Grenadiers of the 25th Regiment formed a company which took its place on the right of the line when the other eight battalion companies paraded as a regiment. This coloured drawing depicts the white summer uniform worn while the regiment was stationed on Minorca in the 1770s. It is evidence of a very unusual aspect of British infantry uniform. It differs very much from the Review Order red coat. It is white with a red collar, cuffs and shoulder wings. There are no lapels, and the deep yellow facing colour of the dress coat is completely absent.
Even the regimental pattern lace is not evident. The black fur cap is a smaller version of the one worn with the dress uniform. His head is turned so that we can just see the red part at the back of the cap. This illustration is a coloured copy made by Percy Sumner to accompany his article in the Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research vol XVIII no.71 (Autumn 1939). Sumner describes the lace edge to the collar, cuffs and shoulder wings as white with a red zig-zag and a black stripe, very different from the blue, yellow and red straight stripes worn on the dress coats. Although his description does not match this illustration.
The white leather belt worn on the left shoulder does not have a brass match-case and probably does not support the large black ammunition pouch. This may be the belt for the bayonet, normally worn on the right shoulder. There is no waist-belt and no visible means of carrying ammunition.
The caption on the original coloured drawing (probably by Guiseppe Chiesa) reads, ‘Granatiere de Reggito XXV con Piccola Uniforme Bianca e paramenti Rossi’. Sumner calls it the ‘Little Uniform’.
