Light Dragoon 1776


The illustration here is by Richard Simkin who painted military subjects from c1880 to 1914, so this 14th Light Dragoon of 1776 is hardly contemporary. He has shown the trooper as being dressed like the former dragoons but with a light dragoon metal helmet instead of a tricorn hat. It is always assumed that the coats of light troops were shorter but the tails on this man are long. He has a red coat with yellow facings, a combination that had been worn since the early 18th century. The Colonel, George Warde had requested a change to green facings, and although the portrait of him shows him in a green faced coat, there is no evidence to prove that this ever came about for the regiment. A portrait of Lieutenant John Cunningham c1778 shows yellow facings and silver lace. The helmet here has a red crest and red pagri but that is conjecture. The saddle cloth is yellow with a broad white edge that has a green and red stripe in the middle. This is the same as the 1751 Morier painting. But an inspection return of 1792 says that permission had been recently given to change the horse furniture from black to yellow. This indicates that for some years previous to 1792 the men had black saddle-cloths.


Regimental Details | Uniforms


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by Stephen Luscombe