Napoleonic News Desk

Rare Uniform Acquired
by National Army Museum

by Paul Chamberlain

A rare army 'redcoat' dating from the Napoleonic Wars has been acquired at auction by the National Army Museum, Chelsea, and has experts in the Museum's Department of Uniform intrigued by the details of its origin.

The tunic belonged to Lt. Col. William Troughton, Commandant of the 129th Regiment of Foot. The buttons are inscribed "Coventry 129" and the epaulettes are adorned with the insignia of an elephant surmounted by a castle, inscribed "Coventry Regiment". Unusually, a third epaulette accompanies the coat.

"We bid for the uniform because of its rarity - the 129th Foot existed for only two years between 1794-96 and there can be very few of its kind left in existence," explained Mrs Lesley Smurthwaite, Curator of Uniforms, Badges and Medals at the Museum.

"Now we are looking forward to re-searching it's past. We know that the elephant-and-castle motif is the crest of the City of Coventry, but we don't know why the soldiers of this regiment were known as The Gentlemen of Coventry and what the regiment's links were with the area. What intrigues me most of all is the reason for the third epaulette!"

The Museum is delighted that the redcoat was acquired alongside a por-trait of Lt. Col. Troughton, painted by one of the foremost American portrait-ists of the time, Gilbert Stuart. Both items are in excellent condition but are likely to undergo some conservation or cleaning before being considered for display in the National Army Museum galleries.

Napoleonic News Desk

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