TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE

Some minor changes are noted at the end of the book.

HISTORICAL RECORDS

OF

THE BRITISH ARMY.

GENERAL ORDERS.

HORSE-GUARDS,
1st January, 1836.

His Majesty has been pleased to command, that, with a view of doing the fullest justice to Regiments, as well as to Individuals who have distinguished themselves by their Bravery in Action with the Enemy, an Account of the Services of every Regiment in the British Army shall be published under the superintendence and direction of the Adjutant-General; and that this Account shall contain the following particulars, viz.,

—— The Period and Circumstances of the Original Formation of the Regiment; The Stations at which it has been from time to time employed; The Battles, Sieges, and other Military Operations, in which it has been engaged, particularly specifying any Achievement it may have performed, and the Colours, Trophies, &c., it may have captured from the Enemy.

—— The Names of the Officers and the number of Non-Commissioned Officers and Privates, Killed or Wounded by the Enemy, specifying the Place and Date of the Action.

—— The Names of those Officers, who, in consideration of their Gallant Services and Meritorious Conduct in Engagements with the Enemy, have been distinguished with Titles, Medals, or other Marks of His Majesty's gracious favour.

—— The Names of all such Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers and Privates as may have specially signalized themselves in Action.

And,

—— The Badges and Devices which the Regiment may have been permitted to bear, and the Causes on account of which such Badges or Devices, or any other Marks of Distinction, have been granted.

By Command of the Right Honourable

GENERAL LORD HILL,

Commanding-in-Chief.

John Macdonald,

Adjutant-General.

PREFACE.

The character and credit of the British Army must chiefly depend upon the zeal and ardour, by which all who enter into its service are animated, and consequently it is of the highest importance that any measure calculated to excite the spirit of emulation, by which alone great and gallant actions are achieved, should be adopted.

Nothing can more fully tend to the accomplishment of this desirable object, than a full display of the noble deeds with which the Military History of our country abounds. To hold forth these bright examples to the imitation of the youthful soldier, and thus to incite him to emulate the meritorious conduct of those who have preceded him in their honourable career, are among the motives that have given rise to the present publication.

The operations of the British Troops are, indeed, announced in the "London Gazette," from whence they are transferred into the public prints: the achievements of our armies are thus made known at the time of their occurrence, and receive the tribute of praise and admiration to which they are entitled. On extraordinary occasions, the Houses of Parliament have been in the habit of conferring on the Commanders, and the Officers and Troops acting under their orders, expressions of approbation and of thanks for their skill and bravery, and these testimonials, confirmed by the high honour of their Sovereign's Approbation, constitute the reward which the soldier most highly prizes.

It has not, however, until late years, been the practice (which appears to have long prevailed in some of the Continental armies) for British Regiments to keep regular records of their services and achievements. Hence some difficulty has been experienced in obtaining, particularly from the old Regiments, an authentic account of their origin and subsequent services.

This defect will now be remedied, in consequence of His Majesty having been pleased to command, that every Regiment shall in future keep a full and ample record of its services at home and abroad.

From the materials thus collected, the country will henceforth derive information as to the difficulties and privations which chequer the career of those who embrace the military profession. In Great Britain, where so large a number of persons are devoted to the active concerns of agriculture, manufactures, and commerce, and where these pursuits have, for so long a period, been undisturbed by the presence of war, which few other countries have escaped, comparatively little is known of the vicissitudes of active service, and of the casualties of climate, to which, even during peace, the British Troops are exposed in every part of the globe, with little or no interval of repose.

In their tranquil enjoyment of the blessings which the country derives from the industry and the enterprise of the agriculturist and the trader, its happy inhabitants may be supposed not often to reflect on the perilous duties of the soldier and the sailor,—on their sufferings,—and on the sacrifice of valuable life, by which so many national benefits are obtained and preserved.

The conduct of the British Troops, their valour, and endurance, have shone conspicuously under great and trying difficulties; and their character has been established in Continental warfare by the irresistible spirit with which they have effected debarkations in spite of the most formidable opposition, and by the gallantry and steadiness with which they have maintained their advantages against superior numbers.

In the official Reports made by the respective Commanders, ample justice has generally been done to the gallant exertions of the Corps employed; but the details of their services, and of acts of individual bravery, can only be fully given in the Annals of the various Regiments.

These Records are now preparing for publication, under His Majesty's special authority, by Mr. Richard Cannon, Principal Clerk of the Adjutant-General's Office; and while the perusal of them cannot fail to be useful and interesting to military men of every rank, it is considered that they will also afford entertainment and information to the general reader, particularly to those who may have served in the Army, or who have relatives in the Service.

There exists in the breasts of most of those who have served, or are serving, in the Army, an Esprit du Corps—an attachment to every thing belonging to their Regiment; to such persons a narrative of the services of their own Corps cannot fail to prove interesting. Authentic accounts of the actions of the great,—the valiant,—the loyal, have always been of paramount interest with a brave and civilized people. Great Britain has produced a race of heroes who, in moments of danger and terror, have stood, "firm as the rocks of their native shore;" and when half the World has been arrayed against them, they have fought the battles of their Country with unshaken fortitude. It is presumed that a record of achievements in war,—victories so complete and surprising, gained by our countrymen,—our brothers,—our fellow-citizens in arms,—a record which revives the memory of the brave, and brings their gallant deeds before us, will certainly prove acceptable to the public.

Biographical memoirs of the Colonels and other distinguished Officers, will be introduced in the Records of their respective Regiments, and the Honorary Distinctions which have, from time to time, been conferred upon each Regiment, as testifying the value and importance of its services, will be faithfully set forth.

As a convenient mode of Publication, the Record of each Regiment will be printed in a distinct number, so that when the whole shall be completed, the Parts may be bound up in numerical succession.

HISTORICAL RECORD
OF
THE SEVENTEENTH
REGIMENT OF LIGHT DRAGOONS;—
LANCERS:

CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OF

THE FORMATION OF THE REGIMENT
IN 1759,

AND OF ITS

SUBSEQUENT SERVICES

TO

1841.

ILLUSTRATED WITH PLATES.

LONDON:

JOHN W. PARKER, WEST STRAND.

M.DCCC.XLI.

London:
Harrison and Co., Printers,
St. Martin's Lane.

THE

SEVENTEENTH LANCERS

BEAR ON THEIR APPOINTMENTS, AS A

REGIMENTAL BADGE,

"DEATH'S HEAD,"

WITH THE MOTTO,

"OR GLORY."

CONTENTS.

Year |  | Page
1759 | Formation of the Regiment | 9
1760 | Names of the Officers | 12
—— | Proceeds to Scotland | —
1761 | Draft to Germany | —
1764 | Embarks for Ireland | 13
1768 | Uniform fixed by Royal Warrant | —
1775 | Embarks for North America | 15
—— | Battle of Bunker's Hill | —
1776 | Proceeds to Nova Scotia | 16
—— | Sails for Staten Island | —
—— | Expedition to Long Island | —
—— | Action at Brooklyn | 17
—— | Proceeds to New York | 18
—— | Skirmish at Pelham Manor | —
—— | Battle of White Plains | —
—— | Capture of Fort Washington | —
—— | Reduction of Rhode Island | 19
1777 | Expedition to Danbury | —
—— | ————– against Forts Montgomery and Clinton | 20
—— | Embarks for Pennsylvania | 21
1778 | Rencounter near White Marsh | —
—— | Actions at Crooked Billet and Barren Hill | 22
—— | Covering the March from Philadelphia | 23
—— | Action at Freehold | —
—— | Arrival at New York | 24
1779 | Detachment to South Carolina | 26
1780 | Covering the Siege of Charlestown | 27
—— | Action at Monk's Corner | —
—— | ———— Lenew's Ferry | 28
1780 | Action at Wacsaw | 30
—— | Battle of Camden | 31
1781 | ————- Cowpens | 32
—— | Embarks for New York | 36
1783 | Returns to Ireland | 37
1784 | Clothing changed from Scarlet to Blue | —
1794 | Suppressing the Rioters called Defenders, &c. | 38
1795 | Four troops embark for England | 39
—— | ————— sail for the West Indies | 40
—— | Serve against the Maroons at Jamaica | —
1796 | Five troops embark for St. Domingo | 42
—— | Capture of Grenada | —
1797 | Services in St. Domingo | 44
—— | Embarks for England | —
1798 | Detachment to Ostend | —
1799 | Augmented to ten troops | 45
1800 | Suppressing Riots at Duffield, &c. | 46
1802 | Reduction of Establishment | —
1803 | Embarks for Ireland | —
1805 | Returns to England | 47
1806 | Reviewed by the Prince of Wales | —
—— | Embarks for South America | —
—— | Capture of Monte Video | 48
1807 | Attack on Buenos Ayres | 50
—— | Returns to England | 52
1808 | Embarks for India | 53
—— | Arrives at Calcutta | 55
1809 | Proceeds to Bombay | —
1810 | Action at Burding | —
—— | Detachment to Persia | 56
1815 | Marches into the Province of Cutch | 59
—— | Capture of Anjar | 61
1816 | ————– Dwarka | —
1817 | Services against the Pindarees | —
1817 | Skirmish with a body of Bheels | 63
1818 | Actions with the Pindarees | 64
1820 | Expedition to Cutch | 68
—— | Capture of Dwarka | 69
1822 | Ordered to return to England | —
—— | Constituted Lancers | 70
1823 | Arrives at Gravesend | —
1828 | Embarks for Ireland | 71
1830 | Clothing changed from Blue to Scarlet | 72
1832 | Returns to England | —
1833 | Reviewed by King William IV. | 73
1838 | Embarks for Ireland | —
1841 | Proceeds to Scotland | 74
—— | The Conclusion | —

SUCCESSION OF COLONELS.

