Historical Record of the Fourth, or Royal Irish Regiment of Dragoon Guards. / Containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment in 1685; and of Its Subsequent Services to 1838

by Richard Cannon

Appointed 31st December, 1688.

When the army was augmented in 1678, in the expectation of a war with France, Charles Godfrey, Esq., obtained a commission in the Duke of Monmouth's Regiment of Horse, which was disbanded in the following year. He appears not to have held any military appointment from that period until the revolution in 1688, when, being a strenuous advocate of the protestant cause, he obtained, through the interest of John Lord Churchill, the Colonelcy of the Sixth Horse.[25] After the Earl of Marlborough had been sent prisoner to the Tower of London, on a charge of treason, Colonel Godfrey was removed from his command; and he did not afterwards serve in a military capacity. He was many years Master of the Jewel House, and a Member of Parliament in the reign of Queen Anne; and died in 1715.

Francis Langston.

Appointed 7th March, 1693.

This officer served under his brother, Captain Thomas Langston, who commanded a troop of horse at Tangier in Africa, and signalized himself against the Moors. When the troops of Tangier Horse were constituted Royal Dragoons, in 1683, Francis Langston obtained a commission in that corps, and he served in the Royal Regiment of Dragoons until December, 1688, when the Prince of Orange promoted him to the Lieutenant-Colonelcy of the Eighth, or Princess Anne's Regiment of Horse, of which his brother was appointed Colonel. He proceeded with his regiment to Ireland in the same year; and his brother Thomas dying in that country, he was appointed to succeed him in the Colonelcy of the Eighth Horse. He served at the head of his regiment at the battles of the Boyne and Aghrim, and in numerous skirmishes, until the final reduction of Ireland under the dominion of William III. His services were immediately afterwards transferred to the Netherlands; and his regiment having suffered severely, from having been long exposed to a furious cannonade at the battle of Steenkirk, it was disbanded, and Colonel Langston was appointed to the command of the Fifth Horse, now Fourth Dragoon Guards. At the battle of Landen this officer highly distinguished himself at the head of the right squadron of his regiment, and was wounded and taken prisoner. He was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General on the 1st of June, 1697; and proceeding, after the peace of Ryswick, with his regiment to Ireland, he was placed on the staff of the army in that country.

During the wars in the reign of Queen Anne this officer was not employed on foreign service, but was continued on the staff of Ireland. He was promoted to the rank of Major-General on the 1st of June, 1703, and to that of Lieutenant-General on the 1st of June, 1704.

When the great Duke of Marlborough was removed from his military commands, Lieutenant-General Langston appears to have been considered too firmly devoted to the protestant cause, and to the succession of the House of Hanover, for the new ministry to confide in him, and he retired from the army. This veteran died on the 6th of April, 1723.

George Jocelyn.

Appointed 20th October, 1713.

This officer obtained the commission of Cornet in the Queen Dowager's Regiment of Horse, commanded by George Viscount Hewyt (now Sixth Dragoon Guards) in 1689, and served at the battle of the Boyne under King William III. On the 5th of May, 1690, he was engaged in a gallant affair with the enemy near Castle Cuff, and was wounded.[26] He also served at the battle of Aghrim, and siege of Limerick; and in 1693 at the hard-contested battle of Landen. After the peace of Ryswick he entered the corps of Life Guards, and rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel of the Second Troop (now Second Regiment), commanded by the Duke of Ormond. On the 29th of May, 1706, he obtained the rank of Colonel in the army, and on the 12th of February, 1711, that of Brigadier-General. After the Duke of Ormond was promoted to the elevated station of Captain-General of the Forces, Brigadier-General Jocelyn obtained the Colonelcy of the Fifth Horse; and when his Grace was removed from the command of the army by King George I., this officer obtained permission to dispose of his appointment: he died on the 9th of November, 1727.