Ciroferrara,
Actually he is wearing a Staff Officer's patrol jacket, rather than a cavalry patrol jacket, each cavalry regiment had its own design, so that might well have been a regiment which matched the same design.
The photographs I have of General Officers pre-1881, have them wearing four rows. There is a photograph that appeared in the original edition of 'In Zululand with the British...' of him that shows him wearing that pattern jacket, however, the original had been extracted from my copy prior to purchasing it, and the photocopy I have is indistinct show I can't say for certain.
I'll do some digging and get back to you.
kwaJimu1879