Sabretache, officer, full dress, worn by Sir Augustus FitzGeorge, 11th (Prince Albert's Own) Hussars, 1880 (c)

Colonel Sir Augustus FitzGeorge (1847-1933) was the youngest son of Prince George, 2nd Duke of Cambridge and Sarah Louisa Fairbrother. Augustus and his two elder brothers, were neither granted a royal title nor able to inherit their father's dukedom as all three were considered illegitimate under the Royal Marriages Act of 1772. Augustus graduated from Sandhurst in 1864 and served with the 37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot and the Rifle Brigade, before transferring to the 11th Hussars in 1878.

In India, Augustus served as an aide-de-camp to General Robert Napier between 1870 and 1875, and accompanied Prince Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII, during his visit in 1876. Back in England, he went on to serve with his father who was Commander-in-Chief of the Forces from 1856 until 1895. Colonel Sir Augustus FitzGeorge retired from the Army in 1900.

The tight-fitting uniform of the cavalry of this period did not allow for pockets. Documents and other small items were therefore carried in a pouch which became known as a 'sabretache'. The word is derived from 'tasche', the German for pocket or pouch, and its suspension next to the cavalryman's scabbarded sword or sabre.