The regiment left England during the winter, arrived at Portugal in the beginning of 1797, and was followed by the Twenty-sixth Dragoons, the second battalion of the First (Royals), and the Eighteenth, Fiftieth, and Fifty-first regiments of foot.
The Twelfth Light Dragoons were stationed at Lisbon, where they remained until the winter of 1800, when they embarked to join the expedition under General Sir Ralph Abercromby, destined to undertake the expulsion of the French "Army of the East" from Egypt. The regiment sailed under the convoy of the Braakel, armed en flûte, and arrived on the 11th of January, 1801, at the Bay of Marmorice, in Asiatic Turkey, where the fleet was anchored in a splendid basin of water, surrounded by mountains covered with trees. The regiment landed, and received a supply of Turkish horses, which proved of so very inferior a description, that the commanding officer, Lieut.-Colonel Mervyn Archdall, solicited to serve with the regiment as infantry; the necessity of having a body of mounted cavalry was, however, urgent, and three hundred of the best of the horses were trained[3]; a number of men, however, remained dismounted. The Twelfth and Twenty-sixth Light Dragoons were formed in brigade under Brigadier-General Finch.
From the Bay of Marmorice the fleet sailed on the 23rd of February, and the greatness of the armament, with the gaiety of the brave men on board, was calculated to excite a deep feeling of interest respecting the destiny of the expedition, which involved the dearest interests of Great Britain. The gallant troops employed on this enterprise proved worthy of the confidence reposed in them, and they more than realized the expectations of their king and country. Arriving off the celebrated city of Alexandria in the beginning of March, the fleet bore down into the Bay of Aboukir, and on the 8th of that month, the troops landed, and defeated a numerous body of cavalry, infantry, and artillery, formed to oppose them. Advancing towards Alexandria, the army encamped, on the 12th of March, near Mandora Tower, and on the following day marched through a grove of date-trees, and drove the enemy from a position he occupied. The Twelfth Light Dragoons had one man and four horses killed; one serjeant, and one private soldier wounded.
After this success the army encamped, and the Egyptian peasantry brought a supply of sheep, goats, poultry, and eggs. On the 18th of March, when a great part of the regiment had left the camp to water the horses, information arrived of the approach of a reconnoitring party, and Lieut.-Colonel Archdall collected sixty men, with whom he advanced to meet the enemy, taking also a piquet of twenty men. After proceeding about three miles, he met one hundred and fifty French hussars and infantry, under General D'Estin, and, notwithstanding the disparity of numbers, he instantly detached Lieutenant Levingston with twelve men to attack the left flank of the French hussars, while he charged the front with the main body. Dashing furiously upon his opponents, Colonel Archdall broke the French infantry at the first onset; their cavalry instantly fled, and the British troopers pursued, killing and wounding several, but the main body of the French hussars, being better mounted than the British, escaped. The precaution of securing the French infantry had been, inconsiderately, omitted, and when the troopers returned from the pursuit, they were fired upon by the foot from behind a sandhill, which occasioned some loss, and, finally, the French infantry effected their retreat. The Twelfth Light Dragoons had five horses killed; Lieut.-Colonel Archdall, and one serjeant wounded; Captain the Honorable Pierce Butler, Cornet Earle Lindsay Daniel, and seven men, who had been most eager in the pursuit, were intercepted in their return, and made prisoners.
Lieut.-Colonel Archdall lost his arm, and the command of the Twelfth Dragoons devolved on Lieut.-Colonel Robert Browne.
On the 21st of March the British repulsed an attack of the French on their position; but they had to lament the loss of Sir Ralph Abercromby, who was mortally wounded. The loss of the Twelfth Light Dragoons was limited to seven men wounded.
From the vicinity of Alexandria the regiment afterwards traversed the country to Rosetta, and advanced from thence along the banks of the Nile, taking part in the operations by which the French were forced to quit their fortified post at Rahmanie, where the Twelfth lost several men and horses.
While possession was being taken of the fort of Rahmanie, Lieutenant Drake and thirty men of the regiment went out to water their horses, and hearing a firing at a distance, they proceeded to the spot, and found fifty men of the Twenty-second French Dragoons skirmishing with a party of Arabs. The Twelfth advanced with the most determined gallantry, but at the moment when they were about to charge, the French captain held up a white handkerchief, and agreed to surrender. An aide-de-camp, with despatches, was also made prisoner on this occasion.
