Historical Record of the First, or the Royal Regiment of Dragoons / Containing an Account of Its Formation in the Reign of King Charles the Second, and of Its Subsequent Services to 1839

MEDALS FOR WATERLOO.

Towards the end of August, 1817, the Royal Dragoons marched for Scotland, and were stationed at Hamilton, Ayr, Dumfries, Stirling, and Glasgow. In June, 1818, they embarked at Portpatrick for Ireland, and, having landed at Donaghadee, proceeded to Ballinrobe, Sligo, Longford, Roscommon, and Dunmore. In November a reduction of eight serjeants, ninety-six men, and fifty-six horses, was made in the establishment.

In June, 1819, the regiment proceeded to Dublin, where it remained on garrison duty until August of the following year, when it embarked for England; and, after landing at Liverpool, marched to Manchester, Oldham, Ashton, and Altringham.

On the 19th of March, 1821, the Royals commenced their march for Radipole barracks, from whence a number of parties were detached on revenue duty; and, for the seizure of smuggled goods made whilst on this duty, the regiment received upwards of £200. In September the establishment was reduced to six troops, of three officers, three serjeants, one trumpeter, one farrier, fifty rank and file, and forty-two horses each.

The regiment marched, on the 13th of June, 1822, from the west and south-west districts, to Richmond and other villages near the metropolis, and was reviewed on Wormwood Scrubbs by His Royal Highness the Duke of York on the 6th of July. Two days after the review it marched for Canterbury, detaching troops and parties on the revenue duty.

Having called in the detachments, the regiment marched from Canterbury, on 1st of July, 1823, for the cavalry barracks near the Regent's Park, London, and on their arrival took the King's duty—the life guards and royal horse guards having marched into quarters near Hounslow, preparatory to a review, which took place on the 15th of July, when the Royals furnished a guard of honour for His Royal Highness the Duke of York, and a squadron to assist in keeping the ground. They were relieved from the King's duty on the following day, and marched for York barracks, where they arrived on the 29th of July.

From York the Royals marched, on the 24th of May, 1824, for Scotland, and occupied Piershill barracks, Edinburgh, and Perth,—with detachments at Cupar, Angus, and Forfar; and were employed, during the calamitous fire in Parliament Square, Edinburgh, in November, on three successive days, in preserving order, protecting property, and rendering assistance to the unfortunate sufferers; and the dismounted men, with the barrack engine, assisted materially in extinguishing the fire in the Tron church. The services of the regiment, on this occasion, were commended in a general order, issued by the commander of the forces in Scotland; and in a vote of thanks from the lord provost, magistrates, and town council of Edinburgh.

In the early part of March, 1825, the regiment proceeded to Hamilton, and Glasgow, and in the following month embarked for Ireland; after landing at Donaghadee, it marched to Dundalk and Belturbet, from whence several strong escorts were detached for the safe-conduct of specie,—the currency of the two kingdoms having been assimilated.

On the 30th of March, 1826, the Royals marched for Dublin, where they remained until April, 1827, and then marched for Newbridge; and in October following proceeded to Cork, Fermoy, and Bandon. The whole assembled at Cork in March, 1828, and proceeded from thence to Ballincollig.

The regiment commenced its march for Dublin on the 28th of April, 1829, embarked for England in the early part of May, and, after disembarking at Liverpool, proceeded into quarters in the town of Manchester,—the barracks at that place having been pulled down for the purpose of being rebuilt. During their stay at this place the Royals furnished a number of piquets and parties for the prevention of riot and open violation of the law by the operatives, who were in a state of disaffection: detachments were also sent to Blackburn and Bolton for the same purpose.

The death of Lieutenant-General Garth having taken place on the 18th of November, 1829, on the 23rd of that month, His Majesty conferred the colonelcy on Lieut.-General Lord R. E. H. Somerset, G.C.B. from the seventeenth lancers.

