Historical Record of the Thirteenth Regiment of Light Dragoons / Containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment in 1715, and of Its Subsequent Services to 1842

The severity of the season detained the allies in their cantonments for a short time, during which period the Thirteenth were employed in the outpost duties, and Lieutenant Phillips is mentioned in the books of the regiment, as having shown great prudence and judgment in bringing off his piquet, when attacked and hard pressed by the enemy's cavalry. In consequence of the want of forage, pounded furze was given as food to the horses.

In February, the army again commenced operations, and the Thirteenth Dragoons were employed in the movements connected with the forcing of the line of the Bidouze and the Gave de Mauleon; and in a sharp affair with the enemy's rear-guard, private Shreenan of the regiment distinguished himself by his great gallantry. The regiment was engaged, on the 17th of February, at Sauveterre, where Lieutenant Geale and several men and horses were killed; serjeant-major Thomas Rosser[7] particularly distinguished himself on this occasion. Being detached with twelve men, he fell in with a party of the enemy of more than double his numbers, whom he charged three times, cutting down three himself, and capturing some men and horses. The same morning, previous to this affair, the mare on which serjeant-major Rosser was mounted was killed by a shell striking her in her side, and he escaped without injury.

After several other movements, the Thirteenth Light Dragoons were engaged in forcing the French position at Orthes, on the 27th of February, 1814. The right and centre of the army assembled opposite the village of Orthes, and the Thirteenth Dragoons, forming part of the body of troops destined to turn and attack the enemy's right, assembled near the junction of the Gave de Pau with the Gave d'Oleron. The village of St. Boës was carried; but the nature of the ground required a change to be made in the plan of the action. The narrow passage behind the village was opened, a body of troops, including the Thirteenth, pushed through, and spread a front beyond, and the French army was forced back with loss. Lieutenant Robert Nesbit was severely wounded; two men and two horses were killed, and six horses wounded, on this occasion. In a charge of the enemy's cavalry, which was gallantly met and repulsed by the Thirteenth, a personal rencontre took place between Lieutenant Doherty and the French officer who led it; the latter was cut down, and surrendered. Many of the enemy were sabred, and captured by the regiment. The commanding-officer of the regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Patrick Doherty, received a gold clasp, inscribed with the word "Orthes," to be attached to the riband to which his Vittoria medal was suspended.

On the following day the Thirteenth Dragoons pursued the enemy in the direction of Mont de Marsan; and on the 2nd of March, they were engaged in a slight affair at Ayre.

The British divisions continued to move forward, and the French were everywhere driven before the allied army.

The Thirteenth shared with their old comrades of the "ragged brigade[8]," the gallant Fourteenth, in the advance-duties of the army, which brought them repeatedly into collision with the enemy.

On the 22nd of March, as three troops of the Thirteenth Light Dragoons, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Patrick Doherty, with Major Boyse, Captain Macalister, Lieutenants Doherty, Drought, and Lawrence, and Brigade-Major Dunbar, approached St. Gaudens, four squadrons of French cavalry were discovered drawn up in front of the town. Undismayed by the superior numbers of the enemy, the Thirteenth advanced to the charge, and such was the ardour and determined bravery with which they rushed upon their numerous opponents, that the French horsemen were overthrown at the first shock, and they galloped in disorder through the streets; but they rallied at the other side of the town, and prepared to resist the few British troopers whose audacity they were desirous to punish. The Thirteenth being supported by the Third Dragoon Guards, dashed through the town, and rushing sword in hand upon the French squadrons, broke them in an instant, and pursued them for two miles, cutting many down, and taking above a hundred prisoners, and sixty horses. The ground was covered with cavalry equipments, arms, and dead and wounded men and horses. The conduct of the Thirteenth was highly commended in Major-General Fane's report of this action; the officers and soldiers were also thanked in orders by Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill, and the signal gallantry evinced by Captain James Macalister, who commanded the advance on this occasion, was rewarded with the rank of major in the army. The Thirteenth nobly upheld, on this occasion, their well-earned fame as bold horsemen and dexterous swordsmen; and, by their promptitude in rushing to the attack, showed that they possessed the true spirit of good cavalry, adding another to the many proofs they had already given of the insufficiency of the mere preponderance of superior numbers to resist the shock of a determined charge[9].

