Читать книгу Historical Record of the Third, Or the King's Own Regiment of Light Dragoons - Cannon Richard - Страница 4

The records of the military events of the remote ages speak of heavy-armed horsemen being accompanied by others mounted and equipped for light services. The Barons and Knights, who rode the powerful horses celebrated by historians, and took the field completely cased in steel, had a few light-armed attendants; the feudal horsemen were variously armed; and the practice of employing Light, as well as Heavy Cavalry, was adopted, to a limited extent, by several commanders of antiquity. Armour, proof against arrow, lance, and sword, and men and horses of colossal appearance, in whom the greatest amount of weight and physical power, consistent with a moderate share of activity, could be combined, were however held in the highest estimation; but eventually the great advantage of having a portion of Cavalry in which lightness, activity, and celerity of movement, might form the principal characteristics, was discovered. The introduction of fire-arms occasioned armour to be gradually laid aside, or limited to a few heavy horsemen; superiority of weight was no longer thought so necessary; and in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the use of Light Cavalry became more general than formerly.

During the seventy years' war between Spain and the United Provinces of the Netherlands, Prince Maurice of Nassau (afterwards Prince of Orange) selected a few English and Dutch heavy-armed Lancers, and constituted them Carabineers, for skirmishing, and other services of a similar character. The Emperor of Germany formed regiments of Hungarian Hussars, who were light men on small horses. The Carabineers were of an intermediate class, being much heavier than the Hussars, and lighter than the English Lancers and Cuirassiers, who rode powerful horses, and wore armour on the head, body, and limbs. The French monarchs adopted the practice of having a few Carabineers in each troop of Horse; and, in 1690, Louis XIV. added a troop of Carabineers to each Regiment of Cavalry. During the campaign of 1691, these troops formed a Carabineer brigade; but their motley appearance, and the defects of the plan, occasioned them to be constituted a regiment of Carabineers, and clothed in blue. In 1693 the French King added a regiment of Hussars to the Cavalry of his army.7

In England the same principle was partially carried out; the heavy horse laid aside their armour, excepting cuirasses; they were mounted on horses of less weight than formerly, and they were supplied with carbines by King Charles II. In 1685, King James II. raised several independent troops of Light Horse, and one of them (Sir Thomas Burton's) was retained in his service until the Revolution in 1688, when it was disbanded. In 1691-2 King William III. constituted the Seventh Regiment of Horse, now Sixth Dragoon Guards, a corps of Carabineers, as an honorary distinction, and for the performance of services for which the other regiments of Horse, being Cuirassiers, were not well adapted. The object was to combine with strength and power a greater degree of activity and speed than was to be found in the Cavalry at that period; and His Majesty appears to have contemplated having several corps of this description in his service, as he designated this the First Regiment of Carabineers; but no second regiment was formed.8 In 1694 a troop of foreign Hussars formed part of the Army commanded by King William in Flanders.9

During the wars of Queen Anne the Regiment of Carabineers was again supplied with cuirasses, and was mounted on the same description of horses as the other regiments; retaining, however, the title of Carabineers. The activity, size, weight, and strength of the horses ridden by the British Cuirassiers and Heavy Dragoons, with the bravery and muscular powers of the men, established their superiority in continental warfare over the Cavalry of other nations; they acquired great celebrity in the valley of the Danube and on the plains of the Netherlands, in the early part of the eighteenth century, under the renowned John Duke of Marlborough; and after the peace of Utrecht, in 1713, the reputation of the British Horse and Dragoons was so high that no alteration was thought necessary, and many years elapsed without any attempt being made to revive the practice of having either Carabineers, or Light Horse, in the British Army.

The great utility of the Light Cavalry of the continental armies had, in the mean time, become apparent. Improvements in military tactics, and in the arming and equipment of corps, were taking place in various countries; and a spirit of emulation extending itself to Great Britain, on the breaking out of the rebellion in 1745, his Grace the Duke of Montague evinced his loyalty and public spirit by raising a Regiment of Carabineers for the service of King George II.; at the same time, his Grace the Duke of Kingston, with equal zeal and generosity, raised, at his own expense, a Regiment of Light Horse. The latter regiment approximated, in the lightness of the men, horses, and equipment, to the Hussars of the continental armies; the Duke of Montague's Carabineers were of a heavier description of Cavalry.

