HISTORICAL RECORD
OF THE
FOURTEENTH (THE KING'S) REGIMENT
OF
LIGHT DRAGOONS.
1715
The accession of the house of Hanover to the throne of Great Britain and Ireland, was the commencement of a dynasty under which this kingdom has attained a splendid elevation of naval, military, commercial, and political importance; has extended its possessions in remote countries;—and its armies have fought and conquered in every quarter of the globe. The first year of His Majesty's reign had, however, not expired, when it was found necessary to augment the regular army, and the Fourteenth, (the King's) Regiment of Light Dragoons, is one of the corps incorporated on that occasion. It was raised in South Britain, by Brigadier-General James Dormer, who had acquired a reputation in the war of the Spanish succession; and the following officers were appointed to the regiment, by commissions dated the 22nd July, 1715.
| Captains. | Lieutenants. | Cornets. |
| James Dormer (col). | Jas. Stevens (cap.-lt.) | Edward Stroude. |
| H. Killegrew (lt.-col.) | Henry Lasale. | Thomas Ellis. |
| Sol. Rapin. (major) | Peter Davenport. | Thomas Delahaye. |
| Henry Pelham. | Jonathan Pirke. | William Hamilton. |
| William Boyle. | Cuthbert Smith. | Rigley Molyneux. |
| Beverly Newcommin. | James Flemming. | Andrew Forrester. |
His Majesty's protestant subjects arrayed themselves under the royal standard with great cheerfulness, but before the regiment was complete in men and horses, the arrangements of the Jacobites were in such a state of forwardness, that the Pretender's standard was raised in Scotland by the Earl of Mar, who was soon at the head of ten thousand men. A body of rebels having penetrated into Lancashire, Dormer's dragoons were among the corps directed to advance, under Major-General Wills, and fight the insurgent bands: the regiment was formed in brigade with Pitt's horse, now second dragoon guards, under its Colonel, Brigadier-General Dormer. Arriving at Preston, about three o'clock in the afternoon of the 12th of November, the rebels were found in force in the town, with the avenues barricaded and defended by cannon. The Fourteenth dragoons were directed to dismount and form as infantry, to take part in storming the avenue leading to Lancaster, in which they were assisted by Wynne's (ninth), and a squadron of Stanhope's dragoons (afterwards disbanded) under Brigadier-Generals Dormer and Munden; Pitt's horse, Munden's (thirteenth), and a squadron of Stanhope's dragoons forming in support. The first barrier was carried with great gallantry; but the inner barricade could not be forced for want of cannon. The houses were afterwards set on fire, and measures adopted to prevent the escape of the rebels, who were eventually forced to surrender at discretion. The regiment had three men and sixteen horses killed on this occasion, Brigadier-General Dormer, and four private soldiers wounded.
The regiment escorted a number of the captured insurgents to Lancaster gaol, and was afterwards quartered in that town, and in the early part of 1716 the rebellion was suppressed by the troops under the Duke of Argyle.
1716
In May 1716, the regiment marched from Lancaster, into cantonments at Lincoln and the neighbouring towns.
1717
A reduction of the army took place in the spring of 1717, and in May, Dormer's dragoons marched to Bristol and embarked for Ireland, to replace a regiment ordered to be disbanded in that country.
1720
The regiment remained in Ireland during the succeeding twenty-five years. In 1720, Brigadier-General Dormer was removed to the sixth regiment of foot, and was succeeded in the colonelcy of the Fourteenth dragoons, by Colonel Clement Neville, from the lieut.-colonelcy of the thirteenth dragoons.
1721
1737
Colonel Neville commanded the regiment seventeen years, and was removed in 1737, to the eighth dragoons, and the colonelcy of the Fourteenth was conferred on Colonel Archibald Hamilton from the 27th foot.
1740
1741
1742
Charles VI. Emperor of Germany, died in 1740; the succession of the Archduchess Maria-Theresa, as Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, was disputed by the Elector of Bavaria, who was supported by a French army; and, in 1742, King George II. sent a British force to Flanders to aid the house of Austria; at the same time the Fourteenth dragoons were withdrawn from Ireland, to replace the cavalry regiments which had proceeded on foreign service from England.
1743
1744
1745
The regiment was stationed in Great Britain during the years 1743 and 1744; and in 1745, when Charles Edward, eldest son of the Pretender, raised his father's standard in Scotland, it was ordered to Stirling. After Lieut.-General Sir John Cope had marched from Stirling with the infantry and some artillery, the Fourteenth dragoons proceeded to Leith, where they were stationed when the rebel army advanced towards Edinburgh. They were suddenly ordered to join Colonel Gardiner, who was retiring before the rebel army, with the thirteenth dragoons; they rode through Edinburgh at a brisk pace during public worship on Sunday, the 15th of September, when the congregations rushed out of the churches and chapels and filled the streets, and four hundred volunteers, with a thousand men of the trained bands, appeared in arms. The Fourteenth dragoons joined Colonel Gardiner at Carstorphin, from whence they fell back to Coltsbridge, where they were joined by the city guard and Edinburgh regiment. On a report of the approach of the rebel bands, the Edinburgh regiment and city guard withdrew within the walls, and the dragoons moved towards Haddington, the citizens refusing to admit them into the place; and while a tumultuary council was being held to decide about the mode of defending the city, the insurgents gained possession of one of the gates: thus Edinburgh fell into the hands of the young Pretender.
The Fourteenth dragoons were afterwards ordered to join Lieut.-General Sir John Cope, who had arrived at Dunbar with a small body of infantry, and he advanced towards Edinburgh, when the rebel army was put in motion to meet him. On the 20th of September the King's troops confronted the insurgents near Prestonpans and the night was passed in the field: the Fourteenth dragoons, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel William Wright, furnished videttes and patrols on the flanks of the army. Before day-break, on the following morning, a chosen band of Highlanders advanced through the thick atmosphere, and attacked the right of the King's troops; their sudden advance in the dark, their superior numbers, and peculiar mode of fighting, struck with consternation the few men who guarded the artillery, and who faced about and fled. The dragoons advanced to charge the Highlanders; but seeing the very superior numbers of their opponents, and being discouraged by the loss of their artillery, they made only a feeble effort to stem the torrent of battle, and afterwards retired from the field. Several officers, and a few private soldiers, however, behaved with great gallantry, and among others, Major Richard Bowles, of the Fourteenth dragoons, particularly distinguished himself; the few troopers, who rallied round him, had been cut down, and his own horse killed; but he continued to fight on foot; he was surrounded, and had received eleven wounds, when a rebel leader interposed and saved his life. When once troops are put into confusion, and are afterwards closely pressed by the enemy, no reserves being at hand for them to rally upon, the difficulty of restoring order becomes particularly great, and, in this instance, the loss of the battle was the result. The Fourteenth dragoons withdrew from the field, and afterwards marched to Berwick.
The regiment subsequently joined the army assembled under Field-Marshal Wade at Newcastle; when the rebels penetrated into Derbyshire, it was employed in covering Yorkshire; and when the young Pretender made a precipitate retreat to Scotland, the Fourteenth dragoons marched to Edinburgh, where a few regiments were assembled under Lieut.-General Hawley.
1746
On their return to Scotland, the rebels besieged Stirling Castle; and Lieut.-General Hawley put the King's troops in motion to raise the siege. The Fourteenth dragoons left Edinburgh on the 13th of January, 1746; they took part in driving a body of rebels out of Linlithgow, and were subsequently encamped near Falkirk.
On the 17th of January, as the soldiers were at dinner in the camp, the approach of the rebel army was descried, and the troops moved towards some high grounds on Falkirk-moor, where the insurgent bands were formed. The action was commenced by a charge of the cavalry; the enemy's first line was broken, and some execution done; but the second line of insurgents repulsed the dragoons. The infantry was, soon afterwards, brought into the fight; but a heavy storm of wind and rain beat so violently in the soldiers' faces, as nearly to blind them, and the wet prevented their muskets giving fire. Several regiments retired in some disorder; others maintained their ground and repulsed the Highlanders, and after dark the whole withdrew to Linlithgow and afterwards to Edinburgh.
The Duke of Cumberland subsequently took the command of the troops in Scotland, and advanced towards Stirling; when the rebels made a precipitate retreat. His Royal Highness pursued; but the Fourteenth dragoons were left behind, and were directed to patrol along the roads leading westward from Edinburgh, to prevent the rebels obtaining intelligence. At length the Highlanders were overpowered in the field of Culloden, and the rebellion was suppressed.
1747
In 1747 the regiment returned to Ireland, and was stationed in that country during the succeeding forty-eight years.