The Thirteenth Light Dragoons continued to form part of the force in advance in the immediate presence of the enemy; every encounter gave additional proof of the ascendancy which the British troops had acquired over their opponents, and as the war drew towards a close, this became more apparent.

On the 10th of April the enemy's fortified position at Toulouse was attacked. The Thirteenth were at their post, but no opportunity to charge the enemy occurred.

When the French withdrew from Toulouse, the regiment advanced through the town in pursuit, and occupied a chain of posts in front of the allied army.

The war was soon afterwards terminated by the treaty of Paris, and the Bourbon family was restored to the throne of France.

Thus the conquering arms of Britain had rescued kingdoms from the tyrannical power of the usurper; and the Thirteenth Dragoons, who had largely shared in the attendant toils and dangers, saw the cause in which they had been engaged, triumphant over all opposition.

After reposing in quarters a short time at Grammont, the regiment sent its dismounted men and baggage to Bourdeaux, and commenced its march through France to Boulogne, where it embarked for England, and landed at Ramsgate on the 7th of July, after an absence of four years and five months, during which period it had marched about one thousand five hundred leagues (principally Spanish); it had been engaged in thirty-two affairs, many of which were sharp and contested, besides the general actions; it had been one hundred and ninety-seven nights in bivouac, and its casualties amounted to two hundred and seventy-four men, and one thousand and nine horses.

The Thirteenth Light Dragoons marched from Ramsgate to Hounslow and its neighbourhood; and having been inspected by His Royal Highness the Commander-in-Chief, they proceeded to Weymouth. The establishment was reduced to eight troops.

The regiment embarked at Plymouth, and arrived at Cork in November. During the end of this year and the beginning of 1815, the regiment was distributed in quarters at Cork, Fermoy, Mallow, Bandon, Limerick, Clogheen, Gort, and Tallow.

On the 6th of April, 1815, the royal authority to bear on its guidons and appointments the word "Peninsula," as a mark of the Prince Regent's approbation of its conduct in Portugal, Spain, and France, under Field Marshal His Grace the Duke of Wellington, was communicated to the regiment; and shortly afterwards the veterans of the Peninsula were again employed on foreign service; the return of Bonaparte to France, his resumption of the imperial dignity, and the flight of Louis XVIII. to Flanders, having rekindled the flame of war on the continent.

The Thirteenth were augmented to ten troops; and six troops, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Patrick Doherty, embarked at Cork at the end of April and in the beginning of May; they landed at Ostend, marched up the country, and were formed in brigade with the Third Hussars, King's German Legion, under Colonel Sir Frederick Arentschildt, K.C.B.

On the 29th of May the Thirteenth were present at Grammont at the review of the British cavalry and artillery, commanded by the Earl of Uxbridge, by His Grace the Duke of Wellington, accompanied by Prince Blucher.

While the regiment was reposing in quarters, waiting for the army to commence operations, Bonaparte endeavoured, by a rapid advance, to surprise the allies and beat them in detail. The post at Quatre Bras was attacked, and this position being fixed upon as the point of concentration for the army under the Duke of Wellington, the Thirteenth Light Dragoons marched in that direction, and joined the army during the night of the 16th of June.

The regiment, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Shapland Boyse, was employed in covering the retreat from Quatre Bras to the position in front of the village of Waterloo, on the 17th of June, which had been rendered necessary by the defeat and retrograde movement of the Prussians.

