On the removal of Lieutenant-General Lord Edward Somerset to the fourth dragoons in March, 1836, the colonelcy of the Royals was conferred on Major-General Sir Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby, K.C.B., G.C.M.G., and K.C.H., from the eighty-sixth foot.
1837
During the summer of 1836 the regiment proceeded to Dublin; and, while stationed at that place, its colonel, Sir Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby, died; and was succeeded, on the 20th of January, 1837, by Lieutenant-General the Right Honourable Sir Hussey Vivian, K.C.B. and G.C.H.
1838
1839
The regiment left Dublin in the autumn of 1837, and was stationed during the following year at Cork; from whence it embarked, in May, 1839, for Liverpool; and, after landing at that port, was removed to Sheffield, where it has remained until the conclusion of this memoir.
In taking a retrospective view of the services of the Royal Regiment of Dragoons, its conduct cannot fail to excite admiration. The details given in the preceding pages afford numerous instances of determined bravery, steady discipline, and constant efficiency. These qualities were eminently displayed when charging the Moorish legions on the confines of Africa, and bearing away in triumph the Mahomedan colours in 1664 and 1680;—when routing the insurgent bands at Sedgemoor in 1685;—forcing the passage of the Boyne in 1690;—on detached services in Ireland in 1691; and opposing the troops of Louis XIV. in the Netherlands from 1694 to 1697. Nor were they less conspicuously evinced when serving on the frontiers of Holland under the great Duke of Marlborough in 1702 and 1703;—skirmishing in the mountains of Catalonia and in the valleys of Valencia, under the Earl of Peterborough, in 1705 and 1706;—and charging the Spanish forces at Almanara, and at Saragossa in 1710.
The Royal Dragoons also distinguished themselves under the eye of their sovereign when fighting the French cuirassiers at the battle of Dettingen in 1743, where they captured the standard of the mousquetaires noirs; they again displayed signal valour at Warbourg in 1760; and under the Duke of York in Flanders in 1794. In numerous fights with the legions of Napoleon in the Peninsula, from 1810 to 1814, they acquired new honours: they were also engaged at the glorious battle of Waterloo on the 18th of June, 1815, where they captured one of the two French Eagles taken on that day.
On all occasions the Royal Dragoons have evinced a dauntless bearing, united with steady valour, and unshaken firmness, the characteristics of a British corps. These qualities, as well as the temper, patience, and forbearance which have distinguished their conduct, when employed in aiding the civil power on duties at home, have rendered the regiment a valuable acquisition to the crown, and have afforded the strongest proofs of its usefulness to the country.
First, or Royal Dragoons, 1839.