Captain, 18th Hussars, 1815 (Light Dragoons)

Description

The 18th were raised in 1759 by the Earl of Drogheda as Drogheda’s Light Horse and then became the 19th Light Dragoons, and later the 18th Light Dragoons when a regiment higher in the list was disbanded. Having become Hussars in 1805, they were disbanded in 1821. In 1858 they were revived as the 18th (Queen Mary’s Own) Hussars and were amalgamated in 1922 with the 13th Hussars, now the Light Dragoons. This officer is wearing the first Hussar dress introduced into the army. The authorities were reluctant to have Hussars at all because the official title was ‘Light Dragoons (Hussars)’. But in 1841 they became Hussars. There were only four regiments dressed as Hussars, the 7th, 10th, 15th, and 18th; the 18th being the most picturesque with their busby bags and light blue trousers, an uncommon colour in the Army. The pelisse, or overcoat, was worn slung over the shoulder, and the busby was of fur. Hussars had trouble with their busbies – they kept falling off and, by 1819, had been abandoned in favour of bell-topped shakos, the 18th alone retaining them. The loose-fitting trousers were very popular then and were supposed to have been copied from the loose Moslem trousers of Napoleon’s Mamelukes, and the scimitar, from the same source. The gold and crimson barrelled sash replaced for the Hussars the plain crimson sash more commonly worn and was retained up to 1914 by some yeomanry regiments.