SUCCESSION OF COLONELS

OF THE

FOURTEENTH, (THE KING'S) REGIMENT

LIGHT DRAGOONS.

James Dormer.

Appointed 22nd July, 1715.

James Dormer obtained a commission at the augmentation of the army in 1701, and his attention to duty, zeal for the service, and personal bravery, evinced while serving under the celebrated John, Duke of Marlborough, were rewarded in 1707 with the rank of colonel in the army, and he was soon afterwards appointed colonel of a newly-raised Irish regiment of foot, with which he embarked for Spain in 1709. He distinguished himself at the battle of Saragossa, and in the advance to Madrid, in 1710, but was surrounded and made prisoner, with his regiment, in the mountains of Castile in the following winter. He was exchanged, and on arriving in England, he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General; and in 1712, he succeeded Lord Mohun, who was killed in a duel with the Duke of Hamilton, in the command of a regiment of foot, which was disbanded at the peace of Utrecht. At the augmentation in the summer of 1715, he was commissioned to raise a corps of dragoons,—the present Fourteenth, the King's Regiment of Light Dragoons. He commanded a brigade at the attack of the rebels at Preston, and was wounded at the storming of the avenue leading to Lancaster. He was removed in 1720, to the sixth foot; he was promoted to the rank of Major-General in 1727, and to that of Lieut.-General in 1735. In 1738, he was rewarded with the colonelcy of the first troop of horse grenadier guards, and he retained this appointment until his decease in 1742.

Clement Neville.

Appointed 9th April, 1720.

This Officer entered the army at the Revolution in 1688, and he served under King William III, in the Netherlands. He also served in the wars of Queen Anne; was promoted to the Lieut.-Colonelcy of Munden's regiment of foot, with which he served in Spain, and signalized himself at the battle of Saragossa in 1710; but was made prisoner at Brihuega. He was shortly afterwards exchanged, and at the close of the campaign of 1711, he was rewarded with the rank of colonel in the army. At the peace of Utrecht, his regiment was disbanded; and in the summer of 1715, he was appointed Lieut.-Colonel of the thirteenth dragoons. In 1720 he was promoted to the colonelcy of the Fourteenth dragoons, from which he was removed to the eighth dragoons in 1737, and in 1739, he was promoted to the rank of Major-General. In 1740, he was appointed colonel of the sixth horse, now fifth dragoon guards; and in 1743, he was promoted to the rank of Lieut.-General. He died in 1744.

Archibald Hamilton.

Appointed 27th June, 1737.

Archibald Hamilton entered the army in November, 1688, and at the Revolution he adhered to the Prince of Orange, afterwards King William III, under whose command he served in Flanders. In the reign of Queen Anne, he served in Portugal and Spain, and his regiment (Montjoy's foot), was nearly annihilated at the battle of Almanza in 1707, where he was taken prisoner. This corps was subsequently incorporated into other regiments, and the officers sent home to recruit, and at the peace of Utrecht it was disbanded. In the summer of 1715, he was appointed Lieut.-Colonel of the eleventh dragoons, and in May, 1732, he was promoted to the colonelcy of the twenty-seventh foot: from which he was removed, in 1737, to the Fourteenth dragoons. He died in 1749.

James Lord Tyrawley.

Appointed 24th July, 1749.

The Hon. James O'Hara was appointed lieutenant in the royal regiment of fusiliers, commanded by his father, on the 15th of March, 1703, and in 1706 he proceeded with his regiment to the relief of Barcelona. In the following year he served on the staff of the army in Spain, and was wounded at the battle of Almanza, where, it is said, he was instrumental in saving the Earl of Galway's life. He served several years at Minorca, and, in 1713, obtained the colonelcy of the royal fusiliers in succession to his father, at whose decease, in 1733, he succeeded to the dignity of Baron Tyrawley. The rank of brigadier-general was conferred on his lordship on the 23rd of November, 1735; that of major-general on the 2nd of July, 1739; and in August of the latter year, he was removed from the royal fusiliers to the fifth horse, now fourth dragoon guards. In March, 1743, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general, and in the following month obtained the colonelcy of the second troop of horse grenadier guards, from which he was removed, in 1745, to the third troop of life guards, which gave him the privilege of taking the court duty of Gold Stick. In 1746, when King George II. had resolved to disband the third and fourth troops of life guards, his lordship was removed to the tenth foot; he was removed, in 1749, to the Fourteenth dragoons; in 1752, to the third dragoons; and in 1755, to the second, or Coldstream regiment of foot guards. He was appointed Governor of Portsmouth on the 1st of May, 1759, and was promoted to the rank of General on the 7th of March, 1761. He held the appointment of Governor of Minorca for several years, and was employed as envoy and ambassador to the courts of Portugal and Russia. He died at Twickenham on the 13th of July, 1773.

