During the campaigns from 1702 to 1706 the British regiments of horse had not worn cuirasses. In the preceding century armour had, as already stated, fallen, to a great extent, into disuse; several English regiments of heavy cavalry delivered their cuirasses into the Tower of London in November, 1688; but subsequently had them returned: they were, however, again placed in store after the peace of Ryswick. The French and other continental nations had continued the use of defensive armour, and it having been observed that the English heavy cavalry, though they proved victorious, frequently sustained a very serious loss in killed, they were, in order to place them on an equality with their antagonists, again supplied with cuirasses in the spring of 1707.

In the summer of this year, when the regiment took the field, it again appeared as a corps of Cuirassiers: the campaign was passed in manœuvring; and the French acting on the defensive, a few skirmishes between detached parties was all the fighting which took place.

The following campaign was, however, distinguished by more important events. The enemy assembled an immense army, and advancing from behind their lines, gained possession of Ghent and Bruges (which places had been wrested from them in 1706), and advanced to Oudenarde, with the design of besieging that town. The Duke of Marlborough sent Major-General Cadogan forward with three brigades of infantry and eight squadrons of Hanoverian cavalry, and following with the main army, this movement brought on a general engagement, which was fought in the ground near the banks of the Scheldt on the 11th of July. The reputation already acquired by the British regiments of horse, occasioned them to be accounted a choice body of troops; and they were kept in reserve ready to advance at the moment when a powerful charge of heavy cavalry was likely to prove decisive. For a short time they were formed in column behind the right wing; and advancing from thence, supported the attacks of the infantry; but the enemy was overpowered, and darkness put an end to the conflict before this compact body of Cuirassiers was called upon to charge.

After this victory, the Duke of Marlborough was joined by a body of Germans, under the orders of Prince Eugene of Savoy, and, to the astonishment of all Europe, these two commanders resolved to besiege the important fortress of Lisle. Cadogan's Cuirassiers formed part of the covering army, and the attempts of the enemy to raise the siege were all frustrated.

Six hundred waggons, laden with necessaries for the army, were advancing from Ostend towards Lisle, under an escort commanded by Major-General Webb; and the enemy having detached twenty-two thousand men to intercept this convoy, the Duke of Marlborough sent Major-General Cadogan with a body of horse to reinforce the guard, and this regiment formed part of the force sent forward. The enemy attacked the convoy in the wood of Wynendale, and Major-General Webb made a most skilful and gallant defence. As this regiment approached the wood, the noise of combat was heard; the squadrons galloped forward, and the moment they arrived at the scene of conflict, the French desisted, and made a precipitate retreat; and the waggons were brought in safety to the camp. The fate of Lisle depended, in a great measure, on the safe arrival of this convoy; and Major-General Webb was rewarded with the thanks of Parliament and the approbation of Queen Anne for his conduct.

The siege of Lisle was continued, and the enemy being unable to relieve the place, resolved to make an attack upon Brussels. The covering army, of which Cadogan's Cuirassiers formed part, was put in motion; and having forced the passage of the Scheldt, the Elector of Bavaria raised the siege of Brussels and retreated. The citadel of Lisle surrendered on the 9th of December, and Ghent and Bruges were also recaptured before the army entered into winter quarters.

In the summer of 1709, when the siege of the strong fortress of Tournay was resolved upon, this was one of the regiments which first invested the town on the 27th of June, 1709. After the capture of this place, the army advanced towards Mons, the capital of the province of Hainault, with the design of capturing that important city. The French army, commanded by Marshals Villiers and Boufflers, manœuvred to prevent the loss of Mons, and this brought on the sanguinary battle of Malplaquet, where the British regiments of horse encountered enemies who fought with greater spirit and obstinacy than on any former occasion during this war. This battle was fought on the 11th of September, 1709. The enemy had an advantageous position, covered by thick woods, protected by barriers of trees cut down and laid across each other, with a treble entrenchment, batteries, and pallisades; and within these formidable works were collected the choicest troops of France under commanders of renown. This post was attacked with a bravery which overcame all opposition; the woods were pierced, the obstacles were overcome, and the fortifications were trampled down. The position having been forced, the Duke of Marlborough led the British Cuirassiers and Prussian cavalry against the French gens d'armes, who were routed and chased from the ground; but scarcely were these squadrons overcome, when the British and Prussian horse encountered a compact line of French cavalry of the royal household, and were driven back in some disorder. The British horse soon rallied, and returning to the charge, overcame their celebrated adversaries, and the French squadrons were driven from the field. The allies were victorious, but they sustained a severe loss in killed and wounded.

