History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, Vol. 1 / Compiled from the Original Records

Although the Royal Horse Artillery, and the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Battalions were formed subsequently to the Peace of 1783, it has been considered desirable to insert a summary of the services of the troops and companies in this volume, without prejudice to a more detailed statement which will be given in the succeeding volume, when their formation will be notified in due chronological order. The Seventh Battalion brings the reader to the commencement of the present century, later than which time it has not been deemed necessary, in this volume, to go.

Commencing with the Royal Horse Artillery, it may be mentioned, shortly, that it was formed on the 1st January, 1793, and at first consisted of two Troops, A and B. On the 1st November in the same year C and D Troops were added, followed, on the 1st November, 1794, by E and F Troops. In September 1801, G Troop was formed, in Ireland, out of some detachments serving in that country; and in June, 1804, H Troop was raised at Woolwich. On 1st February, 1805, I Troop was formed at Colchester, and K Troop at Ballinasloe; L Troop at Woolwich in July of the same year, and M Troop also in 1805, although there is a little uncertainty as to the month. There were also two Rocket Troops, but there is considerable difficulty in tracing their exact history. According to the records of the Royal Horse Artillery, the Second Rocket Troop was formed before the First; but in this particular, as in another presently to be mentioned, these records are inaccurate. The following would appear to be the true statement of the case. In June 1813, some Rocket detachments, under Captain R. Bogue, were ordered to Germany, and were present at the Battle of Leipsic. In 1814 a Rocket Troop was formed at Woolwich, under the command of Captain W. G. Elliot; and on the same day Captain E. C. Whinyates was appointed to the command of the Second Rocket Troop vice Bogue, killed at Leipsic. Now, the Battle of Leipsic was fought in October—1813, and Captain Whinyates' appointment was dated the 2nd March 1814. It would appear, therefore, that the two Rocket Troops were formed together, out of existing detachments, and that the one formed at Woolwich was named the First, while that formed out of the detachments on the Continent was called the Second. Although the detachments present at Leipsic became the Second Rocket Troop, they were present at that battle not as a troop, but as detachments; and as the troop was reduced on 31st July 1816, their Leipsic services, by some mistake, were afterwards credited to the First Rocket Troop, which would actually appear to have received permission to wear "Leipsic" on its appointments in commemoration of the services, not of itself, but of the defunct troop.

In 1847 rocket carriages were given to all the troops, and the remaining Rocket Troop became I Troop of the Royal Horse Artillery.

In addition to the Second Rocket Troop, D Troop also was reduced in 1816; and, in spite of strong remonstrances,—among others, from the late Sir Robert Gardiner, then Captain of E Troop,—the titles of all the troops below D were changed, E, F, G, H, and I becoming respectively D, E, F, G, and H. The injury and inconvenience caused by this alteration of nomenclature have proved very great. K, L and M Troops were reduced at the same time, but being the juniors, their reduction did not affect the lettering of the others.

In January, 1819, B and G Troops were reduced; but on this occasion no alteration was made in the designations of the other troops. B Troop was reformed on the 1st 1855, as a reserve half-troop, under a Second Captain, and was augmented to a full troop in the following year. G Troop was reformed at Woolwich on the 1st December, 1857, and also K Troop on the same day.

On the 1st July, 1859, with the introduction of the Brigade System, came an alteration in the titles of the troops, which were now designated as Batteries of the Horse Brigade. In 1862, on account of the amalgamation with the East India Company's Artillery, the old Royal Horse Artillery became the First Horse Brigade of the Royal Artillery; and in 1864, to enable the Indian reliefs to be carried on without sending the whole of the old Horse Artillery abroad at one time, the First Horse Brigade was divided into A and B Brigades of the Royal Horse Artillery.

At the date of this work (1872) the following list shows the present designations of the old troops, as they stood in 1859:—

The military operations in which these batteries have been severally engaged, and their succession of Captains, will now be given. The more detailed history given of A Troop—"The Chestnut Troop"—is attributable to the labour taken by its Captain, the late Sir Hew Ross, who completed the records of its active service with his own hand.

C TROOP, R.H.A.,
Now "C" BATTERY, A BRIGADE.

E TROOP, R.H.A.,
Became D on that Troop being reduced in 1816,
Now "A" BATTERY, B BRIGADE.

G TROOP, R.H.A. (became F in 1816),
Now "C" BATTERY, B BRIGADE.

I TROOP, R.H.A. (became H in 1816),
Now "D" BATTERY, B BRIGADE.

L TROOP, R.H.A.,
Reduced 31st July, 1816.

1st ROCKET TROOP (afterwards I TROOP),
Now "E" BATTERY, B BRIGADE.

2nd ROCKET TROOP,
Reduced 31st July, 1816.

On the 14th August, 1794, an augmentation of five companies to the Royal Artillery was sanctioned, to be called, after organization, the Fifth Battalion. The companies were formed,—two at Plymouth and three at Woolwich,—by transfers from other battalions. Major-General Duncan Drummond was appointed Colonel en seconde; the first Lieutenant-Colonel was Edward Williams; and the Major, Robert Douglas. Captains Rogers and Miller commanded the companies formed at Plymouth, and Captains Hutton, Harding, and Sproule, those at Woolwich. The following was the strength of the five companies:—

On the 6th March, 1795, five additional companies were added to the battalion; and the total number of companies remained ten until the year 1819, when Nos. 7 and 8 were reduced; Nos. 9 and 10 becoming respectively Nos. 7 and 8.

No very great augmentation to the strength of the battalion took place during the earlier years of its existence, except in the year 1804, when a second Colonel was added, and also twenty men per company. The services of the companies were very varied and distinguished, including the Campaigns in Egypt, Cape of Good Hope, South America, Spain, and Holland.

Annexed is the history of each Company's active service, and the succession of Captains up to the introduction of the Brigade System:—

No. 2 COMPANY, 5th BATTALION,
Now "D" BATTERY, 8th BRIGADE.

No. 4 COMPANY, 5th BATTALION,
Now "3" BATTERY, 2nd BRIGADE.