At the memorable battle of "Waterloo," on the 18th of June, 1815, the Thirteenth Dragoons, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Boyse, had the good fortune to acquire additional laurels. Eminent, as British troops ever have been, for those warlike qualities which lead to glory in the hour of battle, yet the field of "Waterloo" elevated their reputation above its former standard, and the Thirteenth have the honour of being numbered among the corps which signalized themselves in the "shock of steel." The regiment was posted with the Seventh and Fifteenth Hussars in the right centre of the position in the rear of Hugomont; it charged repeatedly during the day with the most distinguished success, the enemy's cavalry and infantry, having some sharp sword conflicts with the former; it also aided in the successful attacks upon the advancing columns, penetrated and completely routed a square of infantry, and thus materially contributed to the overthrow of the French army, which was driven from the field with the loss of its cannon, ammunition, waggons, and all its matériel.

The loss of the regiment was Captain James Gubbins, Lieutenants John Geale and John Pymm, eleven rank and file, and fifteen horses killed; Lieut.-Colonel Shapland Boyse, Captains Joseph Doherty and Gregorie, Lieutenants George Doherty, Charles Robert Bowers, John A. E. Irving, James Mill, George H. Packe, ten serjeants, two trumpeters, fifty-seven rank and file, and forty-six horses, wounded: eight rank and file and fifty-two horses missing.

Captain Brooks Lawrence, upon whom the command of the regiment devolved in the course of the day, had two horses killed and one wounded under him.

The gallant conduct of troop serjeant-major Wells, who commanded Captain Gubbins' troop after all the officers had fallen, was particularly remarked; he was promoted into the second West India regiment, and retired from the Fifty-fourth regiment as a captain in 1841.

Lieutenant Doherty, besides being severely wounded in the head, was struck by a ball which was stopped by the interposition of his watch, which it flattened. He had taken out his watch to remark the time, when the regiment was ordered to advance, and not being able to return it, he put it into the breast of his jacket, and thus providentially his life was saved.

The regiment was subsequently rewarded with the royal authority to bear the word "Waterloo" on its guidons and appointments; every officer and soldier present received a silver medal, and the privilege of reckoning two years' service for that day was also conferred on the troops. Colonel Patrick Doherty and Lieut.-Colonel Shapland Boyse, of the Thirteenth Light Dragoons, were made Companions of the Bath.

The following officers received silver medals for the Battle of Waterloo:—

After passing the night on the field of battle, the regiment advanced in pursuit of the French army on their retreat to Paris, which city surrendered to the British and Prussian armies. This event terminated the campaign, Louis the XVIIIth was restored, and the British troops received the thanks of both houses of Parliament for their distinguished conduct during this short and most important struggle. The Thirteenth Light Dragoons were stationed in the vicinity of Paris, and took part in several grand reviews at which the Emperors of Russia and Austria, and the Kings of France and Prussia, were present. On the formation of the army of occupation in France, the Eleventh, Thirteenth, and Fifteenth Light Dragoons constituted the third brigade of cavalry under Major-General Sir Colquhoun Grant, K.C.B.

In the spring of 1816, the regiment having received orders to return to England, it embarked at Calais, and landed at Dover on the 13th of May, after an absence of one year and a few days, during which period its casualties amounted to three officers, sixty-five men, and one hundred and four horses.

The regiment marched to Romford, where it was reviewed by His Royal Highness the Commander-in-Chief. In June it was distributed in quarters at Newmarket, Bury St. Edmonds, Ely, Peterborough, and Cambridge; and in July it marched to York, sending, at different periods during the latter part of this and in the beginning of the following year, detachments to Carlisle, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Tadcaster, Stockton-on-Tees, Hull, Pontefract, Leeds, Halifax, and Wakefield, where they were occasionally employed in quelling riots. The establishment had been reduced in October, 1816.

The quarters were changed in July, 1817, to Brighton, with detachments at Chichester, Arundel, Hastings, and Eastbourne.

In the summer and autumn of 1818, the regiment was stationed at Manchester, Stockport, Blackburn, Bolton, and Preston, and was engaged in quelling riots.

Having received orders to prepare for embarkation for India, the regiment marched to Romford, where it was quartered a short time, and in February, 1819, eight troops, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Boyse, sailed from Gravesend; they were four months on the voyage, and landed at Madras on the 13th of June following. After a short halt, the regiment marched seventy-three miles up the country to Arcot, the capital of the Carnatic, where it was stationed during the remainder of the year.

