[PW] British Military uniforms, rural dress ca. 1815

[Dolan Williams]

      Needed for preparation of illustrations and a scale-model diorama depicting action described in Thomas Hardy’s short story, The Grave by the Handpost, [the principal protagonist of which is Sergeant-Major Luke Holway],  information about 1) British army uniforms of the Peninsular Campaign era [1808-1814] and Waterloo [1815], and 2) British rural dress circa December 1815. 
              
              Specifically, I need drawings, reference material, or descriptions of the [undress?] uniform of a sergeant-major of an infantry [foot] regiment which had served in the battles of Busaco, Fuentes d’Onore, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, Salamanca, Vittoria, Quatre Bras, and Waterloo, or order of battle data for British units participating in those battles. 
   
              Hardy makes only veiled reference to a specific unit in which Luke Holway served, saying early in the story that he is “a private soldier in the uniform of some line [i.e., regular army] regiment”. When the younger Holway returns to his native Wessex, toward the end of the story, Hardy states he served “under Wellington” in the battles noted above. Luke’s father, Sergeant Samuel Holway, served “
 in His Majesty’s ___d Regiment of Foot”, and one might presume the younger Holway would have joined the same unit [though Hardy only identifies this unit as the “ ___d Foot”, possibly, but not necessarily his father’s old regiment]. It could be inferred that Luke served continuously in the same regiment in which he began as a private soldier through to his ascent to the rank of sergeant-major.
   
              Sources consulted:   
   
                          The Model Soldier Guide, Clyde A. Risley and William F. Imrie, Richmond Hill, NY, I/R                                         Miniatures, 1965.
                          Military Uniforms in Color, Preben Kannick, New York, Macmillan, 1968.
                          Toy Soldier Review [periodical], North Bergen, NJ, Vintages Castings, 1984-
                          Miniaturas Andrea [annual catalog], Madrid, 1990
                          http://www.abdn.ac.uk/english/thsna/illustr/gbh.htm [website]; shows four illustrations by                                     George M. Patterson from the British periodical, the St James's Budget, Christmas                                     Number (pub. 30 November) 1897, pp. 8-11,
   
              I will be most grateful for any information sources you can suggest.  I'm not a regular subscriber to the Project Wombat list, so I'd like to request that any answers be sent directly to my e-mail address?
   
  Thanks and best regards.
                          

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