Cadogan's Horse were afterwards employed in covering the siege of Mons, which was terminated by the surrender of the place on the 20th of October.

During the campaign of 1710, the regiment was employed in covering the sieges of Douay, Bethune, Aire, and St. Venant, and in protecting convoys of military stores to the besieging troops.

In the summer of 1711, the imperialists, under Prince Eugene, having returned to Germany, the Duke of Marlborough confronted the French army with the forces under his orders. The French had constructed very extensive and strong lines of fortifications to cover their frontiers, and within these lines they had collected a numerous army. The Duke, by a skilful device, induced them to destroy their fort at Arleux; and then, by menacing their lines between the head of the Sanzet and Hesdin, caused them to withdraw part of their garrisons from Arras and Cambray, with the troops which guarded the lines in the direction of Arleux. In the mean time his grace was continually sending detachments towards Douay, where a considerable body of troops was assembled without attracting notice, and amongst these forces were the two squadrons of Cadogan's Cuirassiers. Having reconnoitred the lines on the 4th of August, the Duke gave orders for the troops to prepare for the attack on the following morning, and the French army prepared to receive him with eclat; but at the dead of the night, Lieutenant-General Cadogan, having advanced with great secrecy with the troops from Douay, passed the lines at the causeway of Arleux, which the French commander, in his anxiety to collect all the troops he could to resist the menaced attack, had left unguarded; and the main army struck its tents in the night, and marched in the same direction. When Marshal Villiers heard that his lines were passed, he was astounded. He took with him the household cavalry, and, ordering his army to follow as quickly as possible, rode with all speed, until he came within the English out-guards, and his feelings were so excited, that he was nearly surrounded by a troop of Cadogan's Horse before he was conscious of danger; he had proceeded with such rapidity that the whole of his escort, except a hundred of the best mounted dragoons, was left behind; he ordered these dragoons to throw themselves into the old castle of Oisy, which was at hand, and himself and two officers of his staff escaped; but the dragoons were surrounded and made prisoners.

Having thus passed these extensive lines, which the French commander had vauntingly called Marlborough's ne plus ultra, his grace besieged the strong and important fortress of Bouchain, situate on the Scheldt, in the taking of which place, difficulties of great magnitude had to be overcome. Marshal Villiers, by a secret march, during the night of the 9th of August, gained possession of the heights of Wavrechin, in order to preserve the line of communication which runs from thence, through a morass between the Scheldt and the Senset, to the town of Bouchain, that he might be enabled to relieve the garrison from time to time. The Duke of Marlborough, observing the enemy at work, throwing up entrenchments on the hill, ordered Lieutenant-Generals Cadogan and Fagel to march with a body of troops, of which Cadogan's Horse formed part, to dislodge the French. As the British grenadiers advanced to the attack, his grace rode forwards to reconnoitre the works on the hill; and observing that the entrenchment was a perfect bulwark, strong and lofty, and crouded with men and cannon, he gave orders for the troops to retire.

On the following day Marshal Villiers issued from the works with a hundred hussars, to observe the progress of his opponent, and encountered Lieutenant-General Cadogan, who was reconnoitering with a squadron of horse. A skirmish ensued, and four squadrons of French carabineers advanced to aid the marshal. Cadogan, being thus out-numbered, made a precipitate retreat, which occasioned the enemy to pursue with great eagerness. Meanwhile, Cadogan's Horse and two other squadrons, advanced from the camp, and formed up beyond the summit of a rising ground, where they were out of the enemy's sight; and the moment the French carabineers appeared on the top of the hill, they were charged by Cadogan's squadrons with such resolution, that they were immediately broken. Marshal Villiers was in danger of being surrounded and taken prisoner, but a French brigadier-general interposed, with singular bravery, and rescued the marshal. The gallant brigadier was severely wounded and taken prisoner, and most of his men cut down by the British Cuirassiers; and Marshal Villiers galloped back with his shattered squadrons with greater haste than he had advanced.

