Historical Record of the Third, Or the King's Own Regiment of Light Dragoons

At this time the remainder of the regiment was engaged in the siege of Limerick, which failed, owing to the loss of the battering train. From Limerick the five troops marched with other corps towards Birr, to relieve the castle, which was besieged by the enemy; and, after performing this service, encamped beyond the town.

On the 16th of September one troop of the regiment attacked an immense number of rapparees who were proceeding from Cork to Lismore, and having routed them and killed forty, took three prisoners. Two days afterwards, as Lieutenant Kelly of the regiment was out with a small party reconnoitring, he was surrounded and taken prisoner.

1691

The regiment passed a part of the winter at Clonmel, and in February 1691, it was employed on an expedition to Streamstown, when the advanced guard highly distinguished itself; and shortly afterwards its colonel, the gallant Leveson, was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general. In May it was encamped at Mullingar.

The Irish being strengthened from France, and the English from Scotland, both armies took the field in the beginning of June, when General De Ginkell, who was left in command by King William, advanced through Mullingar, – captured Ballymore, and besieged Athlone, which was gallantly stormed and taken on the 30th of June. The town having been put in a posture of defence, the army advanced to Ballinasloe, and on Sunday, the 12th of July, advanced in four columns against the Irish, who were strongly posted near the village of Aghrim; their right flank and centre being covered by a morass, and the remainder of their front by enclosures, terminating at the castle of Aghrim, on which their left rested. Leveson's troopers were formed in brigade with the royal Irish dragoons commanded by Brigadier-General Villiers, and posted on the right of the line. The action was well contested on both sides. At length the Blues, Langston's, and Byerley's horse, a squadron of Ruvigny's French Protestants, and Leveson's dragoons, forced the pass at the castle of Aghrim, and, by a gallant charge, decided the fate of the day. Leveson's gallant troopers rushed forward with their wonted bravery, and overthrew all opposition. In opposing this attack in person, the enemy's general, St. Ruth, was killed by a cannon ball, and the Irish giving way, were pursued with great slaughter by the cavalry towards Loughrea. The regiment was thanked by the Commander-in-Chief for its excellent conduct. It lost in this action seven men killed, and five wounded.

Leveson's dragoons were afterwards employed in the siege of Galway. On the 2nd of August they were detached, with twenty-four men from each regiment of Horse, under the command of Brigadier-General Leveson, to scour the country and drive in the enemy's parties; and they arrived on the 4th, in the vicinity of Nenagh, where five hundred of the enemy, under Brigadier-General Carrol (commonly called Tall Anthony) were in garrison in an old castle, on the domain of the Duke of Ormond. Part of the garrison occupied a pass half a mile in front of the castle; but was driven from that post by the dragoons. The garrison made a precipitate retreat towards Limerick, but were overtaken at Cariganlis, and routed with the loss of several men, their baggage, and four hundred head of cattle.

The siege of Limerick commenced on the 25th of August, and the regiment was before the town until the 31st, when it was detached with a party of horse under Brigadier-General Leveson, and Major Wood of the eighth horse (now sixth dragoon guards) to reduce the small garrisons in the county of Kerry, where the whole country was found in arms, and Lords Merrion's and Bretta's regiments of Irish horse there to assist the rapparees. Leveson and Wood11 were both daring aspirants for military fame, and had become celebrated for their zeal and valour, and for their abilities on detached services. – Having ascertained where the two Irish regiments were encamped, they marched all the night of the 1st of September; and about one on the following morning, rushed suddenly upon them with the horse and dragoons. The enemy, surprised and confounded, fled in every direction, pursued by the victorious dragoons, who sabred many men and captured a drove of oxen. A reinforcement of three hundred horse and dragoons and six pieces of cannon was afterwards sent to Brigadier-General Leveson, and he reduced several garrisons between Cork and Limerick, and sent numbers of oxen and sheep to the army. On the 22nd of September this gallant officer, with only two hundred and fifty horse and dragoons, attacked and dispersed two regiments of Irish dragoons and a body of rapparees nearly three thousand strong; when he again captured some cattle and sheep. It appears that the principal part of the provisions for the army encamped before Limerick was supplied by the activity of Leveson's corps, which continued to act as an independent force until the surrender of that city on the 3rd of October. In King James's declaration from St. Germains, Brigadier-General Leveson was especially exempted from the general amnesty.

