Troopers of the English Civil War, 1645 (c)

Watercolour by William Barns Wollen, 1900.

This water colour depicts a mounted soldier surprising four other men as they drink outside a tavern. During the English Civil Wars (1642-1651) cavalry made up a third to a half of most armies. The men depicted in this painting are harquebusiers. A fully equipped harquebusier would possess a sword, a pair of pistols, a helmet, buff coat, riding boots, back and breastplate, and a steel gauntlet to cover his bridle hand. It was often the case however that cavalrymen of both the Parliamentary and Royalist armies had a mix of these items, depending on what was available to them.