The 28th Regiment at Quatre Bras

"The 28th Regiment at Quatre Bras" is an oil painting on canvas from 1875, painted by Elizabeth Thompson (Lady Butler). The painting is cm to in|97.2 long and cm to in|216.2 tall. It is located in the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia. [http://www.victorianweb.org/painting/misc/thompson1.html "The 28th Regiment at Quatre Bras] - Victorian Web]

Thompson based the painting on a book written by Captain William Siborne, the "History of the War in France and Belgium in 1815", first published in 1844. The painting portrays the 28th (North Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot, of the British Army, on June 16, 1815, at the Battle of Quatre Bras. The battle, part of the Waterloo Campaign of the Hundred Days, was just three days prior to the Battle of Waterloo. The regiment held off attacks from French cavalry at Quatre Bras. Thompson shows the regiment formed in a square withstanding attacks, at approximately 17:00, from Polish Lancers and cuirassier veterans led by Marshal Ney. Thompson had uniforms of the period replicated so she could accurately portray them in her painting. However, the shako she depicts the regiment wearing is incorrect. Whilst nearly all Regiments of Foot in the British Army had adopted the false fronted Belgic shako (so the replica uniforms were correct for a standard line regiment), the 28th Regiment continued to wear the older 'stovepipe' shakos during the 100 Days Campaign (ending with the Battle of Waterloo), which had been phased out and replaced in 1812 by the aforementioned Belgic kind. Thompson, however, portrayed the soldiers wearing the newer Belgic shako instead. The older headwear can be seen clearly in William Barnes Wollen's painting: "28th Gloucester Regiment at Waterloo".Fact|date=June 2008

References