The Regiment, which forms the subject of the following memoir, is one of the seventeen corps, now in the British army, which derive their origin from the commotions in England during the first year of the reign of King James II.
The origin of these commotions may be traced to the pernicious councils adopted by King Charles I., which were followed by a flame of puritanical zeal and of democratical fury and outrage in the country, which deprived the monarch of life, and forced the royal family to reside for several years in exile on the continent, where King Charles II. and his brother, James Duke of York, imbibed the doctrines of the Church of Rome. After the Restoration, in 1660, the King concealed his religion from his Protestant subjects; but the Duke of York openly avowed the tenets of the Roman Catholic Church, which rendered him exceedingly unpopular. King Charles II. having no legitimate issue, his eldest illegitimate son, James Duke of Monmouth, an officer of some merit, who had espoused the Protestant cause with great warmth, and had become very popular, aspired to the throne. In a few months after the accession of James II., this nobleman arrived from Holland (11th June, 1685) with a band of armed followers, and erecting his standard in the west of England, called upon the people to aid him in gaining the sovereign power.
Although a deep feeling of anxiety was general in the kingdom at this period, yet the King had declared his determination to support the Protestant religion, as by law established, and his designs against the constitution had not been manifested; hence loyalty to the sovereign, a principle so genial to the innate feelings of the British people, prevailed over every other consideration. A number of Mendip miners and other disaffected persons joined the Duke of Monmouth; but men of all ranks arrayed themselves under the banners of royalty.
To officers and soldiers imbued with a laudable esprit de corps, the particulars relating to the origin and services of their regiment are of intense interest, and the circumstances which gave rise to the formation of their corps are of themselves an era. To encourage such feelings is one of the objects of the present undertaking, and, although the general reader may think the narrative tedious, the officers and men of the Royal Irish Dragoon Guards will feel gratified at learning by whom, and where, each troop, of which their regiment was originally composed, was raised. This information has been procured from public documents, in which it is recorded that, in the midst of the hostile preparations which the Duke of Monmouth's rebellion occasioned in every part of the kingdom, a troop of horse was raised by James Earl of Arran, eldest son of William Duke of Hamilton, a nobleman distinguished alike for loyalty and attachment to the Protestant religion; a second troop was raised, in the vicinity of London, by Captain John Parker, Lieutenant of the Horse Grenadier Guards attached to the King's Own troop of Life Guards (now First Regiment of Life Guards); a third at Lichfield, by William Baggott, Esq.; a fourth at Grantham, by Thomas Harrington, Esq.; a fifth at Durham, by John Fetherstonhalgh, Esq.; and the sixth at Morpeth, by William Ogle, Esq.; and that, after the decisive battle of Sedgemoor had destroyed the hopes of the invader, these six troops were ordered to march to the south of England, and were incorporated into a regiment of Cuirassiers, which is now the Fourth or Royal Irish Regiment of Dragoon Guards. The Colonelcy was conferred on the Earl of Arran, by commission, dated the 28th of July, 1685; the Lieutenant-Colonelcy on Captain Charles Nedby,[7] from the Queen's regiment of horse; and the commission of Major on Captain John Parker.
At the formation of this regiment it ranked as Sixth Horse, but was distinguished by the name of its Colonel, the practice of using numerical titles not having been introduced into the British army until the reign of King George II. This corps being composed of the sons of substantial yeomen and tradesmen, who provided their own horses, it was held in high estimation in the country, and the men were placed on a rate of pay (2s. 6d. per day) which gave them a respectable station in society. Few nations in Europe possessed a body of troops which could vie with the English horse in all the qualities of good soldiers, and, in the reigns of King William III. and Queen Anne, this arme acquired a celebrity for gallantry and good conduct; and these qualities, whether evinced by bravery in the field, or by steadiness and temperate behaviour when their services have been required on home duties, have proved their usefulness, and have rendered them valuable corps during succeeding reigns.
The Earl of Arran's Regiment was armed and equipped, in common with the other regiments of Cuirassiers, with long swords, a pair of long pistols, and short carbines; the men wore hats, with broad brims bound with narrow lace, turned up on one side, and ornamented with ribands; large boots; and gauntlet gloves; their defensive armour was steel cuirasses, and head-pieces. This regiment was distinguished by white ribands, white linings to the coat, white waistcoats and breeches, white horse-furniture, the carbine belts covered with white cloth, and ornamented with lace, and the officers wore white silk sashes;—each regiment had a distinguishing colour, which was then called its livery, and which is now called facing, and the distinguishing colour of the Earl of Arran's Regiment was WHITE.[8]
On their arrival in the south of England, Arran's Cuirassiers proceeded to the vicinity of Hounslow, and on the 20th of August passed in review before King James II. and his court on the heath. In order to make a display of his power and to overawe the disaffected in the kingdom, His Majesty ordered an army of eight thousand men to encamp on Hounslow Heath, of which this regiment formed a part; and on the 22nd of August the King reviewed twenty squadrons of horse, one of horse-grenadier guards, one of dragoons, and ten battalions of foot on the heath. After the review Arran's Cuirassiers marched into quarters at Winchester and Andover, where they arrived on the 5th of September.
1686
In these quarters the regiment passed the succeeding winter; and on the 1st of January, 1686, its establishment was fixed by a warrant under the sign manual, from which the following is an extract:—
| THE EARL OF ARRAN'S REGIMENT OF HORSE | ||||
| Field and Staff-Officers. | Per Diem. | |||
| £. | s. | d. | ||
| The Colonel, as Colonel | 0 | 12 | 0 | |
| Lieutenant-Colonel, as Lieut.-Colonel | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
| The Major (who has no troop), for himself, horses, and servants | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Adjutant | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| Chaplain | 0 | 6 | 8 | |
| Chirurgeon ivs per day, and j horse to carry his chest, ijs per day | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
| A Kettle-Drummer to the Colonel's troop | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| 3 | 0 | 8 | ||
| The Colonel's Troop. | ||||
| The Colonel, as Captaine, xs per day, and ij horses, each at ijs per day | 0 | 14 | 0 | |
| Lieutenant vis, and ij horses, each at ijs | 0 | 10 | 0 | |
| Cornett vs, and ij horses, each at ijs | 0 | 9 | 0 | |
| Quarter-Master ivs, and i horse, at ijs | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
| Three Corporals, each at iijs per day | 0 | 9 | 0 | |
| Two Trumpeters, each at ijs viiid | 0 | 5 | 4 | |
| Forty Private Soldiers, each at ijs vid per day | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| 7 | 13 | 4 | ||
| Five Troops more, of the same numbers, and at the same rates of pay as the Colonel's troop | 38 | 6 | 8 | |
| Total for this Regiment per Diem | 49 | 0 | 8 | |
| Per Annum | £17 | ,897 | 3 | 4 |