G. Salisbury.
OFFICER, Review Order. PRIVATE, Field-day Order. CORPORAL, Marching Order.
1814.
CHAPTER VI
RETURN OF THE 17TH FROM AMERICA, 1783—IRELAND, 1793—EMBARKATION FOR THE WEST INDIES, 1795
1783.
In 1783 the Seventeenth embarked from New York and returned to Ireland, after an absence of eight years. I have failed to discover the exact date. 1784. The last muster in America is dated New York, 29th June 1783; the first in Ireland, Cork, 14th January 1784, which latter date must be approximately that of their arrival. This muster-roll at Cork is somewhat of a curiosity. Firstly, it is written on printed forms, the earliest instance thereof in the history of the Seventeenth; in the second place, it shows the regiment to be 327 men short of its proper strength, which is, to say the least of it, singular; and, lastly, it shows that every troop had lost exactly forty horses, no more and no less, cast and dead in America,—a coincidence which sets one wondering who may have been the person or persons that made money out of it. The regiment was now reduced to a peace establishment of 204 non-commissioned officers and men, and stationed at Mount Mellick, Maryborough, and other quarters in King’s and Queen’s Counties. It also received new clothing, and for the first time discarded the scarlet, which it had hitherto worn, for blue.
The new kit, which, saving regimental distinctions, was issued to the whole of the Light Dragoons, April. consisted of a blue jacket, with white collar and cuffs and the whole front laced with white cord, similar to the jackets now worn by the Horse Artillery. The shade of blue was dark for regiments serving at home, 1784. and French gray for regiments serving in India. The helmet also was altered to the new and seemingly very becoming pattern which is to be seen in so many old prints. The leather breeches remained the same, but the boots, for officers at any rate, were more in the Hessian style. A coloured picture published at the beginning of the century makes the new dress appear a very handsome one, in the case of the Seventeenth Light Dragoons—the combination of light blue, silver lace, and crimson sash, relieved by the black fur on the cap, being decidedly pleasing. Let us note that the Seventeenth still retained their mourning lace round the helmet, and the plume of scarlet and white. The badge, of course, appears both on helmet and sabre-tasche, though, if so small a point be worth notice, the skull is below and not above the cross-bones. Shoulder-belts continued to be of buff leather, but the sword-belt of 1784, henceforward worn round the waist, was black. It is painful to have to add that in this year, when the Light Dragoons were on the whole more becomingly and sensibly dressed than at any other period of their existence, the abomination known as the shako made its first appearance in the cavalry, being in fact the head-dress for field-day order. Though not yet quite so extravagantly hideous as it became under King George IV. it was sufficiently ugly—felt in material and black in colour, with white lace curling spirally around it, and a short red and white plume.
Of the life of the regiment during the nine ensuing years there is neither material nor, I think, occasion for an annual chronicle. Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Birch still retained the command, and held it until 1794. The only one of the original officers that remained, Captain Robert Archdale, disappears from the regimental list after 1794, so that for two whole years Birch was the sole survivor.
Meanwhile these were troublous days for Ireland. In the course of the American War the country had been so far stripped of troops that, in the alarm of French invasion in 1779, corps of volunteers, to the nominal strength of 50,000 men, had been raised for purposes of defence. 1784. Unfortunately, however, these volunteers did not confine themselves to military matters. They were, in Mr. Froude’s words, armed politicians not under military law. As such they twice received the thanks of the Irish House of Commons for political services, and finally extorted the independence of the Irish Parliament in 1782. They then attempted to establish a Legislative Assembly side by side with the House of Commons, and virtually to dictate to it the government of the country, and this although the peace of 1783 had rendered their existence as a defending force wholly unnecessary. They were suppressed by a little firmness, and therewith their character changed. Hitherto, though supported in part by Catholic subscriptions, the volunteers had consisted of Protestants only—men of position and good character. These men now retired, and their arms fell into the hands of ruffians and bad characters of every description. At last in 1787 these volunteers, once the idol of Ireland, appeared to have ceased their existence, but it was only for a time.