In the summer of 1830 the regiment marched to Norwich and Ipswich; at the same time the establishment was reduced to two hundred and seventy rank and file. In the autumn of this year the agricultural labourers, having been excited by designing men, committed numerous acts of incendiarism and effected the destruction of property to a most alarming extent in several counties. The Royal Dragoons were, in consequence, called upon to furnish a number of detachments to assist the civil authorities in suppressing these outrages. A resolution of thanks from the magistrates of Norfolk, acknowledging the very effective services rendered by the officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates, was forwarded by the lord-lieutenant of the county, to the general commanding-in-chief, who was pleased to express the satisfaction he experienced in being presented with so honourable a testimonial of their behaviour.

The regiment remained at Norwich and Ipswich during the whole of the year 1831. In the spring of 1832 it marched to Canterbury[67]; in 1833 to Dorchester; and in 1834 to Brighton. During the following winter it proceeded to Bristol, from whence it embarked, in January, 1835, for Ireland; and, after landing at Dublin, was stationed at Newbridge for sixteen months.

On the removal of Lieutenant-General Lord Edward Somerset to the fourth dragoons in March, 1836, the colonelcy of the Royals was conferred on Major-General Sir Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby, K.C.B., G.C.M.G., and K.C.H., from the eighty-sixth foot.

During the summer of 1836 the regiment proceeded to Dublin; and, while stationed at that place, its colonel, Sir Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby, died; and was succeeded, on the 20th of January, 1837, by Lieutenant-General the Right Honourable Sir Hussey Vivian, K.C.B. and G.C.H.

The regiment left Dublin in the autumn of 1837, and was stationed during the following year at Cork; from whence it embarked, in May, 1839, for Liverpool; and, after landing at that port, was removed to Sheffield, where it has remained until the conclusion of this memoir.

In taking a retrospective view of the services of the Royal Regiment of Dragoons, its conduct cannot fail to excite admiration. The details given in the preceding pages afford numerous instances of determined bravery, steady discipline, and constant efficiency. These qualities were eminently displayed when charging the Moorish legions on the confines of Africa, and bearing away in triumph the Mahomedan colours in 1664 and 1680;—when routing the insurgent bands at Sedgemoor in 1685;—forcing the passage of the Boyne in 1690;—on detached services in Ireland in 1691; and opposing the troops of Louis XIV. in the Netherlands from 1694 to 1697. Nor were they less conspicuously evinced when serving on the frontiers of Holland under the great Duke of Marlborough in 1702 and 1703;—skirmishing in the mountains of Catalonia and in the valleys of Valencia, under the Earl of Peterborough, in 1705 and 1706;—and charging the Spanish forces at Almanara, and at Saragossa in 1710.

The Royal Dragoons also distinguished themselves under the eye of their sovereign when fighting the French cuirassiers at the battle of Dettingen in 1743, where they captured the standard of the mousquetaires noirs; they again displayed signal valour at Warbourg in 1760; and under the Duke of York in Flanders in 1794. In numerous fights with the legions of Napoleon in the Peninsula, from 1810 to 1814, they acquired new honours: they were also engaged at the glorious battle of Waterloo on the 18th of June, 1815, where they captured one of the two French Eagles taken on that day.

On all occasions the Royal Dragoons have evinced a dauntless bearing, united with steady valour, and unshaken firmness, the characteristics of a British corps. These qualities, as well as the temper, patience, and forbearance which have distinguished their conduct, when employed in aiding the civil power on duties at home, have rendered the regiment a valuable acquisition to the crown, and have afforded the strongest proofs of its usefulness to the country.

SUCCESSION OF COLONELS

OF

THE ROYAL REGIMENT OF DRAGOONS.

John Lord Churchill.

Appointed 19th November, 1683.

At its formation the Royal Regiment of Dragoons had the honour of being commanded by one of the most distinguished officers Great Britain has produced,—a general who acquired celebrity in the field and in the cabinet,—who never fought a battle he did not win, nor besiege a town which he did not capture.

