Officer's Coatee of Capt Hervey Tower

The Coldstream Guards landed at Kalamita Bay in the Crimea in September 1854, as part of the Guards Brigade, 1^st Division, English Army of the East.  These were Her Majesty Queen Victoria’s elite personal guards.  In the Crimea the Guards Brigade consisted of the Grenadier Guards, Coldstream Guards, and Scots Fusilier Guards.  The Guards’ battle honours include Alma, Inkerman, and the Siege of Sevastopol.

Although they may have modified or discarded uniform parts later, when the Guards Brigade landed, they wore their full parade dress uniform with epaulettes and bearskin cap.  This photograph shows a fine example of a Coldstream Guards’ officer’s coatee, worn during his Crimean service by Captain Hervey Tower, 1st Battalion, 2nd (Coldstream)Regiment of Foot Guards.

The Star of the Order of the Garter, the badge of the Coldstream Guards, can be seen on each side of the Prussian collar.  It is also identified as Coldstream Guards by the sets of two buttons in double rows down the coatee front, thus the 2nd Regiment of Foot Guards.   The 1st (Grenadier) Regiment of Foot Guards buttons are evenly spaced, and the 3rd (Scots Fusilier) Regiment of Foot Guards buttons are in sets of three.  The back of the collar and cuff facings are blue, as were all Guards regiments.  There is a rose and crown in silver on gold on the strap of the epaulettes, designating the rank of Captain.  There was also a difference in the size and shape of the bullion descending from the crescent, depending on the rank.

Close observation shows usage stains on the white lining of the skirts.  In addition, the small slash pockets inside the turn backs can be seen.  These were used to carry such necessary and essential items to a Guards officer as white gloves, or a dance card.

This artifact was photographed courtesy of the Guards Museum, London, UK.

Epaulettes of Ensign and Lieutenant Fotheringham - Scots Fusilier Guards

The Scots Fusilier Guards landed at Kalamita Bay in the Crimea in September 1854, as part of the Guards Brigade, 1^st Division, English Army of the East.  These were Her Majesty Queen Victoria’s elite personal guards.  In the Crimea the Guards Brigade consisted of the Grenadier Guards, Coldstream Guards, and Scots Fusilier Guards.  The Guards’ battle honours include Alma, Inkerman, and the Siege of Sevastopol.

Although they may have modified or discarded uniform parts later, when the Guards Brigade landed, the officers wore their full dress parade uniform with epaulettes and bearskin cap.  The photograph is of a fine example of Scots Fusilier Guards officer’s epaulettes, worn by Ensign and Lieutenant Fotheringham.

They are identified as Scots Fusilier epaulettes belonging to a subaltern (Lieutenant) by the thistle standing alone on the strap within the crescent.  A Captain would have had the same thistle with a crown on the epaulette, and a field officer would have had a Saint Andrew’s star, with crown above it.  There was also a difference in the size and shape of the bullion descending from the crescent depending on the rank.

Scots Fusilier Guards records indicate that Fotheringham served honourably in the Crimea.  He left active service as a Lieutenant and Captain in 1859.

This artifact was photographed courtesy of the National War Museum, Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Uniform of Capt & LtCol Percy, VC, Grenadier Guards

The Grenadier Guards landed at Kalamita Bay in the Crimea in September 1854, as part of the Guards Brigade, 1^st Division, English Army of the East.  These were Her Majesty Queen Victoria’s elite personal guards.  In the Crimea, the Guards Brigade consisted of the Grenadier Guards, Coldstream Guards and Scots Fusilier Guards.  The Guards’ battle honours include Alma, Inkerman, and the Siege of Sevastopol.

Henry Percy was commissioned into the Grenadier Guards at age nineteen.  After almost twenty years of service, he embarked for the Crimea at age thirty-seven, as a Captain and Lieutenant Colonel (The dual rank system exclusive to Her Majesty’s Guards regiments).

At Alma he was wounded in the arm, but continued to lead his men in battle.  At Inkerman he led a charge into the Sandbag Battery, then held it against repeated Russian assaults by superior numbers.  Having run out of ammunition, he ordered his men to throw stones at the attacking enemy.  The Russians began doing the same, knocking Percy off the parapet once.  Upon his climbing back up, he was knocked senseless with another even larger stone.  He awoke bleeding badly and half blinded, but was able to join his men in a charge driving the enemy down the hill below the battery.  Out of ammunition and cut off, the wounded Percy led his men through dense brush to safety.  He received the Victoria Cross from Queen Victoria, personally, in Hyde Park on 26 June 1857.

This photograph shows his coatee, sash, and epaulettes under an officer’s greatcoat draped over the coatee in the manner commonly worn by officers in the Crimea.  Note that Percy had cut the standing collar from his coatee, no doubt to make it less restrictive on campaign.  The right sleeve of the coatee (not visible under the greatcoat) shows signs of rough field repair and dried blood.  The epaulettes show the grenade of the Grenadier Guards, and the braiding and crown of a Captain and Lieutenant Colonel.

This artifact was photographed courtesy of the Guards Museum, London, UK.

