"But in the warmth, his breeches had begun to exude a distinct smell of horse, so he took them off, too, as well as everything else …” (February 1, 1814)

“In front of the fire, Justin let the wet greatcoat slide off his shoulders and stripped off his green-brown uniform jacket, vaguely inspecting the arrangement of knickknacks on the mantelshelf as he undid the buttons […] He dropped his jacket on the floor, considered his shirt for a moment and drew it over his head. Sitting on the fender, he pulled off his boots, the heat warming his back. But in the warmth his breeches had begun to exude a distinct smell of horse, so he took them off, too, as well as everything else […]”  

 

The information about uniforms and weapons given in Chapter XVIII of  Sir Charles Oman's seminal study on Wellington's Army (1913) has been carefully fleshed out by The Sharpe Compendium. I am very much indebted to their meticulous research on the Riflemen’s uniform which Justin is so picturesquely shedding! Justin ought to have been wearing green pantaloons, or trousers, not breeches, but years in the field tended to erode regulation uniforms. Soldiers took what they could find, and breeches are more convenient for riding.

This aquatint by J. C. Stadler after Charles Hamilton Smith, 1812, in the National Army Museum, shows the Riflemen's uniform.

 

One of the etchings from Goya's Desastres de la Guerra series offers a graphic depiction of soldiers taking what they can find – graphic in both senses of the word, so the link is only for the stouthearted. The etching is called Se aprovechan ("They help themselves"). Don't say I didn't warn you.