1749
Lieut.-General Hamilton died on the 8th of July, 1749, and King George II. conferred the colonelcy of the Fourteenth dragoons on Lieut.-General James, Lord Tyrawley, from the tenth regiment of Foot.
1751
The following description of the clothing and guidons of the regiment is taken from the Royal Warrant, dated the 1st of July, 1751.
Coats,—scarlet; double-breasted, without lappels; lined with lemon colour; slit sleeves turned up with lemon colour; the button-holes worked with narrow white lace; the buttons of white metal, set on three and three; a long slash pocket in each skirt; and a white worsted aiguillette on the right shoulder.
Waistcoats and Breeches,—lemon colour.
Hats,—bound with silver lace, and ornamented with a white loop and a black cockade. Red forage cap turned up with lemon colour, and XIV. D. on the flap.
Boots,—of jacked leather, reaching to the knee.
Cloaks,—Scarlet, with a lemon-coloured cape; the buttons set on three and three, upon white frogs or loops, with a red and green stripe down the centre.
Horse Furniture,—of lemon-coloured cloth; the holster caps and housings having a border of white lace, with a red and green stripe down the centre; XIV. D. embroidered upon a red ground, within a wreath of roses and thistles, on the housing; and upon the holster caps G.R., with the crown over it, and XIV. D. underneath.
Officers,—distinguished by silver lace and embroidery; and a crimson silk sash worn across the left shoulder.
Quarter Masters,—to wear a crimson sash round their waists.
Serjeants,—to have narrow silver lace on the cuffs, pockets, and shoulder-straps; silver aiguillettes; and green, red, and white worsted sashes tied round their waists.
Drummers and Hautboys,—clothed in lemon-coloured coats, lined and faced with scarlet, and ornamented with white lace, having a red and green stripe down the centre: red waistcoats and breeches.
Guidons,—the first, or King's guidon, to be of crimson silk, with a silver and red fringe; in the centre, the rose and thistle conjoined, and crown over them, with the motto Dieu et mon droit underneath; the white horse in a compartment in the first and fourth corners; and XIV. D., in silver characters, on a lemon ground, in a compartment in the second and third corners: the second and third guidons to be of lemon-coloured silk; in the centre XIV. D. on a red ground within a wreath of roses and thistles on the same stalk; the white horse, on a red ground, in the first and fourth compartments; and the rose and thistle conjoined, on a red ground, in the second and third compartments; the third colour to have a figure 3, on a circular red ground, under the wreath.
1752
Lieut.-General Lord Tyrawley commanded the regiment two years, and was removed, in July, 1752, to the third dragoons, and was succeeded by Colonel Lewis Dejean, whose regiment of foot had been disbanded at the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748–9.
1756
1757
Colonel Dejean was promoted to the rank of major-general in 1756, and in 1757 he was removed to the third Irish Horse, now sixth dragoon guards; and His Majesty conferred the colonelcy of the Fourteenth dragoons on Colonel John Campbell, from the fifty-fourth regiment.
1759
1761
1765
The rank of major-general was conferred on Colonel Campbell in 1759; in 1761 his uncle, Archibald, third Duke of Argyle, died, when his father, General John Campbell of the Scots Greys, succeeded to that title, and Major-General Campbell of the Fourteenth Dragoons obtained the designation of Marquis of Lorne: he was removed to the first, the royal regiment of foot, in 1765, and was succeeded in the command of the Fourteenth dragoons, by Colonel Charles Fitzroy, (afterwards Lord Southampton) whose regiment of foot had been disbanded at the peace of Fontainbleau in 1763.
1768
On the 19th December, 1768, a warrant was issued, by authority of King George III., for regulating the standards, guidons, clothing, &c., of the regiments of cavalry, in which it was directed, that the uniform of the Fourteenth dragoons should be red, with lemon-coloured facings, without lappels, with silver lace; the uniform, &c., being the same as prescribed by the Royal Warrant of the 1st July, 1751.
1772
Colonel Fitzroy was promoted to the rank of major-general and removed to the third dragoons, in 1772, when King George III. conferred the colonelcy of the Fourteenth dragoons on Lieut.-General Daniel Webb, from the eighth foot.
1773
Lieut.-General Webb died in 1773, and was succeeded by Colonel George Warde, from the lieut.-colonelcy of the fourth dragoons.
1775
1776
1777
Hostilities between Great Britain and her North American Colonies commenced in 1775, and the rugged valleys and trackless forests which became the theatre of this war, were not adapted for the operations of heavy dragoons. The necessity of having a greater proportion of light cavalry had become apparent, and in 1776, the Fourteenth, which were then in Ireland, were constituted a corps of Light Dragoons. The standard height for men and horses was reduced; the cocked hats were replaced by helmets; arms and appointments of a lighter description were adopted, and in the annual army list for 1777, the regiment was designated, "The Fourteenth Light Dragoons."
1778
In 1778, Major-General Warde was removed to the first Irish horse, now fourth dragoon guards, and was succeeded in the colonelcy of the Fourteenth light dragoons, by Major-General Robert Sloper.
1784
In 1784 the clothing of the light dragoon regiments was changed from scarlet to dark blue; and the following orders were issued on this subject, dated—
Adjutant General's Office,
Dublin, 18th May, 1784.
'His Majesty's pleasure having been signified to the Lord Lieutenant, that the clothing of the light dragoon regiments shall hereafter be made in conformity to the following regulations, it is the Commander-in-Chief's order that the said regulations be observed accordingly.'
Regulations for the Clothing of the Light Dragoons.
The clothing of a private light dragoon is to consist of a jacket, shell, under-waistcoat, and leather breeches.
The jacket and shell to be of blue cloth; the collars and cuffs of the royal regiments to be red, and those of the other regiments to be of the colour of the facing of the regiment; looped upon the breast, edged with white cord, and to be lined with white, the 11th and 13th regiments excepted, which are to be lined with buff. The under waistcoat to be of flannel with sleeves, and made so as to be buttoned within the waistband of the breeches.
The breeches to be of buckskin.
N.B. The make of the dress and method of placing the cord upon the breast of the jacket, to be exactly conformable to the pattern approved by His Majesty.
Officers and Quarter Masters.—The dress-uniform of the officers and quarter-masters of the light dragoons to be made according to the King's regulations of the 19th December, 1768, excepting that the coats are to be blue and faced with the same colour as the private men, and that the Royal regiments are to be faced with scarlet.
Field Uniform of the Officers and Quarter Masters.—The jacket and shell to be made up in the same manner as those of the men, excepting that the shell is to have sleeves, and that the looping is to be made of silver, the 13th regiment excepted, which is to be of gold.
Serjeants.—The serjeants of the light dragoons to be distinguished by gold or silver looping.
Corporals.—The corporals of the light dragoons to be distinguished by a gold or silver cord, round the collar and cuffs.
Trumpeters.—The trumpeters to have a jacket and shell, the colour and facing of the regiment, with lace, instead of looping, in front and down the seams.
N.B. A pattern suit may be seen at the Commander-in-Chiefs office at the Royal Hospital.
(Signed) H. Pigot,
Adjutant General.
The foregoing orders were sent to the officers commanding the 8th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 17th, and 18th light dragoons; to the Earl of Drogheda; to the major of brigade for the general officers; and to the agents, Messrs. Montgomery, Wybrants, and Cane.
1791
1793
The regiment remained in Ireland performing the usual duties of a cavalry corps on home service, until the events attendant on the French revolution occasioned it to be employed in continental and colonial warfare. When this revolution assumed its wild and violent character, the spirit of republicanism soon extended to the French West India Islands. The resolution to grant the immediate freedom of the slaves, for which they were unprepared, was followed, in 1791, by acts of outrage and spoliation committed by the blacks against the properties of their owners. In 1793 the planters of St. Domingo obtained British aid; and the revolutionists afterwards received assistance from France.
1794
1795
In the same year, a British army appeared in Flanders under the Duke of York, to arrest the progress of the French aggressions on the continent; and in 1794, two troops of the Fourteenth light dragoons were withdrawn from Ireland to engage in the contest. On their arrival in Flanders, the two troops of the regiment were attached to the eighth light dragoons; and they formed part of the van of the forces under Lieut.-General the Earl of Moira, on the march from Ostend to join the army under His Royal Highness the Duke of York. The squadron of the Fourteenth also shared in the toils and hardships of the winter campaign in Holland; it took part in several skirmishes with the enemy, and after enduring great privation and suffering from an unusually severe season, which occasioned the loss of several men and horses, it arrived in the early part of 1795, in Germany, where it was incorporated in the eighth regiment of light dragoons.
