Historical Record of the Third or Prince of Wales' Regiment of Dragoon Guards: From Its Formation in 1685 to 1838

On the 18th of July following, Lord Windsor was appointed lord-lieutenant of Worcestershire; and, in 1665, he was sent governor to Jamaica. During his stay in the West Indies, Lord Windsor assembled the troops under his command, defeated 3000 Spaniards, and captured seven ships in the harbour of St. Jago de la Cuba; and eventually took the town and castle, with the cannon of the works, and five hundred barrels of powder. Not enjoying his health in that climate, his Lordship received permission to return to England; and, after his arrival, he was appointed one of his Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland. At length his Majesty, taking into consideration the eminent services of Lord Windsor, advanced him to the dignity of Earl of Plymouth, by patent dated the 6th of December, 1682.

The Earl of Plymouth enjoyed the affection and confidence of King James II., who conferred upon him the Colonelcy of the Fourth Regiment of Horse (now 3rd Dragoon Guards), and also appointed him one of the Privy Council. He died on the 3rd of November, 1687, and was buried in the church of Tarbick.

Sir John Fenwick, Bart.,Appointed 6th November, 1687

John Fenwick, Esq., was a loyal cavalier in the reign of King Charles II., and an officer of the Queen's Troop (now Second Regiment) of Life Guards. He served under the Duke of Monmouth, with the French army, in the Netherlands, during the campaigns of 1672 and 1673. In the succeeding year he obtained permission to proceed to Holland; and, in 1675, he was appointed Colonel of an Irish regiment in the Dutch service (the present Fifth Foot). He served with his regiment during the campaign of that year under the Prince of Orange; and, in the following summer, he served at the siege of Maestricht, where he was severely wounded while on duty with his regiment in the trenches (2nd August, 1676). Shortly afterwards some angry words passed between him and the Prince of Orange, when he quitted the Dutch service, and, returning to England, resumed his duties in the Life Guards; and, from this period, a personal aversion is said to have existed between his Highness and Colonel Fenwick. The Colonel was, however, well received at the British court: he succeeded, on the decease of his father, to the dignity of a baronet, and, in 1678, King Charles II. promoted him to the rank of Brigadier-General, and gave him the Colonelcy of a newly-raised regiment of foot, with which he proceeded to Flanders; but, after the peace of Nimeguen, this regiment was disbanded, and Sir John again resumed his duties in the Life Guards, in which corps he rose to the rank of Lieutenant and Lieutenant-Colonel. In 1686 he was appointed Inspecting General of Cavalry (jointly with Brigadier-General Sir John Lanier), and, after the decease of the Earl of Plymouth in 1687, he was promoted from the Life Guards to the Colonelcy of the Fourth Horse. He was also Governor of Holy Island, and a Member of Parliament for the county of Northumberland.

Sir John Fenwick appears to have been devotedly attached to the Stuart dynasty; and, having been advanced to the rank of Major-General in November, 1688, he refused to take the required oath to the Prince of Orange at the Revolution, and his regiment was given to Viscount Colchester. After the accession of William and Mary, Sir John did not abstain from corresponding with the dethroned monarch. After the decease of Queen Mary, he assisted in planning an insurrection in favour of King James, which was to have broken out in the winter of 1695-6, and he agreed to command a body of horse. At this time a plot for the assassination of King William was discovered, and Sir John Fenwick was apprehended at New Romney, on his way to France, on an attainder of high treason, and was brought to trial before the Parliament. No proof of his guilt was produced; but the written evidence of a witness on a former trial was produced against him. This proceeding gave rise to much altercation amongst the members; but the Bill was at length carried by a majority of seven: forty-one Lords, including eight Prelates, entering a protest against the decision. An offer of pardon was made to him by the Peers, on condition that he would make a full discovery; but he chose to suffer death rather than incur the disgrace of becoming an informer. He was beheaded on Tower Hill on the 28th of January, 1697. At the time of his execution, he professed his attachment to King James, and expressed a wish that the exiled monarch might be restored to the throne.