At this period the old Cavalry Regiments rode black horses (excepting the Scots Greys) with docked tails; but the Duke of Kingston's Regiment was mounted on light horses of various colours, with swish or nag tails. The accoutrements were as light as possible: the men carried short carbines slung to their sides by a moveable swivel, pistols, and light swords inclined to a curve.

The usefulness of the Duke of Kingston's Regiment of Light Horse was proved in Scotland, where it served under His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland, and was found qualified for every description of service; the light horses traversing hilly grounds with facility. It distinguished itself on several occasions, particularly at the battle of Culloden, on the 16th of April, 1746, when it charged the clans with signal gallantry, and evinced great spirit and activity in the pursuit of the rebel army upwards of three miles from the field of battle. The Duke of Cumberland was highly pleased with its behaviour during the period it was under his command; and the conduct of the Light Horse throughout the contest reflected credit on the noble peer who had raised them.

The rebellion being suppressed, the regiment was, in consequence of the conditions on which the men had enlisted, directed to be disbanded; but the Duke of Cumberland so highly approved of its conduct that he obtained permission to embody as many of the men as would re-enlist, as his own Regiment of Light Dragoons.

His Majesty's thanks and particular satisfaction were communicated to His Grace the Duke of Kingston, for his zeal and affection for His Majesty's person and Government; and His Grace was desired to convey to the officers and soldiers His Majesty's high sense of their loyalty, activity, and gallant behaviour, at a period of national danger. The regiment was afterwards disbanded at Nottingham, and nearly every man engaged in the Regiment of Light Dragoons, of which, as a signal mark of honour and distinction, His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland was appointed Colonel.

The Duke of Cumberland's Light Dragoons were mounted on active nag-tailed horses, from fourteen and a half to fifteen hands high. The men were from five feet eight to five feet nine inches in height; and their equipment was upon a new and light plan, but retaining the cocked hat of the Heavy Dragoon pattern. This regiment served in the Netherlands, with the Army commanded by His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland: its general usefulness was fully established, and it distinguished itself at the battle of Val, in 1747. The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle having put an end to the war, it returned to England, and was disbanded in 1749.

From this period the value of light horsemen was more appreciated in England than formerly; the general utility of this arm, on home and foreign service, had been fully proved; and at the commencement of hostilities with France, in 1755, King George II. resolved to possess the advantage of a body of Light Cavalry in the approaching contest. His Majesty accordingly commanded a troop of Light Dragoons to be added to the First, Second, and Third Regiments of Dragoon Guards, and First, Second, Third, Fourth, Sixth, Seventh, Tenth, and Eleventh Regiments of Dragoons. The First, Second, Third, and Fourth Irish Horse (now Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Dragoon Guards), and the Fifth, Eighth, Ninth, Twelfth, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Dragoons, being on the Irish establishment, did not receive the same addition.

These troops of Light Dragoons were mounted, armed, equipped, and trained, according to specific instructions, calculated to render them available for the services for which they were designed. Several of them were reviewed in Hyde Park by His Majesty; and their neat appearance, celerity of movement, and the spirited and exact manner in which they performed their evolutions, were much admired.

Nine of these troops were formed into a brigade in 1758, under the command of one of the King's aides-de-camp, Colonel George Augustus Eliott, of the Horse Grenadier Guards; and they were employed in the expeditions to the coast of France under Charles Duke of Marlborough and Lieut. – General Bligh. They landed in France twice; skirmished with the French Cavalry; and throughout these enterprises they evinced activity, spirit, and general usefulness. After their return to England, they were augmented to 125 men per troop.