1692

1693

With the fall of Limerick ended the war in Ireland12; and the regiment having embarked for England, landed at Barnstaple on the 18th of March, 1692. Its establishment was six troops, 360 men, and its expense 15,999l. 3s. 4d. per annum. During this and the following year it was stationed in the south and western counties of England.

1694

On the 19th of January, 1694, Brigadier-General Leveson was removed to the third horse, now second dragoon guards; and the colonelcy of the Queen's dragoons was conferred upon Thomas, Lord Fairfax, from lieut. – colonel of the second troop (now second regiment) of life guards.

At this period King William was engaged in a war with France, and the third horse and Queen's dragoons having been reviewed by His Majesty in Hyde Park, on the 26th of March embarked for foreign service. The Queen's dragoons landed at Williamstadt, in North Brabant, on the 16th of April 1694, joined the army encamped at Tirlemont on the 21st of June, and was again reviewed by His Majesty on the following day. Its excellent conduct in Ireland appears to have raised the regiment high in the King's estimation, and it was ordered to encamp beyond the defiles of the village of Roosebeck, to cover His Majesty's quarters13.

The regiment served the campaign of this year in brigade with the royals and royal Scots dragoons, and was employed in manœuvring and skirmishing in the valleys of Brabant and in the verdant plains of Flanders. No general engagement occurred, and in October it went into quarters at Ghent.

1695

In February, 1695, Lord Fairfax having retired, King William conferred the colonelcy on Colonel William Lloyd: at the same time the establishment was augmented to eight troops of thirty-eight officers, seventy-two non-commissioned officers, and four hundred and eighty privates, the annual expense being increased to 20,652l. 18s. 4d.

Having passed the winter in barracks at Ghent and received a remount from England, the Queen's dragoons marched, in April 1695, to Dixmude in West Flanders, and encamped on the plains of the Yperlee. A small detached corps was assembled at this place under Major-General Ellemberg, and in June an attack was made on the forts at Kenoque, to draw the French troops that way, and to facilitate the siege of Namur, which was undertaken immediately afterwards.

The Queen's dragoons, with eight battalions of infantry, returned to Dixmude, and the remainder of the division marched to the main army before Namur.

While the army was besieging Namur, a French force, commanded by General de Montal, invested Dixmude (15th July), and carried on the approaches with great expedition. The governor, Major-General Ellemberg, called a council of war, and suggested the expediency of surrendering. This was opposed by Major Beaumont, who commanded the Queen's dragoons14, and some other officers, but it was agreed to by the majority, and the garrison was delivered up prisoners of war. Thus, the gallant dragoons, after displaying the greatest valour in former campaigns, were tamely consigned into the hands of the enemy, by a timid, or treacherous, foreign general officer. The soldiers were enraged at not being permitted to defend the place; many of the men broke their arms before they delivered them up, and one British regiment tore its colours to pieces.

An agreement had previously been made by the contending powers, that all prisoners should be given up on certain conditions. These conditions were complied with, and the return of the regiments which had surrendered, was demanded; but the French court refused to give them up. At length the citadel of Namur capitulated, and the French garrison was permitted to march out without being made prisoners, but as they passed through the allied army, their commander, Marshal Boufflers, was arrested and detained until the conditions of the agreement were complied with. The detention of the marshal produced the release of the regiments; the Queen's dragoons returned to the army, and were ordered into barracks at Ghent. At the same time a general court-martial assembled for the trial of the officers who had delivered the regiments into the power of the enemy. The governor of Dixmude, Major-General Ellemberg, was sentenced to be beheaded, and was executed at Ghent on the 20th of November. Colonels Graham, O'Farrell, Lesly, and Aver, were cashiered; two others were suspended, and the remainder acquitted. After the army left the field, the Queen's dragoons were quartered in villages near the canal of Sluys.

