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HISTORICAL RECORD

OF

THE SEVENTH,

OR,

THE QUEEN'S OWN REGIMENT

OF

HUSSARS.

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The Queen's Own Regiment of Hussars was originally a corps of heavy cavalry, and was formed of independent troops of horse and dragoons, raised in Scotland during the commotions which followed the Revolution of 1688, when a number of patriotic Scots arrayed themselves, under the banners of William and Mary, and fought against the adherents of King James II., who sought to establish papacy and arbitrary government.

After King James's flight to France, England became comparatively tranquil, and the establishment of the Prince and Princess of Orange on the throne, in February, 1689, was hailed with public rejoicings. In Scotland, the Catholic clans, and other partisans of King James were numerous; and, while the chivalrous Viscount Dundee aroused the Highlanders to arms, the Duke of Gordon held the castle of Edinburgh, of which he was governor, in the interest of the Stuart dynasty.

King William sent Major-General Mackay, an experienced officer, who had served in the armies of France and Holland, to take the command of the forces in Scotland; and, while Viscount Dundee was organising a plan of co-operation among the clans, additional corps were embodied by the government.

The Earl of Annandale, who was one of the first of the Scottish noblemen to advocate the principles of the Revolution, raised a troop of horse; a second was raised by the Lord Belhaven, a nobleman distinguished for his steady opposition to the tyrannical measures of King Charles II., and King James II.; and a third troop was raised by William, Laird of Blair: independent troops of dragoons were also embodied by several gentlemen who were zealous for the interests and welfare of their country; also several regiments and independent companies of foot.

While these corps were being embodied, Viscount Dundee descended from the mountains with several bands of Highlanders, seized on the town of Perth, and took the Laird of Blair, and his lieutenant, the Laird of Pollock, prisoners. These gentlemen were carried about like felons, in an ungenerous triumph, for six weeks, and afterwards sent to the Isle of Mul, where the Laird of Blair died, in consequence of the barbarous treatment he received.

The Earl of Annandale's and Lord Belhaven's troops of horse, having been completed and equipped, took the field, and formed part of the force under Major-General Mackay, which engaged the Highlanders and Irish, under Viscount Dundee, at the pass of Killicrankie, on the 27th of July, 1689, and were the only cavalry corps with the army on that occasion[1]. For a short time after the commencement of the action, the advantage was on the side of Major-General Mackay. When the infantry began to give way before the superior numbers of the clans, the two troops of horse were ordered forward,—one on the right, and the other on the left,—to attack the flanks of the opposing army; but, being untrained men, instead of dashing, sword in hand, upon the adverse ranks, they halted at a short distance, and commenced a straggling fire with carbines and pistols. This mode of attacking a body of men on foot of very superior numbers, could not fail to prove disastrous; and the two troops were speedily driven from the field with loss. The army was defeated; but the ability evinced by Major-General Mackay, in conducting the retreat, and in assembling another army, with the loss of the Jacobite commander, Viscount Dundee, who was killed at the commencement of the action, occasioned the result to be less disastrous than was anticipated, and the Highlanders were forced to take refuge in their mountain fastnesses.

In the beginning of 1690 the newly-raised horse were formed into a regiment, of only three troops, of which the Earl of Eglintoun was appointed colonel,—the Honorable William Forbes (eldest son of Lord Forbes), lieut.-colonel,—and Sir George Gordon, of Edinglassie, major; the dragoons were also formed into a regiment of three troops, under the command of Lord Cardross,—Jackson, lieut.-colonel, and—Guthrie, major; at the same time three of the newly-raised regiments of foot were incorporated into one, which were placed under the orders of Colonel Cunningham.

During the subsequent contest the two cavalry corps performed much harassing and faithful service; they took part in several skirmishes, and evinced intrepidity and valour; the clans were repulsed and driven back to the mountains; garrisons were placed in the heart of the Highland districts, and the adherents of King James lost all hope of success.