From Arcot the regiment was removed, in the early part of 1820, to Bangalore, a military station in Mysore, about two hundred miles from Madras. At this station the regiment remained upwards of six years, and in 1826, it was removed to Arcot.

In February, 1828, the regiment was encamped at Arcot, from whence it was removed to Arnee, a town of the Carnatic, fourteen miles south of Arcot, and was stationed at that place during the remainder of the year.

The regiment left Arnee in March, 1829, and once more traversed the country to Bangalore, where it was quartered during the remainder of its stay in India.

In 1832, the regiment was again clothed in scarlet with buff facings.

The Mahommedans of Mysore entered into a combination, in which some Sepoys of the force at Bangalore joined, for the destruction of the English officers and soldiers, and the subversion of the British government in October, 1832; but the discovery of this conspiracy on the day fixed upon for its execution, caused immediate precautions to be taken, which prevented the outbreak. Many of the mutineers were taken, tried, and sentenced,—some to death,—and the remainder to transportation. The Sepoys were executed in front of the assembled force.

In January, 1833, the royal authority was given for the Thirteenth Light Dragoons to retain on their appointments the motto, "Viret in æternum." This motto was borne by the regiment when it was a corps of heavy cavalry, and known by the name of the "the green dragoons," but was discontinued on its being made light. The motto was subsequently resumed, and the privilege of bearing it was confirmed to the regiment by King William IV., as above stated[10].

In December, 1836, King William IV. was pleased to command that the facing of the regiment should be altered to green.

Two squadrons of the regiment, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Maclean, were detached to Bellary in February, 1839, and formed part of the force employed in the expedition against the Nuwaub of Kurnool. In the affair at Zorapoor, a party of the regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Cameron, pursued the fugitives across the river Toombuddra, and took several prisoners; for which they were thanked in orders. The regiment lost one man, drowned, on this occasion. The two squadrons returned to Bangalore on the 28th of November. They lost thirty-two men, principally from cholera, and six horses, on this service.

After passing upwards of twenty years in performing the important duty of protecting the British possessions in the south of India, the regiment received orders to prepare to return to England, and it marched to Madras in the beginning of 1840[11], where it was reviewed by Major-General Sir Robert Dick, K.C.B. and K.C.H., and on the following day transferred its horses to the Fifteenth Hussars; such non-commissioned officers and soldiers as volunteered to remain in India were then permitted to transfer their services to other corps.

At the frequent reviews and inspections of the Thirteenth, during their service in India, the regiment was invariably complimented on its admirable system of interior economy, its high state of discipline and efficiency, and the following orders were issued previous to its leaving Madras:—

The regiment embarked from Madras in February, and landed at Gravesend in June, after an absence of twenty-one years and three months, during which period its casualties amounted to fifteen officers and one thousand and fifty-one men.

The regiment marched to Canterbury, and the establishment was reduced to six troops.

In June of this year the regiment resumed wearing blue clothing with buff facing.

During the election at Canterbury in February, 1841, the regiment was quartered at Deal, Sandwich, and Walmer; and when the general election took place in June, it occupied Whitstable, Herne Bay, and Margate, where it received a vote of thanks from the inhabitants for its orderly and exemplary conduct.

On the 11th of May the regiment was inspected, mounted, by His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, who was pleased to express in very strong terms, to Lieut.-Colonel Brunton, his approbation of the appearance and forward state of training of both men and horses. On this occasion nearly one half of the men present had joined as recruits since the return of the regiment from India (ten months), and all were mounted on young horses, which had been bought and trained during that time.

The friendship of the "ragged brigade," which had commenced with, and had continued throughout the eventful careers of the two regiments in the Peninsula, was cemented afresh by the arrival of the Fourteenth at Canterbury, to prepare for service in India; when the Fourteenth presented the regiment with their handsome mess tables, to perpetuate in the Thirteenth a kindly remembrance of their old companions in arms.

Lieut.-Colonel Brunton's exertions to complete the regiment in men and horses had been attended with the most favourable results; and having attained a state of efficiency, it marched, in August, to Ipswich and Norwich, crossing the Thames at Gravesend.