From Rahmanie, the army advanced along the banks of the Nile towards Cairo, and arrived on the 16th of May at Algam and Nadir. On the following morning some Bedouin Arabs arrived at Colonel Browne's tent with information that a body of French were in the Lybian Desert; the colonel sent them to head-quarters, and immediately despatched Lieutenant Francis Raynes with a small detachment into the desert; also ordered the light artillery and cavalry to feed and water their horses, and be ready to move at a moment's notice: Lieutenant Catson was afterwards sent out with another small detachment to keep up the communication with the first. Soon afterwards Brigadier-General Doyle was directed to enter the desert with his brigade of infantry,—the Twelfth and Twenty-sixth Light Dragoons (two hundred and fifty men) and some artillery. At the same time Colonel Abercromby and Major Wilson galloped forward to find the enemy. After proceeding some distance at a brisk trot the Light Dragoons came in sight of the French column, which had been skirmishing with the Arabs. The enemy was very superior in numbers; the British artillery was some distance in the rear, and the infantry was not in sight; but Major Wilson advanced with a white handkerchief on the point of his sword, and proposed to the French commander, Colonel Cavalier, to surrender on condition of being sent to France, and the officers to retain their private property. This was at first refused, but Colonel Browne forming the Twelfth and Twenty-sixth Light Dragoons rank-entire, with extended files, they presented a formidable appearance; and the French officers and soldiers, being weary of Egypt, and desirous of returning to France, surrendered. This proved to be a valuable French convoy of
One hundred and twenty men of Bonaparte's famous dromedary corps were among the prisoners, and presented a grand and novel appearance; and the horses and camels formed a valuable acquisition to the British army.
Brigadier-General (afterwards Sir John) Doyle expressed, in a letter to Colonel Browne, his approbation of the excellent conduct of the Twelfth and Twenty-sixth Light Dragoons, adding,—"With such troops I shall always feel a pride to serve; and at their head, be content to fall, being convinced it must be with honor." When this officer received supporters to his arms, he chose, as one of them, a light dragoon of the Twelfth, holding the French color taken with the convoy.
The army, continuing to advance, arrived, on the 8th of June, near the Pyramids, where it halted several days, and subsequently advanced to Cairo, and invested the city; the Twelfth Light Dragoons being posted on the left of the river. In a few days the French surrendered the capital of Egypt, which added additional lustre to the British arms, and the brave soldiers, whose skill and valor gained these honors, were rewarded with the approbation of their Sovereign, and the thanks of Parliament.
From Cairo the army retired down the Nile, and commenced the siege of Alexandria, which city was surrendered in September, and the deliverance of Egypt from the power of France was thus completed.
On the evacuation of Egypt, the Twelfth Light Dragoons returned to England, where they arrived in 1802. The officers received each a gold medal from the Grand Seignior, and the regiment was subsequently honored with the royal authority to bear on its guidons and appointments, a "Sphynx," with the word "Egypt," as a mark of His Majesty's approbation of their gallant services in the Egyptian campaign[4].
After their return from Egypt, the Twelfth Light Dragoons were stationed at Weymouth until the end of the year, when they proceeded to Ireland, and the head-quarters were established at Clonmel, from whence they were removed, in 1803, to Limerick, and in 1804, to Dublin.
Returning to England in 1805, the regiment was stationed at Guildford and Romford; in 1806 the head-quarters were at Blatchington, with numerous detachments on the Sussex coast. In 1807 they were removed to Hythe, with detachments on the coast of Kent. In 1808 the regiment marched to Hounslow and Hampton Court, and took the escort duty for the royal family.
The regiment was relieved from the escort duty, in 1809, and embarked with the expedition to Holland under General the Earl of Chatham. It was on board the fleet during the siege and capture of Flushing on the island of Walcheren; and when the object of the expedition was relinquished, the regiment returned to England; the head-quarters were established at Deal, with detached troops along the coast of Kent, where they were stationed in 1810.