1696

The regiment again took the field in May 1696, and was reviewed by King William on the 29th of that month, when it appeared complete in numbers, and in excellent condition. During the summer it formed part of a detached corps commanded by Major-General Fagel, and encamped near Nieuport. The enemy made demonstrations of an attack on this part of the country, when entrenchments were thrown up, the sluices were opened, and the grounds in front of the French army were laid under water. A few skirmishes were, however, all that occurred; and in the early part of October the Queen's dragoons marched into quarters on the frontiers of Dutch Flanders.

1697

1698

After leaving its village cantonments in the early part of April 1697, the regiment was encamped at Bois-Seigneur-Isaac; it was afterwards employed in operations in Brabant, and on the 27th of May it formed part of a detachment of seven squadrons, commanded by Major-General de Bay, sent from the camp at Promelles towards Binche and Herlaymonte-Capelle. When on the march, the advance-guard, consisting of a squadron of the Queen's, commanded by Colonel Lloyd, encountered a squadron of French carabineers, whom the dragoons overthrew and put to flight, killing and wounding many men, and taking an officer and seventeen soldiers prisoners. The regiment was subsequently employed in covering Brussels, until the treaty of Ryswick restored peace to Europe; when it left the Netherlands and returned to England. In the following year the establishment was reduced to six troops – 286 private men.

1702

The regiment remained in England until the summer of 1702, when, war having been declared against France and Spain, an expedition, commanded by the Duke of Ormond, was sent against Cadiz, and a detachment of the Queen's dragoons, consisting of three field-officers, three captains, four lieutenants, five cornets, three staff-officers, five quarter-masters, five serjeants, fourteen corporals, eight drummers, and one hundred and eighty-six private men15, was embarked for this service. A landing was effected on the coast of Spain, near Cadiz, on the 15th of August; on the following day Rota, a town on the north side of the bay seven miles from Cadiz, was taken, and on the 21st, Port St. Mary's, situate at the mouth of the river Guadalete, was captured. The Queen's dragoons, being the only cavalry with the expedition, were almost constantly employed on piquet and outpost duty. On the 25th of August the army encamped at Santa Victoria, and in the early part of September the attack of the Matagorda was commenced. 'On the 5th of September a squadron of Spanish horse made bold to attack a small party of the Queen's dragoons, who behaved themselves so gallantly, that they put the enemy to flight, having wounded and taken an officer and two men with their horses, and on our side we had a cornet and a private man killed, and a lieutenant taken, whom the Spaniards, against all the laws of nations and arms, most barbarously cut in pieces16.'

Cadiz was found better prepared for a siege than had been expected, and the troops were re-embarked. A successful attack was afterwards made on the fort of Vigo in Galicia, and a rich fleet was captured in the harbour, for which the Queen's dragoons received 187l. 3s. 4d. prize money17.

1703

On the 31st of December, 1703, Brigadier-General (afterwards Lord) Carpenter, was appointed to the colonelcy of the Queen's Dragoons, by purchase18, in succession to Major-General Lloyd.

1706

The regiment remained on home service until 1706, when another detachment of about two hundred and forty officers and men embarked on board the fleet of Sir Cloudesley Shovel; forming part of a force of 10,000 men commanded by the Earl Rivers, and designed to invade the coast of France, on a plan suggested by the Marquis De Guiscard. The descent was, however, rendered impracticable by contrary winds, and the troops were ordered to Lisbon. In the meantime the English forces in Spain had retired from Madrid to Valencia and Catalonia, and the troops under the Earl Rivers were directed to proceed thither.

1707

The Queen's dragoons, and other forces, were accordingly re-embarked; they left Portugal in the early part of January, 1707, and, having landed at Alicant in Valencia on the 11th of February, commenced their march to join the forces under the Earl of Galway, – the united camp being formed at Caudete, on the 30th of March. The army soon afterwards destroyed several of the enemy's magazines, and besieged Villena in Murcia. Meanwhile the French and Spanish forces, commanded by the Duke of Berwick, advanced to the plains of Almanza, where the allies resolved to attack them on the 25th of April.

