On the 20th of July, the regiment received orders to march to Ramsgate, and was immediately embarked for Holland under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Mundy, forming part of an expedition designed to effect the destruction of the French shipping and arsenal on the Scheldt. After remaining in the Downs for six days, the fleet sailed, and arrived off Walcheren on the 29th, remaining there upwards of a fortnight; and after the capture of Flushing, proceeded up the Scheldt as far as Fort-Batz. The enemy's shipping had, in the meantime, been removed higher up the river, and an immense force assembled to oppose the British armament; at the same time an epidemic disease broke out among the English soldiers. The fleet consequently retired down the river, and sailed for England; the King's Own disembarked at Ramsgate in September following, and proceeded to occupy Canterbury, as before the expedition.
1810
In April, 1810, in consequence of the riots in London, occasioned by the House of Commons having ordered Sir Francis Burdett to be lodged in custody in the Tower, the regiment was hastily ordered thither, marching all night, and arriving in Southwark at 7 A. M. The men were billeted on the south side of the Thames; an hotel near Westminster Bridge being the head quarters, and the Obelisk the alarm post. After the suppression of the riots, the regiment was ordered to Guildford, where it was reviewed by his Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, who was pleased to express his entire approbation of its appearance and discipline. On the release of Sir Francis Burdett from the Tower, the regiment was again sent to London, but remained there a few nights only, and then returned to Guildford.
1811
Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France, having conquered Portugal, had placed his brother Joseph on the throne of Spain, supported by a French army. The efforts of the Spaniards and Portuguese to regain their liberty, which commenced in 1808, were continued to be aided by the British government, and a force, amounting at this time to nearly sixty thousand men, had been assembled in Portugal under the command of Lieutenant-General the Viscount Wellington.
In June, 1811, the King's Own Dragoons, having been reviewed on Wimbledon Common by His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, were, on their return to Guildford, completed to the field establishment by a draft of a hundred horses[32] from the second dragoon guards, and ordered forthwith to proceed to the Peninsula. On the 25th and 27th of July the regiment embarked at Portsmouth, landed in the following month at Lisbon, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Mundy, and having met with favourable weather during the voyage, the Lieutenant-Colonel commanding was enabled to cause particular attention to be paid to the horses in regard to cleanliness, exercise, &c. The mode adopted for this purpose was as follows: three or four horses were backed into the hold, where they were walked round for a quarter of an hour; their feet washed, and hand-rubbed; and they were shod, if necessary; by these means their state of health and efficiency, on their disembarkation at Lisbon, were such, that upon landing they were capable of undertaking immediate service.
The regiment was reviewed at Belem by Major-General Le Marchant, and mustered as follows:—1 Lieutenant-Colonel, 1 Major, 6 Captains, 9 Lieutenants, 1 Cornet, 1 Surgeon, 1 Assistant Surgeon, 5 Troop Quarter-Masters, 1 Regimental Serjeant-Major, 1 Paymaster Serjeant, 1 Troop Serjeant-Major, 24 Serjeants, 24 Corporals, 6 Trumpeters, 6 Farriers, 480 Privates, and 518 Troop Horses.
The King's Own left Belem on the 19th of September, under the command of Major Clowes, (the Lieutenant Colonel having been compelled by sickness to remain at Lisbon,) and marching through Villa Franca and Santarem, arrived at Abrantes in Portuguese Estremadura on the 27th. Here they remained until the 15th October, and then advanced through Niza and Villa Velha to Castello Branco in the province of Beira, where they were reviewed on the 7th of December, by Lieutenant-General Sir Stapleton Cotton, who expressed his satisfaction at the very effective state of the men and horses.
1812
In consequence of the extreme difficulty of procuring forage, the centre squadron moved, on the 21st of December, to Idanha a Nova on the frontiers of Spain, and in these quarters the regiment remained till the beginning of 1812, when it was ordered to the front to form part of the army covering the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, being quartered at Aldea de Ponte and Fundao, and experiencing great inconvenience from the scarcity of forage.