In the spring of 1811 the Twelfth Light Dragoons received orders to hold themselves in readiness to join the allied army commanded by Lord Wellington, engaged in the glorious struggle to effect the expulsion of the legions of Bonaparte from Spain and Portugal; and six troops of the regiment embarked at Portsmouth in May and June. On the 11th of June Lieut.-Colonel Hon. F. C. Ponsonby was appointed lieut.-colonel in the regiment in succession to Major-General Robert Browne. The regiment landed at Lisbon on the 25th of June, and, after a halt of ten days, advanced up the country. The allied army retired, soon afterwards, from its position on the Caya in the Alentejo, and moved towards Ciudad Rodrigo; and the Twelfth Light Dragoons were formed in brigade with the First (Royal) Dragoons under the command of Major-General Slade. This brigade was employed in the operations connected with the blockade of Ciudad Rodrigo, and with the action at El Bodon, which took place when the armies of Marshal Marmont and General Dorsenne advanced to relieve the blockaded fortress. A series of movements followed, in which the Twelfth took part, and after the retrograde of the French army, the brigade went into cantonments in the valley of the Mondego, the Twelfth occupying Celerico.
In the winter, when the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo was undertaken, the Twelfth Light Dragoons advanced to take part in covering the operation, and were posted at Regarda, and on the capture of fortress in January, 1812, they fell back to Seixo, in the valley of Mondego, where they were formed in brigade with the Fourteenth and Sixteenth Light Dragoons, under the orders of Major-General Anson.
In February the Twelfth Light Dragoons marched to Thomar, where they remained until the siege of Badajoz was undertaken, when they proceeded to the Alentejo. On the approach of the French army, they crossed the Guadiana and advanced to Los Santos, where they took the outpost duty, and Badajoz was captured by storm on the 6th of April. The covering army afterwards advanced towards the enemy, who fell back, and on the 10th of April the Twelfth Light Dragoons drove the enemy's posts from the vicinity of Usagre, and occupied the town. On the following day the brigade, commanded on this occasion by Lieut.-Colonel the Honorable Frederick Ponsonby of the Twelfth Light Dragoons, moved towards Llerena, and kept the attention of a large body of French cavalry engaged by skirmishing, while the Fifth Dragoon Guards, and Third and Fourth Dragoons, commanded by Major-General Le Marchant, passed secretly at the back of some heights, and gained the enemy's flank. Everything succeeded according to expectation; as three squadrons under Lieut.-Colonel Ponsonby skirmished, the Fifth Dragoon Guards issued from a grove of olive-trees and charged the enemy's flank; and in the next moment the light brigade charged the front of the French line, which was instantly broken and pursued for several miles. A hundred Frenchmen were killed and wounded in the field, and a much greater number, including one lieut.-colonel, two captains, and a lieutenant, were made prisoners. The loss of the Twelfth Light Dragoons was limited to one serjeant, two private soldiers, and one horse killed; one serjeant, four private soldiers, and three horses wounded. A cavalry order was issued on the following day, from which the following is an extract:—
"Lieut.-General Sir Stapleton Cotton begs Major-General Le Marchant and the Honorable Lieut.-Colonel Ponsonby will accept his best thanks for the gallant and judicious manner in which they commanded their brigades yesterday, and he requests they will make known to the officers commanding regiments the lieut.-general's high approbation of their conduct, as well as of the zeal and attention displayed by all ranks. The order which was observed by the troops in pursuing the enemy, and the quickness with which they formed after every attack, does infinite credit to the commanding officers, and is a convincing proof of the good discipline of the several regiments."
The French army under Marshal Soult retired; but another army under Marshal Marmont had entered Portugal, and Major-General Anson's brigade left Spanish Estremadura, and marched for the province of Beira. Marshal Marmont retired; and the Twelfth Light Dragoons, having halted a short period at Castello-Branco, were afterwards removed to Cano.
In June, when the army took the field, the Twelfth Light Dragoons proceeded to the vicinity of Ciudad Rodrigo, and subsequently advanced upon Salamanca, from whence the French were driven; the regiment, having crossed the Tormes below that city, with the column under Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Picton, advanced, by St. Christoval, along the road to Toro, and after skirmishing with the French rear-guard, took the outposts in front of St. Christoval, where the army was placed in position during the siege of the forts.