The contest in the West Indies had, in the meantime, been carried on with varied success, and the seven troops of the Fourteenth light dragoons in Ireland were ordered to give up their horses to the twenty-fourth light dragoons at Clonmel, and to embark for the West Indies dismounted. This transfer took place under the direction of Major-General Egerton, who bore testimony to the alacrity with which the officers and men prepared for embarkation.
The regiment embarked on the 25th of February, 1795, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Arthur Carter; on arriving at St. Domingo, it was furnished with such horses as could be procured, and it was soon engaged in active operations against the bands of armed negroes and mulattoes who had enrolled themselves under the banners of the French republic.
1796
1797
During the years 1796 and 1797, numerous actions occurred; but against a hundred thousand trained blacks who had been instructed in European discipline, the few British troops on the island were unable to do more than exhibit many brilliant examples of discipline and valour. In an enterprise against the post of Mirebalais in the beginning of June, 1797, a detachment of the Fourteenth, Eighteenth, and Twenty-first light dragoons, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Carter of the Fourteenth, distinguished themselves. They drove twelve hundred of the enemy with three pieces of cannon from a strong position, captured two guns, and chased a number of opponents into the river Artibonite, capturing their ammunition, mules, &c. The conduct of Lieut.-Colonel Carter, and of the dragoons under his orders, was commended in the public despatches. The climate of St. Domingo was, however, so very injurious to the health of European soldiers, that the regiment was soon reduced to a skeleton. The few surviving men who were fit for service, were permitted to volunteer into other corps, and the remainder, twenty-five in number, embarked for England, where they arrived in the month of October, and were stationed at Chelmsford.
On the 1st of June, 1797, General Sir Robert Sloper. K.B., was removed to the fourth dragoons, and the colonelcy of the Fourteenth was conferred on Major-General John William Egerton, afterwards Earl of Bridgewater, from first lieut.-colonel of the seventh light dragoons. This officer being on the staff when the few men of the regiment arrived from St. Domingo, he was employed in superintending the recruiting and remounting of his corps, and in a short time he had the satisfaction of seeing it a fine body of light cavalry mustering six hundred mounted men, who were divided into eight troops.
1798
In August, 1798, King George III. was graciously pleased to approve of the regiment being styled "the Fourteenth, or the Duchess of York's own Regiment of Light Dragoons," in honour of Frederica Charlotte Ulrica Catherina, Princess Royal of Prussia, who was married to His Royal Highness the Duke of York in 1791; at the same time the Royal authority was given for the Fourteenth to assume the "Prussian Eagle" as a regimental badge, and the colour of the facing of the regiment was changed from lemon-yellow to orange.
1800
1802
The establishment was augmented to ten troops, of ninety rank and file each, in 1800; but at the peace of Amiens, in 1802, a reduction of two troops took place.
GUIDON OF THE FOURTEENTH, OR THE DUCHESS OF YORK'S OWN LIGHT DRAGOONS, M DCC XCVIII.
[To face page 18.
1803
1804
1807
Hostilities were resumed in 1803, and in 1804 the regiment was again augmented to ten troops of ninety rank and file each, for which a supply of new carbines and pistols was received in 1807, from the ordnance stores.
1808
The French Emperor, Napoleon Buonaparte, having attempted to reduce Spain and Portugal to subjection to his power, a British army proceeded to Portugal to aid the inhabitants in their struggles for freedom. Portugal had been delivered, and the army under Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore was advancing into Spain, when the Fourteenth (the Duchess of York's Own) regiment of light dragoons, was ordered to embark for the Peninsula. The regiment marched to Falmouth, where it was put on board of transports, and arrived at Lisbon on the 23rd of December under the command of Colonel Samuel Hawker.
1809
The return to England of the troops which had served under Lieut.-General Sir John Moore, whose career of honour was terminated at the battle of Corunna, left only a small British force in the Peninsula, and these troops were quartered near Lisbon, from whence the Fourteenth light dragoons advanced in the early part of 1809, to Bucellas, an out-post of the army. In April the regiment formed the advance-guard on the march of the army to Coimbra, and in the beginning of May it was united in brigade with the sixteenth and twentieth light dragoons under Major-General Cotton, and was reviewed on the plains of Coimbra by Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Wellesley. The French troops under Marshals Soult and Victor had, in the meantime, invaded Portugal, and Marshal Soult had captured Oporto.
To expel the French from Oporto, was the first service undertaken by the British commander; on this occasion two squadrons of the Fourteenth, under Lieut.-Colonel Neil Talbot, were detached with the Portuguese troops under Marshal Beresford to intercept the French, if they should attempt to retreat by Amarante; the remaining three squadrons under Colonel Hawker advanced direct upon Oporto, and being employed, with the other cavalry on the advance-piquets, they took part in the rencounters with the enemy on the 10th and 11th of May. Arriving on the 12th of May, on the banks of the Douro near Oporto, unperceived by the French, the English general resolved to pass the river, when two squadrons of the Fourteenth were detached, with the German brigade and two guns under Major-General John Murray, three miles up the river, to Barca de Avintas, where they effected a passage in boats. In the meantime a portion of the army had passed nearer the city, and was engaged in a fierce action with the enemy, when the Fourteenth light dragoons and the Germans were seen advancing down the right bank of the river. The French made a precipitate retreat. The leading squadron of the Fourteenth, commanded by Major F. B. Hervey, and gallantly supported by the second squadron under Major the Honourable Charles Butler, dashed sword in hand upon the enemy's rear-guard and overthrew it, as it was pushing through a narrow road to gain an open space beyond the defile. Some execution was done, the French General, Laborde, was unhorsed, and General Foy was wounded; but no other troops advancing to support the Fourteenth, the gallant dragoons had to fight their way back, and had several men and horses killed and wounded. Major F. B. Hervey lost his right arm; Captain Peter Hawker, Lieutenants Robert Knipe, and Evelyn P. Dormer, were wounded.
The conduct of the Fourteenth was commended in Sir Arthur Wellesley's public despatch, and also in general orders. They had marched eighty miles in four days over the most difficult country, and they were employed in pursuing, along a mountainous region, the discomfited French troops, whose line of retreat could be traced by the smoke of burning houses. Having followed the enemy as far as Ginjo, the Fourteenth light dragoons halted, and afterwards moved towards Abrantes, where the army was concentrated for operations on the Tagus.
From Abrantes the army advanced into Spain, and a body of French troops under Marshal Victor retreated from Talavera de la Reyna. The Spaniards under General Cuesta pursued with avidity; but the French were reinforced, and they drove the Spaniards back upon Talavera, where the allied army formed in order of battle; the Fourteenth light dragoons being posted in the rear of Brigadier-General Alexander Campbell's division.
When the army went into position, Major-General Mackenzie was left with a division of infantry and a brigade of cavalry, as an advanced post, in the wood on the right of the Alberche, which covered the left flank. The French attacked this post between two and three o'clock on the 27th of July, when the Fourteenth light dragoons were ordered forward, and they crossed the Alberche river, and sent out a line of skirmishers to cover the retrograde movements of the infantry. The regiment was employed in skirmishing until night, and had nine horses killed; Lieutenant Theophilus Thomas Ellis, and one private soldier wounded.
The Fourteenth light dragoons resumed their post in the position occupied by the allied army, and supported the infantry during the severe contest on the 28th of July. The left of the British line was attacked at day-break, and when the enemy was repulsed at this point, a long pause ensued. An attack on the centre was made soon after two o'clock, and the French were again driven back; they also failed in another attack on the left. A strong body of the enemy advanced against Major-General Sherbrooke's division; this attack was repulsed by a charge of the whole division with bayonets; but the brigade of foot guards pursued so far as to be in danger of being annihilated; when the forty-eighth regiment, and the Fourteenth and sixteenth light dragoons were brought forward, and the foot guards rallied and again advanced. This was a moment of great peril to the allied army; but the steady valour of the British troops prevailed, and the French fell back.
The Fourteenth light dragoons had three men and twenty-one horses killed; Colonel Samuel Hawker, Captains John Chapman, and Peter Hawker, Lieutenants William Wainman and Thomas Smith, six rank and file, and three horses wounded; thirteen horses missing; Lieutenant Evelyn P. Dormer taken prisoner. Lieutenant-Colonel Neil Talbot, and Major Baker had each a horse killed under him.