John Churchill was born on the 24th of June, 1650. At sixteen years of age he was page of honour to the Duke of York, who procured him an ensign's commission in the first foot guards; and he soon afterwards resigned the pleasures of the court to acquire a practical knowledge of his profession at Tangier, in Africa, where he served as a volunteer against the Moors, and gave presage of those bright qualities for which he afterwards became distinguished. On the breaking out of the Dutch war in 1672 he was appointed captain in the Duke of Monmouth's regiment of foot, in the service of the King of France, with which corps he served in the Netherlands, where he signalised himself by a regular attention to his duties, and by volunteering his services on occasions of difficulty or danger; and he evinced signal gallantry in 1673, at the siege of Maestricht,[68] where he was wounded. He subsequently served with the French army on the Rhine,—attracted the particular attention and regard of the celebrated Marshal Turenne,—and in 1674 he was appointed colonel of one of the English regiments in the service of the French monarch, in succession to the Earl of Peterborough. His regiment was recalled from France in 1678, and he was appointed to the command of a brigade of foot in Flanders; but the peace of Nimeguen taking place, he returned to England, and his regiment was disbanded. He became the constant attendant of the Duke of York, and being employed in several delicate missions between His Royal Highness and the King, he evinced great address.

The King having resolved to add to the regular army a regiment of dragoons for permanent service, Colonel Churchill was commissioned to raise a troop of dragoons, and was appointed colonel of the regiment, which was honoured with the distinguished title of the Royal Regiment of Dragoons. He was also advanced to the peerage of Scotland by the title of Baron Churchill of Aymouth. Soon after the accession of King James II. he was created an English peer by the title of Baron Churchill of Sandridge. On the 14th of May, 1685, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general: on the breaking out of the rebellion of the Duke of Monmouth he was sent, with a body of cavalry, to the west of England, and he was second in command at the battle of Sedgemoor. His meritorious conduct during this rebellion was rewarded with the colonelcy of the third troop of life guards, and the rank of major-general. No ties of interest, or charms of royal favour, could, however, induce him to abandon the best interests of his native country; and at the Revolution in 1688 he joined the standard of the Prince of Orange, for which he was removed from the life guards by King James. On the accession of King William III. he was restored to the command of the third troop of life guards,—appointed colonel of the royal fusiliers,—sworn a member of the privy council,—made lord of the bedchamber to his Majesty,—created Earl of Marlborough, and appointed to the command of the British troops sent to the Netherlands, to be employed in the war with France. During the campaign of 1689 he served under Prince Waldeck, and gave proof of his personal bravery, and ability to command, at the battle of Walcourt. In June, 1690, he was appointed commander-in-chief, and proceeding, in the autumn of that year, with a body of troops to Ireland, captured Cork and Kinsale. In 1691 he commanded the British infantry under King William in the Netherlands. In the following year he was confined in the Tower of London on a charge of high treason; but was subsequently released without being brought to trial, and restored to royal favour. On the breaking out of the war in 1701, he was selected by King William to command the British forces sent to the Netherlands, and to negotiate the treaties to be formed with foreign powers; and he was appointed colonel of a regiment of foot (now twenty-fourth). Queen Anne confirmed these appointments; also advanced him to the post of captain-general of her forces, and procured him the chief command of the united British, Dutch, and auxiliary troops. At the head of these forces he evinced the abilities of a great captain; he forced the enemy to take shelter behind their lines; took Venloo, Ruremonde, Stevenswaert, and Liege with surprising rapidity; extended and secured the Dutch frontiers; and was rewarded with the thanks of parliament, the approbation of his sovereign, and the dignity of Duke of Marlborough. In the campaign of 1703 he was again victorious; he captured Bonn, Huy, and Limburg; but his career of victory was impeded by the jealousy or timidity of the Dutch, which he bore in a manner corresponding with the greatness of his mind. On the 25th of April, 1704, he was appointed colonel of the first foot guards. The succeeding campaign was splendid in glorious achievements. He led his army from the ocean to the Danube; forced the heights of Schellenberg on the 2nd July, 1704, and compelled the enemy to take shelter behind the lines of Augsburg. New armies and new generals appeared, and their overthrow, at the decisive battle of Blenheim on the 13th of August, added new lustre to the reputation of the British commander: there the heaps of slain gave dreadful proofs of British valour, and whole legions of prisoners of their mercy. This victory displayed the distinguishing character of Marlborough, and produced important results: Bavaria was subdued; Ratisbon, Augsburg, Ulm, Meninghen,—all were recovered. From the Danube he marched to the Rhine and the Moselle; Landau, Treves, and Traerbach were taken; and the British commander,—courted and honoured by sovereign princes,—applauded by nations, became the pride of armies, and was rewarded with the dignity of a Prince of the Roman Empire. While his judgment swayed the councils of the states of Christendom, he led their armies to battle and victory. In 1705 he experienced disappointment from the princes he had delivered in the preceding year; but, suddenly changing the scene of his operations, he led his army from the Moselle to the Maese; Liege was relieved; Huy retaken; and the boasted impregnable French lines forced. In the spring of 1706 another campaign opened, when the discipline he had introduced, and the confidence he had inspired, again proved invincible. He met, attacked, and triumphed over the French, Spaniards, and Bavarians, at Ramilies, on the 23rd of May. This decisive action was followed by the surrender of Louvain, Brussels, Malines, Liege, Ghent, Oudenarde, Antwerp, Damme, Bruges, and Courtray; and by the capture of Ostend, Menin, Dendermond, and Aeth,—places which had resisted the greatest generals for months—for years; provinces, disputed for ages, were the conquests of a summer. So great was his reputation, that, throughout the campaign of 1707, the enemy avoided a general engagement: but in the following summer a gallant French army, led by the princes of the blood, was overcome at Oudenarde; and, although new armies and new generals appeared, the career of Marlborough could not be stopped. The barriers of France on the side of the Low Countries,—the work of half a century,—were attacked. A numerous French army were spectators of the fall of Lisle, the bulwark of their barriers. Every campaign added new conquests. In 1709 Tournay was taken; and a powerful French army posted near Malplaquet, in a position covered by thick woods, defended by triple intrenchments, was attacked. The battle was bloody,—the event decisive; the woods were pierced; the fortifications were trampled down; and the enemy fled. After this victory Mons was taken. In the succeeding year Douay, Bethune, Aire, St. Venant, shared the same fate; and the campaign of 1711 was distinguished by splendid success. A new series of lines were passed, and Bouchain captured. Nothing availed against a general whose sagacity foresaw everything, whose vigilance attended to everything, whose constancy no labour could subdue, whose courage no danger could dismay, and whose intuitive glance always caught the decisive moment and insured victory; while the discipline he maintained, and the confidence he inspired, were equivalent to an army. The French monarch saw with alarm his generals overmatched, his armies beaten and discouraged, his fortresses wrested from him, and an invincible leader with a victorious army on the confines of France, ready to carry all the horrors of war into the heart of his kingdom, and he sued for peace. A change of the ministry in England, with the adoption of a policy favourable to the French interest, was followed by the removal of the great Marlborough from all his offices dependent on the British crown. He retired to the Continent, where he remained until the accession of King George I., when he was replaced in his former posts, in which he continued until his decease in 1722.