Richard Viscount Colchester,Appointed 31st December, 1688

This nobleman entered the Life Guards, in which corps he attained, in the spring of 1686, the rank of Lieutenant and Lieutenant-Colonel. He was one of the first officers who joined the Prince of Orange at the Revolution in 1688, and he took with him several private gentlemen of the fourth troop of Life Guards. On the removal of Sir John Fenwick, the Colonelcy of the Fourth Regiment of Horse was conferred on Viscount Colchester, who attended King William in Ireland, and was at the battle of the Boyne and the siege of Limerick. His lordship was removed to the Colonelcy of the Third Troop of Life Guards in 1692, which gave him the privilege of taking the court duty of Gold Stick, and he served with distinction under his Majesty in several campaigns on the Continent. He succeeded to the title of Earl Rivers in 1694; and, in the early campaigns of the wars of Queen Anne, he served under the celebrated John Duke of Marlborough. In 1706 he commanded an expedition designed to make a descent on the French coast; but the fleet having been delayed by contrary winds until the design was frustrated, he proceeded to Spain, where he left the troops under the command of the Earl of Galway, and afterwards returned to England. He was appointed to the Colonelcy of the Royal Horse Guards in 1712; and died in the same year.

John Lord Berkeley,Appointed 23d January, 1692

This nobleman was the son of Sir John Berkeley, a descendant from the ancient Barons of Berkeley Castle (and a distinguished loyalist in the time of Charles I. and Charles II.), who was raised to the peerage by the title of Lord Berkeley, of Stratton. Having entered the Royal Navy, he rose to the rank of Admiral, and was also Colonel of a regiment of Marines (afterwards disbanded) in the reign of Charles II. It was common at this period for the Admirals to hold commissions in the army. After the Revolution of 1688, Lord Berkeley sustained a military character, and was appointed Colonel of the Fourth Regiment of Horse in January, 1692. He, however, quitted the regiment in the following year, and held a naval command, in which he distinguished himself against the French. Lord Berkeley died on the 29th of February, 1697.

Cornelius Wood,Appointed 24th January, 1694

This officer was the son of a clergyman of Staffordshire, and having been unfortunate in commerce, in the reign of Charles II., he entered Queen Catherine's Troop (now Second Regiment) of Life Guards, as a private gentleman, at the time when the ranks of that corps contained many young men of distinction who were aspiring to commissions in the regular army. Mr. Wood evinced great attention in acquiring a knowledge of his profession, which, with a strict performance of all his duties, soon procured him the approbation and favour of Sir Philip Howard, the Captain and Colonel, and of Sir George Hewytt, the Lieutenant-Colonel, through whose recommendation he was advanced to the post of Sub-Corporal with the rank of Cornet; and, on the 15th of June, 1685, King James II. promoted him to the degree of Corporal (or Brigadier) with the rank of Lieutenant. During the remainder of the short reign of James II., Brigadier Wood is said to have witnessed with regret the violent conduct of the King; and, being faithful to the principles which he had imbibed in his youth, he adhered to the Protestant interest at the Revolution in 1688, and was promoted, by King William III., to the Captaincy of a troop in the Ninth Horse (now Sixth Dragoon Guards), the command of which corps had been conferred on his friend, Sir George Hewytt, afterwards Viscount Hewytt. The intrepidity which he displayed in the wars in Ireland and in Flanders56 gained him a high reputation, and he was promoted to the Lieutenant-Colonelcy of the regiment on the 31st of December, 1692. His gallant conduct at the battle of Landen, on the 19th of July, 1693, attracted the attention of King William, who complimented him on his bravery, made him a present of a valuable charger, and, in January of the following year, His Majesty promoted him to the Colonelcy of the Fourth Horse; at the head of which regiment he served in Flanders until the peace of Ryswick in 1697.

On the breaking out of the war in 1702, Colonel Wood was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General, and sent with his regiment to Holland, to serve under the celebrated John Duke of Marlborough; and, in the following year, he was advanced to the rank of Major-General. The several campaigns of this war form a glorious era in the military history of Great Britain; and few officers acquired greater celebrity than General Wood. In the annals of that war his name is associated with exploits of particular brilliancy; and he is mentioned among those who materially contributed to the victories at Schellenberg, Blenheim, and Ramilies. At the latter engagement, the Duke of Bavaria and Marshal Villiers narrowly escaped being taken prisoners by him, as more particularly stated in the record of the Third Dragoon Guards. He also distinguished himself at the battle of Malplaquet, and in several skirmishes.

The death of this distinguished officer was occasioned by the fall of his horse in May, 1712.