1763 | John Hale | 75
1770 | George Preston | 77
1782 | The Honourable Thomas Gage | 78
1785 | Thomas Earl of Lincoln | 79
1795 | Oliver de Lancey | 80
1822 | Lord R. E. H. Somerset, K.C.B. | 82
1829 | Sir John Elley, K.C.B., K.C.H. | —
1839 | Sir Joseph Stratton, K.C.H. | 84
1839 | Sir Arthur B. Clifton, K.C.B., K.C.H. | —

LIST OF PLATES.

|  | Page
The Costume of 1768 | to face | 9
The Costume of 1810 | " | 24
The Costume of 1817 | " | 40
View in Camp in India | " | 56
The Costume of 1824 | " | 64
The Costume of 1829 | " | 70
The Costume of 1832 | " | 74

[To face page 9.

17th Lancers, 1768.

HISTORICAL RECORD

OF

THE SEVENTEENTH

REGIMENT OF LIGHT DRAGOONS;—

LANCERS.

1759

The institution of entire regiments of Light Cavalry, as part of the standing army of Great Britain, in the spring of 1759, was attended with such signal success, that, after the formation of the two splendid corps of Eliott and Burgoyne, which were numbered the Fifteenth and Sixteenth, King George II. was induced to carry the plan to a still greater extent, and to augment the Light Dragoon establishment with five additional regiments, which were numbered the Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Nineteenth, Twentieth, and Twenty-first Light Dragoons. The first of these additional corps was raised in Scotland by Lord Aberdour; it never consisted of more than two troops, and was disbanded at the termination of the seven years' war, in 1763. The second was embodied in Hertfordshire, under the superintendence of Lieut.-Colonel John Hale, from the Forty-seventh Foot, an officer who had served with credit in Europe and America, and who was the bearer of the public despatches announcing the victory at Quebec on the 13th of September, 1759, and the fall of the brave Major-General James Wolfe, a name which will be ever recorded among the heroes of the British army.

This corps was numbered the Eighteenth Light Dragoons; but after the reduction of Lord Aberdour's regiment it obtained rank as Seventeenth, and now bears the title of the "Seventeenth Lancers." Its first rendezvous was at Watford and Rickmansworth, and it consisted of four troops. The first troop was raised by Captain Franklin Kirby, from Lieutenant in the Fifth Foot; the second by Captain Samuel Birch, from Lieutenant in the Eleventh Dragoons; the third by Captain Martin Basil[1], from Lieutenant in Eliott's Light Horse; and the fourth by Captain Edward Lascelles, from Cornet in the Royal Horse Guards. Of this corps, Lieut.-Colonel John Hale, whose merits had procured for him the favour of his sovereign, was appointed Lieut.-Colonel Commandant, by commission dated the 7th of November, 1759; and purposing that his regiment should consist of men of decided character, who would emulate the glorious example of the heroic Wolfe, whose gallant conduct the Colonel had witnessed, he procured His Majesty's authority for his regiment to bear on its standards and appointments the "Death's Head," with the motto, "Or Glory," which it has continued to bear to the present time.

The zeal of the officers, with the popular feeling of interest, which existed in England at this period, and particularly in London and the southern counties, in favour of light cavalry, occasioned the regiment to be speedily completed with men and horses, and, in the beginning of December, it marched to Warwick and Stratford upon Avon, and soon afterwards to Coventry, where it was augmented to six troops.

1760

In January, 1760, the following officers were holding commissions in the regiment:—

Lieut.-Colonel Commandant, John Hale.
Major, John Blaquiere.
Captains. | Lieutenants. | Cornets.
Franklin Kirby | Thomas Lea | Rob. Archdall
Samuel Birch | William Green |    —    Bishopp
Martin Basil | Joseph Hall |    —    Stopford
Edward Lascelles |    —    Wallop | Henry Crofton
John Burton |    —    Cope | Jos. Moxham
Samuel Townshend | Y. Peyton | Daniel Brown
Adjutant, Richard Westbury,   Surgeon, John Francis.

Ten months after the authority for its formation was issued, the regiment was directed to march to Berwick, and place itself under the orders of the Commander-in-Chief in North Britain; it arrived in Scotland in October, and was stationed in that part of the United Kingdom during the following three years.

1761
1762

In the spring of 1761 the regiment sent a draft of fifty men and horses to Germany, to serve under Lieut.-General the Marquis of Granby, and the Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick; and in 1762 hostilities were terminated by the treaty of Fontainbleau.

1763

The restoration of peace was followed, in 1763, by reductions in the military establishment of the kingdom; but this was one of the corps selected to be retained in the service, and Lieut.-Colonel Commandant John Hale was promoted to the colonelcy of the regiment by commission dated the 27th of April, 1763.

1764

From Scotland the regiment embarked, in 1764, for Ireland, where it was stationed during the succeeding eleven years.

1768

The following particulars respecting the clothing and guidons of the Seventeenth Light Dragoons, are extracted from His Majesty's warrant, dated the 19th December, 1768.

Coats,—scarlet, with half-lappels; lined with white; white collar and cuffs; white metal buttons, and the button holes ornamented with white braid.

Waistcoats and Breeches,—white.

Helmets,—ornamented with white metal and a scarlet horse-hair crest.

Boots,—reaching to the knee.

Cloaks,—scarlet, with white capes.

Horse Furniture,—of white cloth; the holster caps and housings having a border of white lace with a black edge; XVII, L. D. to be embroidered upon the housings, upon a scarlet ground, within a wreath of roses and thistles; the king's cipher, with the crown over it, and XVII, L. D. underneath, to be embroidered on the holster caps; the officers to have a silver tassel on their holster caps, and at each corner of their housings.

Officers,—to be distinguished by silver lace or embroidery; silver epaulettes; and crimson silk sashes worn round their waists.

Quarter Masters,—to have no lace or embroidery on their coats; to have silver epaulettes, and crimson sashes.

Serjeants,—to be distinguished by narrow silver lace, and crimson and white sashes.

Trumpeters,—to wear hats with white feathers; white coats faced with scarlet, and ornamented with white lace with a black edge; red waistcoats and breeches.

Guidons,—the first, or King's, guidon to be of crimson silk; in the centre the rose and thistle conjoined, and crown over them, and His Majesty's motto, Dieu et mon Droit, underneath; the white horse in a compartment in the first and fourth corners; and XVII, L. D. on a white ground, in a compartment in the second and third corners: the second and third guidons to be of white silk; in the centre the "Death's Head" on a crimson ground, within a wreath of roses and thistles on the same stalk, and the motto "Or Glory," underneath; the white horse on a red ground, in the first and fourth compartments; and the rose and thistle conjoined, upon a red ground, in the second and third compartments; the third guidon to be distinguished by a figure 3, on a circular red ground, underneath the motto.

1770

Colonel John Hale, having been appointed Governor of Limerick, was succeeded in the colonelcy of the regiment by Colonel George Preston, from the lieut.-colonelcy of the Scots Greys, by commission dated the 2nd of November, 1770.

1775

While the Seventeenth were in Ireland, they had the reputation of being a well-disciplined and an efficient corps, and on the breaking out of hostilities, in 1775, between Great Britain and her North American colonies, the high character of the regiment occasioned it to be the first cavalry corps selected to proceed across the Atlantic. It embarked from Ireland towards the end of March, and landed at Boston on the 24th of May.

Soon after the regiment arrived at Boston, the American troops attempted to establish themselves on Bunker's Hill, but were driven from thence, after a sharp engagement, on the 17th of June. During the action a party of the Seventeenth volunteered to proceed dismounted with the reinforcement sent from Boston to support the troops engaged.

Notwithstanding their defeat at Bunker's Hill, the American troops crowded round Boston in such numbers, and constructed such extensive works, that the British were kept in a state of blockade on the land side, and were so distressed for fresh provisions, that live cattle, vegetables, and even fuel, were sent from England for their use. These supplies proved insufficient, and the troops endured much distress. In the mean time the Americans, possessing every necessary article in abundance, began to act with vigour, raising batteries and opening a cannonade on the place.

1776

In March, 1776, the King's troops evacuated Boston and sailed to Halifax. The Seventeenth landed at Halifax, and remained in Nova Scotia about two months; in the early part of June they again embarked, and, sailing towards New York, landed on Staten Island in the beginning of July. At this place the army was reinforced with troops from Great Britain, also with a body of Hessians; and the Seventeenth, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Samuel Birch, were attached to the Highland Brigade under Brigadier-General Sir William Erskine.