In the following winter the Scots army was remodelled; several corps of infantry were disbanded; and the two regiments of cavalry, of three troops each, were incorporated and constituted a regiment of dragoons, of six troops of fifty men each, of which Robert Cunningham was appointed colonel by commission dated the 30th of December, 1690; William Forbes was appointed lieut.-colonel; and Patrick Hume, major. The corps thus formed now bears the distinguished title of the Seventh, or Queen's Own, Regiment of Hussars, and its services form the subject of the following pages. Until the reign of King George II., it was distinguished by the name of its colonel.

Being constituted of men of approved fidelity and devotion to the principles of the Revolution, Cunningham's regiment was held in estimation by the government; it was quartered near the confines of the Highlands, to hold in check the disaffected clans; and was afterwards removed to the vicinity of Edinburgh. In August, 1691, a proclamation was published, proffering indemnity and pardon to all persons who would submit to the government and take the oath of allegiance to King William and Queen Mary. Before the end of January, 1692, the heads of clans had ratified their submission, and hostilities ceased in Scotland.

The British monarch had, in the mean time, engaged in a war with Louis XIV., and on His Majesty's return to England, after the termination of the campaign of 1693, the two Scots regiments of dragoons (Livingstone's, now Second, or the Scots' Greys, and Cunningham's, now Seventh Hussars) were selected to proceed on foreign service.

Cunningham's dragoons commenced their march from Scotland in February, 1694, and on arriving at Berwick they were placed on the English establishment; at the same time exertions were made to complete an augmentation of two troops, and of ten additional men and horses to each of the six old troops. The augmentation troops left Scotland in the spring, and the six old troops continued their march southward until they arrived at London, where the eight troops were united in May, and the whole embarked at Greenwich for the Netherlands.

The regiment, commanded by its colonel, Robert Cunningham, landed at Williamstadt, in North Brabant, on the 31st of May; advanced up the country to the vicinity of Arschot, and was reviewed by King William on the 16th of June, together with Livingstone's regiment: and the hardy and warlike appearance of the Scots troopers elicited the commendations of His Majesty, and of the British and foreign general officers present at the review.

After several marches the regiment was encamped at Mont St. André, where an army of eighty-eight thousand men of several nations was assembled under the command of the British monarch, and Cunningham's dragoons were formed in brigade with Eppinger's (foreign), Essex's (now fourth), and Wynne's (late fifth), regiments of dragoons, under the orders of Brigadier-General Wynne. No general engagement occurred; and after taking part in the operations of a toilsome campaign, the regiment went into cantonments for the winter among the Flemish peasantry, in the villages between Ghent and Sas van Ghent.

From its winter quarters, the regiment marched in April, 1695, to Dixmude, in West Flanders; it joined the army in May, at the camp at Arseele, and was formed in brigade with Dopf's (Dutch) dragoons under Brigadier-General Wynne.

In the beginning of June, the army advanced to Becelaer. On the 14th of that month five hundred dragoons (among whom was a large detachment from Cunningham's regiment) under the command of the Earl of Portland and Brigadier-General Wynne, left the camp with the view of intercepting a numerous French force, which was moving quietly across the country to attack the bread-waggons of the confederate army, on their way from Bruges to the camp. On arriving at Moorsleede, the French detachment was found in the village, with the streets barricaded with waggons and implements of husbandry. The dragoons instantly dismounted and attacked the barricades with signal gallantry, Cunningham's men evincing true Scottish heroism; and in a few moments the French gave way and fled, leaving a number of killed and wounded behind them, and one captain and thirty men prisoners. Count de Soissons, brother of Prince Eugene of Savoy, served as a volunteer on this occasion, and expressed, in the strongest terms, his admiration of the valour of the dragoons. Lieutenant Webb, and several men were killed; Captains Collins and Holgate were wounded. Brigadier-General Wynne, who commanded the brigade of which Cunningham's dragoons formed part, received a severe wound of which he afterwards died.

