This is a detail from a large panoramic watercolour by artist Robert Dighton Junior who painted cavalry officers in groups, all representing different regiments. The paintings are in the Royal Collection, and this figure is one from a group painted in 1806. The figure is said to be King’s Dragoon Guards but the identification is not certain, and it may be Royal Dragoons or 3rd Dragoons. The gold lace buttonholes across the chest and on the collar were part of the pattern for heavy cavalry from 1800 to 1812. His gauntlets hide four gold lace bars on each cuff. What is surprising is the lack of shoulder chains or wings as worn by Sergeant-Major Shute in the 1805 painting. The crimson silk sash around his waist has a white leather waist-belt just below it which supports his heavy cavalry straight sword. The sword knot is white but has a gilt and crimson tassel. The heavy cavalry jack boots are cut away behind the knee.
The most impressive part of the uniform is the bicorne hat which has gold tassels at the corners and a black cockade decorated with a gilt scale loop and button. A small white over red plume adorns the top of the hat, and black stiffeners keep the hat’s shape on either side. This hat was eminently unsuitable for campaigning and was clearly worn for parades and promenading along Brighton seafront or Regent Street. A less splendid hat would have been worn for manoeuvres and campaign, but would have been protected with an oilskin cover in wet weather. The unsuitability of this headgear was not lost on the Prince Regent who ordered it to be replaced by a crested helmet in 1812.
