1715
In January, 1715, two troops of the Royal Dragoons, with three troops of the Scots greys, and a newly-raised troop of dragoons, were incorporated into a regiment—the present seventh hussars.[43] The establishment was thus reduced to six troops; and on the 13th of June in the same year the colonelcy was conferred on Richard Lord Cobham, who was advanced to the dignity of Viscount three years afterwards.
At this period Jacobite principles were very prevalent in the United Kingdom; and in September, 1715, the Earl of Mar raised the standard of rebellion in Scotland, and excited the clans to take arms in favour of the Pretender. The Royal Dragoons were immediately ordered to the North; and in the early part of October they arrived at Edinburgh, from whence they marched immediately afterwards, and, being placed under the command of Lieutenant-General Carpenter, went in pursuit of a body of rebels.
1716
After several marches and countermarches Lieutenant-General Carpenter arrived at Jedburgh on the 30th of October: three days afterwards he ascertained that a division of the rebel army had marched in the direction of Carlisle, and he instantly went in pursuit of them. The rebels, however, eluded his vigilance, and arrived without opposition at Preston, in Lancashire. Major-General Wills, who commanded in Cheshire, assembled several regiments, and marched towards Preston. In the mean time Lieutenant-General Carpenter, with the Royal, Molesworth's, and Churchill's dragoons,[44] were marching with all possible expedition from Scotland; and they arrived before Preston about mid-day on Sunday, the 13th of November, when they found the town surrounded by the troops under Major-General Wills: some sharp fighting had previously taken place, but on the arrival of the forces from Scotland, the rebels surrendered at discretion. On the same day another division of the rebel army was defeated at Sheriff-moor, near Dumblain; and in the early part of 1716 the Pretender and insurgent chiefs made their escape to France, and the common people retired to their homes.
1717
After the suppression of this rebellion, the Royal Dragoons were stationed in Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire, from whence they marched, in February, 1717, to Newcastle upon Tyne, and were placed under the command of Major-General Wills. This march was occasioned by the preparations made by Charles XII., King of Sweden, for an expedition to England to place the Pretender on the throne; but the measures taken by the British government defeated the project. The journals of this period speak highly of the condition of the British army, particularly the cavalry, which they represent as the best in the world.[45]
1718
In the spring of 1718 the Royal Dragoons marched into quarters in Yorkshire and Lancashire; and, the King of Sweden having been compelled to relinquish his projected expedition, the establishment was reduced to two hundred and seven officers and men.