Edward Viscount Cornbury.

Appointed 1st August, 1685.

Edward Hyde Viscount Cornbury, son of the second Earl of Clarendon, was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the Royal Dragoons when that corps was first embodied; and having distinguished himself at the battle of Sedgemoor, he succeeded Lord Churchill in the colonelcy of the regiment. The circumstances of his removal are stated at page 19 in the 'Historical Record of the Royal Dragoons.'

Robert Clifford.

Appointed 24th November, 1688.

Major Robert Clifford of the Royal Dragoons was firmly devoted to the Roman Catholic interest, and in November, 1688, by his exertions he recovered the regiment for the service of King James, as stated at page 19 in the Historical Record of the corps. At the revolution he adhered to King James, and he commanded a corps of dragoons in Ireland, until the siege of Limerick in 1691, when he was imprisoned by the Irish on a charge of favouring the passage of the Shannon by the English; and would have been condemned to death, if the town had not surrendered soon afterwards.

Edward Viscount Cornbury.

Re-appointed 31st December, 1688.

Lord Cornbury was restored to the colonelcy of the Royal Dragoons by the Prince of Orange; but was removed from his command a few months afterwards. He was governor of New York, in the reign of Queen Anne; and in October, 1709, succeeded to the title of Earl of Clarendon. His decease occurred on the 31st of March, 1723.

Anthony Hayford.