Colonel Hawker was rewarded with a gold medal, and the regiment was subsequently authorised to bear on its guidons and appointments the word "Talavera", in commemoration of its distinguished services in this action.[10]
After this battle the enemy brought forward such very superior numbers, that the British General was forced to act on the defensive, and while the army was encamped on the banks of the Guadiana, a malignant fever proved fatal to numbers of officers and soldiers. The Fourteenth dragoons were removed to Villa Vicosa, a fortified town in the Alemtejo, from whence they marched, in December, to Santarem, a town very pleasantly situated on the right bank of the Tagus, where they were formed in brigade with the royal dragoons under Major-General Slade.
1810
In February, 1810, Badajoz and Ciudad Rodrigo were both menaced by the enemy, and in March the regiment returned to the Alemtejo, and took the advanced posts of Lieut.-General Rowland Hill's corps at Arronches, a town situate at the conflux of the Caya and the Algrette, near the Spanish frontiers. A concentration of French troops near Ciudad Rodrigo afterwards relieved the other provinces. Ciudad Rodrigo was eventually beseiged by Marshal Ney, and the British commander, hoping the enemy, by detaching troops, would furnish an opportunity for relieving this fortress, withdrew the Fourteenth light dragoons from the Alemtejo. The regiment advanced to Almeida in June; it was attached to the light division under Brigadier-General Craufurd, who was behind the Agueda river, watching the enemy's motions; and with the sixteenth light dragoons, and first hussars King's German Legion, took the out-post duty on this frontier.
No opportunity to relieve Ciudad Rodrigo occurred; but during the siege marauding parties of French soldiers entered the villages of Barquillo and Villa de Puerco on three successive nights. Brigadier-General Craufurd, thinking to cut off the next party, formed two ambuscades, one near Villa de Puerco, with six squadrons, another of three squadrons near Barquillo, and he also placed his artillery, five companies of the ninety-fifth, (Rifle-brigade) and the third Portuguese Caçadores in reserve; the Fourteenth light dragoons were employed in these ambuscades. On the morning of the 11th of July, a little after day-break, a party of French infantry was observed near Villa de Puerco, and a small body of cavalry at Barquillo; and the open country on the right would have enabled the six squadrons to place themselves between the infantry and their point of retreat; but this was circuitous, and Brigadier-General Craufurd preferred passing along a narrow defile between two stone walls. This proved difficult; in threading the defile in a long line the dragoons were separated, and the French infantry, two hundred strong, had time to form square, being hidden in high standing corn. The French dragoons coming out of Barquillo, were charged by the German hussars and a squadron of the sixteenth, and two officers and twenty-nine men were made prisoners. In the meantime the Fourteenth light dragoons had threaded the defile, and mounting the hill, rode with distinguished gallantry against the square; but the French infantry remained perfectly steady, and opened such a fire, that Lieut.-Colonel Talbot and eight men fell dead close to the bayonets, and twenty-three men were wounded.[11] The survivors withdrew a short distance to reform their ranks, and the French square commenced its retreat with singular steadiness and good order. The Fourteenth dragoons seeing this, prepared to launch against it another squadron, which was already in speed for the purpose, when Colonel Arentschildt of the hussars, observing cavalry approaching in front and flank, checked the movement. It was afterwards regretted that he took this step, as the horsemen, who alarmed him, proved to be the German hussars and sixteenth returning from the pursuit of the French dragoons, the whole of whom they had captured.
On the death of Lieut.-Colonel Talbot the command of the regiment devolved on Lieut.-Colonel F. B. Hervey, under whose directions the Fourteenth became celebrated as an efficient corps of light cavalry, remarkable for the excellent manner in which they performed the out-post duty.
Meanwhile Ciudad Rodrigo had surrendered; the Fourteenth remained in the villages near Fort La Conception until the 21st of July, when the enemy's masses approaching, they fell back to Almeida, where Brigadier-General Craufurd halted the few troops under his orders, and, with astonishing hardihood, confronted the whole French army. During the night of the 23rd of July, the videttes and patrols of the regiment were exposed to a heavy storm of wind and rain, and as daylight appeared, they discovered the approach of numerous legions of the enemy: a few shots were fired; the cavalry reserves and guns moved forward, and a skirmish ensued in which the Fourteenth had one serjeant killed; Lieutenant John Blachford, one private soldier, and four horses wounded. After opposing the superior numbers of the enemy for some time, the British withdrew beyond the river Coa; and Brigadier-General Craufurd stated in his despatch,—'The retreat of the Fourteenth light dragoons from Val-de-la-Mula to Almeida, was conducted in the most regular and soldier-like manner, though opposed to a superior force of French cavalry.'
A squadron of the regiment and a squadron of the royal dragoons, on duty at Frexadas, were sharply engaged with a superior force of the enemy on the 28th of August, and highly distinguished themselves.
Marshal Massena invaded Portugal with such an immense superiority of numbers, that the British commander was under the necessity of withdrawing from the frontiers, and the Fourteenth and sixteenth light dragoons, with the first German hussars, had the honour of covering the retrograde movements. On the 24th of September the enemy skirmished with the piquets in front of Mortagao, from whence a squadron of the Fourteenth under Captain Thomas W. Brotherton, with one of the sixteenth and first hussars, covered the retreat of the light division four miles to some strong ground. The three squadrons repulsed four of French hussars; some of the enemy's dragoons approaching too close, were charged by the squadron of the Fourteenth, and overthrown with the loss of about thirty men. On the following morning the cavalry skirmishers exchanged a few shots, and the Fourteenth were employed in covering the retreat of the light division to the position of Busaco. During this retreat Captain the Hon. Henry Percy was taken prisoner while reconnoitring the flank movement of the enemy.
The Fourteenth were in reserve during the battle of Busaco on the 27th of September; and they were subsequently employed in covering the retreat of the army to the strong lines of Torres Vedras.
On the 1st of October, the out-posts were attacked and driven from the hills bounding the plain of Coimbra to the north, when three troops of the Fourteenth, under Major the Honourable Charles Butler, proceeded through the town, and formed the rear-guard on the main road from Coimbra to Pombal. The remainder of the regiment was formed on the plain, with the other cavalry corps, and withdrew before a superior force of the enemy, crossing the Mondego at a ford below the town, and skirmishing to prevent the passage of the river by the enemy.
The French army continuing to press forward, its advance-guard skirmished with the rear of the allies almost every day, and the Fourteenth light dragoons had frequent opportunities of exhibiting brilliant instances of the innate valour of British soldiers. At Rio Mandevilla the Fourteenth and sixteenth light dragoons, first German hussars, royal dragoons, and Captain Bull's troop of artillery, repulsed a very superior force of the enemy, on which occasion the first French hussars were nearly annihilated. The Fourteenth had six men and six horses killed; eight men and twelve horses wounded.
The French legions continued to press forward as to an assured victory; but the lines of Torres Vedras arrested their progress, and while they remained in front of these extensive works, the Fourteenth light dragoons took the line of out-posts from the Sobral road. The French army withdrew during the night of the 14th of November; the morning of the 15th was foggy, and it was some hours after day-break when the British General discovered the void space in his front. The Fourteenth were ordered forward along the Cartaxo road, and their patrols took a number of French stragglers prisoners. Marshal Massena took up a position at Santarem; the head quarters of the allied army were established at Cartaxo, and the Fourteenth light dragoons furnished the out-posts, extending from the causeway and bridge over the river.
1811
After wasting his army by privation and sickness, the French marshal retreated; and at day-light on the 6th of March, 1811, Lord Wellington discovered the empty camps at Santarem, and moved his own army forward in pursuit. On the 8th of March, a squadron of the Fourteenth commanded by Captain Babington, and supported by the other squadrons of the regiment under Colonel Hervey, made a successful charge on four squadrons of the eleventh and twenty-sixth French dragoons at Venta de Serra, and captured fourteen men and fourteen horses; with the loss of two men and two horses.
Continuing to press upon the rear of the French army, the regiment was present at the skirmish at Pombal on the 10th of March, at Redinha on the 12th, at Casal Nova on the 14th, and at Foz d'Aronce on the 15th. The Fourteenth were also present at the action near Sabugal, on the 3rd April, but did not sustain any loss.
The French Commander continued his retreat to Salamanca, and the British General stood victorious on the confines of Portugal; the Fourteenth light dragoons furnished the out-posts on the left bank of the Agueda at Villa del Egua, where a peasant arrived from Ledesma, with intelligence that the French army was reinforced and re-organized, and was advancing. A squadron under Captain Brotherton was sent to Santa Espirita, and it fell back behind the Agueda as the French army advanced.