After a march of fifteen miles through a rugged and mountainous country, the wearied British and Portuguese troops entered an open plain between Caudete and Almanza, where the enemy, superior in numbers and artillery, was formed in order of battle. After a short halt the attack was commenced, and the detachments of the Queen's and Essex's (now the fourth) dragoons particularly distinguished themselves; being ordered to charge a battery of guns, so placed on the brow of a hill, that the artillery mules, though concealed from sight, remained close to the guns and could be instantly attached to them. The charge was made with determined gallantry, but the guns being quickly withdrawn, ten squadrons of select Spanish cavalry charged the British dragoons, amounting only to about two hundred and ninety men, killing Lieutenant-Colonel Lawrence of the Queen's, who led the attack, also Captain Smith and Cornet Petty of the same corps, and nearly annihilating the two squadrons. The greater part of the Portuguese cavalry fled from the field in a panic, when the British infantry were nearly surrounded, but the cavalry, by a desperate charge, in which three generals (Brigadier-General Carpenter of the Queen's being one) and thirty-four officers fought in the front ranks, succeeded in breaking through the enemy. The Earl of Galway was wounded, and in danger of being taken prisoner; but the spirited conduct of the dragoons enabled him to effect his escape19; and he retreated with the remains of the English and Dutch cavalry to Alceira, where he received information that the greater part of the infantry, after retreating to the hills of Caudete, had been surrounded and compelled to surrender prisoners of war.

After this disaster, the few troops which remained were employed in defensive operations for the preservation of Catalonia. The Queen's dragoons were stationed a short time at Manresa on the river Cardener, to refresh their horses; and after the fall of Lerida, the army went into winter quarters. The Earl of Galway embarked for Lisbon, and Brigadier-General Carpenter remained in command of the troops in Catalonia.

1708

The Queen's dragoons had suffered so severely at the battle of Almanza, that the officers were sent to England in March 1708, and the regiment was ordered to be recruited to sixty men per troop. The recruiting was carried on with rapidity, and the difference in the state of the regiment may be seen from two different returns in one year; in the first its numbers are 150, and in the second 303.

1709

1710

1711

1712

1713

In 1709 the regiment mustered 443 men, and it continued at the same number during the two following years; but in October 1712 a reduction of ten men per troop took place. In 1713 it was quartered in North Britain, and mustered 339 men.

1714

After the accession of King George I. in 1714 there being no Queen Consort on the throne, the regiment was honoured with the distinguished title of The King's Own Regiment of Dragoons.

1715

In the summer of 1715 the regiment marched to Glasgow, in consequence of disturbances in that neighbourhood; and on the 8th of September it joined the camp at Stirling under Major-General Whetham, which was formed to oppose the Earl of Mar, who had raised the standard of rebellion, and proclaimed the Pretender at Aberdeen, Dundee, and Perth. The Duke of Argyle afterwards reviewed the troops at Stirling, as Commander-in-Chief in Scotland.

On the 10th of November His Grace, having intelligence of the design of the rebels to endeavour to pass the Forth and to penetrate towards England, resolved to prevent them, and immediately gave orders to his troops to hold themselves in readiness. An order of battle was issued, in which this regiment and Kerr's dragoons (the seventh) formed the extreme left; and according to that order, the army marched from Stirling on the 12th, and encamped on a rising ground to the east of Dumblain, between the town and Sheriffmuir. On the 13th the battle of Sheriffmuir was fought, when each party had one wing defeated and one victorious. The King's Own dragoons were in the left wing; about six hundred highlanders surprised the infantry of that wing, in the act of forming, and put it into confusion; but upon the dragoons charging and defeating the rebel cavalry opposed to them, capturing their standard, the rebel infantry pursued their advantage no further, and Captain Armstrong, who was sent with orders from the Duke of Argyle, being killed, the infantry retired in good order. Both sides claimed the victory; but all the advantage remained with the Duke of Argyle, who captured the royal standard of the rebels, called "The Restoration," also six pieces of cannon, four waggons, and a number of prisoners. On the following day the army returned to Stirling, and awaited the arrival of reinforcements from England.

1716

On the 9th of January, 1716, the Duke called a council of war at Stirling, where an order of battle was issued, in which Carpenter's dragoons were again placed on the left of the front line. Owing to the roads being rendered impassable by the snow, no advance was made till Tuesday the 29th, when the whole army advanced to Dumblain, and thence, on the 30th, to Tullibardine. At one in the morning of the 1st of February, the Duke with his cavalry entered Perth, where he was joined in the evening by his infantry; the next day he advanced to Errol, and on the 5th, with all his cavalry, moved towards Brechin; General Cadogan leading the infantry to Aberbrothock. On the 8th Aberdeen was occupied, and it being ascertained that the Pretender had retired to France, and that the rebel force had totally dispersed, the army went into winter quarters, and the King's Own dragoons were stationed at Elgin.