Fortifications were afterwards constructed, with a causeway through the inundations, and the communication between the town of Bouchain and the troops on the heights of Wavrechin was cut off. The siege was prosecuted with zeal and energy, and Marshal Villiers and a numerous French army were spectators of the capture of this important fortress. After the works were repaired and the place put in a state of defence, the troops were placed in winter quarters.

The splendid successes of the army commanded by the Duke of Marlborough, who never fought a battle which he did not win, nor besieged a town which he did not capture, had effected a complete revolution in the affairs of Europe, and the King of France saw his generals over-matched,—his armies beaten and dispirited,—his possessions wrested from him,—the barriers of his kingdom trampled down,—his fortresses captured, and a powerful army, with an invincible leader, ready to carry all the horrors of war into the heart of France: with his designs thus frustrated, and his kingdom thus menaced, the ambitious Louis XIV., who had thought to have dictated laws to christendom, became a negociator for peace.

In the summer of 1712, while the conditions of the treaty were under consideration, the regiment again took the field, and, advancing to the frontiers of France, formed part of the army under the orders of the Duke of Ormond, and encamped at Cateau-Cambresis during the siege of Quesnoy.

A suspension of hostilities was soon afterwards published between the British and French, and the army retired from Cateau-Cambresis to Ghent, where the English Cuirassiers and several other corps were encamped for a short time, and afterwards were placed in quarters.

Political events connected with the amity which had been induced between the British and French courts, in consequence of a change of measures; the conditions of the treaty of peace then under consideration; and the disagreement between the Duke of Marlborough and Queen Anne; occasioned Lieutenant-General Cadogan, who was a stanch Protestant and a warm advocate for the succession of the house of Hanover, to be called upon to dispose of his commission; and he was succeeded in the Colonelcy of this regiment by Lieutenant-General George Kellum, who had been many years the Lieutenant-Colonel of the regiment, and whose commission as Colonel was dated 22nd of December, 1712.

The regiment, now styled Kellum's Horse, was placed upon the Irish establishment in June, 1713; but it remained in comfortable quarters in Flanders until the early part of the year 1714, when it embarked for Ireland. The treaty of peace having been concluded, the troopers of this regiment could look back with triumph and exultation at their brilliant career during the late eventful and important war; and although there were circumstances connected with the conduct of their government calculated to produce painful feelings, yet, conscious of their own merit and justly acquired fame, the officers and soldiers could rejoice that, by their well-directed exertions, they had humbled the enemies of their country, the British troops had become celebrated for valour and intrepidity throughout Europe, and that the turmoil and horrors of war were succeeded by the blessings and enjoyments of peace.

After its arrival in Ireland, the regiment was stationed for a short time at Dublin; and having been thus removed from the scenes of conflict and bloodshed in which it had for several years been engaged, to the more pacific and easy duties of home service, the Cuirasses were again returned into store. Ireland was not, however, in a state of internal tranquillity; the decease of Queen Anne and the accession of King George I. were followed by great exertions on the part of the friends of the house of Stuart, who were numerous in Ireland; and when the rebellion broke out in Scotland in 1715, and extended itself to England, this event gave buoyancy to the expectations of the malcontents in Ireland. The troops in Ireland were kept in a state of constant readiness for active service; several corps embarked for England, and the fidelity of the ARMY preserved the kingdom from anarchy and papal domination; by the exertions of the troops the rebellion was suppressed, and the country restored to tranquillity.

In the spring of 1717, Lieutenant-General George Kellum retired from the service, and King George I. was graciously pleased to confer the Colonelcy on the Lieutenant-Colonel, Robert Napier, who was celebrated for his conduct at the head of the regiment in several actions in the Netherlands, and was wounded in the action at Schellenberg.

