42nd Royal Highland Regiment of Foot - uniforms?

[yelkcub]

I've been trying to find online a description - better, an image - of the uniforms worn by private soldiers in this regiment during the Battle of Alma. I've seen one or two paintings, but am not convinced by the accuracy of the detail. Can anyone tell me, for instance, whether these men wore kilts? My ancestor was wounded at the battle and invalided out. He came from Stockport, England and had no real connection with Scotland. According to his service record he volunteered while stationed in Dublin with the 2nd (Qheen's) Infantry.
Also, according to his record, he was not awarded the Crimea Medal until 1902 - any idea why the award should have been so late?
Any help gratefully received

[GrantRCanada]

It is my understanding that the entire Highland Brigade was kilted at the Battle of Alma ....

It is not clear which paintings you have seen or, for that matter, why you doubt their accuracy. - unless it is because you are familiar with other images showing the "1855 Pattern" Highland Doublet (a sort of "double-breasted coatee with Inverness flaps) which was not introduced until after the Battle of Alma ......

I believe that the two best known paintings depicting the 42nd Regiment in this battle are "Alma: Forward the 42nd" (Robert Gibb) and "The Battle of Alma" (Felix Philippoteaux). So far as I am aware, they depict the uniforms quite accurately ..... as seen in this detail from Gibbs' painting -



The next rather fuzzy image is a detail cropped from a small (and poor) reproduction of a WWI-era print depicting the uniforms of the Black Watch from 1742 through 1914. It depicts the uniform as of 1852, which was worn until the 1855 Pattern doublet was issued -



Fortunately it is not necessary to rely entirely on artist's impressions. This very early photograph (reproduced in "The Black Watch Photographic Archive" published by the Regimental Trustees) shows officers and men of the 42nd Regiment in 1852, while stationed at the Citadel in Halifax -



Detail - regarding this man, the caption notes "The figure leaning on his musket to the left is Charles Christie who was drowned in the Ganges during the Indian Mutiny."



The distinction of wearing shoulder wings (normally reserved for Light Companies) had been granted to the whole of the 92nd Highlanders in 1822, and the same privilege was extended to all Highland Regiments in 1831.

[yelkcub]

Thanks for your detailed and very well illustrated reply. I had assumed that the Victorian (and later) paintings of the Highland regiments in battle were perhaps romanticized, given the later Victorian idealization of Scottishness - the cult of tartan and kilt. It seems, I'm more than happy to admit, that I was wrong. My ancestor, as I wrote, had no connection at all with Scotland until, stationed in Dublin with the 2nd Infantry he volunteered and was transferred to the 42nd Royal Highland who almost immediately embarked for Turkey. It seems they were some of the first Allied troops to land in the Crimea where only a few days later the Battle of the river Alma was fought. My ancestor was hit by a Russian bullet, which passed through his pubis and exited via his right buttock. For him, as they was, the war was over. Despite the eye-watering nature of his wound he went on to marry twice and to father six children.
Thanks again for settling my query.

[amoaful73]

Couple more images:

Officer of the 42nd in the Crimea:
http://www.old-picture.com/crimean-war/ ... -Royal.jpg

NCO:
http://www.britishbattles.com/crimean-w ... rdiner.jpg

Crimea veterans:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4QlVRfDC7rs/S ... 0140_9.jpg

[crimea1854]

These various images raise an interesting point, during what year was the 'bastion' lace removed?

Martin

[GrantRCanada]

The officer in the Roger Fenton photograph is Captain Cuninghame, who died at Malta in 1855, en route home. He is wearing the officer's version of the pre-1855 pattern coatee, which did not have the lace of the Other Ranks' coatees. (See the detail from Gibbs' painting, above, and the officers standing on the right in the 1852 photograph.)

The NCO and veterans in the next two photos are all wearing the Pattern 1855 doublet, with its "double-breasted" button arrangement and the Inverness flaps, from which the lace on the front had been eliminated. ...... (The 1855 pattern of tunic does, indeed, reflect the "romanticized Highland Scottishness" of the mid 19th Century. It was unpopular, and was replaced by the single-breasted Pattern 1856/57 doublet. Somewhere, I have a pictorial study I once did of the various patterns of Highland military coatees/doublets .....)

In fact, the coatee worn by Highland Regiments prior to 1855 was essentially the same as the coat worn by regular infantry of the same period (with the possible exception of shorter "tails" for a better appearance with the kilt.)

[almaboy]

Yelkcub,

out of interest, what was your ancestors name? I collect medals to Crimea casualties, specifically Alma ones, so I may well have a record of him somewhere. And if you don't have the medal, I'll keep an eye out for you.

If he didn't receive it until 1902, that would suggest he either applied for it very late (quite possible) or he applied for a duplicate having lost or damaged the original. I can check the roll for you as sometimes this information is noted.

Kind regards Tony.

[balaklava]

Greetings. GrantR is quite correct about uniform distinctions for the Highland Regiments. The shorter coat tails were decorated with the plain white tape and regimental buttons as were the sleeve cuffs, collar, epallettes and the 10 button front breast area of coat. Plain white cotton tape, or lace, replaced the former tape used on coats in which each regiment and the Royal Marines had white tape with a distinctive color line or two added in. Officers coats remained highly decorated. As the tape pattern stayed with Crimean period coats, the BW retained their bastion loops, the 93rd Sutherland highlanders had pointed lace ends, and so on. NCOs in the Highland Regiments and the Guards, too, I believe were permitted to wear rank distinctions on both sleeves where the other line regiments only wore rank chevrons only on the right (?) sleeve. The whole army in 1834 pattern coats had thick "wooly worms" on both shoulders like previously worn only in Light or Grenadier companys. The Osprey series books, "the British Army on Campaign no.2 Crimean War", has some excellent color illustrations in it and there are other reference books floating about. Period photographs are the best reference, however they are sans color. There is a photo I have seen where the BW are in double breasted coats at the end of the Crimean War, not good enough of a photo to see if they had the diamond shaped doublet buttons. The BW wore a kilmarnock cap vs a glengarry like other highland regiments.

Take a look at the items at http://www.highlandbrigade.com, he make specialized garments for this period. Might give you a bit of an idea as to coat construction and tape layout, etc.

Cheerio, Johnnie, 93rd Highlanders.