After the capture of the forts at Salamanca, the army advanced to the bank of the Douro, and the French under Marshal Marmont were posted on the opposite side of the river. In the middle of July the French passed the Douro, when Lord Wellington united his centre and left on the Guarena; but caused two divisions, and Major-General Anson's brigade of cavalry, to halt at Castrejon, on the Trabancos, under Lieut.-General Sir Stapleton Cotton. The Twelfth Light Dragoons arrived at Castrejon on the 17th of July, and in the evening the piquet under Captain Dickens was attacked. On the following morning at day-break, the out-posts were driven in, and the French appeared in great force; the cavalry formed in front of the infantry, but afterwards advanced towards the river and some sharp skirmishing occurred. Lord Wellington arriving, the whole were directed to retire behind the Guarena, which was executed with little loss. The Twelfth Light Dragoons had five rank and file, and eight horses killed; Adjutant Getterick, twelve rank and file, and four horses wounded; one rank and file and three horses missing.
The Twelfth Light Dragoons were actively employed during the operations which followed the retreat behind the Guarena, and on the 20th of July, when the opposing armies were moving parallel to each other, Captain Barton's squadron suffered from a cannonade; this squadron furnished the out-posts at night.
The army subsequently withdrew to the vicinity of Salamanca, where a general action was fought on the 22nd of July. The Twelfth Light Dragoons were stationed on the left, and not far from the rocky Arapiles, and they had the honor of taking part in the overthrow of the French army. The regiment charged twice in the evening, and broke some French infantry, after which a squadron under Captain Andrews moved to Huarte. Its loss was Captain Dickens, one serjeant, one rank and file and one horse killed; two rank and file and three horses wounded.
On the day after the battle, the Twelfth joined the other regiments of the brigade, which had been in pursuit of the enemy's rear-guard, and following the French army in its retrograde movement, arrived at the ancient city of Valladolid, in Leon, on the 30th of July. The pursuit was not continued; but the Marquis of Wellington left a small force in the neighbourhood of Valladolid, including the Twelfth Light Dragoons, and marched with the army to Madrid, a distance of about one hundred miles.
When the allied army had left the vicinity of the Douro, General Clauzel advanced with the French troops which had been defeated at Salamanca, and occupied Valladolid, and Major-General Anson's brigade was withdrawn across the Douro at Tudela in the middle of August, when the Twelfth had one man killed in a skirmish with the French.
On the return of the army from Madrid, the French retreated; the British moved forward, and on the 7th of September the Twelfth Light Dragoons entered Valladolid, and skirmished with the enemy's rear-guard when the bridge was blown up.
Leaving Valladolid the French army retired down the beautiful Pisuerga and Arlanzan valleys; the allies followed, and the ground being favorable for a retiring army, repeated skirmishes took place, in which the Twelfth Light Dragoons were engaged. Arriving at Burgos, the capital of Old Castille, the army halted, and commenced the siege of the castle; the cavalry being pushed forward to Monasterio, where the Twelfth Light Dragoons had frequent skirmishes with parties of the enemy.
The French army having been reinforced and placed under the orders of General Souham, advanced upon Burgos; and this circumstance, with the movements of the forces under Joseph Buonaparte and Marshal Soult, induced the British commander to raise the siege of Burgos castle, and to retire.
During the retreat from Burgos to Ciudad Rodrigo, the Twelfth Light Dragoons were actively employed in covering the rear, and they had frequent rencontres with the French advance-guards, on one of which occasions their commanding officer, Lieut.-Colonel the Honorable Frederick Ponsonby, was wounded; Lieutenant Taylor was also wounded; and the regiment had several private soldiers and horses killed and wounded.
After passing the Agueda the army went into quarters; the Twelfth Light Dragoons were stationed at Oliveira de Condé; and from the period they had taken the field in June, they reckoned thirty-three skirmishes and one general engagement, in which the regiment, or a portion of it, had taken part.
In February, 1813, the regiment was removed to St. Pedro de Sul, on the Vouga, and in April to Agueda, between Coimbro and Oporto. In the mean time arrangements were made for opening the compaign, and in May, the British cavalry of the left wing crossed the Douro, some at Oporto, some at Lamega and other places, and entered the mountainous district of the Tras-os-Montes; they were followed by several divisions of infantry, and by the pontoon train; the whole under Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Graham. The Twelfth Light Dragoons formed a part of this force; they passed the Douro at Oporto, accompanied this portion of the army in its difficult march through mountainous regions held to be nearly impracticable even for small corps, and forded the Esla at the end of May. The French, finding their position turned, fell back without hazarding a battle, and a series of retrograde movements brought them behind the Ebro. The Twelfth Light Dragoons followed close on the rear of the retiring enemy, and moving towards the sources of the Ebro, traversed those wild, but beautiful, mountain-regions, through which the Marquis of Wellington moved his numerous columns to turn the position occupied by the French, who fell back upon Vittoria. On the 18th of June, the Twelfth Light Dragoons overtook a French division, with which they skirmished until a British column came up, when the enemy retired.
