1742
In the meantime war was raging on the continent; the King of France and the Elector of Bavaria had united to deprive the Archduchess Maria Theresa of her hereditary dominions; and in 1742, His Britannic Majesty sent sixteen thousand British troops to Flanders to make a diversion in favour of the Austrians. The King's Own Regiment of dragoons was one of the corps selected for this service, and having been reviewed on Blackheath by King George II., accompanied by the Duke of Cumberland, it embarked shortly afterwards at Woolwich and Deptford; their colonel, Lieutenant-General Honeywood, taking the command of the expedition until the arrival of Field Marshal the Earl of Stair.
After landing at Ostend the King's Own dragoons advanced a few leagues up the country, but all active operations were prevented by the tardiness of the Dutch.
1743
Early in 1743, the British troops moved from their cantonments towards the Rhine; the King's Own, and four companies of the foot guards, forming the advance-guard of the army, were at St. Trond, in the province of Limburg, on the 9th of February, and on the 11th resumed their march for Germany. In May, the regiment, with the Inniskilling dragoons, and four battalions of the foot guards, formed a detached camp a little below the town of Hochst, in the duchy of Nassau on the Maine, and was afterwards encamped at Aschaffenburg in Franconia, a town situate on a hill on the side of Maine. In the meantime Lieut.-General Honeywood had been removed to the first dragoon guards, and the colonelcy of the King's Own conferred on Brigadier-General Humphrey Bland, from the thirteenth dragoons.
His Majesty King George II. having left England towards the end of May, landed at Helvoetsluys on the 2nd of June, and joined the army on the 9th; when he found his forces under considerable embarrassment, from the French commander having succeeded in gaining possession of several important posts on the Maine, by which means he cut off the supplies of provisions and forage.
Under these circumstances His Majesty resolved to march to Hanau, where a reinforcement of 12,000 Hessians and Hanoverians had arrived; and at daybreak on the 16th of June, the troops commenced the march along the banks of the Maine: but scarcely had they proceeded three leagues when it was ascertained that the enemy had crossed the river, and was drawn up near Dettingen to dispute the march of the army.
The allies were immediately formed for action, with their left on the river, and their right extending to a wood, in which the baggage was placed. Shortly afterwards the action commenced, when Lieut.-General Clayton, who commanded the left wing of infantry, requested some squadrons to cover his flank, and the King's Own dragoons were ordered to this important post, where they suffered severely, being exposed three hours to the fire of the French batteries, as well from their front, as from the other side of the river, which commanded their flank and rear. At length the regiment was led forward, and encountering nine squadrons of household cavalry, the élite of the French army, charged these celebrated horsemen with a degree of gallantry truly astonishing. British valour was most conspicuously displayed; though over-matched with numbers, and nearly surrounded by enemies, the King's Own dragoons were seen nobly contending for victory, and mingled in close fight with their antagonists, the swift motion of their glittering sabres showed with what vehemence the gallant troopers fought for the honour of their King and country. They cut through their renowned opponents three times; distinguishing themselves in the most signal manner under the eye of their Sovereign, and contributing materially to the victory gained on that occasion. Their loss was however great. Of the three cornets who bore the standards, two were wounded, and the third, Mr. Child, the brother of Lord Castlemaine, had two horses killed under him. The standards were totally destroyed by shot and sabre-cuts, and one of them was only preserved from capture by the heroism of a private in the regiment, named Thomas Brown, a native of Kirkleatham, in Yorkshire. This gallant soldier, on the cornet's receiving a wound in the wrist, and dropping the standard, attempted to dismount in order to recover it, but in so doing lost two fingers of his bridle-hand by a sabre cut, and his horse ran away with him to the rear of the French lines. Whilst endeavouring to regain his regiment he perceived the standard, which the French had succeeded in capturing by overwhelming numbers, in the custody of a gendarme, who was conveying it to the rear. This man he attacked and killed, caught the standard as it fell, and fixing it between his leg and the saddle, succeeded in cutting his way back through the ranks of the enemy: but received, in so doing, seven wounds in his head, face, and body, and three balls passed through his hat.[20] A letter, in the Gazette of July 16th, states, 'that in this action Ligonier's horse, (the seventh dragoon guards,) and the Third dragoons suffered most, and gained great reputation.' The loss of the Third was Lieutenant Baily, one serjeant, two drummers, thirty-eight private men, and one hundred and forty-one horses, killed; Major Honeywood[21], Captain Brown, Lieutenant Robinson, Cornets Dawson, Monteith and O'Carrol, with three quarter-masters, six serjeants, five drummers, eighty-six private men, and fifty horses wounded[22]. The victory was most decisive; the French were completely defeated in their attempt, and were compelled to recross the Maine with precipitation, with the loss of many standards, colours, and four pair of kettle-drums.
The King's Own dragoons passed the night near the field of battle, surrounded by their ensanguined trophies, and, having marched to Hanau on the following day, were encamped, for some time, on the banks of the little river Kinzig, from whence they advanced with the army, in the early part of August, for the Rhine; and, having crossed that river above Mentz, were employed in operations in West Germany, where the army was joined by the Dutch auxiliaries. The enemy's entrenchments at Germersheim, in the Bavarian circle of the Rhine, were afterwards destroyed, but no general engagement occurred; and in the middle of October the army repassed the Rhine, and marched back to the Netherlands in eight divisions[23]. The royals, greys, and King's Own dragoons, with the Scots highlanders, forming the first division, proceeded through the duchy of Nassau, the provinces of Limburg, Liege, and South Brabant, to Brussels, where they arrived on the 16th of November, and on the following day continued their march for West Flanders, to pass the winter in quarters at Ghent.
1744