Louis Dejean.

Appointed 27th November, 1752.

Louis Dejean served many years in the first troop of horse grenadier guards, in which corps he rose to the rank of Lieut.-Colonel, and in 1746 he was promoted to the colonelcy of a regiment of foot, which was afterwards disbanded. In 1752, he was appointed to the colonelcy of the Fourteenth dragoons; in 1756, he was promoted to the rank of Major-General; in 1757, he was removed to the third Irish horse, now sixth dragoon guards; and in 1759, he was advanced to the rank of Lieut.-General. He died at Dublin, in 1764.

John Campbell.

Appointed 5th April, 1757.

John Campbell entered the army in the reign of King George II., and in 1745, he was promoted to the Lieut.-Colonelcy of the fifty-fourth regiment, now forty-third, or Monmouthshire light infantry, with which corps he served a short period in the Netherlands. The rebellion breaking out in Scotland, he quitted Flanders, and in January, 1746, he joined Lieut.-General Hawley, with a thousand Argyleshire highlanders, on the day of the unfortunate battle of Falkirk. He subsequently joined the Duke of Cumberland at Perth, and accompanied His Royal Highness to the north. He was promoted to the rank of colonel, and appointed aide-de-camp to the King in November, 1755; in the following month he was nominated colonel of the fifty-fourth regiment, then first embodied, from which he was removed in 1757, to the Fourteenth dragoons, and in 1759, he was promoted to the rank of Major-General, and appointed colonel of the Argyleshire fencibles; in January 1761, he was advanced to the rank of Lieut.-General. On the decease of his uncle, Archibald, third Duke of Argyle, in 1761, his father, General John Campbell, of the Scots Greys, succeeded to that title, and Lieut.-General Campbell, of the Fourteenth dragoons, became Marquis of Lorne. In the following year he was appointed Commander-in-Chief in Scotland, and in 1765 he was removed to the royal regiment of foot. He was again appointed Commander-in-Chief in Scotland in 1767, and in 1770 he succeeded to the title of Duke of Argyle. He was promoted to the rank of General in 1778; removed to the third foot guards in 1782, and advanced to the rank of Field Marshal in 1796. Being distinguished for many social, private, and public virtues, he was highly honoured and respected in society, and he died lamented, on the 24th day of May, 1806, in the eighty-third year of his age.

Charles Fitzroy.

Appointed 11th September, 1765.

Charles Fitzroy, brother of Augustus Henry, Duke of Grafton, was appointed ensign in the first foot guards in 1752; in 1758, he was promoted to the command of a company, with the rank of Lieut.-Colonel, and in 1762 he was appointed colonel of the 119th, or the Prince's Own regiment of foot, which was disbanded in the following year. He was appointed to the colonelcy of the Fourteenth dragoons, in 1765; was promoted to the rank of Major-General, and removed to the third dragoons in 1772, and in 1777, he was promoted to the rank of Lieut.-General; in 1780, he was created Lord Southampton. In 1793, he was advanced to the rank of General. He died in 1797.

Daniel Webb.

Appointed 20th October, 1772.

Daniel Webb was many years an officer of the eighth horse, now seventh dragoon guards, at a period when that corps acquired a high reputation for discipline, efficiency, and valour, and was designated Ligonier's horse. He rose to the rank of major in the regiment; commanded a squadron at the Battle of Dettingen in 1743, where his corps highly distinguished itself under the eye of its sovereign; and he also commanded a squadron at the battle of Fontenoy, in 1745. In a few days after the battle, he was promoted to the Lieut.-Colonelcy, in succession to Lieut.-Colonel Francis Ligonier, who was promoted to the colonelcy of the forty-eighth foot. Lieut.-Colonel Webb performed the duties of commanding officer of the eighth horse, until November, 1755, when he was rewarded with the colonelcy of the forty-eighth foot: in 1759, he was promoted to the rank of Major-General. He served in Germany under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, and commanded a brigade of cavalry at the battle of Warbourg in 1760; in 1761, he was promoted to the rank of Lieut.-General. In 1766, he was removed to the eighth foot, and in 1772, to the Fourteenth dragoons, the command of which corps he retained until his decease in the following year.