About this period, the distinguishing colour, or facing of the regiment, was changed from buff to green, and it has continued of this colour to the present time (1838); its lace was also changed from silver to gold. The men having green waistcoats, breeches, and horse furniture, the regiment was emphatically styled the Green Horse, and this appellation has been continued to the present time.

The regiment remained in Ireland performing a successive routine of court and country duties, at the establishment of twenty-five private men per troop, until 1740, when an augmentation of ten men per troop was made to its numbers.

After the decease of Lieutenant-General Robert Napier, King George II. conferred the Colonelcy of the regiment on Major-General Clement Neville, from the Eighth Dragoons, his commission bearing date the 6th of May, 1740.

Another war having broken out on the continent, the establishment of the regiment received a further addition of ten men per troop in 1741. In the following year a British army was sent to Flanders under Field-Marshal the Earl of Stair; but the necessity for retaining a considerable body of troops in Ireland, occasioned this regiment to remain in that country. It, however, sent a detachment of sixty men and horses to Flanders in the beginning of 1743, to complete the three regiments of horse on foreign service, and another detachment was sent in 1744.

Lieutenant-General Neville died on the 5th of August, 1744, and was succeeded in the Colonelcy of the regiment by Richard Viscount Cobham, who, when Sir Richard Temple, highly distinguished himself in the wars of Queen Anne. He was removed in 1745 to the Tenth Dragoons, when His Majesty conferred the command of this regiment on Major-General Thomas Wentworth, from the Twenty-fourth Foot.

When this regiment was first raised, it ranked as Seventh Horse; in 1690, the Fifth regiment of Horse was disbanded in Ireland, and the Sixth Horse became Fifth, and this regiment obtained rank as Sixth Horse, which rank it held until December, 1746, when the First Horse,—the royal regiment of Horse Guards,—ceased to bear a number: the Second, Third, and Fourth Horse were then constituted the First, Second, and Third Dragoon Guards; and this regiment was styled the Second Irish Horse, and sometimes called the Green Horse from the colour of its facings.

In 1747, Major-General Thomas Wentworth died at Turin, where he was employed in a diplomatic capacity, and was succeeded in the Colonelcy of the Second Irish Horse, by Major-General Thomas Bligh, from the Twelfth Dragoons.

On the conclusion of a treaty of peace at Aix-la-Chapelle, a considerable diminution was made in the strength of the regular army, and in 1749 the establishment of the Second Irish Horse was reduced to twenty-one private men per troop.

From the period of the formation of the regiment, several alterations had, from time to time, been made in the uniform and standards. The practice of having a standard to each troop had been discontinued, and one to each squadron was substituted. In 1742, King George II. caused a series of coloured engravings, representing the uniform of the several regiments of the army to be executed; and, as a few alterations had subsequently been made, a warrant was issued on the 1st of July, 1751, regulating the standards, colours, and clothing of the several regiments, from which the following particulars have been extracted relative to the Second Irish Horse:—

Coats.—Scarlet, the facings and lapels of full green; the button-holes worked with yellow, the buttons set on two and two; and a long slash pocket in each skirt.

Waistcoats } full green.
Breeches    }

Hats.—Three-cornered cocked-hats, bound with yellow lace, and ornamented with a brass loop and a black cockade.

Boots.—Made of jacked leather.

Trumpeters.—Clothed in full green coats, faced and lapelled with red, and ornamented with white lace, having a red stripe down the middle: their waistcoats and breeches of red cloth.

Horse Furniture of full green; the holster caps and housings having a border of broad white lace with a red worm down the centre, and II H embroidered on a red ground, within a wreath of roses and thistles on each corner of the housings; and on the holster caps, the King's cypher and crown, with II H underneath.

Standards.—The first, or King's standard, to be of crimson damask, embroidered and fringed with gold; the rose and thistle conjoined, and crown over them in the centre; and underneath, His Majesty's motto, Dieu et mon droit: the white horse in a compartment in the first and fourth corners, and II H in gold characters, on a full green ground, in a compartment in the second and third corners. The second and third standards to be of full green damask, embroidered and fringed with gold; the rank of the regiment in gold Roman characters on a crimson ground, within a wreath of roses and thistles on the same stalk, and the motto, Vestigia nulla retrorsum, underneath: the white horse on a red ground in the first and fourth compartments, and the rose and thistle conjoined upon a red ground in the second and third compartments.

