The Dinner Round 1835

The artist C B Newhouse produced a series of 6 paintings of army life which were made into coloured aquatints by R G Reeve published by McLean in 1835. This one featured the 19th Regiment of Foot, titled The Dinner Round. The two figures in the foreground are from the Light Company. The sergeant, with a 19 on his shako plate, is saluting the officer by placing his left hand on his musket, a method of saluting that hasn’t changed over the years. He and the officer wear flank company wings, gold for the sergeant as well as the officer, and have whistles on chains attached to their shoulder belts. The sergeant has a waist sash with cords and tassels hanging on his right hip. The officer also has a crimson sash with the cords hooked to a button on his coatee. The trousers of all ranks are dark ‘Oxford mixture’ with a red stripe.
To the right of the Light Company men is a running figure who looks like an officer as he has only one belt on his shoulder. This is a sword belt but does not have a sword. His coatee has gold lace across the chest like the sergeant. And his cuffs do not have the gold lace button loops worn by officers and sergeants. He is from a battalion company as shown by his rand-and-file-type white-over-red plume, and he has gold epaulettes. Also of interest is the grenadier on guard duty, the man on the left in fatigues, and the two members of the Corps of drums sounding the call to dinner.

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