The skilful and brilliant movements of the British commander had forced the enemy back in confusion from the banks of the Tormes to the confines of the Pyrenees, in three weeks; and this splendid success was followed by a great victory in the valley of Vittoria on the 21st of June, in the gaining of which the Twelfth Light Dragoons had the honor to take part. They formed part of the left column under Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Graham, and supported the attacks of the infantry and artillery on the right of the enemy's positions at Abechuco and Gamarra Major, and towards the close of the action they crossed the little river Zadora, turned the enemy's right, and cut off his retreat by the Bayonne road. The loss of the regiment was small, viz.:—Cornet Hammond and one man killed, and three men wounded: its gallant bearing throughout the action, and the zeal, spirit, and activity evinced by the officers and men, were, however, conspicuous, particularly in its movements in the evening of that eventful day.
On the 23rd of June, the Twelfth Light Dragoons were detached, with other forces under Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Graham, by the pass of Adrian to the district of Guipuscoa, in the province of Biscay, and in the evening the head of the column, having crossed the Mutiol mountain, descended upon Segura. The Twelfth passed the night in the mountain, resumed the march on the following day, and arrived in the evening in the neighbourhood of Villa Franca, at the moment when the rear-guard of General Foy's division, which was escorting a valuable convoy towards France, was entering the town. The French took up a strong position, some sharp fighting occurred, and eventually General Foy fell back to Tolosa, from whence he was driven with the loss of four hundred men killed and wounded; but the convoy entered France in safety.
In the beginning of July, St. Sebastian was besieged, and the Twelfth Light Dragoons were employed in covering the siege of that important fortress. Towards the end of July, when Marshal Soult advanced with a powerful army to drive the allies from the Pyrenees and relieve the invested fortresses, the siege of St. Sebastian was turned into a blockade, and Major-General Anson's brigade of cavalry was employed in keeping up the communication through the mountains, between the left and centre of the allied army. The communication was interrupted on the 27th and 28th of July; but was renewed on the 29th, and after much hard fighting in the mountains, the French were driven back with loss. The siege of St. Sebastian was then renewed, and the Twelfth Light Dragoons took post at Usurbil, from whence a squadron was subsequently detached to Renterio to furnish the out-posts in that direction. St. Sebastian was taken by storm on the 31st of August, and on the 9th of September the citadel surrendered. About this period Major-General Vandeleur was appointed to the command of the brigade of which the Twelfth Light Dragoons formed part.
After the fall of St. Sebastian, the troops which had been employed in the siege advanced to the frontiers, and on the 7th of October the passage of the Bidassoa was forced, and the army entered France. Unprincipled aggression was thus overtaken by retributive justice, and the kingdom which had sent its legions to other countries to ravage and devastate, became the theatre of war. After the passage of the river, the Twelfth Light Dragoons bivouacked on the great road, with posts at Urogne.
Pampeluna having surrendered, a forward movement was made on the 10th of November, when the enemy's works on the river Nivelle were attacked and forced. The Twelfth supported the infantry, and lost several men and horses from a cannonade to which they were exposed. The river Nive was passed in the early part of December; but the weather became so severe as to confine the troops to their quarters, and the Twelfth Light Dragoons returned to Urogne, and took the out-post duty in front of St. Jean-de-Luz. The French army occupied a strong camp at Bayonne.
When the severity of the weather abated, the army was again put in motion; and in the second week of February, 1814, the British commander advanced against the enemy's left to draw Marshal Soult's attention to that quarter, while the passage of the Adour was effected, by the division under Lieut.-General Sir John Hope, below Bayonne. By a difficult night-march a body of troops approached the river on the morning of the 23rd of February; the artillery forced the French flotilla to retire, and sixty men of the foot-guards were rowed across in a pontoon; a raft was formed, a hawser was stretched across, and six hundred of the foot-guards, the fifth battalion of the sixtieth regiment, and part of the rocket-battery crossed, and repulsed the attack of a French column from Bayonne. On the 24th a squadron of the Twelfth Light Dragoons crossed the Adour, the men in boats, and the horses swam across the river. A British flotilla afterwards arrived, a bridge of boats was thrown across, and Bayonne was blockaded.
