On the 10th of June, the brigade, having embarked its dismounted men at Bourdeaux, commenced its march to the north by the following route:—

At Boulogne Major-General Sir Henry Fane inspected the three regiments, and expressed his satisfaction at the efficiency of the brigade after so long a march. He congratulated the commanding officers on the excellent condition of their horses, and selected a number, of which the King's Own furnished fifteen, to be given up to the French government for the purpose of mounting the royal guard. On the 19th of July, the brigade, having received the highest praise from Major-General the Hon. W. Ponsonby,[38] embarked at Boulogne and arrived at Dover on the following day, the King's Own having been absent three years, from the time of their embarkation on the 25th of the same month, 1811.

From Dover the King's Own marched through Maidstone to Brentford, and, on the 28th of July, were reviewed on Hounslow Heath by His Royal Highness the Commander-in-Chief, immediately afterwards commencing their march to Northampton and joining the depôt (which had marched thither from Canterbury) on the 3rd of August. On the 13th two troops were reduced, and on the 16th, the regiment marched for Newcastle-on-Tyne, arriving there on the 1st of September; two troops were detached to Carlisle, and one to Durham.

On the 26th of September, the head-quarters marched into York barracks,[39] troops being left at Newcastle, Morpeth, Carlisle, and Workington. In these quarters the Regiment was reviewed by Lieutenant-General Wynyard in the summer of 1815, and afterwards marched for St. Albans.

1815

In the meantime Napoleon Bonaparte had returned to France; a British army had assembled in Belgium under the command of the Duke of Wellington; the battle of Waterloo had been won, and the King's Own were ordered to form ten troops, four of which marched to Coventry, and the remaining six, consisting of thirty-two officers, thirty-four serjeants, six trumpeters, three hundred and seventy-one rank and file, and three hundred and eighty-two horses, proceeded to Dover and Ramsgate, where they immediately embarked for Ostend to reinforce the British army in France.

The King's Own disembarked at Ostend on the 24th of July, and moving up the country into France, were, on their arrival in the vicinity of Paris, placed in cantonments at Chaton, near Malmaison. On the 2nd of September, the Emperor of Russia reviewed the first and eighth brigades of cavalry, consisting of the first and second life guards, royal horse guards, first, second, and third dragoon guards, and Third dragoons. On the 22nd of the same month, the allied army was reviewed by the Duke of Wellington on the plain of St. Denis, and on the 11th of October, the whole of the British, Hanoverian, Danish, and Saxon contingents, were reviewed between Paris and St. Denis, by the Duke of Wellington, the Emperor of Russia, and the King of Prussia; after the review the King's Own marched to Nantes, where they remained several months.

1816

On the 25th of January, 1816, the King's Own forming part of the Army of Occupation left in France after the restoration of Louis XVIII. left Nantes, and after successively making short halts at Bonnieres, Ligny, and Bailleul, took up quarters at Steenvoorde, on the 1st of June. Here the regiment remained till the 1st of August, and then marched to Theronenne, where it was twice reviewed; on the 12th of October by the Duke of Wellington, and on the 22nd by His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent, and the Duke of Wellington. At this last review the whole of the British army was assembled on the plains of Denain. After the review the regiment marched to Audricq, and remained there all the following year; occasionally, however, moving to different towns, as Bouberg, Louches, and the vicinity of St. Omer, for the purpose of reviews and inspections, or to make room for troops marching to the coast for embarkation.