On the 22nd of August a landing was effected on Long Island; on the 25th the American piquets were surprised by detachments of the Seventeenth under Captain Oliver de Lancey; and at nine o'clock on the evening of the 26th the regiment led the van of the army from Flatland across the country to seize on a pass in the heights extending along the middle of the island. Arriving within half a mile of the pass, an American patrole was captured, and Lieut.-General Clinton learning that the enemy had not taken possession of the pass, it was immediately occupied. Passing the heights at day-break, the regiment moved towards Bedford, where it arrived about half-past eight o'clock, and immediately attacked a large body of Americans, who were quitting the woody heights to join their army in the fortified lines at Brooklyn; some desultory fighting took place, in which the Seventeenth evinced great gallantry;—Lieutenant William Loftus particularly distinguishing himself,—and the Americans were driven back with severe loss: General Sulivan, two brigadier-generals, and ten field officers being among the prisoners. The Seventeenth routed the American cavalry at the village of Jamaica, and at the close of the action Lieut.-General Clinton and Brigadier-General Sir William Erskine thanked the officers and men of the regiment for their gallant conduct. General Sir William Howe stated in his public despatch, "The behaviour of both officers and soldiers, British and Hessians, was highly to their honour. More determined courage and steadiness in troops have never been experienced, or a greater ardour to distinguish themselves."

On the night of the 29th of August the Americans abandoned their works, and crossed the East-river to New York. Long Island having thus been reduced, with little loss, the Seventeenth embarked from thence, and, crossing the river, took part in forcing the enemy to evacuate New York: the regiment was also engaged in the action at Pelham-manor on the 18th of October.

Advancing up the country the regiment joined the army on the 20th of October, and on the 28th it was one of the corps engaged in forcing the passage of the Brunx River, and in chasing the Americans to their entrenchments at the entrance of White Plains. The regiment had one man and five horses killed; Lieutenant William Loftus, four rank and file, and three horses wounded.

The Americans withdrew from their lines, when the British retired to undertake the siege of Fort Washington, and at the storming of the lines and redoubts near the fort, on the 16th of November, the Seventeenth Light Dragoons supported the infantry, and had one man wounded.

One troop of the regiment formed part of the force under Lieut.-General Clinton, which sailed from New York on the 1st of December, landed on Rhode Island on the 8th, and overpowering the American troops, reduced the island to submission to the British Government. This troop remained on Rhode Island during the succeeding twelve months under Major-General Earl Percy, and afterwards under Major-General Prescott. Five troops of the regiment were stationed, during the winter, at New York and other places in the vicinity of that city.

1777

The Americans having formed extensive magazines at Danbury and other places on the borders of Connecticut, a detachment of the Seventeenth formed part of the force sent from New York, under Major-General Tryon, to destroy the stores. Sailing from New York in transports, the troops arrived, on the evening of the 25th of April, 1777, off Norwalk, landed without opposition, and commenced their march at ten o'clock that night for Danbury, where they arrived about two in the afternoon of the following day. On their approach the American soldiers fled, and as no carriages could be procured to bring off the stores, they were destroyed by fire; the flames communicating to the town, it was also consumed. On the following morning the British commenced their march back to their shipping, but had to fight their way through troops assembled to oppose them. They overthrew one body of Americans at Ridgefield, routed another party at the Hill of Campo, and afterwards embarked without molestation for New York.

In June the army took the field, and endeavoured to draw the American forces under General Washington from their strong position in the mountains in the Jerseys, but without success. The British General afterwards embarked with the greater part of his army on an expedition against the populous and wealthy city of Philadelphia, taking with him the Sixteenth Light Dragoons, and leaving five troops of the Seventeenth at New York, and one troop at Rhode Island.

From New York one troop of the Seventeenth embarked, dismounted, in the early part of October, with the expedition against Forts Montgomery and Clinton. Having landed at Stoney-point, on the 6th of October, the troop of the Seventeenth formed part of the column under Major-General Vaughan, which captured one of the forts by storm on the same evening; the other fort was abandoned by the Americans.

After returning from this enterprise the troop rejoined the regiment at New York, and during the winter the Seventeenth embarked for Pennsylvania, and were stationed at Philadelphia under General Sir William Howe.

1778

In the spring of 1778 a succession of detachments ranged the country for many miles round Philadelphia, and opened communications for bringing in supplies of provision, in which service the Seventeenth were actively employed.

The American troops were encamped in Valley Forge, and Captain Lord Cathcart, of the Seventeenth, being sent out with twenty-five men to reconnoitre the enemy's position in the direction of White-marsh, ascertained that a patrole of ten American soldiers had taken possession of a house on the road leading to that place. The men of the Seventeenth surrounded the house, and his lordship summoned the Americans to surrender; but they had barricaded the doors and windows, and refused to obey the summons. A few men of the Seventeenth dismounted, sent some shots through the door, and approached the house to try the effect of cold steel, when the Americans begged for quarter, and were taken prisoners to Philadelphia. This excursion of twenty-eight miles was performed without a halt.

On the evening of the 3rd of May a small detachment of the regiment left Philadelphia to co-operate with the troops destined to drive nine hundred Americans, under Brigadier-General Lacy, from their post at Crooked Billet. The Americans retreated, but were overtaken, attacked, and one hundred and fifty men killed, wounded, and taken prisoners; their baggage was also captured, and sold for the benefit of the troops employed in this service.

Three thousand Americans, under the Marquis de la Fayette, took post on Barren Hill, seven miles in advance of General Washington's camp, and a detachment of the regiment formed part of the force sent against this portion of the American army. On the morning of the 21st of May, as the British approached, the Marquis de la Fayette made a precipitate retreat; but his rear was overtaken by the dragoons, and some execution done.

The French monarch having acknowledged the independence of the revolted British provinces, and concluded a treaty with them, the nature of the war became so far changed that the evacuation of Philadelphia took place, and the army proceeded to New York. In the march from Philadelphia, through the Jerseys, the Seventeenth were actively employed, and performed much severe and harassing duty; the route lying through woods, over rivers, and along difficult roads, with the enemy hovering on the flanks and rear, occasioned the services of the light cavalry to be much required. On the 28th of June, as the last brigade descended from the heights of Freehold, in New Jersey, the enemy appeared in the rear and on both flanks, and some sharp fighting took place; when the Seventeenth, being with the advance guard, were ordered from the front to take part in the engagement. The enemy was repulsed; the army resumed its march, and one troop of the regiment, being in advance, took part in putting to flight a body of Americans. Having crossed the channel to Sandy Hook, the army embarked from thence for New York.

Soon after their return from Philadelphia the strength of the Seventeenth was increased by the receipt of many effective men and all the serviceable horses from the Sixteenth Light Dragoons, which corps was ordered to return to Great Britain; the horses were many of them American, as the Sixteenth had only eighty English horses left.

1779

From New York the regiment was sent to the east end of Long Island, where it remained during the winter; and in the spring of 1779 it was ordered to take up a position in advance of the lines in front of New York.

[To face page 24.

17th Lancers, 1810. Review Order.

The Seventeenth was the only British cavalry regiment in America, and no other corps was sent out; there were, however, several independent troops of provincial cavalry in the British service, also a corps, partly cavalry and partly infantry, commanded by Captain Lord Cathcart of the Seventeenth Light Dragoons, who held the rank of Colonel in the provincials, and also another corps, or "legion," as it was more frequently called, under Colonel Banastre Tarleton. This legion had usually a select party of the Seventeenth attached to it, who wore their own uniform, and became celebrated for their excellent conduct on the out-post duty, also for their daring spirit of enterprise when employed on detached services. While serving remotely from the head-quarters, their own uniform became worn out, and they were offered the dress of the legion; but they were proud of their regiment, and they preferred patching up their old clothing to preserve the distinction[2].

The post occupied by the regiment in front of New York was held for the purpose of clearing the country of the hostile parties, and keeping the roads clear to enable the supplies of the army to be brought in, and skirmishes occurred almost daily.

Serjeant Thomas Tucker, of the Seventeenth Light Dragoons, traversing the country with twelve men, came suddenly upon a small American fort, when he leapt into it and made the garrison prisoners. Tucker accompanied the regiment from England as a volunteer; he evinced signal bravery on all occasions, and was rewarded, on the 10th of April, 1779, with a commission of cornet in the regiment: he proved an efficient officer.

1780

In the winter, when the French fleet and land forces, after having been repulsed at Rhode Island and Savannah, withdrew from the American coast, General Sir Henry Clinton fitted out an expedition against South Carolina, where the mildness of the climate, the richness of the country, its vicinity to Georgia, and its distance from the position occupied by the American army under General Washington, pointed out the advantage and facility of conquest. A detachment of the Seventeenth Light Dragoons, attached to Tarleton's legion, formed part of the force employed on this enterprise. The fleet sailed towards the end of December, but was dispersed by strong gales of wind, and the tempestuous weather occasioned the death of nearly all the horses. The transports in which the Seventeenth and Tarleton's legion were embarked, took refuge from the tempest in the harbour of Tybee, an island near the coast of Georgia, from whence the officers and soldiers proceeded in boats to the island of Port Royal, where a number of horses of an inferior description were procured.