1717

1718

1719

1720

1721

1722

From this time the King's Own do not appear to have been engaged in any service of importance for a period of more than twenty years. They were usually stationed in the southern and western counties of England; but occasionally occupied quarters, for short periods, in Scotland. In 1718 the establishment was reduced ten men per troop; in the following year the numbers were only 186; an addition of 21 men was made in 1720, and during that and the two succeeding years the regiment mustered 207 men.

1723

1724

1725

1726

1727

1729

In 1723 the establishment was augmented to 333 men, at which number it remained, with an alteration only of six men, until 1727, when the regiment was ordered to hold itself in readiness to embark for Holland, as part of the complement of 10,000 men which England had engaged to furnish the States; at the same time its establishment was augmented to 552 men. No embarkation, however, took place; and in 1729, the numbers of the regiment were reduced to 309.

1732

After the decease of General Lord Carpenter in 1732, King George II. conferred the colonelcy on Major-General Philip Honeywood, from the eleventh dragoons.

1738

1739

An augmentation was made to the establishment in 1738; in 1739, the breaking out of a war with Spain occasioned general orders for recruiting to be issued: – the establishment of the King's Own dragoons was raised to 435 men, and in the summer they were encamped on Hounslow Heath, where they were several times reviewed by the Duke of Cumberland.

1740

1741

During the summer of 1740, the King's Own were encamped in Windsor Forest; and in 1741, they were ordered, with several other regiments and a train of artillery, amounting nearly to 10,000 men, to prepare for embarkation for foreign service. This force encamped in July, on ground cleared for the purpose, on Lexdon heath, near Colchester: no embarkation, however, took place, and after a few weeks, the troops went into quarters in the various towns in the neighbourhood.

1742

In the meantime war was raging on the continent; the King of France and the Elector of Bavaria had united to deprive the Archduchess Maria Theresa of her hereditary dominions; and in 1742, His Britannic Majesty sent sixteen thousand British troops to Flanders to make a diversion in favour of the Austrians. The King's Own Regiment of dragoons was one of the corps selected for this service, and having been reviewed on Blackheath by King George II., accompanied by the Duke of Cumberland, it embarked shortly afterwards at Woolwich and Deptford; their colonel, Lieutenant-General Honeywood, taking the command of the expedition until the arrival of Field Marshal the Earl of Stair.

After landing at Ostend the King's Own dragoons advanced a few leagues up the country, but all active operations were prevented by the tardiness of the Dutch.

1743

Early in 1743, the British troops moved from their cantonments towards the Rhine; the King's Own, and four companies of the foot guards, forming the advance-guard of the army, were at St. Trond, in the province of Limburg, on the 9th of February, and on the 11th resumed their march for Germany. In May, the regiment, with the Inniskilling dragoons, and four battalions of the foot guards, formed a detached camp a little below the town of Hochst, in the duchy of Nassau on the Maine, and was afterwards encamped at Aschaffenburg in Franconia, a town situate on a hill on the side of Maine. In the meantime Lieut. – General Honeywood had been removed to the first dragoon guards, and the colonelcy of the King's Own conferred on Brigadier-General Humphrey Bland, from the thirteenth dragoons.

His Majesty King George II. having left England towards the end of May, landed at Helvoetsluys on the 2nd of June, and joined the army on the 9th; when he found his forces under considerable embarrassment, from the French commander having succeeded in gaining possession of several important posts on the Maine, by which means he cut off the supplies of provisions and forage.

Under these circumstances His Majesty resolved to march to Hanau, where a reinforcement of 12,000 Hessians and Hanoverians had arrived; and at daybreak on the 16th of June, the troops commenced the march along the banks of the Maine: but scarcely had they proceeded three leagues when it was ascertained that the enemy had crossed the river, and was drawn up near Dettingen to dispute the march of the army.