Bearskin Cap worn by Sir Charles Russell, VC, Grenadier Guards, in the Crimea

The Grenadier Guards landed at Kalamita Bay in the Crimea in September 1854, as part of the Guards Brigade, 1^st Division, English Army of the East.  These were Her Majesty Queen Victoria’s elite personal guards.  In the Crimea the Guards Brigade consisted of the Grenadier Guards, Coldstream Guards, and Scots Fusilier Guards.  The Guards’ battle honours include Alma, Inkerman, and the Siege of Sevastopol.

Sir Charles Russell was awarded the Victoria Cross, Britain’s highest decoration for bravery, for his actions at the Battle of Inkerman, 5 November 1854, at age twenty-eight.  The then Brevet Major Russell offered to dislodge a significant group of Russians from the Sandbag Battery, asking if anyone would follow him.  A sergeant and two privates volunteered.  His assault party met much resistance, and seemed on several occasions to be close to annihilation.  Their skill, particularly with the bayonet, prevailed, and the enemy was sent on their way.  Russell fought with great distinction, at one point wrenching the rifle from the hands of a large, powerful Russian.  Sir Charles achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel before retiring from the Guards.

The 1846 Uniform Regulations describe the cap in the photograph as a “bear-skin, twelve inches deep, fastened under the chin by a plain gilt taper chain.”  Just prior to embarking for the Crimea, the Guards modified their bearskin caps by cutting them down a few inches.  Perhaps in keeping with this modification, the actual measurement for the cap in this photograph was ten inches deep.  It is also interesting that this bearskin is a soft leather collapsible cap, rather than the stiff Guards caps routinely seen, which have a bamboo-like cage beneath the skin itself.  The white goat’s hair plume on the left side indicates the bearskin is Grenadier Guards, who were on the right flank of the Guards Brigade.  A Coldstream Guards’ scarlet cut-feather plume was on the right side, as they were on the left flank.  The Scots Fusilier Guards had no plume and were in the center of the line.

This artifact was photographed courtesy of the Guards Museum, London, UK.

Goodlake's Pepperbox Pistol and Bullet Pouch

Lieutenant and Captain (The dual rank system exclusive to Her Majesty’s Guards regiments) Gerald Goodlake, Coldstream Guards, took part in the Battle of Alma, Inkerman, and the Siege of Sevastopol. The Coldstream Guards landed at Kalamita Bay in the Crimea in September 1854, as part of the Guards Brigade, 1^st Division, English Army of the East.  These were Her Majesty Queen Victoria’s elite personal guards.  In the Crimea the Guards Brigade consisted of the Grenadier Guards, Coldstream Guards, and Scots Fusilier Guards.  The Guards’ battle honours include Alma, Inkerman, and the Siege of Sevastopol.

During a Russian probing action up Windmill Ravine on 28 October 1854, a week prior to the Battle of Inkerman, he led approximately 40 Guards sharpshooters against ten times their number in delaying a Russian flanking movement.  This allowed British reinforcements to arrive and drive the enemy back into Sevastopol.  For his gallantry in this action he was presented the Victoria Cross at Hyde Park by Queen Victoria, personally, on 26 June 1857.  He retired in 1881 as a Major General, and was awarded the Honorary Rank of Lieutenant General.

The photograph is of Goodlake’s  six-shot ‘Pepperbox’ revolving pistol and his leather bullet pouch.  He used these items throughout the Crimean War.  This type pistol, sometimes referred to as a “Pepperpot or Pepperbox”, was manufactured in .36 through .40 calibre, beginning in around 1830.  It was primarily for self-defense.  The six barrels were about 3.5 inches long.  The pistol, itself, was about 9 inches long, and weighed about 2 pounds.

The barrels revolved around a spindle, firing in turn as they came under the hammer.  As the trigger was pulled, the hammer cocked, the barrel rotated, and the hammer dropped on a percussion cap (thus igniting the powder and firing the bullet).  The bullets were round lead balls, loaded from the front of each barrel. Fairmans of London manufactured this particular pistol.

This artifact was photographed courtesy of the Guards Museum, London, UK.

Captain Neville's Cigar Case

This is a cigar case, containing four cigars, the property of Captain the Honourable H. C. Neville, 1st Regiment of Foot Guards, the Grenadier Guards.

The Grenadier Guards landed at Kalamita Bay in the Crimea in September 1854, as part of the Guards Brigade, 1^st Division, English Army of the East.  These were Her Majesty Queen Victoria’s elite personal household guard.  In the Crimea, the Guards Brigade consisted of Grenadier Guards, Coldstream Guards and Scots Fusilier Guards.  The Guards battle honours include Alma, Inkerman, and the Siege of Sevastopol.

In 1854, cigarette smoking was definitely not in fashion.  Many enlisted soldiers chewed tobacco, but this was not a thing done by the officer class.  Most British officers preferred a pipe or a good cigar.  This cigar case is sufficient to hold six cigars, three on each side behind the canvas.  If you are a cigar smoker today, you can find very similar cases in any tobacconist.

The cigar case in this photograph is typical of those used to protect cigars from being crushed on campaign.  It, and the four cigars within, were carried by Captain Neville, Grenadier Guards, during the Crimean War.  As can be seen, one of the cigars is wrapped in paper.  The paper reveals the sad truth.  It contains the following hand-written note:

Capt. Hon. H. C. Neville

3 Bn  Gr. Guards

Killed at Inkerman  5 Nov 54

This artifact was photographed courtesy of the Guards Museum, London, UK.