Almeida being blockaded by the allied army, Marshal Massena advanced to its relief; the Fourteenth withdrew gradually as the enemy approached, and on the 3rd of May they were engaged behind Gallegos; when Lieutenant John Townsend retired with the piquets under a heavy cannonade towards Fuentes d'Onor, and a squadron, under Captain Brotherton, had a sharp affair near Pozo Velho.
At the battle of Fuentes d'Onor, on the 5th of May, the Fourteenth and first royal dragoons covered the movement of the right of the army from Nave d'Aver, retiring by alternate squadrons, under a heavy cannonade; one squadron of the regiment charged with signal gallantry some French artillery, but was repulsed, and Captain Robert Knipe commanding the squadron was mortally wounded: he was succeeded in the command of the squadron by Lieutenant (afterwards Lieut.-Colonel) John Townsend: Lieut.-Colonel Hervey had his horse killed under him, and received a severe contusion.
An attack was made on the position in the rear of the village. 'The French with one shock drove in all the cavalry out-guards, and cutting off Captain Ramsay's battery, came sweeping in upon the reserves of horse and upon the seventh division. But their leading squadrons approaching in a disorderly manner, were partially checked by the British, and, at the same time, a great commotion was observed in their main body. Men and horses there closed with confusion and tumult towards one point, a thick dust arose, and loud cries, and the sparkling of blades, and the flashing of pistols, indicated some extraordinary occurrence. Suddenly the multitude became violently agitated, an English shout pealed high and clear, the mass was rent asunder, and Norman Ramsay burst forth at the head of his battery, his horses, breathing fire, stretched like greyhounds along the plain, the guns bounding behind them as things of no weight, and the mounted gunners followed in full career. Captain Brotherton of the Fourteenth dragoons, seeing this, rode forth with a squadron and overturned the head of the pursuing troops, and General Charles Stewart joining in the charge, took the French General Lamotte, fighting hand to hand.'[12] The French were repulsed in their attempt to relieve Almeida, and they withdrew from Portugal.
The Fourteenth light dragoons had Captain Robert Knipe and three private soldiers killed; Captain Thomas Potter Milles, Lieutenants John Townsend, John Gwynne, Lovell B. Badcock, Theophilus Thomas Ellis, six serjeants, and twenty-one rank and file wounded; three private soldiers missing. Lieut.-Colonel Hervey was rewarded with a gold medal, and the royal authority was subsequently given for the regiment to bear on its guidons and appointments the words "Fuentes d'Onor," as a special mark of His Majesty's approbation of its conduct on this occasion.
Viscount Wellington subsequently proceeded to Estremadura, where the strong fortress of Badajoz was besieged by the allies, and the Fourteenth dragoons formed part of the force left on the Agueda. Marshal Marmont advanced with a numerous French army, and having introduced a convoy into Ciudad Rodrigo, he drove back the British posts. On the morning of the 6th of June, two French columns appeared, when the light division was directed to retire from Gallegos upon Nave d'Aver and subsequently upon Alfayetes, and the royal dragoons, with a squadron of the Fourteenth, covered the retreat. Two thousand French cavalry, six thousand infantry, and ten guns, bore down upon the British squadrons and menaced their destruction; but the French horsemen were attacked and defeated twice, and the retreat was effected with little loss.
Marshal Marmont afterwards marched to Spanish Estremadura, and the British General withdrew from before Badajoz. The allied army subsequently proceeded to the vicinity of Ciudad Rodrigo, and eventually blockaded that fortress, the Fourteenth taking part in the out-post duty as usual. When the French army advanced to relieve the blockade, the regiment was stationed at Espejo, on the lower Azava, with advanced-posts at Carpio and Marialva. Having thrown a supply into Ciudad Rodrigo, the French Marshal marched against the allied army, and on the morning of the 25th of September, fourteen squadrons of the imperial guards drove the out-posts from Carpio, across the Azava; the lancers of Berg crossed the river in pursuit, but were charged and driven back by a squadron of the Fourteenth and two squadrons of the sixteenth light dragoons, and Carpio was again occupied by the British. Another body of the enemy attacked the troops at El Bodon, and when the British had withdrawn from this post, the Fourteenth fell back from Carpio, and a succession of retrograde movements followed, until the allied army took up a position behind Soita, when the French withdrew into Spain.
In the action at Carpio, and in the subsequent movements, the regiment had Lieutenant Hall and several private soldiers wounded; and the conduct of its commanding officer, Lieut.-Colonel Hervey, was commended in the public despatches; the excellent behaviour of Captain Brotherton was also particularly mentioned.
During the winter the strength of the regiment on foreign service was reduced two troops.
1812
Ciudad Rodrigo was captured in January, 1812; the regiment subsequently proceeded to Spanish Estremadura, and was stationed near Badajoz when the siege of that fortress was undertaken. The Fourteenth subsequently joined that portion of the covering army which was under Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Graham, and when the French army under Marshal Soult advanced, the British fell back upon Albuhera; the Fourteenth were employed in covering the retrograde movement, and they skirmished with the enemy's advanced-guard near Villa Franca. Badajoz having been captured by storm during the night of the 5th of April, the French army marching to its relief fell back.
In a few days after the capture of Badajoz, the Fourteenth were engaged in an enterprise against several regiments of French cavalry. The Regiment moved, on the night of the 10th of April, from Villa Franca upon Usagre, and afterwards along the Road to Llerena; the light brigade skirmished with the French, until the heavy brigade turned their flank; the enemy was then charged, overthrown, pursued, and many prisoners taken. On the following night a party of the Fourteenth, under Lieutenant Edward Pellew, took a piquet of twenty-two French dragoons prisoners. The regiment had upwards of twenty men and several horses wounded; and the conduct of Lieut.-Colonel Hervey was commended in Lieut.-General Sir Stapleton Cotton's despatch.
From Estremadura, the regiment marched towards the Agueda, and it formed the advanced guard of Sir Thomas Graham's column in the march towards Salamanca, near which city it skirmished with a body of the enemy on the 16th of June, and had one serjeant and one trumpeter killed; four private soldiers and five horses wounded.
The enemy retired behind the Douro, and the allies followed to the banks of that river, where the Fourteenth were formed in brigade with the first German hussars, and took the out-posts at Tordesillas. In the middle of July, Marshal Marmont commenced offensive operations and passed the Douro at several points, when Lord Wellington united his centre and left behind the Guarena stream, and the Fourteenth and German hussars covered the retreat from Rueda. The right wing of the allied army and a brigade of cavalry were at Castrejon on the Trabancas, and to cover the retrograde of this force, the Fourteenth and German hussars moved, on the 17th of July, to Alaejos. On the 18th some sharp skirmishing occurred, and the troops at Castrejon fell back behind the Guarena; the Fourteenth retired from the plain near Alaejos under a heavy fire, and took post behind the Guarena at Castrillos. The French army advanced to the opposite side of the river, and General Clausel, sent a brigade of cavalry across under Brigadier-General Carier, supporting it with a column of infantry, and manifesting an intention to press the British left. Major-General Victor Baron Alten led the Fourteenth and first German hussars against the French cavalry, and some sharp fighting occurred, during which General Carier was made prisoner. While the British and French horsemen were warmly engaged, the twenty-seventh and fortieth regiments, supported by a Portuguese brigade, came rushing down the hill and broke the French infantry with an impetuous bayonet charge; the Fourteenth and German hussars had, in the meantime, driven back the French cavalry, and the two regiments charged the broken infantry, and sabred some, and made others prisoners. The regiment had eighteen men and twenty horses killed; Captain Brotherton, Lieutenants John Gwynne, Francis Fowke, thirty-four rank and file, and eighteen horses wounded.
The regiment was actively employed in the operations of the succeeding three days, and occasionally skirmished between the opposing armies.
On the 22nd of July the memorable battle of Salamanca was fought; the Fourteenth skirmished with the enemy's advanced posts at day-break, and afterwards took their station in the line. By several changes of position, the French Marshal endeavoured to turn the right of the allied army and gain the road to Ciudad Rodrigo; Lord Wellington detected a false movement in the opposing army, and instantly ordering his divisions forward, commenced the battle. The Fourteenth light dragoons participated with the third division in its attack upon, and complete discomfiture of, the enemy's left; two squadrons under Lieut.-Colonel Hervey reinforced Brigadier-General D'Urban's Portuguese brigade, which turned the enemy's flank, and the regiment shared in the glorious struggle by which the French army was overthrown and driven from the field with a severe loss.
The regiment had several men and horses killed and wounded; Captain Brotherton, though still suffering from his wound received on the 18th of July, mounted his charger during the fight, and was again wounded; and the gallant bearing of the regiment was afterwards rewarded with the royal authority to display the word "Salamanca" on its guidons and appointments; its commanding officer, Lieut.-Colonel Hervey, was presented with a gold medal as a mark of royal favour and approbation.