When King William undertook the siege of the important fortress of Namur, the regiment formed part of the covering army under Charles Henry of Lorraine, Prince of Vaudemont, and on the evening of the 14th of July, it was formed in order of battle, while the immense columns of the enemy, commanded by Marshal Villeroy, were seen in the open grounds in front. The two armies confronted each other during the night, and the French commander, having an immense superiority of numbers, detached a division to turn the right flank of the confederate army. The Prince ordered a retreat, which he masked with judgment; the cavalry advancing to the front—the dragoons dismounting and forming on foot at extended files, while the artillery, and infantry, with their pikes trailed and colours furled, quietly withdrew. The enemy prepared for the attack, and sent forward a cloud of light musketeers to commence the action; but the dragoons retired a few paces and mounted their horses, and when the enemy thought to have commenced the battle, the skeleton squadrons withdrew; presenting to the astonished French what appeared to be the magic spectacle of an army vanishing out of sight. The enemy's horsemen galloped forward in pursuit; but the allies effected their retreat in good order to Ghent, from whence Cunningham's dragoons were detached, with Rosse's troopers, and twelve battalions of infantry under Lieut.-General Sir Henry Bellasis, to cover Nieuport, a place celebrated for the victory gained by the English and Dutch, over the Spaniards under Archduke Albert, on the 2nd of July, 1600[2].

The regiment was stationed between Bruges and Nieuport, until Marshal Villeroy advanced towards Namur with the view of raising the siege, when it proceeded to Brussels, which city the French had, a short time previously, bombarded. The enemy's designs were frustrated; Namur was captured; the regiment left Brussels, and, after encamping a short time on the Bruges canal, went into cantonments in the villages on the banks of the canal of Ostend, in the Pays du Nord.

When the army took the field to serve the campaign of 1696, the excellent condition of this corps excited admiration; it mustered four strong squadrons, and when King William saw the regiment, he promoted its colonel, Robert Cunningham, to the rank of brigadier-general.

During the summer of this year the regiment served with the army of Flanders under the Prince of Vaudemont, and was brigaded with the regiments of Eppinger and Miremont, commanded by its colonel. It was employed in defensive operations for the preservation of Ghent, Bruges, and the maritime towns of Flanders. It passed the winter in the villages behind the Bruges canal.

On the 1st of October, 1696, Brigadier-General Cunningham was succeeded in the colonelcy by William, Lord Jedburgh, eldest son of the Marquis of Lothian.

The regiment, bearing the title of Jedburgh's dragoons, served the campaign of 1697 in Flanders with the army commanded by the Elector of Bavaria, and was formed in brigade with the regiments of Nassau-Sarbruck, and Opdam, under the orders of Brigadier-General Pyper. It took part in several operations; and in May joined King William's army in Brabant, but, subsequently, returned to Flanders. In September tranquillity was restored in Europe by the treaty of Ryswick.

During the winter Jedburgh's dragoons embarked from Flanders, and after landing at Harwich in December, proceeded to London, where they occupied quarters for several weeks; at the same time their numbers were reduced to a peace establishment.

The regiment left its cantonments in Southwark, in February, 1698, on route for Scotland, where it arrived towards the end of March.

The accession of Queen Anne, in 1702, was followed by another war on the continent; but the exertions made by the friends of the Pretender to effect his elevation to the throne, rendered it necessary to detain an efficient force at home, and Jedburgh's was one of the corps selected to remain in Scotland, where it was stationed, while the army under the renowned Marlborough was gaining laurels in Germany and the Netherlands[3], the fields of Blenheim, Ramilies, &c., giving dreadful proof of British valour.

In April, 1707, Patrick Lord Polwarth was appointed colonel of the regiment, in succession to the Marquis of Lothian, who was removed to the colonelcy of the Scots foot guards.

