Officer, 65th Foot, 1780

Description

The regiment was created in the Childers Reforms of 1881 by the amalgamation of the 65th (2nd Yorkshire, North Riding) Regiment of Foot and the 84th (York and Lancaster) Regiment of Foot. The 65th were originally raised in 1756 as the second battalion of the 12th but became a separate regiment on their own two years later. In 1968 the regiment chose to be disbanded rather than amalgamated with another regiment – one of only two infantry regiments in the British Army to do so, the other being the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles).
The plate, from a contemporary portrait, shows a tendency to greater simplicity. The coat is devoid of lace, and the turn-down collar has developed into something very modern. The front cock of the hat has almost disappeared, and in a few years the hat was to begin to disappear from the dress of the army, finally to be seen only on the heads of certain staff officers. This officer is wearing one epaulette, so is of below field rank, and is mounted, and therefore may be either an adjutant or a company commander. He is wearing a black stock with his white cravat, an article of dress which became very unpopular but nevertheless had a long life. It was symbolic of the tight, uncomfortable uniform which soldiers were forced to wear in the first half of the nineteenth century. Source: Portrait
Source:  Portrait of an officer of the Regiment.