Appointed 1st July, 1689.

This Officer served in the life guards as a private gentleman, and afterwards in the Duke of Monmouth's regiment of horse in the reign of Charles II. In 1684 he was appointed lieutenant in the horse grenadier guards. In 1687 he was lieutenant-colonel of the Royal Dragoons. He joined the Prince of Orange in November, 1688; and succeeding Lord Cornbury in the colonelcy of the regiment in 1689, served in Scotland and Ireland.

Edward Matthews.

Appointed in June, 1690.

This Officer served as a volunteer at Tangier, in Africa; also in Ireland in 1690 and the following year, and distinguished himself on several occasions. He also commanded a brigade of dragoons under King William in Flanders, in 1694, 1695, and 1696; and died on the 28th of May, 1697.

Thomas Lord Raby.

Appointed 30th May, 1697.

Thomas Wentworth, son of Sir William Wentworth, baronet, was appointed cornet of the fourth horse, now third dragoon guards, on the 31st of December, 1688; and in the following summer served with his regiment against the rebel Highlanders in Scotland. In 1692 he served in Flanders, and was in the advance-guard at the battle of Steenkirk on the 3rd of August in that year, where he highly distinguished himself, and the squadron he was with, being exposed to a heavy cannonade, only brought off fifty men alive out of one hundred and fifty. His gallantry on this occasion was especially reported to his sovereign, and he was appointed aide-de-camp to His Majesty: in which capacity he served at the battle of Landen, on the 19th of July, 1693, when his conduct obtained the approbation of King William III., who promoted him to the commission of cornet and major in the first troop, now first regiment, of life guards.

Major Wentworth served with the life guards in the subsequent campaigns in the Netherlands, and rose to the rank of lieutenant, and lieutenant-colonel. He succeeded, on the decease of William Earl of Strafford, to the title of Lord Raby; was appointed colonel of the Royal Dragoons in May, 1697; and attended the Earl of Portland in the interviews with Marshal Boufflers, which preceded the conclusion of peace at Ryswick. In 1698 his lordship accompanied King William to Holland, and, on one occasion, when hunting with His Majesty, he went alone and attacked a wild boar; the animal, however, threw him down, and had already torn his clothes and lacerated his flesh, when the King sent two huntsmen to his aid, who speared the boar.

In the first year of the reign of Queen Anne, Lord Raby served with his regiment on the Continent, and in January, 1703, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general. In the spring of the same year he was appointed envoy extraordinary to the King of Prussia, and subsequently ambassador extraordinary at the same court; and on the first of January, 1705, was advanced to the rank of major-general. His lordship served in the army under the Duke of Marlborough, during the brilliant campaign of 1706; and, on the 1st of January following, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general. In 1711 he was sworn of the privy council, and appointed ambassador extraordinary to the States-General of Holland; and in September of the same year he was advanced to the dignity of Earl of Strafford. His Lordship took an active part in negociating the treaty of peace at Utrecht; but after the accession of George I., he was removed from his public employments. The Earl of Strafford died on the 15th of November, 1739.

Richard Lord Cobham.

Appointed 13th June, 1715.

Sir Richard Temple served under King William in the Netherlands; and, on the breaking out of the war of the Spanish succession, he was promoted to the colonelcy of a newly-raised regiment of foot, which was disbanded at the peace of Utrecht. He served under the great Duke of Marlborough, and was conspicuous for a noble bearing, a greatness of soul, and a contempt of danger, which he exhibited in a signal manner at the sieges of Venloo and Ruremonde, at the battle of Oudenarde, and at the siege of the important fortress of Lisle. In January, 1709, he was promoted to the rank of major-general, and his conduct at the siege of Tournay, the sanguinary battle of Malplaquet, and siege of Mons, was rewarded, in the following year, with the rank of lieutenant-general and the colonelcy of the fourth dragoons. He served under the Duke of Marlborough in 1711, and had the honour of taking part in the forcing of the French lines at Arleux, and the capture of the strong fortress of Bouchain. After the change in the ministry, and the adoption of a new system of policy by the court, the well-known attachment of this officer to the Protestant succession, occasioned him to be removed from his regiment; but on the accession of King George I. he was elevated to the peerage by the title of Baron of Cobham, and in 1715 he was appointed colonel of the Royal Dragoons. In 1717 he was appointed governor of Windsor Castle; in 1718 he was advanced to the dignity of Viscount Cobham; and in 1721 he was removed to the King's horse, now first dragoon guards. He was also one of the privy council, and governor of the island of Jersey; but resigned his appointments in 1733. On the change of the ministry in 1742 he was promoted to the rank of field-marshal, and in December of the same year King George II. conferred upon him the colonelcy of the first troop of horse grenadier guards. In 1744 he was removed to the sixth horse, and in 1745 to the tenth dragoons, the colonelcy of which corps he retained until his decease in 1749.

