Grenadier of a volunteer regiment, 1805 (c)

Oil on canvas, by Arthur William Devis (1763-1822), 1805 (c).

Full-length, in full equipment, holding a musket and a shako.

The very large feather plume, the gilt curb-chain wings, and the double-breasted coatee without loops indicate that the sitter may be an officer. In contradiction to these features, the knapsack, cartridge pouch and weapon would suggest that he was an ordinary soldier. However, other ranks serving in rich volunteer units such as the Prince of Wales's Volunteers, London, wore officer-quality coatees, with gilt buttons and gold lace.

The soldier is armed with a Short Land Pattern musket as issued from the 1770s, which is fitted with a standard Short Land Pattern bayonet, in use from 1727. Probably these weapons would have been privately purchased for a unit of volunteers, who were raised on a county basis. The escutcheon plate on the gun stock often carried the crest of the local landowner or dignitary financing, and often commanding, the regiment. This soldier also carries an envelope-type knapsack of the 1790-1820 period.

In the background is a group of artillery, so it is probable that his Volunteer unit was one with cannon accompanying it. Ultimately, it is only possible to conclude from all the details depicted that the sitter served between 1800 and 1811, in a wealthy Volunteer unit with an Artillery Company attached. Nevertheless, if the subject was a private soldier, he would not have been able to afford to have his portrait painted. It was likely that the painting was commissioned either by the colonel of the regiment, or by the officers as a gift to their commander.