William Heath painted this full-length portrait of Captain George Augustus Wetherall in 1818. At this stage he was adjutant, but he commanded the 1st Battalion from 1828 to 1843 and rose to the rank of lieutenant-general.
Uniforms after Waterloo developed into more elaborate and expensive items. The Royal Scots, as they were titled from 1812 to 1821, had two types of dress coat. The previous short-tailed, more practical jacket worn in 1815 transformed into the long-tailed coatee. The blue lapels were folded back and decorated with rows of closely placed gold lace with gilt buttons at the extremities. They were no longer placed in pairs. The collar had a single gold loop and was three inches high, covering the black stock. The shirt collar protruded well above the stock, or cravat, and the ruffle was reduced to a small showing at the throat. This gold laced coatee was worn for dress occasions. Full dress was worn for formal evening wear, at levées, balls and court appearances. For that the regiment had the even more expensive embroidered coatee. He has a single gold bullion epaulette which indicates that he is below the rank of major. Flank company officers had wings on both shoulders.
The new shako, introduced after Waterloo was wider at the top and laced all around with a two inch patterned gold band, and a slim band of gold lace round the base. The badge on the front was placed on a rosette of gold lace through which was a red line. The peak was polished leather and the chin scales were gilt. Above the badge was a black cockade with regimental button, and a 12 inch white over red upright plume. He has blue-grey cossack-style trousers which have a gold lace stripe down the outer seams. Below his crimson silk waist-sash he has a black leather waist-belt from which sword slings hang low, attached to a white metal scabbard for his curved sword. The sword and belts indicate that Captain Wetherall was the adjutant at this stage. Normally officers wore their sword on a white leather shoulder-belt, the scabbard having a black leather covering with gilt fittings. The adjutant, like the CO, was usually mounted on parade so had a waist-belt with long slings as seen here.
