Sergeant 1818


The uniform of the Greys altered radically in 1818 so that the plain collett of 1812 was replaced after only 6 years. This painting, and another similar one of a sergeant-major show the jacket to be covered on the front with horizontal lace. The painting of the sergeant-major shows him wearing four stripes on the upper arm and his gold lace has a black line in it. This painting is naive in style so it is difficult to say whether the lace of the sergeant is gold or yellow. The officers certainly had gold lace across the chest while ranks below sergeant had yellow lace. The officers would have worn epaulettes at this stage, although a few years later they had a shoulder cord with aiguilettes on the right shoulder. The bearskin is much taller and more imposing, the peak and plaited festoon having been dispensed with, although the (gold?) tassel on the right side is still there. The white feather plume is taller and more grand. His grey trousers probably have a yellow stripe down the side but this is not visible. He has a sabretache, an item that was missing from the sergeant in the 1816 Dighton painting. The figures in the background give us little information about the back of the jacket but we know that the coat tails were much longer than on the 1812 collett. Both paintings of the sergeant and sergeant-major show them wearing moustaches with small goatee beards, and also wearing the Waterloo medal.


Regimental Details | Uniforms


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by Stephen Luscombe