In the mean time important events had transpired in various parts of Europe, and the gigantic power of Bonaparte was reduced. A party favorable to the Bourbon dynasty was known to exist at Bordeaux, towards which city a body of troops was detached under Sir William, now Lord, Beresford. The Twelfth Light Dragoons moved by the old road across the Landes towards Bordeaux, where they arrived on the 12th of March, and the magistrates and city-guards displayed the white cockade. The regiment was left at Bordeaux under Lieut.-General the Earl of Dalhousie; it furnished posts and patroles between the Garonne and Dordogne. Two squadrons were subsequently attached to part of the seventh division which occupied La Réolles; and on the 7th of April, a squadron commanded by Major Bridger, crossed the Dordogne, with Lord Dalhousie, and made a successful charge upon a body of French infantry at Etoliers.
Hostilities were soon afterwards terminated by the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty to the throne of France. After reposing a short time in quarters, the regiment commenced its march through France to Calais, which was performed in a month, and in the second week of July it embarked for Dover, from whence it proceeded to Hounslow, where it was reviewed by His Royal Highness the Duke of York; it was afterwards removed to Dorchester.
In closing the account of the services of the Twelfth Light Dragoons in the Peninsula, it is worthy of being recorded, that the regiment never had a piquet surprised, nor a patrole taken; neither did any instance of desertion occur.
In February, 1815, the regiment marched to Reading, in consequence of some disturbances in Berkshire.
After commanding the regiment for twenty-three years, General Sir James Steuart Denham, Baronet, was removed to the Scots Greys, and was succeeded by Lieut.-General Sir William Payne, Baronet, from the Nineteenth Light Dragoons, by commission dated the 12th of January, 1815.
His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, appreciating the important services rendered by the army during the war, conferred rewards for gallant conduct on officers and corps; and the Twelfth Light Dragoons were authorized to bear on their guidons and appointments the word "Peninsula," to commemorate their services in Portugal, Spain, and the south of France, under Field-Marshal His Grace the Duke of Wellington. Their commanding officer, Colonel the Honorable F. C. Ponsonby, was rewarded with a medal and two clasps for the battles of Barrosa, Salamanca, and Vittoria. Before these distinctions were all conferred, the reappearance of Bonaparte in France,—his re-assumption of the imperial dignity,—and the flight of Louis XVIII. from Paris to the Netherlands, occasioned a British army once more to take the field against the legions of the usurper.
Six troops of the Twelfth Light Dragoons, commanded by Colonel the Honorable F. C. Ponsonby, embarked at Ramsgate, in the beginning of April, 1815, leaving a depôt of two troops in England, (which was subsequently augmented to four,) and landing at Ostend, on the 3rd of that month, advanced up the country; they were formed in brigade with the Eleventh and Sixteenth Light Dragoons, under Major-General Sir John Ormsby Vandeleur. Soon after their arrival in Flanders, they were reviewed by the Duke of Wellington, who was pleased to express his "approbation of their appearance; that he was happy at having again under his orders, a corps which had always been distinguished for its gallantry and discipline, and he did not doubt, should occasion offer, but it would continue to deserve his good opinion; and he hoped every man would feel a pride in endeavouring to maintain the reputation of the regiment."
When Bonaparte endeavoured, by a sudden advance of his numerous legions, to interpose between the British and Prussian armies, and beat them in detail, the Twelfth Light Dragoons were suddenly ordered to march, on the morning of the 16th of June, to Enghien, from whence they continued their route, a great part of the way at a trot, to Quatre Bras, where they arrived at sunset, at the moment when the French troops, under Marshal Ney, were withdrawing from the contest. The regiment bivouacked on the ground behind the field of battle, and furnished small piquets along the front, in communication with the infantry. On the following day, when the army made a retrograde movement, to keep up the communication with the Prussians, the Twelfth Light Dragoons withdrew by the lower road, through the woods and open grounds, passed the river Dyle, at a deep ford, below Genappe, and took post on the left of the position, in front of the village of Waterloo, where they bivouacked in the open fields, and were exposed to a heavy rain during the night.
On the following morning (18th June) two powerful armies confronted each other; each occupied a range of heights of easy access, and a narrow valley was between them. Both armies were confident in their leader, and, as daylight appeared, they prepared to engage in deadly conflict.