In January, 1842, on the occasion of the visit of the King of Prussia to England to attend the christening of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, the regiment was removed to Hampton Court and Slough; and on the 4th of February the troops at the former place marched, during the night, to Woolwich, and were present in the morning at a review of the artillery previous to the embarkation of the King of Prussia. The regiment returned from Hampton Court and Slough to Ipswich and Norwich.

The Thirteenth regiment of Light Dragoons, during its long and faithful services to its sovereign and country in various quarters of the globe, has, in peace and in war, under every circumstance of service, vicissitude of climate, and the trials incident thereto, distinguished itself by the display of those qualities which ever acquire unfading laurels in the field of action, and gain respect and esteem for the British soldier.

SIC "VIRET IN ÆTERNUM."

SUCCESSIONS OF COLONELS

OF

THE THIRTEENTH

REGIMENT

OF

LIGHT DRAGOONS.

Richard Munden,

Appointed 22nd July, 1715.

Richard Munden served under King William III. in the Netherlands, and also under the celebrated John Duke of Marlborough, and was promoted to the rank of colonel in 1706. On the 6th of May, 1709, he succeeded Lord Lovelace in the colonelcy of a regiment of foot, which served in the war of the Spanish succession, and after distinguishing itself at Saragossa in 1710, it was surrounded and made prisoners in the mountains of Castille, by the army under the Duke of Vendosme. In 1711 he was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general; but the peace of Utrecht being concluded soon afterwards, his regiment was disbanded, and he remained unemployed until the summer of 1715, when he was commissioned to raise a corps of dragoons—now the Thirteenth regiment of Light Dragoons. He distinguished himself in the attack of the rebels at Preston, in Lancashire, in November, 1715; and was removed to the eighth dragoons in 1722. He died in 1725.

Sir Robert Rich, Baronet,

Appointed 19th November, 1722.

Sir Robert Rich entered the army in 1700, and gave such signal proofs of courage and skill in the wars in the reign of Queen Anne, that, on the 24th of October, 1709, he was advanced to the command of a regiment of foot. At the peace of Utrecht his regiment was disbanded, and he remained for some time unemployed; but being distinguished for his loyalty and steady attachment to the Protestant succession, he was commissioned to raise, in the summer of 1715, a regiment of dragoons, which was instrumental in suppressing the rebellion which broke out that year; but in 1718 it was disbanded. The services of Sir Robert Rich were, however, not forgotten; he was appointed one of the grooms of the bedchamber to the Prince of Wales (afterwards George II.): and on the 19th of November, 1722, King George I. appointed him colonel of the Thirteenth Dragoons; from which he was removed, in September, 1725, to the eighth dragoons; and on the 1st of January, 1731, to the seventh horse, now sixth dragoon guards. He was again removed in 1733 to the first troop of horse grenadier guards; and in 1735 to the fourth dragoons; he was promoted to the rank of major-general in 1735, to that of lieut.-general in 1739, general in 1745; and in 1757 he was advanced to the rank of field-marshal. He was a member of Parliament, and governor of Chelsea Hospital. He died in 1768.

William Stanhope,

Appointed 20th September, 1725.