The Seventeenth and Tarleton's legion were quartered at Beaufort, from whence they proceeded to join Brigadier-General Patterson, who was proceeding from Savannah, with a body of infantry, to reinforce the expedition under Sir Henry Clinton, who had undertaken the siege of Charlestown. The inhabitants of the country through which the detachment had to travel having heard of the loss of the cavalry horses at sea, many of them equipped themselves as cavaliers, to confine the British to the line of march, and prevent them collecting horses in the country. Some of these cavaliers insulted the front of the column, but were overthrown by a charge of the dragoons, and the Seventeenth took some prisoners and a number of horses, without any loss on their part; but in the neighbourhood of Rantol's bridge the Americans captured an officer and several foot soldiers.

After a march of twelve days through a country intersected with rivers, rendered difficult by heavy rains, and infested with enemies, the Seventeenth arrived on the banks of the Ashley-river with a large quantity of forage and some horses, which they had collected on the march: the cavalry of the detachment halted at Quarter House, but the infantry joined the army before Charlestown.

On the 12th of April, 1780, the men of the Seventeenth advanced, with other troops, to cut off the communications of the garrison of Charlestown with the adjacent country; they halted that night at Goosecreek, and on the evening of the following day they moved silently towards one of the enemy's posts of communication on Cooper's river,—several corps co-operating in the movement. At three o'clock on the following morning the advanced guard of dragoons and mounted infantry approached Monk's Corner, and charging and routing the enemy's guard on the main road, dashed forward into the American cavalry camp. The enemy was surprised, all who made resistance were speedily cut down; favoured by darkness, General Huger, Colonels Washington and Jamieson, and seven others, took refuge in some swampy grounds near the camp; and one hundred and fifty dragoons and hussars, four hundred horses, and fifty waggons loaded with arms, ammunition, and clothing, were captured. The enemy's infantry at Biggin's bridge were routed by a charge with the bayonet; the boats at Bonneau's ferry were also seized, and the American army in Charlestown was closely invested.

On the 6th of May Lieut.-Colonel Tarleton advanced at the head of a patrole of one hundred and fifty men of the Seventeenth and dragoons of the legion, to gain intelligence, when he was overtaken by a loyal American, who informed him that a strong body of the enemy's cavalry had taken a British foraging party, of an officer and seventeen mounted light infantry, prisoners, and was moving towards Lenew's ferry. Stimulated by this news, the patrole quickened its pace, and arrived at three in the afternoon in the presence of the enemy's videts. The Seventeenth instantly charged the American out-guard, which was routed, and pursued upon the main body; the enemy was surprised; five officers and thirty-six soldiers were cut down; seven officers and sixty dragoons were made prisoners, and Colonels White, Washington, and Jamieson, with some other officers and a few soldiers, escaped by swimming across the river, but many were drowned in the attempt.

The foraging party, captured by the Americans in the morning, was rescued as the ferry-boat was pushing off to convey the men across the river.

In this enterprise the British had only two men and four horses killed; the patrole joined the troops under Lieut.-General Earl Cornwallis on the same evening, but upwards of twenty horses died of fatigue.

Charlestown surrendered to the British arms on the 12th of May. Soon after this event the Seventeenth were attached to the troops under Lieut.-General Earl Cornwallis, and marched up the north-east bank of the Santee river in pursuit of a body of Americans under Colonel Burford, who was retreating to North Carolina. Lord Cornwallis halted at Georgetown, from whence forty of the Seventeenth, one hundred and thirty of Tarleton's legion, a hundred mounted infantry, and a three-pounder, followed the Americans by forced marches. After travelling one hundred and five miles in fifty-four hours, the detachment approached Wacsaw, on the confines of South Carolina, at three o'clock in the afternoon of the 29th of May, and the advance-guard, overtaking the enemy's rear, took a serjeant and four American light dragoons prisoners. Three hundred and eighty American infantry, a detachment of cavalry, and two six-pounders, formed for battle in an open wood; the British, though not half so numerous, (many men and the only gun with the detachment being unable to keep up,) moved forward in three columns to charge their opponents; the men of the Seventeenth being in the centre column under Captain Talbot. The Americans remained steady until the British were within ten yards, and then fired a volley, which produced little effect; and before the smoke cleared away, their ranks were broken, and the British were cutting them down with a terrible carnage. In a few minutes the conflict had ceased; one hundred Americans lay dead on the spot, two hundred were made prisoners, and three colours, two guns, and a number of waggons containing stores and baggage, were captured by the British, who had only five officers and soldiers killed, and twelve wounded; Lieutenant Matthew Pateshall, of the Seventeenth, being among the wounded.

Thus South Carolina was cleared of the enemy's troops, and, in a few days after this exploit, the detachment joined Earl Cornwallis at Camden, a town situate on the east side of the Wateree river.

In the mean time General Sir Henry Clinton had returned to New York, and had left orders for the Seventeenth to follow; the detachment, accordingly, embarked from South Carolina, leaving the sick and a few men attached to Tarleton's legion behind, and joined the regiment at New York, where it had remained under General Knyphausen.

The Americans made great efforts to regain possession of South Carolina; but their army of six thousand men, under General Gates, was routed at Camden by two thousand British, under Earl Cornwallis, on the 16th of August. The men of the Seventeenth attached to Tarleton's legion shared in the conflict. "The cavalry completed the route with their usual promptitude and gallantry, and after great exertions during the action, continued the pursuit to Hanginrock, twenty-two miles from the place where the action commenced, during which many of the enemy were slain, and many prisoners taken, with one hundred and fifty waggons, and all the baggage and camp equipage. On the morning of the 17th Colonel Tarleton was again despatched in pursuit, and on the 18th surprised seven hundred men, killing one hundred and fifty on the spot, and taking three hundred prisoners, three cannon, and forty-four waggons[3]."

1781

During the winter reinforcements were sent from New York to South Carolina, including a detachment of the Seventeenth Light Dragoons, which landed in December, and joined Earl Cornwallis's camp on the 6th of January, 1781.

The Seventeenth were afterwards attached to the troops under Colonel Tarleton, who was directed to force the Americans under General Morgan to pass the Broad river. The British overtook their opponents on the 17th of January, at a place called Cowpens; the Seventh Royal Fusiliers, the infantry of the legion, and a corps of light infantry, with a troop of cavalry on each flank, commenced the action, and soon forced the enemy to give way; but being too eager in the pursuit to preserve sufficient order, Morgan's corps faced about and gave them a heavy fire; this produced great confusion and serious loss, including two guns. The cavalry of the legion quitted the field, excepting about fourteen men, who joined forty of the Seventeenth Light Dragoons, and, at the head of this little band of heroes, Colonel Tarleton made a desperate charge on the whole of the American cavalry, and drove them back on their infantry, recapturing his baggage, and cutting to pieces the detachment of the enemy which had taken possession of it. He afterwards retired to Hamilton's ford.

Cornet Thomas Patterson of the regiment was killed on this occasion[4], and Lieutenant Henry Nettles wounded; several private soldiers and troop horses were also killed and wounded.

When Earl Cornwallis advanced into North Carolina, the Seventeenth were left in South Carolina, under the command of Lord Rawdon, and had to perform duties which called forth the intelligence, activity, and bravery of the officers and soldiers. The occupation of posts distant from each other gave the light cavalry left in the province full employment in keeping up the communications. Many of the inhabitants were hostile to the royal cause; they performed their duties of allegiance with reluctance, and broke their engagements at the first opportunity: the troops of the Congress also made incursions into the province. These circumstances occasioned the duties of the detachment to be particularly harassing; the men and horses were exhausted by constant motion along bad roads, and reduced in numbers by continual skirmishes. While employed in these duties instances of individual gallantry and devotion to the interests of the service were numerous. On one occasion, when Private McMullins was carrying a despatch to the Commander-in-Chief, he was beset by four militia men; he shot one, disabled another with his sword, and brought the other two prisoners to head-quarters[5].

On another occasion a despatch of great importance had to be forwarded to Lord Rawdon, through a country infested by the enemy, and Corporal O'Lavery, of the Seventeenth, being a man of known courage and experience, was selected to accompany the bearer of the despatch. They had not proceeded far before they were attacked and both severely wounded. The bearer of the despatch died on the road; the corporal snatched the paper from the dying man, and rode on until he fell from loss of blood, when, to conceal the important secret from the Americans, should he fall into their hands, he thrust the paper into his wound. He was found, on the following day, with sufficient life to point to the fatal depository of the secret. The surgeon declared the wound itself not to be mortal, but rendered so by the insertion of the despatch. Corporal O'Lavery was a native of the county of Down, where a monument, the gratitude of his countryman and commander, Lord Rawdon, records his fame.

The services of the British troops in the Carolinas, are spoken of in the 'Annual Register' of 1781, in the following terms:—"It is impossible to do justice to the spirit, prudence, and invincible fortitude displayed by the commanders, officers, and soldiers during these dreadful campaigns in the Carolinas. They had not only to contend with men, and those by no means deficient in bravery or enterprise, but they encountered and surmounted difficulties and fatigues from climate and country that would appear insuperable in theory, and incredible in relation. During renewed successions of forced marches, under a burning sun, and in seasons inimical to man, they were frequently, when sinking under excessive fatigue, not only destitute of comforts, but even of necessaries that seemed essential to existence. During the greatest part of the time they were destitute of bread, and the country afforded no vegetables; salt failed; and their only resource was water and the cattle found in the woods. It is a melancholy consideration, that such talent, bravery, and military virtue should have been exercised in vain."

