Four troops joined the force encamped, under Lord Cathcart, on the Curragh of Kildare, in August, 1804.
1805
In the winter of 1805 the regiment embarked for England, in the expectation of engaging in active warfare on the Continent; but the results of the victory gained by Buonaparte over the Austrians and Russians at Austerlitz, occasioned the order to proceed on foreign service to be countermanded.
On landing in England the head-quarters proceeded to Northampton, where the regiment was inspected by Major-General Sir Henry Warde, who informed the commanding officer, Lieut.-Colonel Evan Lloyd, that he had been sent to examine the regiment in consequence of it being supposed to be unfit for service; but that he should report it composed of the finest men, the best horses, and equipped with the best appointments of any corps he had inspected.
1806
In April, 1806, the Seventeenth marched to the vicinity of London, and were reviewed on Wimbledon common by their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales and Duke of York. The Prince of Wales most graciously shook hands with Lieut.-Colonel Lloyd, and wished him joy on so fine a corps, as did also several other general officers present on that occasion, and the Duke of York expressed his gratification in very strong terms, at witnessing the appearance of the corps and its correct manœuvring.
In September the regiment was suddenly ordered to prepare for foreign service; two troops were separated to form a depôt; and eight troops, having given up their horses, sailed from Spithead, on the 5th of October, for South America, to engage in hostilities against the Spanish provinces in that part of the world. Entering the splendid and capacious harbour of Rio de Janeiro, the capital of Brazil, information was received of the re-capture of Buenos Ayres by the Spaniards; but arrangements, were, nevertheless, made for carrying on the war in the Spanish dominions in South America, and the Seventeenth, having only short carbines, were ordered to be armed with Spanish muskets, and to serve as infantry. Leaving Rio de Janeiro, the fleet sailed to the Rio de la Plata; two hundred miles up this immense river stands the city of Buenos Ayres, where the stream is about thirty miles broad; but an attack on this place was deferred, and the commander of the expedition, Brigadier-General Samuel Auchmuty, resolved to proceed against Monte Video, a town situate in a small bay on the north side of the river, one hundred and twenty miles from Buenos Ayres.
1807