William Stanhope, youngest son of John Stanhope of Elvaston, served several years in the third regiment of foot guards, in which corps he obtained the command of a company, with the rank of lieut.-colonel, and on the 17th of March, 1711, he was promoted to the colonelcy of a regiment of foot, which served in Spain, but was disbanded in November, 1712. In the summer of 1715, when the kingdom was menaced with internal war, by the partizans of the Pretender, he raised a regiment of dragoons for the service of King George I.; and when the commotions, which followed, were suppressed, his corps was disbanded. In 1717, he was employed in a diplomatic character in Spain; hostilities with that country commenced in 1719, and he subsequently served as a volunteer with the French army, commanded by Marshal Duke of Berwick. He concerted a plan for the destruction of three Spanish ships of the line, and a great quantity of naval stores, in the port of St. Andero, which was effected by an English squadron; Colonel Stanhope contributed to the execution of this enterprise by accompanying a detachment of troops, which Marshal Berwick sent, at his solicitation, and was the first that leaped into the water when the boats approached the shore. At the termination of the war, he was again appointed envoy at the Spanish court, and while employed in this service King George I. conferred on him the colonelcy of the Thirteenth Dragoons. At the commencement of the war with Spain, 1726–7, he returned to England, and was appointed vice-chamberlain to the King; he was also nominated one of the British plenipotentiaries at the congress at Soissons; and he subsequently proceeded to Spain and concluded the treaty of Seville. His distinguished merits in these negotiations, were rewarded, in November, 1729, with the title of Lord Harrington, in the county of Northampton; and on the resignation of Lord Townshend, he was nominated secretary of state, which was followed by his vacating the colonelcy of the Thirteenth Dragoons. In the office of secretary of state, his Lordship's knowledge of foreign affairs, with his application to business, moderation, good sense, and integrity, rendered him a valuable servant to the crown. On the change of the ministry he was appointed lord president of the council; and in February, 1742, he was advanced to the dignity of Viscount Petersham, and Earl of Harrington. In 1744 he was again appointed secretary of state; and in 1746 he was constituted lord lieutenant of Ireland. He died in 1756.

Henry Hawley,

Appointed 7th July, 1730.

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. 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; and was many years governor of Portsmouth. He died on the 24th of March, 1759.

Robert Dalway,

Appointed 12th May, 1740.

Robert Dalway was appointed cornet in a regiment of cavalry on the 8th of March, 1704; he served several campaigns under the celebrated John Duke of Marlborough, and was distinguished for gallantry in action, and a strict attention to duty. On the 1st of February, 1713, he was promoted to the lieut.-colonelcy of Harwich's horse, now seventh dragoon guards, and in 1739, King George II. promoted him to the colonelcy of the thirty-ninth foot, from which he was removed in 1740, to the Thirteenth Dragoons. He died in November of the same year.

Humphrey Bland,

Appointed 9th January, 1741.

This officer's first commission was dated the 4th of February, 1704, and he had the honour to serve under the renowned John Duke of Marlborough. At the augmentation of the army in the summer of 1715, he was appointed major of the eleventh dragoons, and he subsequently obtained the lieut.-colonelcy of that corps. He was employed in suppressing the rebellion which broke out in 1715, and was wounded at the attack of the insurgents at Preston, in Lancashire. He subsequently held a commission in the royal dragoons, and also in the King's horse, now first dragoon guards, and in June, 1737, he was promoted to the colonelcy of the thirty-sixth foot, from which he was removed to the Thirteenth Dragoons in 1741, and in 1743, he obtained the colonelcy of the third dragoons. He served as brigadier-general at the battle of Dettingen, in 1743, and at Fontenoy, in 1745. In the following winter he served as major-general under the Duke of Cumberland, in Scotland, where he signalized himself on several occasions, and commanded a regiment of cavalry at the battle of Culloden. He subsequently returned to the continent, and was wounded at the battle of Val, in 1747. In 1752, he was removed to the colonelcy of the first dragoon guards, which he retained until his decease in 1763.

James Gardiner,

Appointed 18th April, 1743.