During the summer of this year an attack of the enemy on New York was apprehended, and General Sir Henry Clinton, in a letter to Lord Cornwallis, dated the 11th of June, 1781, requested that some of the troops, and, among others, the remaining officers and men of the Seventeenth Light Dragoons, should be sent back to New York.

1782

Lieut.-General George Preston was removed on the 18th of April, 1782, to the Scots Greys, and was succeeded in the colonelcy of the Seventeenth by General the Honourable Thomas Gage, from the Twenty-second Foot.

1783

His Majesty having been induced to concede the independence of the United States, the war was terminated by a treaty of peace, and in 1783 the Seventeenth Light Dragoons embarked from New York, and returned to Ireland, where the regiment was stationed during the succeeding eleven years.

1784

In 1784 the colour of the clothing was changed from scarlet to blue.

1785

On the 4th of February, 1785, General Gage was removed to the Eleventh Dragoons, and His Majesty conferred the colonelcy of the Seventeenth on Colonel Thomas, Earl of Lincoln, from the half-pay of the Seventy-fifth Foot, which corps was disbanded in 1783.

1794

In February, 1794, the Earl of Lincoln succeeded, on the death of his father, to the dignity of Duke of Newcastle.

In the mean time the success of the French republicans, who had seized the reins of government and beheaded their sovereign, had been followed by the adoption of republican principles by many evil-disposed persons in Ireland, who attempted to organize a rebellion in that part of the United Kingdom; and the Seventeenth were employed, under Major-General Eustace, in suppressing the proceedings of a body of rebels called Defenders, in the counties of Dublin, Louth, and Meath. The regiment was employed many months, night and day, in this service. It was afterwards sent to the north of Ireland, and quartered at Lisburn, Carrickfergus, &c., in consequence of some opposition to authority made by the Belfast volunteers. Major-General White took the command of the troops at Belfast, and ordered the volunteers to give up their cannon; they refused, and barricaded the streets in one part of the town; but the Seventeenth Light Dragoons being sent for, entered Belfast in so dashing a manner that the volunteers were dismayed, and their commanding officer waited on General White, and represented that they did not understand the reason of the regiment entering the town in so rapid and hostile a manner, and that the volunteers would give up the cannon on condition of being sent back to their quarters, to which they proceeded on the same day.

1795

Major-General His Grace the Duke of Newcastle died on the 17th of May, 1795, and King George III. conferred the vacant colonelcy on Major-General Oliver de Lancey, from the lieut.-colonelcy of the regiment.

The principles of republicanism which had involved France in anarchy and bloodshed, had also extended their devastating influence to the French West India islands, and the planters of St. Domingo had sought the protection of Great Britain against the fury of the mulattoes and negroes who, inflamed with republican zeal, carried massacre and devastation through the island. A large body of troops was assembled, under Major-General Sir Ralph Abercromby, to complete the deliverance of the French West India Islands from the power of the republicans, and to reduce to obedience the insurgents in the island of St. Vincent and Grenada, which formerly belonged to France, but had been ceded to Great Britain by treaty. Four troops of the Seventeenth embarked at Cork for England in August, 1795, leaving the head-quarters in Ireland; they landed at Portsmouth, and joined the cavalry camp at Nestley, under Lord Cathcart, and on the 21st of September embarked for St. Domingo. The departure of the fleet of several hundred vessels, escorted by a splendid division of the royal navy, under Admiral Christian, was a scene calculated to impress the mind with an idea of British power; but a storm ensued which scattered the fleet, when many vessels were lost, and others returned to Spithead. The Seventeenth arrived at the West Indies in safety, and two troops were, for a short time, employed as marines on board the Hermione frigate, commanded by Captain Pigot, who was afterwards murdered by his crew. The two troops were eventually landed at Martinico.

One squadron of the regiment proceeded to Jamaica, and was employed, towards the end of 1795 and in the beginning of 1796, against the native Maroons, who had been joined by a number of runaway slaves, and were engaged in open hostility against the British authority. The Maroon warriors were expert bush-fighters, and the service against them proved destructive and severe; they boldly engaging the troops on more than twenty different occasions.

[To face page 40.

17th Light Dragoons, 1817.

Thirty men of the Seventeenth, with ten of another regiment, were stationed, under the command of a subaltern officer, to intercept a body of Maroons and negroes; but the latter had so perfect a knowledge of the country that they came upon the military by surprise. The officer being wounded, retired to a safe post, where he delivered the charge of the party over to Serjeant Stephenson of the Seventeenth. The Serjeant then addressed his men in the most animating language, and leading them to the charge in a most spirited manner, at a moment when the Maroon warriors did not expect an attack, he routed the rebels and killed and wounded several of them[6].

1796

On another occasion, when the troops were out in quest of the Maroon bands, the dragoons came suddenly upon a number of warriors deliberating in council in one of their recesses called the Cock-pit, when Lieutenant Oswald Werge leaped in among them at the hazard of his life, saying, "I bring you peace;" fortunately they did not fire at him, but received him in a friendly manner, and the consequence was, that a treaty was entered into with them; a number of the warriors surrendered in January, 1796, and in March the Maroon war terminated by the surrender of the other warriors, who were afterwards removed from the island.

Five troops, with the head-quarters of the regiment, embarked from Ireland for St. Domingo on the 25th of February, 1796.

One squadron had, in the mean time, been selected to form part of the force to be employed in reducing to obedience the insurgents in the island of Grenada, whose atrocious conduct had procured them the designation of brigands. Having landed on the south of Port Royal, the troops, under Brigadier-General Nicolls, advanced, on the 25th of March, to attack the enemy, who occupied a strong position on a hill of steep ascent. During the action two vessels arrived from Guadaloupe with reinforcements for the enemy, and were landing men on the beach, when the Seventeenth were ordered to interpose between them and the fort. Passing swiftly along a lane strewed with killed and wounded, exposed to the fire of both parties, the Seventeenth reached the beach, and instantly charging, put every enemy to the sword that had landed; no quarter being given. When this service was completed, the cannonading was so hot on both sides, that the squadron could not return without being destroyed, and it took post under the cover of a hill. The infantry having gained the crest of the enemy's position and carried the redoubt by storm, the republican troops fled in dismay,—some throwing themselves down precipices, and others escaping through the thick underwood; when they arrived at the low grounds, the Seventeenth under Captain John Black, and St. George's troop of light cavalry, darted upon them and slew three hundred men in the space of a few hundred yards[7]. The Seventeenth were commended in orders for their distinguished conduct; their loss was limited to one horse killed, four men and two horses wounded.

The Seventeenth took part in several other operations and skirmishes; in June the Commandant of the French troops at Goyave surrendered, and a number of brigands retired, under a desperate and atrocious character named Fedon, to their strong hold in the mountains, where they were invested and forced to submit. In addition to Captain Black, Captain Johnson, Lieutenant Werge, and Cornet Brown of the regiment were also engaged at Grenada.

1797

Four troops of the Seventeenth were sent to St. Domingo, where they served against the republican troops, and signalized themselves at Fort Raimond, Irois, and Morne Gautier; but the climate of this island proved so injurious to the health of the British soldiers that it was eventually abandoned.

After losing many officers and soldiers in the West Indies, the regiment embarked for England, where it arrived in August, 1797; the head-quarter ship, the Caledonia, foundered at sea; the men were saved by boats, and taken on board the Britannia, of Bristol; but the baggage and regimental books were lost. On its arrival in England the regiment received about four hundred recruits, also a large draft from the Eighteenth Light Dragoons, and it was soon restored to a state of efficiency.

1798
1799

In 1798 a Serjeant's party of the Seventeenth was attached to the expedition under Major-General Eyre Coote, which sailed from Margate, on the 14th of May, for the purpose of destroying the basin, gates, and sluices of the Bruges canal, to interrupt the communication between Ostend and Holland. A landing was effected on the 19th of May, and the works were destroyed; but while this was taking place, the wind and surf became so high that the troops could not re-embark, and they were attacked by superior numbers, and forced to surrender. The detachment of the Seventeenth was among the troops made prisoners, and it was sent to Lisle; it was afterwards exchanged, and on rejoining the regiment in the spring of 1799, such had been its exemplary conduct, that the Serjeant, (William Brown,) was promoted to a cornetcy in the Waggon Train, from which he was transferred to the regiment, and eventually became a captain in the corps; and the private soldiers were appointed non-commissioned officers.

Two squadrons were ordered to Portsmouth to embark for Egypt, but the order was countermanded, and they rejoined the head-quarters at Swinley, near Windsor, where the regiment was encamped during the summer.

This year a second Lieut.-Colonel was added to the establishment, which was augmented to ten troops.

1800

After encamping on Bagshot heath, in the summer of 1800, the regiment was employed in suppressing riots, occasioned by the high price of provision, and it exhibited much forbearance under many aggravated assaults from the populace, especially at Duffield, where many soldiers were hurt, and several men of the regiment were afterwards invalided in consequence of the injuries received on this and other occasions: Captain Werge received a shot through his helmet.