The Twelfth Light Dragoons were formed in column of squadrons, and posted in a pea-field, above Papilot, a short distance from the left of the fifth division, which formed the left of the British infantry. Soon after mid-day Count D'Erlon's corps attacked the British left, but was repulsed, on which occasion a brilliant charge was made by the Royals, Greys, and Inniskilling Dragoons. One column of the enemy, on the extreme right of the attacking force, had not been engaged, and it continued to advance. Major-General Vandeleur had proceeded, with part of his brigade, to support the Royals, Greys, and Inniskilling Dragoons, whilst re-forming after their charge; but the Twelfth remained on the left, and Colonel Ponsonby, having authority to act discretionally, resolved, notwithstanding the inferiority of his numbers, to attack the French column with the regiment. He formed the Twelfth in open column, cautioned the men "to be steady, and do their duty," and led them forward over ploughed ground, saturated with rain, to attack this formidable column of infantry, which was supported on the flank by lancers, and covered by the fire of artillery from a rising ground in its rear. As the French column crossed the valley between the two armies, the Twelfth passed the hedge-row occupied by the Highlanders, and descended the rising ground on which the British line was formed, exposed to the fire of the enemy's artillery, and receiving a volley from the column of infantry, to which the slope, the regiment was descending, rendered it a conspicuous mark. As the regiment moved forward, it gradually increased its pace; the men were anxious to charge; but Colonel Ponsonby, whose courage they admired, and in whose talents they placed unlimited confidence, restrained their ardour, that he might maintain their compact formation, and reserve the power of the horses for the critical moment. When that moment arrived, he gave the word "Charge." The French, dismayed by the heroic bearing of the regiment, gave way, and the Twelfth plunged at speed into the column, broke its formation, and cut down the French soldiers with a terrible carnage. The moment the regiment had cut through the infantry, it was stopped by the columns of reserve, and charged by the lancers. Having succeeded in the object of the charge, Colonel Ponsonby was anxious to withdraw the regiment, and spare his men, who were fighting against fearful odds; but friends and foes were mixed in a confused mêlée; the colonel fell, dangerously wounded, and the regiment withdrew from the unequal contest.
After returning from the charge, the regiment was re-formed under Captain (now Colonel) Stawell; its loss had been severe; of the three squadrons, which ten minutes before had gone into action, one-third had fallen; it was found necessary to tell off the regiment into two squadrons, and the grief of the soldiers was great at the absence of their colonel, of whose fate they were ignorant[5]. Major James Paul Bridger, whose charger was killed in the attack, procured another horse, and assumed the command of the regiment.
The following account of the charge of the Twelfth, and of his own sufferings, was afterwards written by Colonel Ponsonby to satisfy the inquiries of numerous friends:—
"I was stationed with my regiment (about 300 strong) at the extreme of the left wing, and directed to act discretionally:—each of the armies was drawn up on a gentle declivity, a small valley lying between them.
"At one o'clock, observing, as I thought, unsteadiness in a column of French infantry, which was advancing with an irregular fire, I resolved to charge them. As we were descending in a gallop, we received from our own troops on the right, a fire much more destructive than theirs, they having begun long before it could take effect, and slackening as we drew nearer; when we were within fifty paces of them, they turned, and much execution was done among them, as we were followed by some Belgians, who had remarked our success. But we had no sooner passed through them, than we were attacked in our turn, before we could form, by about 300 Polish lancers, who had come down to their relief. The French artillery pouring in among us a heavy fire of grape-shot, which, however, killed three of their own for one of our men: in the mêlée, I was disabled almost instantly in both of my arms, and followed by a few of my men, who were presently cut down (no quarter being asked or given), I was carried on by my horse, till receiving a blow on my head from a sabre, I was thrown senseless on my face to the ground. Recovering, I raised myself a little to look round, when a lancer, passing by, exclaimed 'Tu n'es pas mort, coquin,' and struck his lance through my back; my head dropped, the blood gushed into my mouth, a difficulty of breathing came on, and I thought all was over.