James Gardiner, son of Captain Patrick Gardiner, who died while serving in Germany under the great Duke of Marlborough, in 1704, was born in 1688. At the commencement of hostilities, in 1701, he obtained a commission in one of the Scots regiments in the Dutch service, and in 1702, he was appointed ensign in a regiment in British pay. He served under the Duke of Marlborough, and at the battle of Ramilies, on the 23rd of May, 1706, he was at the head of the troops which attacked the French infantry posted in the church-yard, and while in the act of planting his colours on an elevated spot, and calling to his men to advance, he was shot in the mouth. He lay all night on the ground, and on the following day some foreign soldiers engaged to remove him to Huy; but being unable to bear the fatigue of the journey, they left him at a convent, where, owing to the kind care of the lady abbess, and the aid she procured, he recovered in a few months[12]. This year he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, and he was soon afterwards removed to the Scots Greys, commanded by Lord John Dalrymple, afterwards Earl of Stair, who became much attached to Lieutenant Gardiner. On the re-formation of the seventh dragoons, in February, 1715, Lieutenant Gardiner was appointed captain-lieutenant in that corps, and in July following he was promoted to captain, in Stanhope's dragoons, of which regiment he was appointed major in 1717; but in the following year this corps was disbanded. During the war he was aide-de-camp to the Earl of Stair, and he was attached to the splendid retinue of that nobleman, while his lordship resided at Paris, as ambassador extraordinary at that court, from whence he was frequently despatched with important information to London. While thus employed he became changed, from a sprightly participator in all the gaieties of life, to one of the most sedate and pious men of the age in which he lived, and was remarkable for his punctilious observance of religious duties. His steady attachment to the protestant succession, and numerous services, were rewarded, on the 24th of January, 1730, with the lieut.-colonelcy of the sixth dragoons, and he performed the duties of commanding officer to this corps, many years, with the most exemplary care and zeal. He proceeded on foreign service with the Inniskilling dragoons, in 1742, and soon after his arrival in Germany, in 1743, he was promoted to the colonelcy of the Thirteenth Dragoons. He commanded the regiment in Scotland, in 1745, when the rebellion, headed by the Pretenders eldest son, broke out in that country, and he eventually joined the troops under Lieut.-General Sir John Cope. During the night preceding the battle of Preston-pans, the army occupied a position near his own family residence, and he was attended by four of his domestic servants, whom he dismissed about three o'clock, on the following morning, with a pious exhortation to preserve their loyalty to their sovereign. He spent a considerable time in private devotion before the battle. At the commencement of the action, he was wounded in the left breast by a musket shot, which caused him to give a sudden spring in his saddle, when his servant, who held a spare horse, endeavoured to persuade him to withdraw, but he refused, saying it was only a wound in the flesh. In the charge, he behaved with the most heroic gallantry, and afterwards attempted to rally his men; but being unable to accomplish this, he joined some infantry, and while in the act of encouraging them, he was struck on the right arm by a Highlander with a scythe fastened to a pole. His sword dropped; other opponents came round him; he was unhorsed, and left for dead. About two hours after the engagement had ceased, his servant found him; he was alive, and the servant removed him in a cart to Tranent church, from whence he was conveyed to the minister's house, and put to bed; but he expired soon afterwards. "In person, Colonel Gardiner was strongly built and well-proportioned; in stature unusually tall; and in the expression of his countenance, intellectual and dignified. In calm heroism, he has never been excelled. The energy he displayed, notwithstanding his bodily infirmities, on the day preceding the fight, at Preston-pans, his pious exhortation to his domestics, his devotion before the battle, and his calm unflinching bravery during the contest, have thrown a romantic charm around his memory, by which it will, doubtless, be long and deservedly embalmed[13]."

Francis Ligonier,

Appointed 1st October, 1745.

Francis Ligonier, descended from the ancient family of Ligonier, many years resident in Languedoc, in France. Being of the Protestant religion, he withdrew from that country in the time of Louis XIV., and, with his brother John, (afterwards Earl Ligonier,) entered the British service. In his first commission he was designated Francis de Ligonier, but the de was afterwards discontinued. He was appointed major of the eighth horse, now seventh dragoon guards, in 1729, and lieut.-colonel in 1737, and under his care that regiment became celebrated for efficiency and exemplary conduct in quarters and in the field. He commanded the eighth horse at the battle of Dettingen, where he highly distinguished himself, and was wounded; and he was rewarded in April, 1745, with the colonelcy of the forty-eighth foot, from which he was removed in October to the Thirteenth Dragoons. He served under Lieut.-General Hawley, in Scotland, in January, 1746, and while suffering from an attack of the pleurisy, he quitted his bed to command the cavalry at the battle of Falkirk, where he again signalized himself; but fatigue, and exposure to the cold and wet, brought on a disease, of which he died a few days afterwards, much regretted by all who knew him.