Historical Record of the Third, or Prince of Wales' 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

The regiment embarked at Portsmouth on the 5th of December, but afterwards disembarked and returned to its former quarters, from whence it proceeded to Hastings and other places in that part of the country.

1809

In March, 1809, it again proceeded to Portsmouth, where eight troops, of eighty-eight horses each, embarked on the 3rd and 4th of April, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Granby Calcraft, leaving two troops at Blatchington, where the dépôt was established under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Watson.

The Fleet sailed on the 17th of April, and two days afterwards the Doris transport was run down by the Bonne Citoyenne, in the Bay of Biscay, and thirty troop horses and two officers' horses were lost.

Having landed at Lisbon on the 26th and 27th of April, the Third Dragoon Guards proceeded to Belem barracks, and were formed in brigade with the Fourth Dragoons, under the command of Brigadier-General Henry Fane. From Belem they proceeded on the 4th of May up the country, and on the 10th of that month occupied quarters at Golegon and Torres Novas. On the 22nd the head-quarters were at Thomar, and on the 11th of June they encamped on the picturesque grounds near the banks of the Tagus at Abrantes, where Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Wellesley had recently arrived from a successful expedition on the Douro.

Towards the end of June the army advanced. The Third Dragoon Guards left Abrantes on the 28th of that month, and, having entered Spain, were encamped, on the 10th of July, at Plasencia. Advancing from thence on the 18th of July, the army crossed the Tietar, and proceeding along the romantic valley of the Tagus, formed two columns on the 22nd, with the view of attacking the French posts at Talavera de la Reyna. A body of Spanish troops came up with the enemy's rear-guard near the village of Gamonal, when 2000 French dragoons obliged the Spanish general to display his whole line of 15,000 infantry and 3000 cavalry; nor did the French horsemen attempt to fall back until they perceived the scarlet uniforms of the British cavalry on their right, when they retired; and the Third Dragoon Guards took a conspicuous part in the pursuit. They afterwards crossed the Alberche to Cazalegas, and took post in front of the army to sustain the Spanish corps.

The advance of a French force, commanded by Joseph Buonaparte, being immediately followed by the defeat and precipitate retreat of the Spaniards in front, the British commander took up a position,—his right on Talavera de la Reyna, and his left on the steep hills which bounded the woody plain; when the Third Dragoon Guards took their station in rear of the left.

The action commenced on the 27th of July, and was renewed on the following day. A great part of the Spanish army fled at the commencement of the battle; the English, however, maintained their ground, and many of the Spaniards were induced to return to their posts. The several attacks were made with the usual impetuosity of the French soldiers. The advancing columns were, however, met with a firmness and constancy which confounded the assailants, and in every instance the enemy was repulsed and driven back with loss. On the 28th the Third Dragoon Guards and Fourth Dragoons, having moved into the plain to the left, advanced to charge a column of the enemy's infantry, but the attack was countermanded, and the two regiments, after supporting the charge of Major-General Anson's brigade, were ordered to resume their former position. On this occasion Captain Brice, of the regiment, was severely wounded by a cannon ball. At length the enemy, repulsed in every attack by the British infantry, and driven back with dreadful carnage, retired, leaving seventeen pieces of cannon in possession of the English. The gallant bearing of the Third Dragoon Guards in this action procured them the royal permission to bear the word Talavera on their standards.

Little advantage resulted from this splendid display of valour, the enemy having so great a superiority of numbers that, at the time the action took place, a French army, commanded by Marshal Soult, was advancing upon the rear of the allies. Information having been received that this force had entered Plasencia, Sir Arthur Wellesley, leaving the greater part of the Spanish force at Talavera, proceeded on the 3rd of August with the British troops to meet the advancing enemy. The Spaniards, however, ascertained that a French force was advancing on Talavera, and they instantly retired, leaving the British sick and wounded to the mercy of the enemy. At the same time Sir Arthur Wellesley ascertained that the force in his front was far more numerous than he expected, and he found himself in a critical situation.