Historical Record of the Fourteenth, or the King's, Regiment of Light Dragoons / Containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment and of Its Subsequent Services

by Richard Cannon

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.