Trooper of 1st Life Guards firing a carbine, 1830 (c)

Oil on board by unknown artist, 1830 (c).

The Life Guards are the senior regiment of the British Army. They trace their origins back to 1660 when four troops of horse guards were raised by King Charles II around the time of his restoration.

The carbine was a lighter, shortened, rifled weapon developed for the cavalry, for whom a full-length musket or rifle was too heavy and awkward to fire from horseback.