On the following day the regiment pursued the rear of the French army, and two squadrons were sharply engaged and took several prisoners near Penerada. On the 26th, a patrol of three dragoons of the Fourteenth, and four of the German hussars, under Corporal William Hanley of the former corps, detached to Blasco Sancho, captured a party of the enemy, consisting of two officers, one serjeant, one corporal, and twenty-seven mounted dragoons, with one private servant and two mules, for which they received the expressions of the approbation of the Commander of the Forces. The French horses were given to the Fourteenth and German hussars, to complete deficiencies; the amount was divided among the patrol, and a further pecuniary donation was afterwards made to the men engaged in this gallant exploit.
After driving the enemy across the Douro and taking possession of Valladolid, the army marched to Madrid, and the Fourteenth light dragoons passed Segovia and bivouacked near Escurial, a place celebrated for its magnificent palace, built by Philip II. and used as a monastery. The head quarters of the regiment were established at Getafe, and it took the out-post duty. Lieutenant Cust commanded a post of observation at Consingia, in La Mancha, and Lieutenant Ward a post of communication between that station and Madrid.
When the Marquis of Wellington left Madrid to undertake the siege of Burgos, the Fourteenth were left in the vicinity of the capital of Spain; and when a concentration of the French forces rendered a retrograde movement necessary, the regiment assembled, with the first German hussars, at Guadalaxara, and fell back upon Madrid. From Madrid the regiment formed part of the rear-guard of Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill's corps, to Alba de Tormes, and for several days it was almost constantly engaged in manœuvring and skirmishing to retard the advance of the enemy. On the 16th of November the regiment repulsed the charge of a body of French lancers of superior numbers, at Matilla, and had several men killed and wounded. Colonel Hervey again signalized himself, and narrowly escaped being made prisoner.
In the retreat from Salamanca to Ciudad Rodrigo, the regiment took part in the piquets and other duties of the rear-guard, which it continued to perform until the army went into cantonments behind the Agueda; and Captain Badcock was detached with a reconnoitring party to the Sierra de Francia and river Alagon.
1813
After passing the winter in cantonments among the Portuguese peasantry, the regiment crossed the confines of that kingdom, and formed part of the centre column of the allied army in the advance in May 1813. Arriving at Salamanca on the 26th of that month, the bridge and streets were found barricaded, and a division of French infantry, three squadrons of cavalry, and some artillery, under General Villattes, were formed on the heights above the ford of Santa Marta. A British brigade passed the river at the ford, and the Fourteenth light dragoons and first German hussars removed the barricades and pushed through the town, when the enemy fell back, but was overtaken, and lost about two hundred men killed and wounded, and two hundred prisoners.
The line of the Tormes was thus gained; that of the Douro was soon afterwards won; and the allied army, proudly confident in its distinguished commander, advanced with a firmness which the enemy could not withstand, and the Carion and the Pisuerga were speedily passed: the Fourteenth light dragoons forming, as usual, part of the advance of the allied army, were engaged, on the 12th of June, in forcing a division of the enemy from a position near Burgos, when one squadron, under Captain Milles, charged and took some prisoners and a gun. The loss of the regiment was limited to one man and one horse killed; and one man and five horses wounded.
Unable to withstand the combinations of the British general, the French destroyed Burgos castle, and fell back with tumult and confusion behind the Ebro; the British urged their march towards the sources of that river, and traversing a wild but beautiful region, turned the enemy's position: the Fourteenth being in advance, crossed the Ebro at the bridge of Frias on the 15th of June, and a patrol fell in with a body of the enemy near Pancorba.
The enemy concentrated in front of Vittoria; the Marquis of Wellington examined their position on the 20th of June, and the Fourteenth skirmished with the French near the village of Huarte.
On the 21st of June, the long-expected battle was fought near Vittoria, and the Fourteenth light dragoons had the honour of sharing in a conflict in which the French army sustained a decisive overthrow. The regiment was attached to the troops under Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill, and supported the attacks of the infantry and artillery; in the afternoon it was detached to out-flank the enemy's left, and in the evening it pursued the wreck of the French army along the Pampeluna road, passing the whole of the enemy's baggage, which had been abandoned.
The gallant bearing of the Fourteenth on this occasion was subsequently rewarded with the royal authority to bear the word "Vittoria" on their guidons and appointments; and an additional honorary distinction was conferred on their commanding officer, Colonel Hervey.
On the following day the regiment went in pursuit of the remains of the French army, and on the 24th of June, fell in with the rear-guard at a pass about two leagues from Pampeluna, when two battalions of riflemen drove the French infantry through the pass, the horse artillery killed several men, and dismounted one of the two pieces of cannon brought off from Vittoria; at the same time the leading squadron of the Fourteenth, under Major Brotherton, charged and captured a tumbril.
The French withdrew into the passes of the Pyrenean mountains; the Fourteenth light dragoons followed the enemy, and on the 28th of June, a patrol of three men of the regiment, under Lieutenant Ward, penetrating to the village of Ostiz, found twenty-five French foot soldiers regularly armed and formed up at the village, who surrendered themselves prisoners of war.
Advancing further into the mountains, a patrol of six men of the regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Clavering, encountered, on the 1st of July, a body of infantry of the French rear-guard, on the road from Roncesvalles to St. Jean-Pied-de-Port, dispersed them, and took eighteen prisoners.
A strong body of French troops occupied the fruitful valley of Bastan, in the mountains, from whence they were driven by the troops under Sir Rowland Hill. The Fourteenth were attached to Lieut.-General Hill's division, and a squadron, under Major Brotherton, was engaged, on the 4th of July, with a body of the enemy near Almandoz. The allied army was established in positions in the mountains; the Fourteenth took the out-post duty in front of Maya, and also furnished posts of correspondence for several weeks. At length, the French army having been reinforced, re-organized, and placed under the command of Marshal Soult, advanced and commenced offensive operations. During the action of the 26th of July, the regiment was employed in carrying off the wounded from the pass of Maya, and received the thanks of Sir Rowland Hill. A squadron under Captain Milles was similarly employed on the 30th of July, when Sir Rowland Hill's post at Arestegui was attacked, and another squadron under Major Brotherton had a rencounter with the enemy.
The French having been repulsed, fell back in disorder, and were pursued to the confines of Spain. The Fourteenth formed the van of Sir Rowland Hill's division, and were engaged with the enemy in the valley of Bastan, on the 1st and 2nd of August: on the 5th the regiment took the out-post duty in front of Maya.
On the 10th of November the troops descended from the Pyrenees, and traversed the mountain passes by moonlight, until they arrived at the line of piquets, where they halted until the day dawned, when they transferred the seat of war to France, and taught the admirers of splendid but unprincipled aggressions, that the day of retribution had arrived. The Fourteenth light dragoons were attached to Sir Rowland Hill's division, and one squadron formed the advance-guard to Marshal Beresford's corps. The enemy's position on the Nivelle was forced, and the regiment was united at Espelette on the following day. The regimental baggage, which was attached to the second division, fell into the hands of a party of the enemy, in the rear of the pass of Maya, on which occasion the regiment had one troop serjeant-major and two private soldiers killed.
From the 15th of November to the 9th of December the regiment furnished the out-posts on the river Nive: it formed the advanced-guard to Sir Rowland Hill's corps at the passage of the Nive at the fords near Cambo, and the stream being deep, two men and two horses were drowned. On the 11th of December, a squadron, under Major Brotherton, encountered a body of the enemy in front of Mendionda, and captured a convoy of corn, wine, and salt, and made four men and horses of the escort prisoners. On the 13th the regiment was engaged with the French Light cavalry, under General Pierre Soult, (brother of Marshal Soult), at Hasparren, when Major Brotherton and Lieutenant Southwell were taken prisoners; also one serjeant and one private soldier wounded, and one taken prisoner.
The regiment took the out-post duty in front of Urt on the 14th of December; and was formed in brigade with the thirteenth light dragoons, under Colonel Vivian, who was succeeded, in the beginning of the following year, by Major-General Fane.
1814
After reposing a short period in quarters during very severe weather, the army resumed operations in the middle of February, 1814, and the Fourteenth light dragoons took the van in the advance against the enemy's left, which led to the actions at Hellette, Garris, and Sauveterre.