Sir Charles Hotham, Baronet.

Appointed 10th April, 1721.

Charles Hotham, eldest son of the Rev. Charles Hotham, Rector of Wigan, succeeded to the dignity of baronet on the decease of his uncle in 1691. He served with distinction in the wars of King William III., and also under the great Duke of Marlborough in the reign of Queen Anne; and in 1705 he obtained the colonelcy of a regiment of foot, with which he proceeded to Spain in 1706, and was in garrison at Alicant when the unfortunate battle of Almanza was fought. Sir Charles served with reputation during the remainder of the war; but his regiment, having suffered severely in the defence of several fortified towns, was disbanded in Catalonia in 1708. He was appointed brigadier-general in 1710; and shortly after the accession of King George I., he was commissioned to raise a regiment of foot, which, after the suppression of the rebellion of the Earl of Mar, was sent to Ireland, and disbanded in the following year, when Sir Charles was appointed colonel of a newly-raised regiment of dragoons, which was, however, disbanded in November, 1718.

On the 7th of July, 1719, the colonelcy of the thirty-sixth regiment of foot was conferred on Sir Charles Hotham; he was removed to the eighth foot in December 1720; and in April following to the Royal Dragoons. His decease occurred on the 8th of January, 1723.

Humphrey Gore.

Appointed 12th January, 1723.

This Officer entered the army as ensign in 1689, and saw much service in the campaigns of King William on the Continent. On the 1st of February, 1707, he was appointed colonel of a newly-raised regiment of foot, with which he proceeded to Spain in 1709, and was appointed brigadier-general on the 1st of January following. He was at the battles of Almanara and Saragossa in 1710, and was taken prisoner by the French in the unfortunate affair at the village of Brihuega in December of the same year.[69] At the peace of Utrecht his regiment of foot was disbanded; but proving a loyal and faithful adherent to the Protestant succession, at a time when Jacobite principles had become prevalent in the kingdom, he was commissioned by King George I., in July, 1715, to raise a regiment of dragoons—the present tenth royal hussars. He was removed to the Royal Dragoons, in 1723; appointed major-general on the 6th of March, 1727; lieutenant-general on the 29th of October, 1735; and he died on the 18th of August, 1739.

Charles Duke of Marlborough, K.G.

Appointed 1st September, 1739.

Charles Spencer, fourth Earl of Sunderland, succeeded to the title of Duke of Marlborough in 1733; and five years afterwards he was appointed colonel of the thirty-eighth regiment of foot. In 1739 he was removed to the Royal Dragoons, in the following year to the second troops of life guards, and in 1742 to the second regiment of foot guards; and he commanded the brigade of foot guards at the battle of Dettingen. In 1755 he was appointed master-general of the ordnance; and in 1758 commanded the expedition against France, when the enemy's magazines and shipping at St. Maloes were destroyed. He was subsequently appointed to command the forces sent to Germany; and died on the Continent in October, 1758.

Henry Hawley.

Appointed 12th May, 1740.