Thomas Viscount Windsor,Appointed 18th May, 1712

Lord Thomas Windsor, second son of Thomas Earl of Plymouth, the first Colonel of this regiment, served with distinction in the army in the wars of King William III., and, on the 23rd of January, 1692, he obtained the Lieutenant-Colonelcy of the Fourth Horse. On the 16th of February, 1694, he was appointed to the Colonelcy of a newly-raised regiment of horse, which was disbanded after the peace of Ryswick. On the 19th of June, 1699, he was advanced to the peerage of Ireland by the title of Viscount Windsor. After the decease of the Earl of Macclesfield, in 1701, the Colonelcy of the Tenth Horse was conferred upon Viscount Windsor, who was promoted, on the 9th of March, 1702, to the rank of Brigadier-General, and on 1st of January, 1704, to that of Major-General. In October of the latter year his regiment was given to Samuel (afterwards Lord) Masham. The rank of Lieutenant-General was, however, conferred upon his Lordship in 1707; in April, 1711, he was restored to the Colonelcy of the Tenth Horse; and in December of the same year, he was made an English Peer, by the title of Baron Montjoy, of the Isle of Wight. The Colonelcy of the Fourth Horse was conferred upon his Lordship in 1712; from which he was removed, by King George I., in 1717: he died in 1738.

George Wade,Appointed 19th March, 1717

This officer engaged in the profession of arms in the reign of William III., and, after serving the Crown with zeal and fidelity for many years, he was eventually rewarded with the highest honours of the service. His first commission was dated the 26th of December, 1690; and he served in the Netherlands under King William until the peace of Ryswick. Having rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel of the Tenth Regiment of Foot, he proceeded, on the breaking out of the war of the Spanish succession, with the expedition to Portugal, and was appointed Adjutant-General to the army commanded by the Earl of Galway, with the brevet rank of Colonel, by commission dated the 22nd of August, 1704. After the death of Colonel Duncasson, who was killed at the siege of Valencia de Alcantara, in May, 1705, the command of the Thirty-third Foot was conferred upon Colonel Wade, by commission bearing date the 9th of June in the same year. Continuing to serve in the Peninsula, and, by his personal exertions, gaining laurels even in the midst of the reverses and disasters which befell the army, he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General on the 1st of January, 1708; and, in the following year he received a complimentary communication from King Charles III. (afterwards Emperor of the Romans), with the commission of Major-General in Spain; in which country he served during the remainder of the war, and highly distinguished himself in the command of a brigade of infantry at the battle of Saragossa in 1710.

On the accession of King George I., Brigadier-General Wade was advanced to the rank of Major-General; and, proving a faithful and trustworthy servant to the Crown, at a time when jacobin principles were prevalent in the nation, his Majesty appointed him, on the 19th of March, 1717, Colonel of the Fourth Horse. In 1724 he commanded in Scotland; and some important roads through the Highlands were constructed under his direction and superintendence. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General on the 7th of March, 1727; to that of General on the 2nd of July, 1739; and he was further advanced to the rank of Field-Marshal on the 14th of December, 1743. In the following year, this distinguished veteran, being then in the seventy-sixth year of his age, engaged in active service, and commanded the British troops in the Netherlands in the campaign of 1744, but afterwards returned to England; and, in the succeeding year, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, during the absence of his Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland on the Continent. In the autumn of the same year a rebellion broke out in Scotland, and Field-Marshal Wade commanded an army in Yorkshire, and was actively engaged in the pursuit of the rebels after their retreat from Derby. He was Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance and one of his Majesty's Privy Council; and, after serving the Crown a period of fifty-eight years, died on the 14th of February, 1748, in the eightieth year of his age.

The Hon. Sir Charles Howard, K.B.,Appointed 15th March, 1748

The Honourable Charles Howard, second son of Charles third Earl of Carlisle, entered the army in the second year of the reign of King George I., and was appointed Captain and Lieutenant-Colonel in the Coldstream Guards in April, 1719. He was appointed Deputy-Governor of Carlisle in March, 1725; rose to the rank of Colonel on the 23rd of April, 1734; and was appointed Aide-de-camp to King George II. He was promoted, on the 1st of November, 1738, to the command of the Nineteenth Regiment of Foot; was appointed Brigadier-General on the 18th of February, 1742, and proceeded with the army, commanded by the Earl of Stair, to Flanders, in the same year. He was promoted to the rank of Major-General on the 4th of July, 1743; to that of Lieutenant-General on the 9th of August, 1747; and, in March, 1748, to the Colonelcy of the Third Dragoon Guards. In June, 1749, he was created a Knight of the most honourable Order of the Bath; and, in March, 1765, he was promoted to the rank of General.