George Warde.

Appointed 11th November, 1773.

This officer held a commission in the eleventh dragoons for many years, and was appointed major of the regiment in 1756. In 1758, he was promoted to the Lieut.-Colonelcy of the fourth dragoons, and he brought that corps into so excellent a state of discipline and efficiency, that he received the expression of the high approbation of King George III., on several occasions, when His Majesty reviewed the regiment. He was promoted to the rank of colonel in 1772; in the following year, the King rewarded him with the colonelcy of the Fourteenth dragoons, and four years afterwards he was advanced to the rank of Major-General. In 1778, he was removed to the first Irish horse, now fourth dragoon guards, and he was promoted to the rank of Lieut.-General in 1782. In 1792 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief in Ireland, and while in that country he devoted much of his time in bringing his regiment into a perfect condition for active service. He possessed sound ideas of what cavalry ought to be; he had an aversion to slow movements, and, although nearly seventy years of age, he exercised his regiment five times a week,—often leading it across the country over hedge and ditch, to the astonishment of every one. In 1796, he was promoted to the rank of General. He was celebrated for philanthropy, and is represented by historians as a "man of inviolable disinterested integrity, public and private; and the bestower of benefactions scarcely less secret than extensive." He died in March 1803.

Sir Robert Sloper, K.B.

Appointed 2nd April, 1778.

Robert Sloper was appointed by King George II., to a commission in the tenth dragoons, and at the augmentation of the army in December, 1755, His Majesty promoted him to the majority of the regiment. In February, 1759, he was promoted to the Lieut.-Colonelcy of the first dragoon guards, and he commanded that regiment during the remainder of the seven years' war in Germany, where he was repeatedly commended by Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, and other general officers under whose command he served. While under his orders, the first dragoon guards were preserved in a high state of discipline and efficiency. He was promoted to the rank of Major-General in 1771, and in 1778, King George III. rewarded him with the colonelcy of the Fourteenth dragoons. In 1782, he was promoted to the rank of Lieut.-General, and to that of General in 1796; and in the following year he was removed to the fourth dragoons. He was further rewarded with the dignity of a Knight of the Bath, and the government of Duncannon fort. He died in 1802.

John William Egerton.

Appointed 1st June, 1797.

John William Egerton, (eldest son of the Rev. John Egerton, afterwards Lord Bishop of Durham), was appointed cornet in the seventh dragoons in January 1771; he obtained the command of a troop in 1776, and in 1779 he was promoted to the majority of the twenty-second light dragoons, from which he was removed to the twentieth in 1781; and in 1782, he was promoted to the Lieut.-Colonelcy of the twenty-first light dragoons, which corps was disbanded in the following year, in consequence of the termination of the American war. In 1790, he was appointed to the Lieut.-Colonelcy of the seventh light dragoons; he was promoted to the rank of Colonel in 1793, and to that of Major-General in 1795. He served some time on the staff in Ireland, and was removed to the eastern district of England in 1796: in the following year His Majesty conferred upon him the colonelcy of the Fourteenth light dragoons, and promoted him in 1802, to the rank of Lieut.-General. On the decease of his cousin, Francis, third Duke of Bridgewater, in 1803, he succeeded to the title of Earl of Bridgewater, and in 1812, he was promoted to the rank of General. He retained the colonelcy of the Fourteenth light dragoons twenty-six years, and was particularly proud of the high reputation which his regiment acquired during the Peninsular war. He died in 1823.

Sir John Ormsby Vandeleur, G.C.B.

Appointed 28th October, 1823.

General Sir John Ormsby Vandeleur, G.C.B., was removed to the sixteenth lancers on the 18th of June 1830.

Sir Edward Kerrison, Bart., K.C.B., G.C.H.

Appointed 18th June, 1830.