"Not long afterwards a tirailleur came up to plunder me, threatening to take my life. I told him that he might search me, directing him to a small side-pocket, in which he found three dollars, being all I had; he unloosed my stock and tore open my waistcoat, then leaving me in a very uneasy posture; and was no sooner gone, than another came up for the same purpose; but assuring him I had been plundered already, he left me; when an officer, bringing on some troops, (to which probably the tirailleurs belonged,) and halting where I lay, stooped down and addressed me saying, he feared I was badly wounded: I replied that I was, and expressed a wish to be removed into the rear: he said it was against the order to remove even their own men, but that if they gained the day, as they probably would, (for he understood the Duke of Wellington was killed, and that six of our battalions had surrendered,) every attention in his power should be shown me. I complained of thirst, and he held his brandy-bottle to my lips, directing one of his men to lay me straight on my side, and place a knapsack under my head: he then passed on into the action,—and I shall never know to whose generosity I was indebted, as I conceive, for my life,—of what rank he was I cannot say; he wore a blue greatcoat. By and by another tirailleur came and knelt and fired over me, loading and firing many times, and conversing with great gaiety all the while; at last he ran off, saying, 'Vous serez bien aise d'entendre que nous allons nous retirer; bon jour, mon ami.'
"While the battle continued in that part, several of the wounded men and dead bodies near me, were hit with the balls, which came very thick in that place. Towards evening, when the Prussians came, the continued roar of the cannon along theirs and the British line, growing louder and louder as they drew near, was the finest thing I ever heard. It was dusk when two squadrons of Prussian cavalry, both of them two deep, passed over me in full trot, lifting me from the ground, and tumbling me about cruelly; the clatter of their approach, and the apprehensions it excited, maybe easily conceived; had a gun come that way, it would have done for me. The battle was then nearly over, or removed to a distance—the cries and groans of the wounded all around me, became every instant more and more audible, succeeding to the shouts, imprecations, outcries of 'Vive l'Empereur!' the discharges of musquetry and cannon; now and then intervals of perfect silence, which were worse than the noise;—I thought the night would never end. Much about this time, I found a soldier of the Royals lying across my legs, who had probably crawled thither in his agony; his weight, convulsive motions, his noises, and the air issuing through a wound in his side, distressed me greatly; the latter circumstance most of all, as the case was my own. It was not a dark night, and the Prussians were wandering about to plunder; (and the scene in Ferdinand, Count Fathom, came into my mind, though no women, I believe, were there,) several of them came and looked at me, and passed on: at length, one stopped to examine me. I told him, as well as I could (for I could say but little in German), that I was a British officer, and had been plundered already; he did not desist, however, and pulled me about roughly, before he left me. About an hour before midnight, I saw a soldier in an English uniform coming towards me; he was, I suspect, on the same errand. He came and looked in my face; I spoke instantly, telling him who I was, and assuring him of a reward, if he would remain by me. He said that he belonged to the 40th regiment, but had missed it. He released me from the dying man; being unarmed, he took up a sword from the ground, and stood over me, pacing backwards and forwards.—At eight o'clock in the morning, some English were seen at a distance; he ran to them, and a messenger was sent off to Hervey. A cart came for me. I was placed in it, and carried to a farm-house, about a mile and a half distant, and laid in the bed from which poor Gordon, (as I understood afterwards,) had been just carried out; the jolting of the cart, and the difficulty of breathing, were very painful. I had received seven wounds; a surgeon slept in my room, and I was saved by continual bleeding, 120 ounces in two days, besides the great loss of blood on the field[6]."
The regiment remained at its post on the left until towards the close of the action, when the head of a Prussian column had arrived at the field of battle, the Twelfth Light Dragoons were then removed from the left to the right of the allied army; and, in the general charge, made in the evening of this memorable day, they had the honor of being one of the corps which led the attack of the right wing; they passed over the ground on which the struggle had taken place between the French and English foot-guards, which was covered with killed and wounded; rushed upon the flanks of the enemy's broken columns with distinguished gallantry, and completed their rout and discomfiture. When the French army was overthrown and driven from the field, the regiment halted for the night. Its loss was Captain Sandys, Lieutenant Bertie, Cornet Lockhart, six serjeants, and thirty-seven rank and file, killed; Colonel Ponsonby, Lieutenant Dowbiggen, three serjeants, and fifty-five rank and file, wounded.
The honor of bearing the word "Waterloo" on their guidons and appointments was afterwards conferred on the Twelfth Light Dragoons by royal authority. Colonel the Honorable F. C. Ponsonby and Major James Paul Bridger were constituted companions of the Bath; Major Bridger was promoted to the rank of lieut.-colonel, and Captain Sampson Stawell to that of major; and Serjeant-Major Carruthers was appointed to a cornetcy. The following officers received silver medals:—