On the 27th of February the battle of Orthes was fought; the Fourteenth shared in the operations of the troops under Sir Rowland Hill, and passing the stream above Orthes, advanced towards the great road to St. Sever, thus operating against the enemy's left. The French were overpowered and driven from the field; the Fourteenth light dragoons earned another inscription, the word 'Orthes,' for their guidons and appointments, and Colonel Hervey was rewarded with another honorary distinction.
The French fell back in disorder, the Fourteenth followed the enemy; crossed the Adour on the 1st of March, and, continuing the pursuit, were engaged, on the following day, at Aire, from whence the French were driven by the troops under Sir Rowland Hill. Serjeant Vernor, and privates Craig and Rose, distinguished themselves on this occasion.
A party, favourable to the house of Bourbon, was known to exist in this part of France, and Marshal Soult sent a body of troops to Pau on the night of the 7th of March, to arrest the nobles who had assembled to welcome the arrival of the Duke D'Angouleme; but Major-General Fane had arrived at Pau with a brigade of infantry and two regiments of cavalry, and defeated the enemy's design. The Fourteenth light dragoons, with two guns attached, made a strong patrol to Pau on the 7th of March, and on the following day fell in with the French detachment, and Captain Townsend and four private soldiers were taken prisoners.
Some offensive movements were made by the enemy on the 13th and 14th of March, and General Pierre Soult proceeded with three regiments of cavalry to Clarac, on the Pau road, to intercept the communication with that town, and to menace the right flank of the allies. The piquet of the Fourteenth at Clarac, repulsed the enemy on the morning of 14th of March, but Captain Babington was taken prisoner. In the evening the piquet under Captain Badcock was attacked by the whole of the fifth regiment of chasseurs and being reinforced by a squadron under Captain Milles, kept its ground until another squadron arrived under Captain Anderson, when the French were repulsed with loss. Captain Milles was rewarded with the brevet rank of Major.
On the 16th of March the regiment repulsed an attack of the enemy in front of Castel Paget. On the 18th at daylight, the army was in movement; the French right was turned by the valley of the Adour, and their out-posts driven back upon Lembege: the leading squadron of the Fourteenth, under Captain Anderson, was engaged with the French on the Lembege road, and Lieutenant Lyons was killed.
A squadron of the regiment, under Captain Milles, was attached to Lieut.-General Stewart's division, and was engaged, on the 19th of March, near Vic Bigorre; on the 20th the regiment took part in the affair at Tarbes, and assumed the out-post duty in the evening; and it was in advance during the march of the army towards Toulouse on the 22nd of that month.
The Fourteenth light dragoons had the honor of serving at the battle of Toulouse on the 10th of April; they were attached to the troops under Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill, and took part in the operations by which the French army was driven from its ground. Hostilities were soon afterwards terminated; Napoleon Buonaparte abdicated the throne of France, and the Bourbon dynasty was restored.
Thus terminated, with glory to the British arms, a war in which the Fourteenth, the Duchess of York's Own Regiment of Light Dragoons, had acquired a high reputation; it had become justly celebrated for the excellent esprit-de-corps which pervaded the ranks, and especially for the superior style in which the officers and soldiers had, during several years, performed the duties of piquets, patrols, videttes, and other services which devolve upon a corps employed in the out-post duty.
At the termination of the contest, the regiment marched into quarters at Monte Marsan, where the reputation it had acquired occasioned it to be selected from among the other cavalry corps of the army, to take part in the contest between Great Britain and the United States of North America. The regiment marched to Bourdeaux in May, and being there reviewed by Major-General Lord Dalhousie, was complimented on its appearance and efficiency; but the order for its embarkation for America was countermanded.
The regiment marched from Bourdeaux to Calais, where it embarked for England, and landing at Dover on the 17th of July, proceeded from thence to the vicinity of London. It was reviewed on Hounslow Heath, by His Royal Highness the Duke of York, who complimented Colonel Hervey on the appearance and efficiency of the several troops, adding, "They appear as if they had never been on service." After the review the regiment joined the depôt at Weymouth.
The non-effectives during the five years and a half the regiment had been on foreign service, including men invalided and sent home, and horses cast and sold, were 654 non-commissioned officers and private soldiers, and 1564 troop horses. From the period of its leaving Ireland in 1795, it had been recruited from the counties of Worcester, Warwick, Salop, and Bucks, with some volunteers from the fencible cavalry in 1800, and from the royal waggon train in 1810.
The contest in North America, which had been recommenced in 1813, had not terminated, and in the autumn two squadrons of the regiment, dismounted, embarked, and sailing from Plymouth, arrived, on the 24th of November, at Jamaica, where an expedition was assembled under Major-General (afterwards Lord) Keane, for an attempt on New Orleans, situate on the river Mississippi, one hundred and ten miles from the Gulf of Mexico. The approach to this place was particularly difficult; and when the fleet arrived, on the 10th of December, off the coast of Louisiana, the troops had to be removed into light vessels, and eventually into open boats, for the tedious navigation of Lake Bargne, and were afterwards obliged to traverse a difficult morass. Emerging from the morass, the soldiers were opposed by such immense bodies of Americans, with extensively fortified lines and batteries, and armed vessels on the river, that after extraordinary efforts, and exhibitions of valour and perseverance, the enterprise was relinquished.
1815
In the attack on the enemy's lines, on the 8th January, 1815, the two squadrons served dismounted. Major-General the Honourable Sir Edward Pakenham, K.C.B., was killed; Major-Generals Gibbs and Keane were dangerously wounded; and the command devolved on Major-General Lambert, who stated in his public despatch, 'The conduct of the two squadrons of the Fourteenth light dragoons, latterly under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Baker, previously of Major Milles, has been the admiration of every one, by the cheerfulness with which they have performed all descriptions of service.'
The troops returned on board the fleet; and one boat, containing Lieutenant Brydges, Cornet Hammond, one serjeant-major, and thirty-nine rank and file of the regiment, was captured by the Americans.
Hostilities were soon afterwards terminated by a treaty of peace; and the two squadrons arrived in England, and joined the regiment at Hounslow in May; a third squadron which had embarked for America, also rejoined the head-quarters.
This year the regiment was authorized to bear the word "Peninsula" on its guidons and appointments, in commemoration of its services in Portugal, Spain, and France.
Napoleon Buonaparte having quitted Elba, and returned to France, and having regained the throne of that kingdom, war was immediately recommenced; three squadrons of the Fourteenth having sailed for America, the regiment was prevented sharing in the contest which followed; but Colonel Hervey and Major Percy served on the staff of Field-Marshal the Duke of Wellington.
1816
In December the regiment embarked at Bristol for Ireland, and landed at Waterford and Cork in January, 1816: at the same time the establishment was reduced to eight troops.
1817
1818
A further reduction took place in the two following years; and in 1818 Captains Townsend and Badcock received the rank of major in the army for services in the field during the Peninsular war.
1819
During its stay in Ireland the regiment was several times commended for its conduct and discipline by Major-General White, and Major-General Sir Sydney Beckwith: and on the 27th of May, 1819, it was formed in column and received the personal thanks of Sir George Beckwith, commanding the forces in that part of the United Kingdom. The regiment embarked from Dublin in June, and landed at Liverpool on the 11th of that month.
In the autumn of this year the Fourteenth light dragoons lost their commanding officer, Colonel Sir Felton Bathurst Hervey, Baronet, who died on the 24th September, 1819, and whose death was regretted by the corps.[13] His services had been rewarded with the dignity of a Baronet, and the following distinctions; a cross for the battles of Fuentes d'Onor, Salamanca, Vittoria, and Orthes; a medal for the battle of Waterloo; Companion of the Bath; Companion of the Guelphic Order; the Russian Order of Wladimir; Maria Theresa of Austria; St. Henry of Saxony; Tower and Sword of Portugal; Maximilian Joseph of Bavaria; and the Prussian Order of Merit. He was succeeded by Lieut.-Colonel Baker.
1821
In 1821 the establishment was reduced to six troops.
1822
On the 1st of June, 1822, the regiment was reviewed on Hounslow-heath, with the first and second life guards, royal horse guards, tenth and fifteenth hussars, and a brigade of horse of artillery, by His Royal Highness the Duke of York, the Commander-in-Chief, who was pleased to express his approbation of the appearance and movements of the troops.
1823
In the autumn of 1823 General the Earl of Bridgewater died, and was succeeded in the colonelcy of the regiment by Lieut.-General Sir John Ormsby Vandeleur, G.C.B., whose regiment, the nineteenth light dragoons, had been disbanded two years previously.
1825
The regiment remained in England until April, 1825, when it embarked at Bideford for Ireland, landed at Waterford, and marched to Cork and Fermoy.
