"British infantry regiments at Waterloo" Topic

Not sure this is bang up to date (it's from 1990), but the uniform schematics are useful.

PDF link

There are also several images here of non-Trotter, not-black backpacks. Interesting that this was kinda sorta known about 32 years ago.

Thank You.

Nice find.

Thanks!

The 28th famously carried captured French backpacks (or possibly some companies did). Notice he also wears the stovepipe shako (although not Light Infantry) and has the Egypt badge on the back of it.

Well that is how they tend to be represented anyway. By 1815 I do wonder. The rumour now is that everyone was in the Belgic cap, even the Rifles (horrible thought)

The line drawings on page 1 and 3 appear to show envelope style knapsacks and one has three straps encircling it, rather than the usual two. We've also commented previously on the Denis Dighton painting where the three guys to the right of Wellington are clearly toting brown knapsacks, despite the established rule that they be black. They're in Belgic caps, so they're not the grenadiers of the 28th. It makes me wonder what unit Dighton saw.

I'm increasingly inclined to the view that anything goes, except Belgic caps on riflemen obviously.

I have that schematic. From the once excellent Military Illustrated magazine It is rather good too, especially where the belt-plates are concerned.

One or two inaccuracies with the uniform details but then, it is 30 years old.

Interesting to see that they are circumspect regarding the bonnet ornaments of the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regt.

"Feather bonnet with plume probably red for coys., red-over-white for grens., red-over-green for lt. coy., [etc]"

Evidence for the above dates to the 1870s and relates to the post-Waterloo period.

Are the 42nd's plume colours uncertain? I thought the above was uncontroversial.

Very nice, thanks for posting. Particularly useful for me at the moment as I'm painting every British battalion at Waterloo.

(p.s. Still don't agree with the buff belts!)

Is there an equivalent article for the cavalry?

There is a page of plates missing in that link (page 19)

Trockledockle.

How about these from the same artist?

British Light Cavalry by John Pimlott

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Trockledockle

If you want the lot from Fosden, you should to get hold of a copy of 'Waterloo Men By Philip J. Haythornthwaite' It's an excellent book with schematics and figure illustrations of all the British regiments who served at Waterloo. Including the cavalry. The book is 32x24.cm and 128 pages.

Here's the missing plate in the link from the O.P

And here are the plates by Fosden. I took them with my camera as my scanner is buried away. So please, forgive me for the quality.

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Thank you for posting all this. A treat indeed..

I cant at first glance at the article spot mistakes, save for the reference to white overalls for 2nd and 3rd Guards, which I understand has been killed off more recently.

Dibble,

Thanks very much for the plates. I have the Thin Red Line, the Almark and even the Mollo book but hadn't seen the Waterloo Men book. I'll have a look for a copy. Thanks again.

@ 4th Cuirassier

Are the 42nd's plume colours uncertain? I thought the above was uncontroversial.

Curious as it may seem, the earliest available evidence relating to flank coy 'feathers' worn by the 42nd in the early C19th dates from 1875. Citing the memoirs of Col. John Wheatley who had enlisted in 1817, it was reported in 'History of the Highlands' ( 1875 ed. John Keltie) that in the period 1816-1821 the bonnets of the 42nd were "ornamented with a large loose worsted tuft of white for the grenadiers, green for the light company, and red for the others."

Earlier, Wheatley describes the 42nd at the end of the Peninsular war reduced to wearing their hummel bonnets like infantry caps with a single red feather worn on the front.

By 1821, however, according to Wheatley "there were a variety of heckles worn in the bonnet, another piece of bad taste — white for the grenadiers, green for the light company, the band white, and the drummers yellow, with each of them two inches of red at the top, and the other eight companies (called battalion companies) red."

Then in 1825, on a visit to the 42nd in Dublin, the new Colonel of the regiment, General Sir George Murray, asked for "an explanation as to the reason of any heckle being worn in the regiment other than the red, it being 'a special mark of distinction,' and desired that all other colours should disappear." Thereupon, a plain red feather was duly adopted by all ranks which has been worn ever since. Flank company distinctions were abolished for all Highland corps ca. 1830- (though later re-adopted by some regiments).

Wheatley's recollection of the 1820s from 1875 would appear to be the only evidence for bi-coloured hackle plumes ever being worn in the 42nd. Wollen's "The Black Watch at bay" (1889) showing the regiment at Quatre Bras with grenadiers sporting bi-coloured hackles, would seem to have taken its cue from that late source. Authors such as Haythornthwaite and Wilkinson-Latham would then appear to have accepted these as historical reference for the earlier wartime practice. In fact, it is hard to find any reference at all relating to that period. Such as there is shows a plain red 'heckle.'

I would say that the Grenadier Companies wore all white. The Battalion Companies, all red and the Light Companies, all green.

The only image showing the Grenadier Company during this time is by Hamilton-Smith and a Battalion Company officer 1808, as seen here, by J Smith and published by Milton in Nov 1808.

And then there's this by P J de Loutherbourg C.1801.

These pictures confirms the Battalion Company hackle at least…

The battalion hackle has never been in doubt- from 1802 at least- with anecdotal reference dating the upright red plume to 1795 with perhaps a single ostrich feather before that. The problem with the Hamilton-Smith illustration is that it could be a generic depiction, a white feather being regulation for all grenadiers, but as such it is the most likely option if flank coy distinctions were worn, which had been the case previously.

42flanker

If you have followed some of my posts, you will know what my thoughts are regarding Hamilton-Smith. But, as far as things are to date, it's really all we have regarding other than the Battalion Companies.

Indeed.