Officers to be distinguished by narrow gold lace or embroidery to the binding and button-holes of their coats; sword knots of crimson and gold in stripes; and crimson silk sashes worn over the left shoulder.

On the 23d of October, 1758, Lieutenant-General Bligh was succeeded in the Colonelcy of the regiment by Major-General the Honourable John Waldegrave (afterwards Earl Waldegrave), who was removed to the Second Dragoon Guards in the following year. The Colonelcy appears to have remained vacant from September, 1759, to November, 1760, when it was conferred by King George III. on Major-General the Honourable John Fitz-William from the Second, or Queen's Royal Regiment of Foot.

Another war having commenced in 1756, between Great Britain and France, a British army was sent to Germany in 1758; the establishment of this regiment was augmented to forty-nine private men per troop; and in 1762 the order prohibiting the regiment recruiting in Ireland was rescinded.

The success of the British arms in Canada, the West Indies, and Germany, was followed by a treaty of peace, and after the return of the cavalry regiments from Germany, in the beginning of 1763, the establishment of the Second Irish Horse was again reduced to twenty-one private men per troop.

At this low establishment the regiment continued until the breaking out of the unfortunate contest between Great Britain and her North American colonies, when an augmentation of ten private men per troop was made to its numbers. No further alteration appears to have been made until the conclusion of the war, when, the independence of the United States having been acknowledged, its establishment was reduced to its former numbers.

At this establishment it continued until the spring of 1788; when King George III., having resolved to form the two troops of Life Guards and two troops of Horse Grenadier Guards into two regiments of Life Guards on a similar establishment to that of the old regiments of horse, and to reduce the four regiments of horse on the Irish establishment to the pay of dragoons, with the title of Dragoon Guards, His Majesty's pleasure was communicated to the regiments in Ireland, in a General Order dated the 14th of February, 1788; and the Second Irish Horse was thus constituted the Fifth Dragoon Guards. In consequence of the regiment being placed upon a decreased rate of pay, compensation was given to the officers; to the colonel 150l. per year; to the lieutenant-colonel a gratuity of 575l.; to the major 525l.; captains, each, 475l.; captain-lieutenant and lieutenants, each, 350l.; and the cornets, each, 250l. Every private man had the option of his discharge, or a bounty of two guineas if he continued to serve.

Several alterations were made in the uniform of the regiment. The officers were directed to wear an epaulette on each shoulder. The flask-string was removed from the pouch belt, and the width of the belts reduced from four inches and a half to three inches; and the equipment was assimilated, in every particular, to that of the regiments of dragoons.

The establishment was fixed at one colonel and captain, one lieutenant-colonel and captain, one major and captain, three captains, six lieutenants, six cornets, one chaplain, one adjutant, one surgeon, six troop quarter-masters, six serjeants, twelve corporals, six trumpeters, one hundred and fourteen private men, and six dismounted men. The several alterations having been completed, the change of establishment took place on the 1st of April, 1788, and from this date the regiment has borne the title of Fifth Dragoon Guards; but the appellation of Green Horse has never been entirely discontinued.

In the following year, the regiment lost its colonel, General the Honourable John Fitz-William, who was succeeded on the 27th of August, 1789, by Lieutenant-General John Douglas, from the Fourteenth Foot. Lieutenant-General Douglas died on the 10th of November, 1790, and was succeeded by Major-General Thomas Bland, from the Lieutenant-Colonelcy of the Seventh Dragoons.

After passing a period of nearly eighty years in Ireland, the regiment, having previously had a considerable augmentation made to its numbers, was ordered to hold itself in readiness for foreign service. This event was occasioned by the revolution which had taken place in France, where a party of republicans had seized the reins of government, had imprisoned the royal family, and had brought their sovereign to the scaffold; a proceeding which disorganized the state of society in one of the most civilized parts of the world,—gave rise to the formation of a new dynasty,—removed the basis on which the sovereign power was established,—and involved the great European states in a succession of destructive wars for a period of more than twenty years. Great Britain joined the confederacy against the regicide government of France, and sent, in the spring of 1793, a body of troops to the Netherlands, under the command of His Royal Highness the Duke of York. At the close of the summer, reinforcements were sent to Flanders, and on the 18th and 19th of September, the Fifth Dragoon Guards embarked at Dublin for the same destination.