This Officer served the crown in four successive reigns, and held a commission in the army during a period of sixty-five years. His first appointment was dated the 10th of January, 1694; and having signalized himself in the wars of Queen Anne, he obtained the rank of colonel by brevet dated the 16th of October, 1712. He was wounded at the battle of Dumblain in 1715. On the 19th of March, 1717, he was promoted from the lieutenant-colonelcy of the fourth dragoons to the colonelcy of the thirty-third regiment of foot; and on the 7th of July, 1730, he was removed to the colonelcy of the thirteenth dragoons. In 1735 he was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general; in 1739 to that of major-general; and in the following year obtained the colonelcy of the Royal Dragoons. In 1742 Major-General Hawley proceeded with the army to Flanders, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general in the following spring, and served at the battles of Dettingen and Fontenoy. In 1746 he commanded against the rebel Highlanders in Scotland, and the troops under his orders had a sharp encounter with the enemy near Falkirk, and sustained considerable loss. He was afterwards on the staff of the army in Ireland; was many years governor of Portsmouth; and died on the 24th of March, 1759.

The Honourable Henry Seymour Conway.

Appointed 5th April, 1759.

The Honourable Henry Seymour Conway, second son of Lord Conway, and brother of Francis Earl of Hertford, was appointed lieutenant in the first foot guards in 1737, captain and lieutenant-colonel in 1741, and in 1746 he was appointed aide-de-camp to the Duke of Cumberland, and promoted to the colonelcy of the fifty-ninth (now forty-eighth) foot. He was removed to the thirty-fourth foot in 1749, to the thirteenth dragoons in 1751, and to the fourth horse in 1754. In 1756 he was promoted to the rank of major-general, and in 1759 to that of lieutenant-general: he was removed to the Royal Dragoons in the same year. He commanded a division of the allied army in Germany, under the Duke of Brunswick, in 1761; and the British forces in Germany were placed under his orders during the absence of the Marquis of Granby. He was also one of the grooms of the bedchamber to his Majesty, and a member of parliament; and having voted against ministers on the great question of military warrants, in 1764, he resigned his court appointment and military commands: but in 1768 he was appointed colonel of the fourth dragoons. In 1770 he succeeded the Marquis of Granby in the colonelcy of the royal regiment of horse guards; in 1772 he was promoted to the rank of general; and in 1782 he was appointed commander-in-chief of the army: in 1793 he was promoted to the rank of field-marshal. He died in 1795; at which period he was eldest general officer and first field marshal in the army.

Henry Earl of Pembroke.

Appointed 9th May, 1764.

Henry Herbert, tenth Earl of Pembroke, entered the army in 1752; in 1754 he obtained a captaincy in the first, dragoon guards; in 1756 he was appointed captain and lieutenant-colonel in the first foot guards; and on the 8th of May, 1758, he was appointed aide-de-camp to King George II. with the rank of colonel. In the following year he was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the fifteenth light dragoons, and proceeding to Germany, he served with distinction under the Marquis of Granby during the remainder of the seven years' war. The rank of major-general was conferred on his lordship in 1761, and in 1764 King George III. gave him the colonelcy of the Royal Dragoons. On the 30th of April, 1770, he obtained the rank of lieutenant-general, and was promoted to that of general in November, 1782. The Earl of Pembroke was author of an excellent work on horsemanship; was many years governor of Portsmouth; and died on the 26th of January, 1794.

Philip Goldsworthy.

Appointed 28th January, 1794.

This Officer was many years in the Royal Dragoons, with which corps he served in Germany during the Seven years' war. On the 18th of April, 1779, he was promoted to the lieutenant-colonelcy of the regiment; obtained the rank of major-general on the 20th of December, 1793; and in the following month succeeded the Earl of Pembroke in the colonelcy. On the 26th of June, 1799, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general. He died in 1801.

Thomas Garth.

Appointed 7th January, 1801.

Thomas Garth was appointed cornet in the Royal Dragoons on the 12th of April, 1762, and he served the campaign of that year with his regiment in Germany. He was appointed lieutenant in the same corps in 1765, captain in 1775; and in 1779 exchanged to the twentieth light dragoons, with which corps he proceeded to the West Indies, where he served many years. In 1792 he was appointed major in the second dragoon guards; and, in 1794, lieutenant-colonel of the Royal Dragoons. He served under the Duke of York in Flanders; and was rewarded with the colonelcy of the Sussex fencibles, from which he was removed to the twenty-second light dragoons. He was promoted to the rank of major-general in 1798; and in 1801 he obtained the colonelcy of the Royal Dragoons. The rank of lieutenant-general was conferred on him in 1805, and that of general in 1814. He died in 1829.

