Orders Providing Clothing and to Inspect Uniform Patterns, 1757

This richly detailed oil painting captures a young London clothier during the Seven Years’ War. He sits at a worn wooden table, head bowed in concentration, examining swatches of tartan fabric by candlelight. Clad in his Sunday best with a well-groomed goatee and round spectacles, the man embodies quiet precision. The warm, flickering light casts gentle shadows across his face, illuminating the soft textures of his coat, the wooden grain of the table, and the blooming plant on the window sill. Simple tools hang behind him, completing the tranquil atmosphere of practiced craftsmanship. (Jeffrey Campbell, Measured by Candlelight, 2025)

Did you know? During their deployment in Quebec through 1763, Colonel Fraser’s men of the 78th Regiment of Foot typically received their annual clothing allotment each April—except in 1760, when the shipment was intercepted en route from Halifax by the French frigate Le Machault. Winter clothing (foul weather gear, including moccasins) would have arrived in the fall season before the winter freeze.

 

Inspecting Uniform Patterns

War Office 13th January 1757

Sir,

His Majesty having been pleased to order Two Highland Battallions of Foot, to be forthwith Raised, under the Command of Lt. Col. Montgomery & Lt. Col. Fraser each Battallion to Consist of 40 Serjeants, 40 Corporals, 20 Drummers, and 1000 Effective private Men, besides Commission Officers; And as the Cloathing, & Accoutrements, &c for the said Battallions are to be immediately provided, I am Commanded to Signify to you, It is His Majesty's Pleasure, that you do forthwith Summon a Board of General Officers to Inspect the Patterns which shall be Exhibited, and do every thing else which shall be necessary, that the said Cloathing and Accoutrements &c may be immediately provided.

I am Sir

Your most obedient

humble Servant

Barrington

Copy

Robert Ince Esqr.

Works Cited:

War Office Records: Out Letters: Secretary at War. General Letters, Dec. 1756-Apr. 1757. LAC, W.O. 4, vol. 53 (Selections).

©  Jeffrey Campbell, Fraser's 78th Regiment of Foot, 2024.