British infantrymen of a royal regiment in an encampment, 1760 (c)

Oil on canvas, artist unknown, 1760.

A temporary Army encampment of the mid-eighteenth century. Groups of soldiers sit outside their tents, relaxing, smoking, and perhaps gambling. Some of them wear 'wings' of lace on their shoulders, indicating that they belong to a grenadier company, a body of elite troops. The central figure of the nursing mother is a reminder that women and children would have been found in almost every Army camp.

Soldiers in a garrison town would normally be billeted in alehouses and inns. When the Army was on the move, either at home or on campaign, they would usually sleep under canvas.

The scene is somewhat romanticised. Although the artist would undoubtedly have seen soldiers like this, the painting is unlikely to depict a real event.