The king of France having fitted out a fleet and embarked troops in the early part of 1708, for the invasion of Britain by the Pretender, Lord Polwarth's regiment was held in readiness to take the field at a moment's notice, and the establishment was augmented to fifty-four men per troop; but the French fleet was driven from the Scottish coast, and the country was preserved from the horrors of civil war.

In October, 1709, Lord Polwarth was succeeded in the colonelcy by William Kerr, brother of the duke of Roxburgh.

The gallant achievements of the forces under the great duke of Marlborough had, in the mean time, removed the theatre of war from the frontiers of Holland to the confines of France; Louis XIV. assembled an immense army to preserve the interior of his kingdom from the power of his opponents; and Queen Anne sent additional corps to the scene of contest. Kerr's dragoons were selected to proceed to the Netherlands; their establishment was augmented, in March, 1711, to sixty men per troop; and in the same month they embarked at Leith, but were driven back to the Frith and detained by contrary winds until the end of April, when they sailed for Holland.

Having been detained by the weather, the regiment did not arrive until the army had taken the field, and the men and horses had suffered by being so long on board of ship; they consequently remained in Holland for a short time in quarters of refreshment, and afterwards commenced their march for the frontiers; but when passing through Brabant, they were ordered to halt at Brussels. The regiment appears to have remained in reserve during the campaign of this year.

Taking the field in the spring of 1712, the regiment formed part of the army commanded by his grace the duke of Ormond, which advanced to the confines of France, and was ready to carry the war into Picardy; but the French monarch, finding his generals overmatched, and his armies beaten and dispirited, agreed to the conditions of a treaty of peace. A suspension of hostilities was proclaimed, and the army retired to Ghent, and after encamping a short period went into quarters.

In the summer of 1713 the regiment was ordered to embark at Dunkirk for Ireland. The royal dragoons had, in the mean time, returned from Spain dismounted[4], and the government, contemplating the disbanding of Kerr's regiment, directed its horses to be embarked for Dover and delivered to the royal dragoons. The following order was received on this subject:—

The regiment arrived at Dunkirk on the 15th of August, and having delivered up its horses, embarked for Ireland on the 21st of that month.

After the conclusion of the treaty of Utrecht, the strength of the army was reduced, and Colonel Kerr's regiment of dragoons was disembodied in Ireland in the spring of 1714.

At the time this regiment was reduced, the royal dragoons and Scots greys were augmented, and many men from Kerr's dragoons entered these two veteran corps. Few months, however, elapsed after the decease of Queen Anne, (1st August, 1714,) and the accession of King George I., when a change took place in the circumstances of the British court. His Majesty arrived from Hanover on the 17th of September. The result of the measures pursued by the ministry of Queen Anne, during the last three years of her reign, was soon manifested in the prevalence of Jacobin principles, and the king found it necessary to augment the army. One of the first acts of His Majesty on this occasion, was the restoration of Kerr's regiment of dragoons, now the Seventh, or Queen's Own Hussars, by a warrant under the sign manual, of which the following is a copy:—

In compliance with this order, Captains Lewis Dollon's and Peter Renourds' troops from the royal dragoons, and Captains William Crawford's, George Dunbar's and James Levingtone's troops from the greys, (being augmentation troops raised when Kerr's regiment was disembodied,) with a sixth troop raised near London, were constituted a regiment, which now bears the designation of Seventh, or Queen's own Hussars; but was then styled "KERR'S DRAGOONS."

Soon after its second formation, the regiment marched into quarters in Yorkshire, Lancashire, and the county of Durham; and in July His Majesty was pleased to confer upon it the distinguished title of "Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales' own Royal Regiment of Dragoons"[5] in honour of Wilhelmina Carolina, consort of his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales.