1801
1802

At a general muster at Manchester, in 1801, the regiment had upwards of a thousand non-commissioned officers and soldiers on parade, and nearly a thousand horses: but at the peace of Amiens, in 1802, the establishment was reduced to eight troops. The horses of one of the reduced troops were valued, by a dealer, at an average of forty guineas each.

1803

Having embarked for Ireland in May, 1803, the regiment experienced much severe weather on the passage; it landed at Dublin, and war with France having been resumed, two troops were added to the establishment.

1804

Four troops joined the force encamped, under Lord Cathcart, on the Curragh of Kildare, in August, 1804.

1805

In the winter of 1805 the regiment embarked for England, in the expectation of engaging in active warfare on the Continent; but the results of the victory gained by Buonaparte over the Austrians and Russians at Austerlitz, occasioned the order to proceed on foreign service to be countermanded.

On landing in England the head-quarters proceeded to Northampton, where the regiment was inspected by Major-General Sir Henry Warde, who informed the commanding officer, Lieut.-Colonel Evan Lloyd, that he had been sent to examine the regiment in consequence of it being supposed to be unfit for service; but that he should report it composed of the finest men, the best horses, and equipped with the best appointments of any corps he had inspected.

1806

In April, 1806, the Seventeenth marched to the vicinity of London, and were reviewed on Wimbledon common by their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales and Duke of York. The Prince of Wales most graciously shook hands with Lieut.-Colonel Lloyd, and wished him joy on so fine a corps, as did also several other general officers present on that occasion, and the Duke of York expressed his gratification in very strong terms, at witnessing the appearance of the corps and its correct manœuvring.

In September the regiment was suddenly ordered to prepare for foreign service; two troops were separated to form a depôt; and eight troops, having given up their horses, sailed from Spithead, on the 5th of October, for South America, to engage in hostilities against the Spanish provinces in that part of the world. Entering the splendid and capacious harbour of Rio de Janeiro, the capital of Brazil, information was received of the re-capture of Buenos Ayres by the Spaniards; but arrangements, were, nevertheless, made for carrying on the war in the Spanish dominions in South America, and the Seventeenth, having only short carbines, were ordered to be armed with Spanish muskets, and to serve as infantry. Leaving Rio de Janeiro, the fleet sailed to the Rio de la Plata; two hundred miles up this immense river stands the city of Buenos Ayres, where the stream is about thirty miles broad; but an attack on this place was deferred, and the commander of the expedition, Brigadier-General Samuel Auchmuty, resolved to proceed against Monte Video, a town situate in a small bay on the north side of the river, one hundred and twenty miles from Buenos Ayres.

1807

In the middle of January, 1807, a landing was effected nine miles from Monte Video, and the army advanced towards that fortress, when the column, composed of the Seventeenth, four troops of the Twentieth, and two of the Twenty-first Light Dragoons, was attacked by the enemy. Some sharp fighting occurred; Brigadier-General Auchmuty's charger was killed, and he mounted one of Lieut.-Colonel Lloyd's horses; his orderly trumpeter, Thomas Hudson, had also his horse killed under him; but eventually the British dragoons drove back their opponents, and took up the first position before the fortress, about two miles from the citadel. On the 20th of January a numerous body of men sallied from the town, but were driven back, and on the 22nd a number of the enemy approached the rear of the British line, when a skirmish ensued, in which the Seventeenth had two men killed and three wounded. During the siege the Seventeenth were employed in covering the troops before the town and in bringing up provisions, in the performance of which service they took many prisoners, and Lieut.-Colonel Lloyd received the personal thanks of Brigadier-Generals Auchmuty and Lumley. The town was taken by storm on the 3rd of February; on this occasion the Seventeenth formed part of the division under Brigadier-General Lumley, in readiness to cover and support the attack, and to protect the rear; on the capture of the town the citadel surrendered.

Abundance of horses being found in the country, the regiment was mounted; but great difficulty was experienced in procuring forage. Lieut.-Colonel Lloyd proceeded above twenty miles up the country, with four troops of the Seventeenth, and two squadrons of the Twentieth and Twenty-first Light Dragoons, and occupied the out-posts of Canelon and St. Joseph, the latter situate on the bank of a river of the same name. In the early part of March Captain Ross's troop was sent to Las Penais, and Captain Supple's to Cosa Negro barracks; and on the 1st of May the regiment had two hundred and twenty-four mounted and three hundred and seventy-one dismounted men in cantonments in and about Monte Video.

The arrival of Lieut.-General Whitelocke with additional troops, and afterwards of Brigadier-General Craufurd with a further reinforcement, was followed by an attack on the city of Buenos Ayres. Embarking from Monte Video, the troops sailed nearly a hundred miles further up the river, and then landed on the right bank, about thirty miles from the city. Four dismounted troops of the Seventeenth were left, with a regiment of foot, to escort the artillery from the place of disembarkation; and the four mounted troops, mustering forty men each, under Lieut.-Colonel Evan Lloyd, were employed as follows:—Two troops were ordered to give up their horses to the commissariat, but on putting on the pack-saddles the horses broke loose, and were of little use: thirty mounted men remained under Captain Lloyd, to superintend the landing of provision,—of these, ten were sent forward after the army with despatches, twelve mounted men were attached to one of the infantry brigades, and the remainder accompanied Lieut.-General Whitelocke. Thus this small mounted cavalry force was so employed, that it was not available for the more important services of the expedition.

Advancing through a difficult country, the army arrived at the suburbs of Buenos Ayres, and, on the morning of the 5th of July, penetrated the streets of the town; a number of the enemy collected in the rear of the army was dispersed by sixteen mounted men of the Seventeenth and thirty dismounted men of the Ninth Light Dragoons, under Lieut.-Colonel Torrens and Captain Whittingham. While advancing along the streets of this populous city, the British infantry were attacked by the whole male population, who crowded the windows and tops of the flat-roofed houses, and assailed the British with musketry, hand-grenades, bricks, and large stones. Fiercely braving this tempest of war, the English soldiers pressed forward; in some places they were victorious, in others they were overpowered and forced to surrender; and in the midst of this scene of carnage and confusion, sixteen men of the Seventeenth and fifty infantry soldiers, led by Captain Whittingham, opened a communication with Brigadier-General Auchmuty's brigade. Ten mounted men of the Seventeenth and some infantry, also communicated with Colonel Mahon's brigade left at the village of Reduction: but hostilities were terminated by a treaty, in which Lieut.-General Whitelocke agreed to surrender the posts he had taken, also Monte Video, and withdraw from the country, for which he was brought to trial and cashiered.

1808

The Seventeenth left South America in November; they put into Cork harbour from stress of weather, and were mustered there on the 24th of December; but leaving that port in January, 1808, they sailed to Portsmouth, and, after disembarking, joined the depôt troops at Chichester. At this place they remained six weeks dismounted, under orders for the East Indies; furloughs were given to the men to the 20th of February, and such was the excellent spirit which prevailed, that at the expiration of the term there was only one absentee,—a man detained by sickness.

On the 29th of February the regiment left Chichester; on arriving at this place the men had large balances to receive; on quitting, they were thanked by the mayor and corporation, who stated that they had spent three thousand pounds in the town in six weeks, without a single dragoon misbehaving himself.

Eight hundred non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the regiment embarked from Portsmouth under Major Cotton, (Lieut.-Colonel Evan Lloyd being detained as an evidence on the trial of Lieut.-General Whitelocke,) and arrived at the Cape of Good Hope on the 1st of June. On the 4th they were inspected by the Commander-in-Chief at the Cape, Major-General the Honourable Henry George Grey, who had formerly commanded the regiment, and was then a Lieut.-Colonel on its establishment; he expressed himself highly pleased with their appearance; and they fired a feu de joie in honour of the birth-day of King George III.

A remarkable circumstance, connected with the movements of the Seventeenth Light Dragoons is shown by the following statement, viz:—the celebration of the birth-day of His Majesty by the regiment in the four different quarters of the world in four successive years; viz., in 1806 in Europe, in England; in 1807 in America, at Monte Video; in 1808 in Africa, at the Cape of Good Hope; and in 1809 in Asia, at Surat, in the East Indies.

From the Cape of Good Hope the regiment sailed for Calcutta. On approaching the Ganges a fire broke out in one of the ships, the Hugh Inglis, through the carelessness of a petty officer; the magazine was instantly inundated, and the engines from the other ships assisting, the fire was extinguished without serious damage. On the following day the three top-masts were carried over the side of the ship by a squall, and with them fourteen or fifteen men; but the wind speedily subsiding, and the boats of the fleet rendering assistance, all the men were saved except one. On arriving at Diamond Harbour, the regiment was removed on board of small vessels, and it landed at Calcutta on the 25th of August,—mustering seven hundred and ninety men.

The regiment performed garrison duty at Fort William from August to December, during which time Major Cotton, the regimental quarter-master, and sixty-two non-commissioned officers and soldiers died.

1809

Having been placed on the Bombay establishment, the regiment embarked from Calcutta under Lieutenant-Colonel Lloyd, and arrived at Bombay on the 1st of February, 1809. It was destined to occupy quarters in the province of Guzerat,—a peninsula formed by the Arabian sea and the gulfs of Cambay and Cutch, and proceeding to Surat,—a city situate on a fertile plain, on the left bank of the Tappi river,—it was there mounted on horses of a superior description, furnished by an eminent native dealer, named Soonderjie, for 450 and 500 rupees each.

