Chapka, Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Knox Trotter, 17th Light Dragoons (Lancers), 1834 circa (leather and cloth)

Chapka, Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Knox Trotter, 17th Light Dragoons (Lancers), 1834 circa. Black patented leather with white cloth square top. The chapka plate bears the badge of the 17th Lancers with skull and crossbones insignia and the motto, ‘Death or Glory’. The chapka, or lance cap, was an item of headdress originally worn by Polish lancer regiments. British forces encountered Polish lancers in French service during the Napoleonic Wars. The British Army’s lancer regiments, formed after the Waterloo campaign, subsequently adopted the chapka. The 17th Light Dragoons was converted to lancers in 1822 while serving in India.