The augmentation of the army, and other measures adopted by the government for the preservation of tranquillity, did not sufficiently intimidate the disaffected so as to prevent an appeal to arms. In the early part of September the Earl of Mar raised the standard of the Pretender in the Highlands, and summoned the friends of the Stuart dynasty to his aid. At the same time, the Princess of Wales's dragoons were ordered to march to Scotland and join the troops commanded by Major-General Whetham, encamped at Stirling.

At this camp the regiment remained several weeks; additional forces arrived; the establishment was augmented, and the Duke of Argyle took the command of the army. The rebel forces, ten thousand strong, advancing with the view of penetrating southward, the King's troops, not four thousand men, proceeded to the vicinity of Dumblain, to oppose the progress of the clans. On the morning of Sunday, the 13th of November, the two armies confronted each other on Sheriff-muir, and the Princess of Wales', with Carpenter's (third), and a squadron of the Inniskilling (sixth) dragoons were on the left of the line, under Major-General Sabine and Brigadier-General Newton. The action commenced on the right, where the royal forces overthrew their opponents and chased them from the field. On the left the fortune of the day was in favour of the rebels; six hundred select Highlanders surprised the infantry in the act of forming, and put them into confusion. The gallant Colonel Kerr led his regiment of dragoons (the Seventh) to the charge with signal intrepidity; his horse was killed under him; but he speedily mounted another, and his brave troopers, with some gentlemen volunteers and Carpenter's squadrons, drove the rebel horsemen before them, capturing a standard. Colonel Kerr had a second horse killed under him, and a rebel trooper fired a pistol at his breast, which did him no harm, although his coat was torn. The royal infantry on the left were unable to recover from the disorder into which they had fallen; they retired before the clans; their communication with the remainder of the army was cut off; and mingling with the cavalry, both became confused, and fell back a short distance to gain an opportunity of re-forming their ranks. They retired beyond Dumblain, and took possession of the passes, to prevent the clans penetrating to Stirling. Meanwhile, the right wing of the king's army had returned from the pursuit of the left wing of the rebel forces: the Earl of Mar withdrew with the clans during the night, and the Duke of Argyle returned with the royal forces to Stirling.

Colonel Kerr lost three horses on this occasion; the regiment had also two troop horses killed, and one man and four horses wounded.

In January, 1716, the royal army, having been augmented, advanced against the rebels, who fled in every direction. The Pretender and his principal officers escaped to the continent; the common men dispersed; and the rebellion being suppressed, the regiment went into quarters in Fife.

In the following spring, the Princess of Wales' dragoons returned to England, and occupied quarters in Yorkshire; but proceeded southward during the summer; and in December one troop was ordered to attend His Majesty on his landing from Hanover.

The regiment occupied quarters in Lincolnshire in the summer of 1717; passed the following winter in Yorkshire; and in July, 1718, was reviewed by Major-General Macartney, at Leicester.

In July, 1719, one troop was employed in suppressing riots at Halifax. In December, 1720, the regiment was occupying quarters in Lancashire, and received orders not to permit any person to land from the Isle of Man, in consequence of a report that the plague was in that island.

The regiment marched to Scotland in April, 1721; it returned to England in April, 1722; and after encamping several months near Manchester, went into quarters in the town. It encamped near York in June, 1723, from whence it marched, in the autumn, into Berkshire; and in January, 1724, detachments were employed on revenue duty on the Hampshire and Dorsetshire coast; in April following, the remainder marched into Yorkshire and Durham.

Lieut.-General Carpenter reviewed the regiment at York, in September, 1725; and Lieut.-General Sir Charles Wills, in April, 1726.

On the prospect of war between Holland and the Emperor of Germany, the regiment was augmented, in February, 1727, to nine troops, and four regiments of cavalry and eight of infantry were held in readiness to assist the Dutch; but no embarkation took place.

