Until the late 20^th century, it would be inconceivable that a man should not adorn his head in public with few exceptions namely whilst at church, eating or drinking to name just a few.  Throughout the Napoleonic wars the British Artillery were issued a variety of headdress. The first of these was the cocked hat with three folds and edged in white.  As fashion dictated, regulations changed and like the tunic, they were transformed at first with the lace removed and then reshaped to hold two folds rather than three.  The cockade also changes from the square bow shape to the circular design.

Mercer describes there being the mother shipton, a tall round hat with very narrow brim worn by both officer and men.  The crown sloping gently to the crown ornamented with a yellow band and a cockade on the front of the roof surmounted by a scarlet tuft.  Other than Mercers description, I have not found any other mention or sources.  The mother-shipton  appear to have been a short-lived as around 1804, the Artillery adopt the Stovepipe shako, the infantry having already converted to them in 1801.  The first pattern was made of lacquered leather with a peak to shade the eyes from the sun and adorned with a brass plate on the front with a circular cockade above and a mounted wool tuft or plume of white feathers.  The heavy nature and cost of this hat may have been the reason that they were later replaced by a felt version of similar design.  To the rear of the Stovepipe shako was often a leather flap to repel rain from entering the neck opening of the collar and it is certain that during the Egypt campaign the men would have replaced this with a white flap to shade them selves from the searing heat being unsuitable to tropical climate.

By 1812, the Infantry had started to change headdress once more, this time the Belgic Shako, a shorter shako with false front, the cockade and plume moving to the side and a decorative cord plaited to resemble a chain with tassels on the end adorned the front below a shako plate designed for this headdress.  Where the Artillery were slow to follow the trends of the Infantry, it is possible that it took a few more years before they followed suit, then there is always the time lapse of getting them issued to the front lines abroad something which affected the entire British Army so it is likely that some battalions may never have received them but continued wearing the Stovepipe.

Throughout the Napoleonic period the Royal Artillery were issued a wide variety of Foraging Caps or Fatigue hats too many to mention.  They were issued for general use and worn when not on duty or where it is likely that the shako would either interfere with their duty or be damaged.  It is very likely that the rammer servicing the gun would be permitted to wear one when servicing the guns.  In the early days, the most common appears to have been a soft leather cap known as the pork pie due to its shape  and described as being rusty and full of cracks in appearance probably due to lacquer having been applied to it and the colour due to the leather being poorly dyed  black.  What is interesting to note is that they were not cleaned.  The pork pie cap had a flap at the rear and another on the front which was decorated with a brass ornament with ‘GR’ surrounded by a garter and a Crown on top.  Whether all the battalions were issued them is not known and we do know that some variety does exist amongst them later on.

Charles Hamilton Smith shows an Artillery driver wearing a flat cap with headband similar to the Infantry so it is very probable that the Royal Artillery wore very similar designs.