Sir Charles Howard was Governor of Forts George and Augustus in Scotland; one of the Grooms of the Bedchamber; and was many years a Member of Parliament for the city of Carlisle, of which he was Lieutenant-Governor; and died on the 26th of August, 1765.

Lord Robert Manners,Appointed 6th September, 1765

Lord Robert Manners, son of John second Duke of Rutland, choosing a military life, purchased an Ensigncy in the Coldstream Guards on the 26th of July, 1735; was appointed Lieutenant in May, 1740; and Captain and Lieutenant-Colonel in the First Foot Guards on the 22nd of April, 1742. In December, 1747, he was promoted to the rank of Colonel, and appointed Aide-de-camp to King George II.; and, in 1751, his Majesty gave him the Colonelcy of the Thirty-sixth Regiment of Foot. The rank of Major-General was conferred upon Lord Robert Manners on the 7th of February, 1757; that of Lieutenant-General on the 7th of April, 1759; and, in 1765, King George III. gave him the Colonelcy of the Third Dragoon Guards, with the rank of General, five years afterwards: he died on the 31st of May, 1782.

Philip Honeywood,Appointed 7th June, 1782

Philip Honeywood, having entered the army at an early age, rose to the rank of Major in the King's Dragoons, now Third Light Dragoons, with which corps he proceeded to Flanders in 1742, and displayed great gallantry at the battle of Dettingen on the 26th of June, 1743, where his regiment was warmly engaged with the French household troops and suffered severely. Major Honeywood received five wounds in this action, and, being thought dead, he was stripped by some plunderers, and lay in that state six hours on the field of battle. He, however, revived, and, having recovered of his wounds, resumed his regimental duties, and was at the battle of Fontenoy on the 11th of May, 1745. In the autumn of the same year the rebellion broke out in Scotland, when the King's Dragoons were ordered to return to England; and, on the flight of the rebels from Derby, the regiment, being sent forward in pursuit, overtook the rear-guard on Clifton Moor, in Lancashire, on the 19th of December, and a sharp action ensuing, Lieutenant-Colonel Honeywood again displayed his wonted bravery, and was severely wounded in the shoulder. He, however, recovered; and, on the 17th of March, 1752, was promoted to the rank of Colonel in the army; and, in April, 1755, King George II. gave him the Colonelcy of the Twentieth Regiment of Foot; from which he was removed, in May of the following year, to the Ninth Dragoons. He was promoted to the rank of Major-General on the 17th of May, 1758; and, on the 5th of April in the following year, he obtained the Colonelcy of the Fourth Irish Horse, now the Seventh Dragoon Guards.

During the Seven Years' War, Major-General Honeywood commanded a brigade of cavalry in Germany under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, and performed a distinguished part in many skirmishes and general engagements; particularly at the battle of Warbourg, on the 31st of July, 1760, when he led his own regiment to the charge with signal gallantry: the enemy was overthrown, the most dreadful slaughter followed, and many of the French were drowned in attempting to escape across the river Dymel. In December of the same year he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General; and, continuing to serve in Germany, he acquired great celebrity, and was commended by the Commander-in-Chief in his public despatches. After his return to England he was advanced to the rank of General; and a vacancy occurring in the Colonelcy of the Third Dragoon Guards, in 1782, King George III. conferred that appointment on this distinguished veteran.

General Honeywood was many years Governor of Hull; he was also Member of Parliament for Appleby; and died on the 20th of January, 1785.

Richard Burton Philipson,Appointed 23rd February, 1785

Richard Burton commenced his military service in the reign of King George II.; and, having attained the rank of Major in the Royal Dragoons on the 1st of May, 1759, proceeded with his regiment to Germany in the spring of the following year. In the battles, skirmishes, fatigues, and privations of the three subsequent campaigns, Major Burton had his share; as well as in the honours acquired by the British cavalry. After his return to England he was permitted to take the surname of Philipson. On the 25th of January, 1771, he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the Royal Dragoons; and, in 1775, he was appointed Colonel in the army and Aide-de-camp to King George III. On the breaking out of the American war, several new regiments were raised, and Colonel Philipson was promoted to the rank of Major-General, and appointed Colonel of the Twentieth Light Dragoons (a corps formed of the light troops of several other regiments), on the 25th of April, 1779; from which he was removed, on the 23rd of February, 1785, to the Third Dragoon Guards. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General on the 28th of September, 1787; was Member of Parliament for Eye, in Suffolk; and died on the 19th of August, 1792.