1810

While the regiment was stationed at Surat, four troops were detached against the followers of a Mahomedan fanatic, who called himself Jesus, the son of Mary, and had collected much treasure. The inhabitants of the village of Burding, having joined this fanatic, refused to pay tribute, and the detachment of the Seventeenth, under Major Supple, formed part of the force sent to reduce them to obedience to the law. As the dragoons approached the village, an immense crowd of these enthusiasts was discovered, and they were summoned to surrender, and to give up their leader; but they refused, with loud shouts in anticipation of victory. A feint attack was made to intimidate them, but they threw clouds of dust in the horses' faces, and dared the dragoons to the encounter. The soldiers then charged; the fanatics fought with spears, and with small hatchets, or javelins, fixed to the end of bamboos, twelve or fourteen feet in length, with which they inflicted severe wounds; but they were overpowered, and cut down or dispersed. Their leader, and four of his companions, escaped, with their treasure, on swift camels. On the arrival of some infantry and guns, the village was razed to the ground. One corporal and two private soldiers were killed; all the officers, several private soldiers, and many of the horses were wounded: Lieutenant Adams had his helmet cut to pieces from his head.

[To face page 56.

17th Light Dragoons. Officers' Breakfast Mess Baggage arriving on Camp Ground. (17th Lancers.)

This year a detachment of the Seventeenth accompanied Sir John Malcolm to Persia; this party rejoined the regiment in December, when the following letter was forwarded to the commanding officer, Lieut.-Colonel Evan Lloyd:—

"Sir,

"I only fulfil a duty when I inform you of the admirable conduct of the detachment of your regiment that accompanied me to Persia. It would, on such an occasion, be presumption in me to notice the merit of an officer of so established a character as Lieutenant Johnson, further than to state, that to his great care and attention the good order of his party is, no doubt, chiefly to be ascribed; but you will, I am assured, forgive me for expressing the high opinion I have formed of Serjeant Willocks, whose unwearied efforts were, at all moments, directed to the object of supporting the character of his corps, in which, from the aid of the non-commissioned officers, Corporals Carrigan and Batson, who are both excellent men, and the general good disposition of the whole party, he was completely successful. I can only add, that the impression which the appearance, discipline, and private behaviour of your men has made upon all ranks, in the countries through which we have travelled, are such as must do honour to the name of a British soldier.

(Signed) "J. Malcolm, Brig.-Gen."

1811

Leaving Surat, the regiment marched, in December, 1811, for its new cantonments at Ruttapore, near Kaira, in the northern division of Guzerat, where a commodious set of buildings had been erected on a beautiful site near the river, under the direction of Captain Goodfellow, of the Bombay Engineers, expressly for the use of the Seventeenth. Around the regimental cantonments the officers erected very handsome and substantial houses of stone.

1812

On the 1st of January, 1812, Colonel Evan Lloyd was promoted to the rank of Major-general, and the Honourable Lincoln Stanhope was appointed Lieut.-Colonel in the regiment, in addition to Lieut.-Colonel Wm. Carden, who was appointed in 1811.

1813

The regiment had not occupied its new cantonments many months before it was visited by the epidemical fever frequently so destructive in the fruitful province of Guzerat, and it carried off many thousands of the natives, and numbers of Europeans. In the months of October, November, and December, 1812, and January, 1813, four officers and seventy-three men of the regiment died, chiefly of this disease. This was followed by an equally destructive famine in Guzerat, and the provinces to the westward, where no rain had fallen during the two preceding years. Vegetation had nearly ceased altogether; the rivers were reduced to mere rills, and the nearly exhausted springs allowed a very limited irrigation around the villages. Under this affliction, hundreds of the natives died daily, and Guzerat, which is celebrated as one of the richest provinces of the Mogul empire, abounding in rice, corn, sugar, fruits of various kinds, cattle, and game, presented a barren and woful spectacle.

1814
1815

In the years 1813, 1814, and 1815, strong detachments of the regiment were employed in active service in the field, under the command of General Sir George Holmes, and Colonels Barclay and East. In December, 1815, the regiment formed part of the force which penetrated the barren and mountainous province of Cutch, a country abounding in lofty hills, extensive woods, and uncultivated plains, where the natives breed very fine horses. Into this country British troops had never before penetrated; and the army had to traverse a sandy tract of land, separating Cutch from Guzerat, called the Runn. This tract presented a wild and singular aspect; it appeared as an arm of the sea from which the ocean had receded, or the dry bed of an immense river, ten miles broad, and devoid of verdure or vegetation. The Seventeenth, being at the head of the army, entered this sandy waste between six and seven o'clock in the morning; in some places the ground was hard and safe; in others, insulated quicksands offered some obstruction, which would have proved serious impediments in the night; and broad streaks of saline incrustations giving to the ground the appearance of being covered with snow, were met with; also prawns and mullet dried in the sun; the tracts of large birds were also seen, and on approaching the opposite bank the traces of wild apes were perceptible. In three hours the Seventeenth reached the boundary of this sandy waste, without having met with hostile opposition, which had been expected. The European infantry crossed the Runn in three hours and a half, and the main body, with the cannon, which had to be dragged by ropes in some places, in four hours.

Having entered the territory of Cutch, the army marched towards Booge-booge, the capital, and besieged the town and fort of Anjar, which surrendered at discretion. In this service Lieutenant Oliver de Lancey, of the Seventeenth, was severely wounded in the arm. The capture of Anjar was followed by the surrender of the hill-fort and fortified city of Booge-booge, and a treaty of alliance was afterwards concluded with the State of Cutch.

1816

The troops re-crossed the Runn at the Mattra-pass,—a headland between the gulfs of Cutch and Cambay, where the tide of the Indian ocean rushes in with a deafening noise, and a detachment from the army was employed in destroying the fastnesses of the banditti, whose depredations had been destructive to the neighbouring territories; also in reducing the power of a piratical tribe which infested the neighbouring seas. After the capture of the strong fort of Dwarka, and the capture and dispersion of a fleet of pirates, the field force broke up, and the Seventeenth Light Dragoons returned to their beautiful cantonments at Ruttapore in May, 1816.

1817

The predatory incursions of the Pindarees occasioned the regiment again to take the field in the year 1817[8], and these bands of robbers being formidable in numbers, and all horsemen, the troops employed against them had to perform many forced marches, to pass rivers and thickets, and to be constantly endeavouring to surprise these hordes of marauders. While several corps were pursuing the Pindarees, a number of the native princes were preparing to engage in hostilities against the British. The Seventeenth formed part of the force under Major-General Sir William Grant Keir, assembled at Baroda, which force subsequently marched into the Malwar, and joined the army commanded by Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Hislop.

On the second day's march from Baroda, the rear-guard and baggage of the army were attacked by a formidable body of Bheels,—robbers of a daring and desperate character. A squadron of the Seventeenth, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel the Honourable Lincoln Stanhope, proceeded to the support of the infantry engaged, and, on coming up, soon decided the affair, by cutting down a number of the robbers, and driving the remainder into the jungle. Lieut.-Colonel the Honourable Lincoln Stanhope, Captain Adams, Cornets Smith and Marriott, evinced signal spirit and bravery on this occasion: Cornet Marriott and his horse were severely wounded. Serjeant-Major Hampson, a brave soldier, received an arrow in his mouth, which pierced the spine; he pulled the arrow from the wound, threw it down, then drew his pistol and shot the Bheel archer from whom the arrow came; but he immediately fell from his horse to rise no more, the flow of blood from his wound having suffocated him. The regiment had several men and horses wounded in this affair, which occurred on the 8th of December. On the following day Lieut.-Colonel the Honourable Lincoln Stanhope, the officers, and soldiers of the squadron, were thanked in field orders; the spirit and steadiness they evinced were particularly commended, and the prompt and active exertions of the officers were especially noticed.

1818

Continuing to take an active part in the operations of the field, the Seventeenth were again engaged on the 19th of January, 1818, and on the 21st of that month the following division order was issued:—"The Major-General is happy to express his approbation of the conduct of Lieut.-Colonel the Honourable Lincoln Stanhope, and His Majesty's Seventeenth Light Dragoons, in the affair of the 19th instant, and can only attribute the trifling loss they sustained to the gallantry and rapidity of the attack, which added to the complete surprise in incapacitating the enemy for preparing for resistance. The Major-General has not failed to bring to the notice of his Excellency, Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Hislop, and the Commander-in-Chief in Bombay, his sense of the spirit evinced by the regiment on that occasion."

[To face page 64.

17th Lancers, 1824.

The following account of an affair between a detachment of the Seventeenth and a party of Pindarees, was published in division orders, dated the 13th of March, 1818:—"The Major-General is happy to publish to the division the following particulars of an action between a detachment of His Majesty's Seventeenth Light Dragoons, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel the Honourable Lincoln Stanhope, and a body of Pindarees, commanded by Settoo in person, which has added much to the deserved reputation of that gallant corps, and reflects the highest credit on the officers and men employed on this occasion.

