In 1784 the uniform was changed from scarlet to blue, and in 1785 blue cloaks were adopted.
1789
On the 25th June, 1789, Lieutenant the Honorable Arthur Wellesley, now Field-Marshal the Duke of Wellington, was removed to the Twelfth Light Dragoons from the Forty-first Foot, and continued to belong to this regiment until the 30th June, 1791.
1791
Lieut.-General Parker commanded the regiment nine years, and dying in the autumn of 1791, was succeeded by Colonel Sir James Steuart, Baronet, from the lieut.-colonelcy of the Fifth Dragoons.
1793
1794
The French revolution, which occurred at this period, occasioned the regiment to be withdrawn from Ireland, where it had been stationed seventy-five years, and to be employed in more active services. Although the King of France was beheaded, and the republicans maintained their authority by the terrors of the guillotine, yet many patriots stood forward in the cause of royalty, and the inhabitants of the celebrated port of Toulon,—the principal station of the French navy, delivered up their port and city to Admiral Lord Hood, who took possession in August, 1793, in the name of Louis XVII. A French army advanced against Toulon, which was defended by a few British, Spanish, Neapolitan, and Sardinian troops; succours were sent out, and the Twelfth Light Dragoons embarked for the Mediterranean. Toulon was, however, abandoned, and arrangements were made for attacking the island of Corsica; part of the regiment landed and was at the taking of Bastia, which surrendered on the 22nd of May, 1794; and an assembly of the deputies afterwards agreed to unite the island to Great Britain. The remainder of the regiment sailed to Italy, and landed at Civita Vecchia,—a fortified sea-port in the bay of the Tuscan sea,—and the conduct of the officers and soldiers attracted the notice of Pope Pius VI., whose thanks were communicated by Cardinal de Zelada, Secretary of State to His Holiness, in the following letter:—
"From the Vatican, May 30th, 1794.
"The marked consideration which the Holy Father has always entertained, and never will cease to entertain, for the generous and illustrious English nation, induces him not to neglect the opportunity of giving a proof of it, which is now afforded by the stay of a British regiment at Civita Vecchia. As his holiness cannot but applaud the regular and praiseworthy conduct of the troops in question, he has determined to evince his entire satisfaction by presenting a gold medal to each of the officers, including General Sir James Steuart, Baronet, and Colonel Erskine[1], though absent; and since these medals, twelve in number, are not, at the present moment, in readiness, nor can be provided before the departure of the regiment from Civita Vecchia, the Holy Father will be careful that they shall be sent, as soon as possible, to Sir John Cox Hippesly, who will be pleased to transmit them to the respective officers, making them acquainted, at the same time, with the feelings by which His Holiness is animated, and with the lively desire which he entertains of manifesting, on all occasions, his unalterable regard, whether it be towards the nation in general, or towards every individual Englishman. In thus making known to Sir John Cox Hippesly, member of the British parliament, the dispositions of the Supreme Pontiff, the Cardinal de Zelada, Secretary of State, begs leave to add an offer of his own services, and the assurances of his distinguished esteem[2]."