| I hard a
hard time sorting that officer's regiment (and it doesn't help
that the busby bag doesn't show).
There are first two regiments he obviously
doesn't belong to :
- The 10th Regiment's pouch belt had a very distinctive "chainy"
pattern; so he's not 10th ;
- The 11th Regiment's collar was "V" shaped. So he's not
11th ;
I
proceeded
with order ; he's got a regular Light Dragoon pattern
pouch belt, and his busby sports a full white plume :
- The 4th Regiment's busby had a scarlet plume. So he's not 4th
;
- The 7th Regiment's pouch belt did not have chains and prickers. So
he's not 7th, all the more as he doesn't wear his busby lines the
same"short" way ;
- The 8th Regiment's pouch belt did not have chains and prickers. So
he's not 8th (the plume doesn't fit either) ;
- The 15th Regiment's pouch belt did not have chains and prickers. So
he's not 15th (the plume doesn't fit either) ;
- The 18th Regiment's plume has the lower third covered with scarlet
feathers (from 1878 ; before it was fully green). So he's not 18th
;
- The 20th Regiment had a crimson plume. So he's not 20th ;
That leaves us with potentially the
3rd, 13th, 14th, 19th or 21st hussars.
Let's have a closer look at the pouch
belt ; it was decorated with a colour stripe in the center. At
first it looks white - but experience tells that photographic
renderings of that material is very deceiptive (as it is for the
medal ribbons) ;and if you look at the part of the belt to the
very left, you can see that it is considerably darker than the
reflections would let us think - and more specifically not white
as appears at first glance.
- 3rd Hussars : red stripe ;
- 13th Hussars : white stripe, So he's not
13th ;
- 14th Hussars : orange stripe ;
- 19th Hussars : white stripe, So he's
not 19th ;
- 21st
Hussars : blue stripe ;
Furthermore it can be seen that the
prickers are covered with a plate
that is decorated with a crown like design. It does not seem
to be the case for Officers from either the 3rd or the 21st
Hussars. Would our Hussar be a lieutenant in the 14th ?
Struggling for a
glimpse of the busby bag, I realized that something was
missing : it's not obvious dueto the cut of the photo, but
there is no boss under the busby plume. This
was a long standing custom with the officers of 14th
Hussars, that will eventually be officially sanctionned in the Dress
Regulations for Officers of the Army in 1900.
The photographer, Maull & Co, operated at the
mentioned addresses bewteen 1873 and 1878. The
14th Hussars were in England 1874-75.
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