Lord George Lennox and Lady Louisa Lennox are the principal figures in this detail from one of the six paintings by Guiseppe Chiesa depicting the 25th Regiment and other units stationed on Minorca in the early 1770s. The great fortress of St Philip rises behind them, while soldiers and civilians animate the background. On the right, a private of the grenadier company adjusts his black gaiter, observed by a man of the newly formed Light Company.
The uniforms conform closely to the Clothing Warrant of 1768. The officers’ scarlet coats have 3‑inch lapels, turn‑down collars, and neat cuffs 3.5 inches deep, all in the regiment’s deep yellow facing colour. The gilt buttons on each lapel are set in gold‑laced buttonholes, evenly spaced. Each cuff has four buttonholes and buttons, with one on each side of the collar and three on the scarlet pocket flap of the coat‑tails. All officers wore a single gold‑laced epaulette on the right shoulder, except the grenadier company officers, who had one on each.
Waistcoats were plain white with gilt buttons; breeches were white, and boots black with brown tops. On duty, the crimson silk sash was worn around the waist, covering the waist‑belt that supported the sword. The knot was placed on the right side, contrary to the Adjutant‑General’s letter of 9 March 1769:
‘[the sash] is to be worn in the same way as before, viz.—Those of the Cavalry on the right side, those of the Infantry on the left.’ (WO 3/24)
The black tricorn hats were edged with gold lace and bore a black silk cockade fixed with a gilt button and gold lace. In all of Chiesa’s paintings, the 25th Regiment is shown with a sprig of leaves above the cockade.
The officers attending His Lordship carry spontoons, identifying them as battalion company officers. Grenadier company officers were armed instead with a light musket, the fusil. Behind the group stands an older officer, probably the commanding officer, Lieutenant‑Colonel Robert Watson. The officer standing casually on the right belongs to another regiment: his light yellow facings and paired silver lace, together with his silver epaulette and hat lace, match the uniforms of the 13th or 67th Regiments, both present on Minorca at the time. He lacks a waist‑sash and silver gorget, indicating he is not on duty, and his coat‑tails are not looped back like those of the others.
