Infantry uniforms were radically altered in the mid 1790s. Miniature portraits such as this show a high collar and the coat buttoned over in double-breasted fashion with the tops of the lapels turned back. The silver lace on the yellow lapels was fully revealed for dress occasions when the lapels were buttoned back and the coat fastened with hooks and eyes.
The epaulette is clearly shown, a stiff silver strap and bullion fringe, with a gilt grenade badge. Flank company officers wore an epaulette on each shoulder but the angle of view does not allow us to verify this. Battalion company officers had only one epaulette, on the right shoulder, and field officers had one on each shoulder.
The officer is easily identified as being in the 10th Regiment because of the distinctive belt plate. It is silver, shaped like a crescent and having the number 10 inside a beaded circle. The buttons are similarly marked with a 10. He has powdered hair, but powdering was abolished for the rank and file from c1795.
The miniature is attributed to the artist Archibald Robertson who left England in 1791 to live in New York. The 10th regiment served in Jamaica from 1786, returning to England in 1795. They then went to India in 1798.