King George I. died in June of this year, on his journey to Hanover; and his son, George, Prince of Wales, succeeded to the throne: the Princess of Wales became Queen, and this regiment was honoured with the title of "The Queen's Own Regiment of Dragoons." It marched to the vicinity of Hounslow in October, and was reviewed on the heath, on the 28th of that month, by King George II., who was pleased to express his high approbation of its appearance and discipline. After the review it marched into cantonments in Dorsetshire and Somersetshire, with a detachment on revenue duty on the Sussex coast.

A detachment attended the Princess Amelia at Bath, in May, 1728; in July the regiment was reviewed at Salisbury; and in the autumn another detachment was ordered to attend the Princess Amelia at Bath.

In 1729 the establishment was reduced from nine to six troops. In 1730 the regiment occupied cantonments in Dorsetshire, Somersetshire, and Wiltshire; and was reviewed on Hounslow-heath, on the 15th of May, 1731, by King George II., attended by several noblemen and general officers; its warlike appearance, the condition of the horses, and the discipline of the regiment, were commended.

After the review, the Queen's Own Dragoons returned to their former quarters; in 1732 they were removed to Gloucestershire and Herefordshire; and in April, 1733, they commenced their march for Scotland, where they remained during the following year.

Returning to England in April, 1735, the Queen's Own dragoons proceeded into quarters in Leicestershire and Staffordshire, with detachments on revenue duty on the coasts of Lincolnshire and Norfolk, in which duties they were employed during the remainder of that and in the two succeeding years; and in 1738 they marched into quarters in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire. In 1739 they furnished detachments on coast duty in Sussex; at the same, war having been declared against Spain, the establishment was augmented to four hundred and thirty-five men.

During the summer of 1740, the Queen's Own dragoons were encamped, with four other regiments of cavalry and four of infantry, near Newbury, under the orders of Lieut.-General Wade; and subsequently near Kingsclear; in October the regiment marched from the camp to cantonments in Gloucestershire and Monmouthshire. In 1741 they marched into Scotland.

The Honourable William Kerr, after commanding the regiment upwards of thirty years with reputation to himself, and advantage to the service, was succeeded in the colonelcy by Major-General Sir John Cope, K.B., by commission, dated the 12th of August, 1741.

In the mean time, the death of Charles VI., Emperor of Germany, had been followed by war on the continent; and the Elector of Bavaria, aided by the French monarch, was endeavouring to deprive the Archduchess, Maria Theresa, of the kingdoms of Hungary and Bohemia.

The Queen's Own dragoons left Scotland in April, 1742: and soon after their arrival in England, they were selected to form part of an army of sixteen thousand men, sent to the Netherlands under the command of Field-Marshal the Earl of Stair, to support the interests of the Queen of Hungary and Bohemia. The regiment embarked in the early part of August; and after landing at Ostend, marched a few stages up the country, where it halted until the beginning of the following year.

In February, 1743, the regiment commenced its march for Germany; and after taking part in several manœuvres, it was encamped at Aschaffenburg, where King George II. and the Duke of Cumberland joined the army. On the 26th of June, as the troops were marching along the bank of the river Maine, a French force was discovered in position near Dettingen, a village in the Bavarian States, in the circle of the Lower Rhine; and King George II. commanded the British, Austrians, and Hanoverians to form line opposite the enemy. After a severe cannonade of several hours' duration, the French advanced from their formidable position, and a series of charges of cavalry, with a heavy fire of musketry, commenced on the left of the allied army, and extended along the front. During the heat of the engagement, the regiment which forms the subject of this memoir, had an opportunity of displaying its intrepidity and prowess in close combat with the cavalry of the opposing army, and obtained the approbation of its sovereign. The British dragoons encountered the French gens d'armes and household cavalry, and, though without armour, they fought their steel-clad opponents with signal gallantry. Twice the British horsemen were forced back; but, rallying and returning to the charge, at the third onset they overthrew the opposing squadrons, and chased them from the field with great slaughter, and with the loss of several standards and kettle drums. The infantry of the allied army evinced great bravery, and a complete victory was gained over the enemy.