After occupying winter quarters in Flanders, the regiment took the field under the orders of Lieutenant-Colonel the Honourable R. Taylor, and entered on a scene of action in a part of Europe where it had, nearly a century before, acquired numerous honours under the great Marlborough, and its conduct did not derogate from its ancient reputation. It was first employed in the attack of the enemy's post at Prêmont, on the 17th of April, 1794, but was not called upon to charge; and it subsequently formed part of the covering army during the siege of Landrécies.

While this siege was in progress, the British troops, under the Duke of York, were encamped at Cateau. On the morning of the 26th of April, which was gloomy and dark, and a thick mist covered the face of nature, the advance of an hostile force was heard, but its movements could not be discerned. At length, the rays of the sun revealed the movements of a French force of thirty thousand men, under Lieutenant-General Chapuy; and a body of cavalry, of which the Fifth Dragoon Guards formed part, was detached, under Lieutenant-General Otto, against the enemy's left flank, while a sharp attack was made on the enemy's front. This movement was conducted with great caution, the enemy's flank was turned, the trumpets sounded a charge, and the British horsemen rushed with irresistible fury upon the ranks of the hostile legions. The French were overthrown and defeated; their commander, Lieutenant-General Chapuy, a number of officers and men, and thirty-five pieces of cannon were captured, and their flying divisions were pursued with immense slaughter to the gates of Cambray. The Duke of York passed the highest commendations on the Fifth Dragoon Guards and other troops detached against the enemy's left flank, and declared they had "all acquired immortal honour to themselves." His Royal Highness further stated, "the conduct of the British cavalry was beyond all praise." The loss of the regiment on this occasion was nine men and twenty-three horses killed; one officer, one quarter-master, eight men and nine horses, wounded; four men and twenty-three horses missing.

After the surrender of Landrécies, the British forces took up a position in front of Tournay, where they repulsed an attack of the enemy on the 10th of May. During the action, a favourable opportunity presented itself for attacking the enemy's right flank; Lieutenant-General Harcourt was detached with sixteen squadrons of British and two of Austrian cavalry, and attacked the enemy with so much resolution and intrepidity, that they immediately began their retreat, in the course of which they were soon broken, and they sustained great loss, including thirteen pieces of cannon, and above four hundred officers and men taken prisoners.

A combined attack was made on the French positions on the 17th of May, but failed from some of the columns not arriving in time at the posts allotted to them.

On the 22nd of May, the French attacked the British position in front of Tournay with an immense force. The Fifth Dragoon Guards were formed up ready for action on their camp ground all the day; but the French did not attack that part of the line; and they were repulsed in their attempts in the other parts of the field.

At length, the defeat of the Austrians having rendered the position occupied by the British in front of Tournay no longer tenable, the troops were withdrawn, and the campaign degenerated into a series of retreats, which were ably conducted under numerous difficulties.

During this short but eventful campaign the British troops had maintained their ancient reputation; but the army was not of sufficient numbers to cope with the enormous masses of the enemy, which darkened the land like a gloomy tempest. In the retreat through Holland, and in the distresses and privations of the winter campaign amidst snow and ice, the Fifth Dragoon Guards took part, and in the early part of 1795 they arrived in Germany.

The regiment remained in Germany during the following summer, and encamped in one of the plains of the Duchy of Bremen, under the orders of Major-General Sir David Dundas; and in November it embarked for England.

In October, 1796, the regiment proceeded to Ireland, which country was in a state bordering on open rebellion. The malcontents had entered into arrangements with the republican government of France, and a French armament was prepared, under the orders of General Hoche, to assist the Irish Roman Catholics in effecting their separation from England, and in forming themselves into a republic. On the 24th of December the French fleet appeared in Bantry Bay; and the Fifth Dragoon Guards were despatched by forced marches to oppose the landing of the enemy. The French fleet was, however, partly dispersed by a storm, and the remainder returned to France without attempting to land.

