Original Item. One-of-a-Kind. The 14th King's Hussars was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1715. It saw service for two centuries, including the First World War, before being amalgamated with the 20th Hussars to form the 14th/20th King's Hussars in 1922.

This is a gorgeous Victorian Era Shabraque, or Horse Blanket, for a horse serving with the 14th King’s Hussars, a very well-known and storied regiment in British history. The shabraque is completely correct for the regiment, and we have found some reference online to back this up. 

The Shabraque, like that of the heavy cavalry, was to be of authorised regimental patterns and not be re-introduced into regiments which had discontinued it or may discontinue it. This was obviously an early attempt, in this era, for the powers-that-be at the Horse Guards to dispense with a costly piece of equipment. It required large swathes of high grade cloth and was embellished with vast amounts of gold lace. The regulation was, as usual a compromise laden with ambiguity. Often, the reason to discontinue the shabraque was a practical one. Regiments sent overseas were not allowed to take the shabraque and required to put them in store before embarking. Regiments away for many years returned to find them moth eaten, mouldy or otherwise damaged and therefore the decision was made for them.  

The hussar shabraque was four foot four inches front to back and three foot one inch deep at the rear points which were swallow-tailed. The fore-corners in front were squared to fit over the wallets. The ground colour was blue for all regiments except the 10th which was scarlet. The edges were trimmed with a 3 inch gold lace band for three of the old hussar regiments (7th, 8th and 15th) and the recently raised 18th. The 10th and 11th had double 2 ½ inch bands as did the remaining regiments – ex light dragoons and ex Bengal cavalry. The 13th and 14th Hussars had rounded rear and fore-corners. For all regiments, the fore-corners were decorated with the crown over the VR cypher in gold lace. Over the shabraque was a leopard-skin edged with scalloped cloth in regimental colours. The 14th Hussars had a black lambskin instead of the leopard-skin.

The shabraque is in fantastic condition with the bullion insignia very well-retained on all four sides. The cypher is for VR, indicating Victoria Regina, the reign of Queen Victoria, likely dating this shabraque to the 1880s or 1890s.

The underside of the Shabraque has very worn leather on the one end, with the tie straps well-retained. The only marking is a museum catalog number. The leather fittings of the piece are a bit cracked and crazed, but still display well. The entire piece overall is in fair condition but there is some loss of fabric on top and there is a great deal of dirt across the piece, and it could use a good cleaning.

This is a phenomenal Shabraque, the first we have ever offered, identified to a very well-known Hussars regiment. Comes ready for further research and display!

The 14th King’s Hussars

The regiment dates back to 1715 when they were dragoons, raised for the suppression of the Jacobites against whom they fought in 1715 and 1745. Dragoons were not proper cavalry like the regiments of Horse, rather they were mounted infantry. In 1776 they were converted and titled 14th Light Dragoons, by which time they operated as versatile mounted troops for patrolling, recce and skirmishing, with the occasional opportunity to charge the enemy in line of squadrons. They were titled 14th King's Light Dragoons in 1830 and this royal status transferred with them when they were converted into hussars in 1861.

The 14th Light Dragoons returned to Britain after spending 19 years, from 1841 to 1860, in India, where they had fought and distinguished themselves in the Second Sikh War and the Indian Mutiny. In 1860 they were sent to Newbridge in County Kildare to recruit and buy horses. On 17 Aug 1861, a few days after the Prince of Wales, later Edward VII, had dined with the officers in the cavalry barracks at Newbridge, the regiment became hussars. The commanding officer at the time was Arthur Scudamore who was in charge from June to October of 1861. The change to hussars was resented by some because traditionally light dragoons had always looked askance at other branches of the cavalry, describing the heavies as Overweight Louts, and hussars as Theatrical Bounders. They were to be titled 14th (King's) Hussars, the parenthesis remaining in place until 1920, 2 years before amalgamation with the 20th Hussars.

The 14th Hussars left Ireland in 1862 and moved around Britain, from Lancashire, to Aldershot, then Hounslow and finally Edinburgh before returning to Ireland in 1868. After six years, in 1874 they went to Aldershot and then Colchester. In 1876 they were posted to Poona, and later Bangalore, in India. They prepared for active service in Afghanistan but were sent instead to South Africa at the end of February 1881. The disaster at Majuba had occurred but the British government responded by granting independence to the Boers in the Transvaal. The regiment had little to do and saw no fighting. At the end of 1881 they returned to India, disembarking at Bombay, and marched to Secunderabad, a journey that took six weeks. They spent four years in this posting, enjoying a good climate and indulging in sports like panther hunting, polo and steeplechasing or hurdling. But the time in India was also used for constant training and inspections to keep horses and men in good condition.

The 14th sailed home to England with a strength of 17 officers and 405 rank and file. Also there were 3 officers' wives, 24 soldiers' wives and 58 children. They were stationed at Shorncliffe, Aldershot, Hounslow and Brighton. While at Brighton they performed three Military Tournaments for the public, and organised a Full-Dress Ball at the Pavillion attended by 400 guests. On at least two occasions they had contact with Kaiser Wilhelm II, in 1889 and 1891, escorting him from Crystal Palace to Buckingham Palace, and staging a sham fight at Aldershot for his amusement. He was interested to see the badge of the 14th, being the Prussian eagle. The commander of the escort Captain Richardson was presented with a signed, framed photo of the Kaiser but on the outbreak of war in 1914 he smashed it to the floor and stamped on it. In 1891 they moved to the north of England and were called out in aid of the civil power but the rioters dispersed as soon as the cavalry arrived. At Manchester a squadron in full dress turned out to quell a riot in Chester but were not needed. On their return they came across a hunt meet and the officer, Major Gage asked the master of the hunt permission for the squadron to join in, which was granted. In 1894 the 14th escorted Queen Victoria at the opening of the Manchester Ship Canal and soon after embarked for Ireland. They stayed there for 5 years posted to Cahir, Dublin and Newbridge.

The 14th were mobilised for active service on 9 Oct 1899 while they were stationed in Newbridge, Ireland. This was welcome news but frustration set in when it was realised that influenza and pink eye had spread around the stables and the horses were declared unfit for embarkation to South Africa. The officers and men were forced to wait until 16 Nov before travelling to Aldershot. A depot was establish at Curragh Camp with a reserve squadron and on 13 Dec, and the bulk of the regiment sailed from Southampton on the 'Victorian', convinced by this time that they would arrive too late for the war against the Boers. However news reached them of the defeats suffered by the army during Black Week, so on-board training was stepped up.

Meanwhile B Squadron were ordered to remain at Aldershot and sailed 8 days later under the command of Major R M Richardson on the 'Cestrian'. They arrived at Cape Town on 10 Jan 1900 to join up with Major-General French's Cavalry Division which was part of Lord Methuen's column tasked with the relief of Kimberley. The rest of the 14th Hussars landed at Durban on 5 Jan 1900, to join Sir Redvers Buller in his march to the relief of Ladysmith. The Headquarters, and A and C Squadrons had a strength of around 300 men, and a draft of 115 men joined them in March 1900.