Lord Robert Edward Henry Somerset.

Appointed 23rd November, 1829.

Lord R. Edward H. Somerset (third son of Henry fifth Duke of Beaufort) was appointed in 1793 cornet in the tenth dragoons, with which corps he served six years. In 1799 he was appointed major in the twelfth light dragoons; in 1800 he was removed to the twenty-eighth light dragoons; and in 1801 he was promoted to the lieutenant-colonelcy of the fourth, or Queen's own dragoons, which regiment he commanded at the battles of Talavera and Salamanca, where he particularly distinguished himself. He was promoted to the rank of major-general in 1813; commanded a brigade of cavalry at the battles of Vittoria, Orthes, and Toulouse; and signalized himself at the head of the household cavalry brigade at the battle of Waterloo. He also commanded a brigade of cavalry in the army of occupation in France. His services were rewarded with a cross and one clasp; and the grand cross of the order of the Bath. He subsequently performed the duties of inspecting general of the cavalry; he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general in 1825; and in 1829 obtained the colonelcy of the Royal Dragoons, from which his lordship was removed in 1836, to the fourth light dragoons.

Hon. Sir Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby, K.C.B., G.C.M.G., and K.C.H.

Appointed 31st March, 1836.

Hon. Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby, second son of Frederick third earl of Besborough, was appointed cornet in the tenth dragoons in 1800, and rose in 1803 to the rank of captain in the same corps, from which he exchanged to the sixtieth regiment in 1806. In 1807 he was appointed major in the twenty-third light dragoons, at the head of which corps he distinguished himself at the battle of Talavera in 1809; and in 1810 was promoted to the lieutenant-colonelcy of the regiment. In 1811 he served under lieutenant-general Graham at Cadiz; and at the battle of Barossa, in March of that year, he attacked, with a squadron of German dragoons, the French cavalry covering the retreat, overthrew them, took two guns, and even attempted, though vainly, to sabre Rousseau's battalions. On the 11th of June, 1811, he was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the twelfth light dragoons; at the head of which corps he served under Lord Wellington, and distinguished himself, in April, 1812, at Llerena, in one of the most brilliant cavalry actions during the war. At the battle of Salamanca he charged the French infantry, broke his sword in the fight, and his horse received several bayonet wounds. He repeatedly evinced great judgment, penetration, and resolution in out-post duty, and was wounded in the retreat from Burgos, on the 13th of October, 1812. At the battle of Vittoria he again distinguished himself: his services at Tolosa, St. Sebastian, and Nive were also conspicuous; and, on the king's birth-day in 1814, he was promoted to the rank of colonel in the army. He commanded the twelfth light dragoons at the battle of Waterloo, where he led his regiment to the charge with signal intrepidity,—received sabre cuts on both arms,—was brought to the ground by a blow on the head,—pierced through the back by a lancer,—plundered by a tirailleur,—ridden over by two squadrons of cavalry,—and plundered a second time by a Prussian soldier; but afterwards recovered of his wounds. His services were rewarded with the following marks of royal favour:—Knight companion of the order of the Bath,—Knight grand cross of the order of St. Michael and St. George,—Knight commander of the Hanoverian Guelphic order,—a cross,—a Waterloo medal,—Knight of the Tower and Sword of Portugal,—and Knight of Maria Theresa of Austria. In January, 1824, he was appointed inspecting field-officer in the Ionian islands: he was promoted brigadier-general upon the staff of those islands on the 4th of March, 1824; and in June, 1825, he was advanced to the rank of major-general: he was removed to the staff at Malta, and retained the command of the troops in that island until May, 1835. In 1835 he obtained the colonelcy of the eighty-sixth regiment, from which he was removed to the Royal Dragoons in the following year. He was an ornament to his profession. In him, military talent was united with the most chivalrous bravery,—calm judgment,—cool decision,—resolute action,—and modest deportment. He died on the 10th of January, 1837.

Sir Hussey Vivian, Baronet, G.C.B., and G.C.H.

Appointed 20th January, 1837.

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