In 1797 the regiment was encamped, with several other corps, on the Curragh of Kildare, and was there reviewed by Lieutenant-General Sir David Dundas, who expressed, in orders, his approbation of its discipline and appearance. Its establishment at this period was seven hundred officers and men.

The disaffection which had so long prevailed among the Roman Catholics in Ireland, had continued to acquire additional rancour and vehemence, and the passions of the misguided peasantry having been wrought, by wicked demagogues, into fury and madness, they neglected the affairs of civil life, provided themselves with arms, and broke out into open rebellion in the summer of 1798. The Fifth Dragoon Guards were on Dublin duty at the time, and were so distinguished for loyalty and steady conduct that the Lord-Lieutenant committed to the regiment the military charge of the capital.

One squadron under the command of Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Sherlock was detached from Dublin into the counties of Wicklow and Wexford, and was engaged in the action at Arklow on the 9th of June, when thirty thousand insurgents, headed by their priests in clerical vestments, attacked the town with great fury, but were repulsed with the loss of an immense number of men. From the circumstance of there being no force of any consequence to prevent the rebels marching upon the capital, this was an action of the greatest importance, and was most obstinately contested.

The same squadron was afterwards instrumental in relieving the loyalists in the town of Ballycarnen, where they were besieged by the rebels, and had only a small party of militia to assist in the defence of the place. The cavalry advanced with great bravery, and was assailed by a sharp fire from behind the fences, and a barrier of carts and other vehicles formed across the road, which it was found impossible to force by cavalry alone, and the troops retired until a body of infantry arrived; when the whole advanced,—routed the rebels, and pursued them with great slaughter.

Lieutenant-Colonel Sherlock was afterwards engaged with the squadron of the Fifth Dragoon Guards under his orders, at Gorey, and charged the rebels several times with success.

The same squadron was also engaged in the action at Vinegar Hill,—the stronghold of the rebels, where the most inhuman tragedies had been committed on hundreds of Protestants. This post was attacked on the 21st of June, and the insurgents were routed with great slaughter and many prisoners were captured. The squadron of the Fifth Dragoon Guards charged and pursued the rebels, and took many prisoners. It afterwards overtook an insurgent corps near a place called White Hills, where, after a sharp contest, the rebels were routed, and they fled in all directions.

While these events were transpiring, another detachment of the regiment was employed in the county of Kildare, and had several skirmishes with bands of insurgents.

A patrole of the regiment, commanded by Captain Pack, proceeding towards Prosperous, encountered one hundred rebels well mounted and equipped; the Dragoon Guards instantly charged with signal valour and intrepidity, routed their adversaries at the first shock, killed twenty on the spot, and captured eight horses.

When the rebellion was nearly suppressed, the French endeavoured to revive the contest by sending General Humbert with about a thousand men, who landed at Killala on the 22d of August. The Fifth Dragoon Guards marched from Dublin to oppose the combined rebel and French forces, and were attached to the column under the Marquis of Cornwallis's command. The action at Ballinamuck on the 8th of September followed; the French surrendered themselves prisoners of war, and the insurgents were dispersed. After the action, the Marquis of Cornwallis selected a squadron of the Fifth Dragoon Guards, commanded by Captain (afterwards Sir William) Ponsonby, to escort him on his return to Dublin.

The rebellion in Ireland having been suppressed, the Fifth Dragoon Guards were embarked in 1799, in order to join the expedition to Holland, commanded by His Royal Highness the Duke of York; but the order for their proceeding on this service was countermanded, and after disembarking at Liverpool, they marched into quarters in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire.

After the conclusion of the Treaty of Amiens, a reduction of two troops was made in the establishment; but on the breaking out of the war in 1803, the army was again augmented, and an addition of two troops was again made to the strength of the regiment.