At this period, the war on the Continent had involved most of the European states; and the extended and active operations which were taking place in Germany rendered it necessary for a British force to join the Allied Army under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick. This gave rise to a further augmentation of the Army; and the increased estimation in which Light Cavalry was held induced the King to give directions for the raising of entire Regiments of Light Dragoons, in addition to the five Regiments of Horse, three of Dragoon Guards, and fourteen of Dragoons, already on the British and Irish establishments. The following corps were accordingly embodied: —

Light Dragoons

Incorporated in 1759

Fifteenth, in England, by Colonel George A. Eliott; – now the Fifteenth, or the King's Hussars.

Sixteenth, in England, by Lieut. – Colonel John Burgoyne; – now the Sixteenth, or the Queen's Lancers.

Seventeenth, in Scotland, by Captain Lord Aberdour; – disbanded in 1763.

Eighteenth, in England, by Lieut. – Colonel John Hale; – now the Seventeenth Lancers.

Nineteenth, in Ireland, by Lieut. – Colonel Lord Drogheda; – numbered the Eighteenth in 1763; constituted Hussars in 1807; and after performing much valuable service at home and abroad, it was disbanded at Newbridge, in Ireland, in 1821.

Incorporated in 1760

Twentieth, in Ireland, by Captain Sir James Caldwell; – disbanded in 1763.

Twenty-first, or Royal Foresters, in England by Lieut. – General the Marquis of Granby, and Colonel Lord Robert Sutton; – disbanded in 1763.

After the peace of Fontainebleau, three of these corps were disbanded, and the other four continued in the service. The light troops attached to the heavy regiments were also disbanded, but a few men of each troop were afterwards equipped as Light Dragoons.

A more perfect knowledge of the efficiency and capabilities of Light Cavalry, acquired during the campaigns in Germany and Portugal, had advanced the estimation in which that arm was held; and, in 1768, the Twelfth Dragoons (one of the heavy regiments raised by King George I. in 1715), underwent a change of equipment and clothing, and was constituted a corps of Light Dragoons, by General Carpenter, in Ireland.

This alteration served as a precedent for subsequent changes; and further experience, during the American war, from 1775 to 1783, con[Pg xxviii]firming the value of Light Cavalry, the Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Regiments of Dragoons were changed from heavy to light. The Light Dragoons attached to the heavy regiments were incorporated into newly-raised corps, and the following regiments of

Light Dragoons

Were embodied in 1779

Nineteenth, – by Major-General Russell Manners; – disbanded in 1783.

Twentieth, – by Major-General Richard Burton Phillipson; – disbanded in 1783.

Twenty-first, – by Major-General John Douglas; – disbanded in 1783.

Twenty-second, – by Lieut. – Colonel John Lord Sheffield; – disbanded in 1783.

Embodied in 1781

Twenty-third, – by Lieut. – General Sir John Burgoyne, Baronet, for service in India, and was numbered the Nineteenth after the peace in 1783. This regiment signalized itself on numerous occasions in India, and was rewarded with the honour of bearing on its guidons and appointments the Elephant, with the words Assaye and Seringapatam. The word Niagara was also added in commemoration of the gallantry of two troops, in the year 1813, in North America. In 1817 it was constituted a corps of Lancers. It was disbanded in Ireland in 1821.

Thus a few years had produced a great change in the British Army. Twenty-five years previously to the termination of the American war there was not a single Light Dragoon Regiment in the Service, and in 1783 there were seventeen; four of them were disbanded at that period, and thirteen retained in the Service.

Soon after the termination of the American war, the French monarch having, by aiding the rebellious British provincials, taught his own subjects a lesson of insubordination, was deprived of the reins of government; and the violent conduct of the French revolutionists in the West Indies occasioned the Twentieth or Jamaica Regiment of Light Dragoons to be raised in 1791 by Colonel Henry F. Gardner, for service in that island. Besides its services in Jamaica, detachments of this regiment served at Malta; Sicily; at the taking of the Cape of Good Hope, in 1806; at the capture of Alexandria, in 1807; at the attack on Monte Video; in Portugal; at Genoa; and on the eastern coast of Spain; and acquired the honour of bearing the word Peninsula on its guidons and appointments. It was disbanded in Ireland in 1818.

