


Uniforms | Regimental Details


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by Stephen Luscombe