In the following year King George III. was pleased to confer upon the regiment the distinguished title of The Princess Charlotte of Wales's Regiment of Dragoon Guards, in honour of Her Royal Highness the Princess Charlotte Carolina Augusta, daughter of George William Frederick Prince of Wales (afterwards George IV.), by Carolina Amelia Elizabeth, second daughter of the Duke of Brunswick Wolfenbuttel. The Princess Charlotte of Wales exhibited in her early life a most amiable disposition with excellent traits of character, and, being considered as the future sovereign of Great Britain, the nation saw in her qualities calculated to adorn the throne, and to make a great and civilized people happy; hence, the conferring of Her Royal Highness's title on the regiment, was considered a special mark of His Majesty's favour and approbation.

The regiment proceeded to Ireland in 1805, and remained in that country until the summer of 1808, when it returned to England.

On the 8th of July, 1811, His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, who was Regent of the United Kingdom during the indisposition of King George III., reviewed the regiment on Wimbledon common, on which occasion it was commanded by its Colonel, the veteran General Thomas Bland, and the Prince Regent was graciously pleased to express his approbation of its appearance, and of the rapidity and brilliant execution of its movements; and as the regiment was about to proceed on foreign service, the most lively anticipations of its achievements at the theatre of war were produced. It was not, at this period, mounted on horses of so heavy a description as formerly; but, while it bore the title of a heavy cavalry regiment, and retained sufficient weight for a powerful charge in line, it had acquired a lightness which rendered it available for every description of service. The heavy cavalry corps which formerly constituted so important a portion of the armies of England, had been improved in efficiency and usefulness by mounting them on horses of a lighter description.

The occasion of the Fifth Dragoon Guards proceeding abroad at this period, was the attempt made by that tyrannical power which had risen out of the French revolution, of which Napoleon Bonaparte had become the head, to subjugate the kingdoms of Spain and Portugal: the inhabitants of those countries were in arms against the usurper; a British force commanded by Lord Wellington had been sent to their aid; and this regiment was one of the corps selected to reinforce the army under his lordship's command.

Six troops of this regiment, amounting to five hundred and forty-four officers and men, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel the Honourable William Ponsonby, embarked at Portsmouth on the 12th of August, and having landed at Lisbon on the 4th of September, occupied quarters at Belem about six weeks, and afterwards advanced up the country. When the army went into quarters for the winter, the Fifth Dragoon Guards were stationed at Thomar.

The army resumed operations in the beginning of January, 1812, with the siege and capture of Ciudad Rodrigo: and in March the Fifth Dragoon Guards proceeded into the south of Spain to watch the movements of Marshal Soult, and to cover the siege of Badajoz. The regiment arrived, with the remainder of its brigade (the Third and Fourth Dragoons), at Borba, in the Alentejo, on the 5th of March, crossed the Guadiana on the 15th, and formed the van of the covering army until it arrived at the foot of an extensive chain of mountains called the Sierra Morena. On the advance of Marshal Soult, the covering army retired upon Albuhera. The fortress of Badajoz was captured by storm on the 6th of April; and in a few days afterwards the regiment had an opportunity of distinguishing itself in action with the enemy. A large body of cavalry advanced upon Llerena; the Fifth Dragoon Guards marched on the 10th of April to Los Santos, and continued their route during the night to Bienvenida,—proceeding a distance of sixty miles without halting, and the last four miles at a brisk pace, through a country abounding with obstructions; then forming with celerity, advanced through a grove of olive-trees, beyond which a body of French cavalry, of more than thrice the numbers of the regiment, was formed up. The sight of so numerous an enemy did not intimidate the Fifth Dragoon Guards; but acted as a spur to their energies, and excited them to exertions which evinced their native valour and intrepidity, and occasioned them to rival the deeds of their predecessors in the field of glory. The fatigues of the previous march were forgotten, and the gallant troopers charged with such spirit and resolution, that the French squadrons were broken, and being also attacked by the light brigade, they retired in disorder under cover of their infantry and artillery, leaving behind about one hundred killed and wounded, and one lieutenant-colonel, two captains, one lieutenant, and one hundred and forty men prisoners, also nearly one hundred horses. Actions in which the numbers engaged are not very great, do not produce, in their bearing on the affairs of nations, very important results, hence they are often overlooked, or but slightly noticed, by general historians; yet on these occasions individual corps often distinguish themselves in an eminent degree; and the excellent conduct of the British cavalry at Llerena, elicited the following orders:—