At this period the following officers were holding commissions in the regiment:—

Troop.Captains.Lieutenants.Cornets.
1stEarl of Arran (Col.)Thos. DaliellCh. Carterret
2ndCh. Nedby (Lt.-Col.)Thos. BagshawThos. Webster
3rdWm. BaggottRd. FetherstonhalghMark Strother
4thJno. FetherstonhalghThos. BrackstonPhilip Lawson
5thThos. HarringtonWm. HallJos. Ascough
6thWm. OgleAr. HepburnSurtes Swinburn
John ParkerMajor.
John SharrallChaplain.
Stephen AstonAdjutant.
Anthony RouseChirurgeon.

Arran's Cuirassiers were called from their cantonments in Hampshire in June, and again pitched their tents on Hounslow Heath, where they were reviewed several times by the King; and afterwards marched into quarters at Leicester, Ashby de la Zouch, Loughborough, and Melton Mowbray; and while in these quarters their Lieutenant-Colonel retired, and was succeeded by Major John Parker.

1687

In the following summer they were withdrawn from Leicestershire, and proceeding to the metropolis, occupied quarters for a short time at Chelsea and Knightsbridge, from whence they proceeded to Hounslow, and again pitched their tents on the heath. After having been reviewed by the King, they marched (9th August) to Windsor and adjacent villages, and furnished a guard for the royal family at Windsor Castle; also a guard for the Princess Anne (afterwards Queen Anne) at Hampton Court Palace, and one troop was stationed at London to assist the Life Guards in their attendance on the Court.

On the 31st of August the regiment marched to London, and was quartered in Holborn, Gray's Inn Lane, and the vicinity of Smithfield, in order to take part in the duties of the court and metropolis; and in September it furnished a detachment to protect a large sum of money from London to Portsmouth.

1688

Having been relieved from the King's duty, Arran's Cuirassiers marched to Richmond and adjacent villages in May, 1688; and in July they once more encamped on Hounslow Heath. After taking part in several reviews, mock-battles, and splendid military spectacles, which were exhibited on the Heath by a numerous army, they proceeded to Cambridge, Peterborough, and St. Ives, and afterwards to Ipswich, where they were stationed a short time under Major-General Sir John Lanier, but were suddenly ordered to march to London in the beginning of November.

The circumstances in which the loyal officers and soldiers of the King's army were placed were of a most painful character. The King had been making rapid advances towards the subversion of the established religion and laws of the kingdom; and loyalty to the sovereign,—a distinguished feature in the character of the British soldier, and the love of the best interests of their native country,—which is inherent in men, were become so opposed to each other, that it appeared necessary for one to be sacrificed. Arran's Cuirassiers were, however, spared this painful ordeal by the circumstances which occurred. The King had resolved to remodel his army in England by the dismissal of Protestants and the introduction of Papists, as he had already done in Ireland; but the arrival of the Prince of Orange, with a Dutch army to aid the English nobility in opposing the proceedings of the Court, overturned the King's measures. The loyalty and attachment to the King evinced by the Earl of Arran occasioned him to be promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General, and his regiment was considered one of the corps on which dependence could be placed. It had completed an augmentation of ten men per troop ordered in September, and was selected to remain as a guard near the Queen and the infant Prince of Wales, who was afterwards known as the Pretender: but a defection appearing in the army, the infant Prince was sent to Portsmouth; and the regiment, having been released from its duty of attendance on the Queen, was ordered to march to Salisbury.