1688
Although the nation was at peace, and arts and manufactures were prospering, yet the minds of the people were troubled, for they saw the King proceeding with rapid progress towards effecting the overthrow of the established religion and laws of the kingdom; while the nobility appeared resolved to make a stand against the arbitrary measures of the court. Thus, the Fourth Horse, when they had been only three years in the service of the crown, found themselves in a most perplexing situation; yet their conduct was so truly honourable, that every individual who has served in the corps may reflect with exultation on the fact that, throughout the whole period of its service, its reputation has been preserved untarnished. In the summer of 1688 it again erected its tents on Hounslow Heath; and, several Bishops having been imprisoned and brought to trial for not acquiescing in the King's measures, on the day they were acquitted, his Majesty, after reviewing the army on the Heath, dined in the Earl of Feversham's tent when, on a sudden, the soldiers began to shout and huzza; the King inquired the cause of the noise, and was answered—'Nothing, your Majesty, but the soldiers shouting because the Bishops are acquitted.' The King answered, with evident displeasure, 'Call you that nothing?' and dismissed the troops to their quarters, resolving (according to the historians of that period) never to call them together again until he had remodelled them, by the dismissal of protestants and the introduction of papists. But events were ripe for execution; and the Prince of Orange was, in compliance with the solicitations of the English nobility, preparing an expedition for England to support the established religion and laws.
When the Fourth Horse left Hounslow Heath, they proceeded into quarters at Oxford and Woodstock. In the beginning of November they marched to Alresford; and when the Prince of Orange landed at Torbay, they were ordered to advance to Salisbury, where King James's army was assembled; before leaving Alresford, the men, in consequence of an order from the Secretary-at-War, placed their ARMOUR under the charge of the civil authorities of the town, from whence it was subsequently removed to the Tower of London.
King James arrived at Salisbury to command the forces in person, where he again discovered the reluctance of the troops to support the proceedings of the jesuitical faction by which he was governed; and, alarmed by the desertions which took place, he fled to London and ultimately to France. Several corps went over to the Prince of Orange; but the Fourth Horse preserved their fidelity to King James until that unhappy monarch forsook the throne; and when the Prince assumed the reins of government, His Highness ordered the regiment to march to Dorking and Ryegate, where it received a draught of 100 men and horses from the Marquis de Miremont's[11] regiment of horse, a newly-raised corps which was ordered to be disbanded.
Sir John Fenwick, adhering to the interest of King James, resigned his commission; and the Colonelcy of the regiment was given to Lord Colchester, from the Lieutenant-Colonelcy of the Fourth Troop of Life Guards, who was one of the first officers that joined the Prince of Orange at Exeter, and took with him several men of his troop.
1689
After the flight of the King, the Roman Catholic soldiers committed some irregularities; and in January, 1689, a squadron of the Fourth Horse, with a detachment of Sir George Hewyt's Horse (now Sixth Dragoon Guards), marched to Lewes and Chichester, where they caused three regiments of Irish Roman Catholics[12] to lay down their arms, and afterwards escorted them to Portsmouth; from whence they were removed, under a strong guard, to the Isle of Wight, and were subsequently, sent to Hamburg, and disposed of in the service of the Emperor of Germany.
In the mean time the accession of King William and Queen Mary to the throne was opposed in Scotland, and Viscount Dundee was actively engaged in exciting the northern shires, particularly the Highlanders, to take arms in favour of King James. The Fourth Horse, after transferring thirty men and horses to the Blues (which regiment was ordered to proceed to Holland), marched for Scotland, and were placed under the command of Major-General Mackay.
Having arrived at Edinburgh early in April, the Fourth Horse formed part of the force employed in the siege of the castle, which the Duke of Gordon held possession of for King James. Shortly afterwards one squadron of the regiment, with two squadrons of the Royal Scots Dragoons (the Greys), and two hundred foot, accompanied Major-General Mackay to the town of Dundee, where two troops of the Royal Scots Dragoons were left, and the remainder proceeded in quest of the rebels.