1826
1827
1828
In 1826 the Fourteenth marched to Dublin, where its appearance, discipline, and interior economy, were commended by Major-General Sir Colquhoun Grant, K.C.B., at the inspections in June and September. From Dublin the regiment marched in January, 1827, to Athlone, Ballinrobe, Gort, and Loughrea; it returned to Dublin in March, 1828; was commended for its appearance, efficiency and discipline, and also for its good conduct while in Ireland, by Lieut.-General Sir George Murray, K.C.B., commanding the forces in that country, at the inspection on the 22nd of March; and embarked for Liverpool on the 26th of that month.
1829
From Liverpool the regiment marched to Birmingham and Coventry, and while in these quarters Lieut.-Colonel Baker retired,[14] and was succeeded by Lieut.-Colonel John Townsend, by commission dated the 16th of April 1829. In May, 1829, the regiment marched to Leeds, Burnley, and Rochdale.
1830
In April, 1830, the regiment proceeded to Brighton and Chichester, and its appearance, discipline, and interior economy, were commended by Major-General Sir Hussey Vivian at the inspection on the 24th of May.
The regiment was inspected at Brighton on the 19th of June by its colonel, Lieut.-General Sir John Ormsby Vandeleur, G.C.B. who was pleased to express himself 'much gratified by the highly military appearance of the regiment, the celerity and precision of its movements in the field, and the clean and orderly state of the barracks, as well as the fine condition of the horses, all of which prove the zeal and ability of the commanding officer, and the active assistance he receives from the other officers, as well as the steady good conduct of the non-commissioned officers and privates, which he shall not fail to report to the Commander-in-Chief. He requests Lieut.-Colonel Townsend to accept his thanks, and also to communicate them to the officers, and to the regiment. He cannot omit observing the excellent management of the school, and the great progress of the pupils.'
In the same month Lieut.-General Sir John Ormsby Vandeleur was removed to the sixteenth light dragoons, and was succeeded by Major-General Sir Edward Kerrison, Baronet.
In July the regiment marched to London, and was reviewed by His Majesty, King William IV. on the 26th of that month, who was graciously pleased to express his royal approbation of its appearance, and to command that it should in future bear the distinguished title of "The Fourteenth, or The King's, instead of the Duchess of York's Own, Regiment of Light Dragoons." This distinctive appellation occasioned the regiment to discontinue the orange, and, as a Royal regiment, to assume the scarlet facing.
1831
From London the regiment marched to Birmingham and Coventry, where it was stationed until July, 1831, when the head-quarters were removed to Gloucester.
In October, 1831, the political feelings of the lower classes of the city of Bristol being in a highly excited state, and riotous proceedings being anticipated, a troop of the Fourteenth Light Dragoons (with one of the third dragoon guards) was ordered to the vicinity, for the purpose of aiding the magistracy in the preservation of order. The arrival of the Recorder, Sir Charles Wetherell, on Saturday the 29th October, for the purpose of holding the sessions, was the immediate cause of the outbreak. Large bodies of the populace assembled from every quarter, parading the streets, throwing stones at the authorities, breaking windows, and committing other acts of violence. This continued throughout the day; but it was not until evening, that serious consequences began to be apprehended. At dusk, the mob attacked and forcibly entered the mansion house, the Riot Act was consequently proclaimed, and the troops were called to the immediate scene of outrage. They cleared the streets in the neighbourhood of the mansion house, but there not being at hand a sufficient body of constables to act in concert with the troops, the mob still retained possession of the courts and alleys of the city, whither the dragoons were unable to follow them. On Sunday the rioters assembled in greater numbers, and during that day, and the following night, succeeded in destroying the mansion house, custom house, excise office, the bishop's palace, and a vast amount of private property.
On the morning of the 31st October, an additional troop of the Fourteenth light dragoons arrived, and Major Beckwith, who had preceded it, (travelling post from head-quarters at Gloucester), having concerted with the magistrates, who saw the necessity of energetic measures, placed himself at the head of the squadron, and proceeded against the rioters, who were engaged in plundering the cellars of the bishop's palace, which they had destroyed on the day before: the troops were assailed with bottles, stones, &c., but they quickly dispersed the mob; and it having been ascertained that in another part of the city the rioters were about commencing the destruction of the remaining portion of Queen-square, the squadron of the Fourteenth proceeded thither, and put the mob to flight; thence it repaired to the jail, which was regained possession of, and restored to the charge of the civil authorities. The squadron then traversed the quays and wharfs, dispersing every riotous assemblage with which it came in contact, and driving out and pursuing, for some miles, a large body of colliers who had been attracted to the scene of outrage. To this energetic conduct of the Fourteenth Light Dragoons, under Major Beckwith, may be ascribed the restoration of tranquillity and the preservation of the remainder of the city of Bristol.
1832
In June, 1832, the regiment was removed to Hounslow, and was employed on the King's duty, in furnishing escorts for their Majesties and the royal family, &c.
In 1832 the King's Crest was permitted to be borne on the Appointments; and the Prussian Eagle, which had been carried as the regimental badge from the year 1798, was authorised to be continued on the second and third corners of the Regimental Guidon.
1833
In March, 1833, the regiment embarked at Bristol for Dublin, from whence it marched in April, 1834, to Longford.
1834
On the 24th May, 1834, His Majesty commanded that the use of Guidons in regiments of Light Dragoons should be discontinued. The Guidons in regiments of Hussars and Lancers had been directed on 12th March, 1834, to be discontinued.
1835
1836
In May, 1835, the regiment was removed to Dundalk, and in May, 1836, it embarked at Belfast for Glasgow.
1837
The regiment was stationed at Glasgow until the spring of 1837, when it marched to Edinburgh, and occupied Piershill barracks.
1838
1839
1840
In the summer of 1838 the regiment left Scotland; it was stationed at Birmingham until April, 1839, when it marched to Hounslow, from whence it proceeded to Dorchester in May, 1840.
1841
The regiment remained at Dorchester until the 30th of March, 1841, when it was removed to Canterbury, where it arrived on the 10th of April, preparatory to its being embarked for Bombay to relieve the fourth light dragoons.
GUIDON OF THE FOURTEENTH, OR THE KING'S LIGHT DRAGOONS, M DCCC XXXII.
[To face page 60.
The regiment being augmented to the India establishment, Major William Havelock, K.H. (from the fourth light dragoons) was promoted to be the second Lieut.-Colonel, and Captain Edward Harvey was promoted to be second Major, on the 30th April, 1841.
On the 24th of May, the first division, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Townsend, embarked at Gravesend for India in the freight ship "Repulse," and arrived at Bombay on the 8th of September, from whence it proceeded to Kirkee: the second division embarked at Gravesend on board of the freight ship "Reliance" on the 14th of June, under the command of Major Barton, and landing at Bombay on the 5th of October following, marched to join the regiment at Kirkee, where it arrived on the 13th of that month.
1842
1843
1844
The Fourteenth light dragoons during the years 1842, 1843, and 1844, continued to be stationed at Kirkee: two squadrons however proceeded on field service to Kolapoor in October, 1844.
1845
Lieut.-Colonel Townsend received leave from India, and he died at Castle Townsend, in Ireland, on the 22nd April, 1845.[15] He was succeeded by Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Edward Harvey, on the 23rd of April.
The two squadrons of the Fourteenth light dragoons, which had proceeded on field service in the southern Mahratta country, rejoined the head-quarters on the 19th of March, 1845, and in the following December the regiment marched from Kirkee, en route to Mhow and Agra.
1846
On the 4th of March, 1846, the regiment marched from Agra to Meerut, arriving at the latter station on the 16th of that month; and in April, 1846, the regiment proceeded to Umballa, where it has continued to the end of the year 1846.
The statement of the services of the Fourteenth, or the King's, Light Dragoons, from the period of the formation of the regiment in 1715 to the present time, (as given in the preceding pages,) affords abundant proofs of the value of its services abroad, as well as at home; and its order, discipline, good conduct, and bravery, have, on numerous occasions, been attested by the general officers under whom the regiment has been employed.
During the Peninsular War, from 1808 to 1814, the Fourteenth and Sixteenth Light Dragoons were principally employed on the important duties of out-posts, on which the safety of an army in the field, and the success of its movements greatly depend.
In the mode of performing these peculiar and important services, the Fourteenth and Sixteenth Light Dragoons, under the direction of active and intelligent officers, acquired the confidence of the Commander of the Forces, and of the division of the army of which they formed a portion.
At the period of the conclusion of this Record, (1846) the regiment is reported to be in a high state of efficiency, and in readiness to evince its prowess whenever the public service may again require its assistance.