War with France commenced in 1793, and was followed by augmentations to the Army. It was not found necessary to add a single Heavy Cavalry Regiment; but the following Regiments of

Light Dragoons

Were incorporated in 1794

Twenty-first, – by Lieut. – Colonel Thomas R. Beaumont. This regiment served at the Cape of Good Hope and in India thirteen years; a detachment was sent to do duty at St. Helena, when Napoleon Buonaparte was removed thither. This regiment was disbanded at Chatham in 1820.

Twenty-second, – by Major-General William Viscount Fielding; – served in Great Britain and Ireland; – disbanded in 1802.

Twenty-third, – by Colonel William Fullerton; – served in Great Britain and Ireland; – disbanded in 1802.

Twenty-fourth, – by Colonel William Loftus; – served in Great Britain and Ireland; – disbanded in 1802.

Twenty-fifth, – by Major-General Francis Edward Gwyn. This regiment was numbered the Twenty-second after the Treaty of Amiens in 1802. It served with reputation in India; was employed at the reduction of Java; signalized itself on several occasions; and was rewarded with the royal authority to bear the word Seringapatam on its guidons and appointments. It was disbanded in England in 1820.

Raised in 1795

Twenty-sixth, – by Lieut. – General R. Manners; – numbered the Twenty-third in 1803. This regiment served in Egypt, Portugal, Spain, Flanders, and France; and its distinguished conduct was rewarded with the honour of bearing on its guidons and appointments, the Sphinx, with the words Egypt, Peninsula, and Waterloo. In 1816 it was constituted a corps of Lancers. It was disbanded in England in 1817.

Twenty-seventh, – by Major-General Wynter Blathwayte; – numbered the Twenty-fourth in 1804. This regiment served in India, distinguished itself at the battles of Ghur and Delhi, and was permitted to bear the Elephant, with the word Hindoostan, on its guidons and appointments. It was disbanded in England, on its arrival from Bengal, in 1819.

Twenty-eighth, – by Major-General Robert Lawrie; – served in Great Britain, Ireland, and at the Cape of Good Hope; – disbanded in Ireland in 1802.

Twenty-ninth, – by Major-General Francis Augustus Lord Heathfield; – numbered the Twenty-fifth in 1804. This regiment served in India, and was at the reduction of the Isle of France. It was disbanded at Chatham, on its arrival from India, in 1819.

Raised in 1794.

Thirtieth, – by Lieut. – Colonel J. C. Carden; – disbanded in 1796.

Thirty-first, – by Lieut. – Colonel William St. Ledger; – disbanded in 1796.

Thirty-second, – by Lieut. – Colonel H. J. Blake; – disbanded in 1796.

Thirty-third, – by Lieut. – Colonel J. Blackwood; – disbanded in 1796.

Soon after the re-commencement of hostilities with France in 1803, the Seventh, Tenth, Fifteenth, and Eighteenth Light Dragoons were equipped as Hussars. Since the termination of the war in 1815, the Third and Fourth Dragoons have been changed from heavy to light; the Ninth, Twelfth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Light Dragoons have been constituted Lancers; and the Eighth and Eleventh Light Dragoons have also been equipped as Hussars.

At this period (1847), the Cavalry of the British Army consists of twenty-six regiments – thirteen Heavy and thirteen Light; and is composed of three regiments of Cuirassiers, ten of Heavy Dragoons, four of Light Dragoons, five of Hussars, and four of Lancers.

THE THIRD,

OR

THE KING'S OWN REGIMENT

OF

LIGHT DRAGOONS,

BEARS ON ITS APPOINTMENTS

THE WHITE HORSE,

ON A RED FIELD WITHIN THE GARTER,

WITH THE MOTTO

"NEC ASPERA TERRENT:"

ALSO THE WORDS,

"SALAMANCA" – "VITTORIA" – "TOULOUSE" – "PENINSULA,"

To commemorate its Gallant Conduct in Spain and France from 1811 to 1814;

AND THE WORD

"CABOOL, 1842,"

For its distinguished Services in Affghanistan in 1842