Sir William Fawcett, K.B.,Appointed 22nd August, 1792

William Fawcett, who descended from the ancient family of Fawcetts, of Shipden Hall, near Halifax, having, from his early youth, a strong predilection for a military life, his friends procured him an Ensign's commission in General Oglethorp's regiment, which was stationed in Georgia; but, a British force having been sent to Flanders in 1742, he resigned his commission, proceeded to the Continent, and, serving as a volunteer, was at the battles of Dettingen and Fontenoy, where his gallantry attracted admiration; and he was appointed Ensign in a regiment raised by Colonel Johnstone, with which he served until the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748, when it was disbanded.

Being now unemployed, he engaged in the service of a mercantile establishment in the city of London; but, finding his propensity to a military life invincible, he subsequently purchased an Ensign's commission in the Foot Guards, and, by a strict attention to his duties, procured the favour of his Royal Highness William Duke of Cumberland, who gave him the Adjutantcy of the second battalion of the Third Foot Guards, which he held, together with a Lieutenantcy, which gave him the rank of Captain. Neglecting no opportunity of qualifying himself for the highest posts in his profession, he studied the German and French languages, acquired a knowledge of Prussian and French tactics; and, in 1757, published a translation of the 'Memoirs upon the Art of War, by Marshal Count de Saxe,' and 'The Regulations for the Prussian Cavalry;' and, in 1759, 'The Regulations for the Prussian Infantry,' and 'The Prussian Tactics.' These works met with great attention; and a new edition in 1760 was also well received.

In the early part of the Seven Years' War, Captain Fawcett served in Germany as Aide-de-camp to Lieutenant-General Grenville Elliott, where he acquired a practical knowledge of the military art; and his ardour, intrepidity, and attention to the duties of his situation were such, that, on the decease of Lieutenant-General Grenville Elliott, Captain Fawcett was recommended for the appointment of Aide-de-camp to Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, and he had also the offer of the same appointment to the Marquis of Granby: he chose the latter, and was sent to England with the despatches which gave the account of the victory at Warbourg; on which occasion, King George II. was highly gratified at having the particulars of this engagement related to him in the German language by Captain Fawcett. He was advanced to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the army on the 25th of November, 1760; and, continuing to serve in Germany, was appointed Military Secretary to the Marquis of Granby. It is recorded that, in Lieutenant-Colonel Fawcett's character, strength and softness were happily blended together, and to coolness, intrepidity, and extensive military knowledge, he added all the requisite talents of a man of business, and the most persevering assiduity. He was highly esteemed by every officer on the staff of the army, and was the intimate and confidential friend of the Marquis of Granby. He remained on service until the peace in 1763, when he returned to England; and his knowledge of the German language, with the information he possessed from his late office, was the occasion of his being employed by King George III. as Commissary to settle the claims made by the Allies against Great Britain for the expenses of the war.

In November, 1767, he obtained a company in the Third Foot Guards; and, in 1772, he was promoted to the rank of Colonel in the army, and appointed Deputy Adjutant-General to the Forces.

At the commencement of the American war, Colonel Fawcett was sent to Germany to negotiate with the states of Hesse, Hanover, and Brunswick, for a body of troops to serve in North America, Gibraltar, and the East Indies. He was appointed Governor of Gravesend and Tilbury Fort on the 2nd of October, 1776. In 1777 he was promoted to the rank of Major-General; in the following year he was appointed Colonel of the Fifteenth Regiment of Foot; and, in 1781, he was appointed Adjutant-General to the Forces. The rank of Lieutenant-General was conferred upon this valuable servant of the Crown in 1782; in 1786 his Majesty honoured him with the riband of the Order of the Bath; and, in 1792, gave him the Colonelcy of The Third, or Prince of Wales' Dragoon Guards.

In May, 1796, Sir William Fawcett was promoted to the rank of General; and, in July following, he was appointed Governor of the Royal Hospital at Chelsea. The office of Adjutant-General requiring greater exertions than his age would admit of, he obtained his Majesty's permission to resign, and, on retiring from his post, the King honoured him with distinguished marks of his Royal favour and approbation. In 1799 the Duke of York proceeded to Holland, when Sir William Fawcett was appointed by his Majesty to be General on the Staff of the Army, and to perform the duties of Commander-in-Chief during his Royal Highness's absence.