"Information having been communicated to Lieut.-Colonel Stanhope that a considerable party of Pindarees had appeared within a forced march of his camp, a detachment was immediately put in motion, and arrived in sight of the enemy after a march of thirty miles. The dragoons immediately formed and attacked the Pindarees, who, after a show of resistance, betook themselves to flight, closely pursued by the detachment, which cut down upwards of two hundred horsemen. Settoo, conspicuous by his dress and black charger, narrowly escaped falling into our hands; he was saved by the extraordinary speed of his horse. The Major-General begs to express his thanks to Lieut.-Colonel the Honourable Lincoln Stanhope, for the promptitude and vigour with which the arrangements were made for the attack, and the spirit with which it was conducted; and he returns his acknowledgments to the whole of the detachment for the intrepidity and activity which it displayed during the attack and pursuit of the enemy. The conduct of Captain Adams and Cornet Marriott having been represented to the Major-General in the most favourable terms, he is happy to express his unqualified approbation of the gallantry of both these officers."

On the 14th of March the following statement appeared in division orders:—"Having made arrangements for the return of the force into cantonments, the Major-General cannot deny himself the satisfaction of expressing his sentiments on the exemplary conduct of the troops he has had the honour to command during the late service. Their cheerfulness in the performance of their duty, though unavoidably harassing and severe; the spirit and activity with which they have always encountered fatigues; and, above all, their strict adherence to discipline and subordination, reflects the highest credit on both officers and men, and merits the Major-General's warmest approbation. He only regrets that circumstances have not afforded the whole of the troops such an opportunity of displaying their most brilliant talents, as their companions in arms have so gallantly availed themselves of. To conclude, he can only say, that he has never been, in any part of the world, with troops whom he should be so happy to have the honour to command again, or with whom he would so willingly undertake the most arduous services. Where almost every officer has so much distinguished himself by zeal, alacrity, and good conduct, it is difficult to particularize any individual; but Sir William Grant Keir feels himself bound, both in gratitude and duty, to say, that he is, in an uncommon degree, indebted to Lieut.-Colonel the Honourable Lincoln Stanhope, of the Seventeenth Light Dragoons, and to Captain Thompson, of the same corps, who has also done more than his duty in taking charge of the advanced-posts during the whole of the service: the Major-General requests the above officers will accept of his warmest thanks."

1819

After reposing a short period in cantonments, the regiment again took the field towards the end of the year 1818; and, in the early part of 1819, it marched into the province of Candeish. In the same year a detachment of eighty-six officers and soldiers,—convalescents left at Kaira on the march of the regiment into Candeish,—joined the force assembled in the province of Cutch, under Major-General Sir William Grant Keir. The extirpation of the Pindarees, a community of robbers associated for the undisguised object of subsisting by plunder, and amounting to from twenty-five to thirty thousand horsemen, was become an imperative duty to the British subjects in India. At the same time several native princes considered that the preservation of the Pindarees might be of advantage to themselves in the event of a war with the British. The operations of the armies which took the field, therefore, embraced several objects, which were acomplished to the honour of the British arms. After the surrender of Nagpore, the capital of the Mahratta territories, the Seventeenth returned to their cantonments in the fruitful province of Guzerat.

1820

In the month of May, 1820, the regiment marched once more to the hilly country of Cutch, and formed part of the force assembled in that province, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel the Honourable Lincoln Stanhope, and encamped at Keyrah, about half-way between the city of Booge-booge and Mandivie, the principal seaport in Cutch. This force consisted of between five and six thousand men; but the difference between the British authorities and the native chiefs, against whom it was designed to act, having been settled without an appeal to arms, the camp broke up in November, when the troops returned to their cantonments, excepting a detachment, which crossed the gulf of Cutch and captured, after an obstinate and desperate resistance, the strong pirate fort of Dwarka, where Lieutenant William Henry Marriott was mortally wounded. This distinguished officer was aide-de-camp to the Honourable the Governor in Council, and brigade-major to Lieut.-Colonel the Honourable Lincoln Stanhope; he was possessed of every quality that could make a young soldier the object of interest and of hope; he was admired, respected, and beloved in life, and he met with a death of glory without fear and without reproach.

1822

The regiment marched back to its cantonments near Kaira, where it was stationed until 1822, when arrangements were made for its return to England. During the fourteen years it had been in India, it had received, at various times, nine hundred and twenty-nine officers and recruits from Great Britain; and its loss by deaths, from disease and climate, exclusive of men killed by the enemy and invalids, amounted to eight hundred and twenty-two officers and soldiers.

On the 20th of August, 1822, His Majesty King George IV. was pleased to approve of the regiment being equipped as a corps of "Lancers."

On the decease of General Oliver de Lancey, the colonelcy of the regiment was conferred on Major-General Lord Robert Edward Henry Somerset, K.C.B., from the late Twenty-first Light Dragoons, by commission dated the 9th of September, 1822.

Leaving the men who had volunteered into other corps at Kaira, the regiment commenced its march for Cambay, in November, and embarked at that place in boats for Bombay, where it arrived in December.

[To face page 70.

17th Lancers, 1829.

1823

On the 9th of January, 1823, the regiment sailed for England; arriving at Gravesend, on the 18th of May, it landed and marched to Chatham, where it was joined by Lieut.-Colonel Stanhope and Captain Adams, who had returned to England over-land, via Egypt. At Chatham the Seventeenth returned their carbines into store, and were armed with Lances, and the officers and soldiers commenced wearing moustaches.

1824

The regiment was recruited to 311 men by the 1st of January, 1824; in June it marched to London, and was stationed a short time in the Regent's Park barracks, during the absence of the Life Guards for the purpose of being reviewed. In July the head-quarters removed to Canterbury.

1825

In the summer of 1825 the regiment again took the London duty, during the absence of the household cavalry, and was subsequently removed to Brighton and Chichester.

1826
1827

The regiment marched, in the spring of 1826, to Exeter and Topsham; in January, 1827, it was stationed at Hounslow and Hampton-Court, and on the 20th of that month it was on duty on the occasion of the funeral of His late Royal Highness the Duke of York.

1828

From Hounslow the regiment marched to Liverpool, and embarking for Ireland, landed at Dublin in April, 1828, after an absence of upwards of twenty-three years from that part of the United Kingdom. On landing it marched to Dundalk and Belturbet; it returned to Dublin in May, 1829.

1829

Lieut.-General Lord R. E. H. Somerset was appointed to the Royal Dragoons in November, 1829, and the command of the Seventeenth Lancers was conferred by His Majesty on Major-General Sir John Elley, K.C.B., K.C.H.

1830

In May, 1830, the head-quarters proceeded to Newbridge; and soon after the accession of King William IV., on the 26th of June, the regiment was directed to wear scarlet clothing, with yellow lace, and blue trowsers; and to discontinue the moustaches.

1831

On the 1st of April, 1831, the Seventeenth marched from Limerick; and it performed much harassing and severe duty in consequence of the disturbed state of the county of Clare.

1832

The regiment proceeded to Dublin in April, 1832; it there lost three men from the cholera morbus; in June it embarked for Bristol, and it was designed to occupy quarters at Gloucester, but did not enter that city for several days for fear of communicating the cholera. The head-quarters proceeded thither on the 29th of June; but the cholera having broken out in Gloucester they were withdrawn to Wotton-under-Edge and Dursley. In November, the cholera having ceased, they returned to Gloucester.

1833

In March, 1833, the regiment proceeded to Hounslow, Hampton-Court, and Kensington; and on the 10th of September it was reviewed at Windsor by His Majesty, who was graciously pleased to express to Major-General Sir John Elley, and to Lieut.-Colonel Lord Bingham, his royal approbation of its appearance, using the expression, "It is perfect." After the review the officers had the honour to dine with the King, in St. George's Hall, Windsor Castle, and His Majesty repeated the expressions of his high approbation of the appearance and movements of the Seventeenth Lancers, and added, that he had the gratification of reviewing this regiment half a century before, when it was stationed at New York.

1834
1835
1836
1837

From Hounslow, the head-quarters marched in May, 1834, to Leeds; in May, 1835, the regiment proceeded to Manchester; and in April, 1836, the head-quarters were removed to Ipswich, from whence they proceeded, in May, 1837, to Coventry.

1838

The regiment embarked at Liverpool, in June, 1838, for Ireland, and was employed on duty at Dublin.

1839

Lieut.-General Sir John Elley died in January, 1839, and was succeeded by Lieut.-General Sir Joseph Stratton, K.C.H., who was removed to the Eighth Dragoons in August, and the colonelcy was conferred on Major-General Sir Arthur Benjamin Clifton, K.C.B., K.C.H.

1840

The regiment remained at Dublin until May, 1840, when it proceeded to Cahir.

1841

In May, 1841, the regiment returned to Dublin, from whence it embarked for Scotland, and arrived at Glasgow at the end of that month. It was removed to Edinburgh in the month of August following.

The usefulness and efficiency of the Seventeenth Regiment of Lancers;—the steadiness, good conduct, and attention to the rules of discipline, evinced by the soldiers;—and the admirable quality and training of the horses, afford abundant proof of the zealous and constant superintendence of the officers, and their regard to the credit and honour of the corps. The expressions of approbation of the gallantry of the regiment when employed on active service, as announced, on several occasions, in public orders;—and the testimony borne by the general officers under whom it has, from time to time, been employed, to the excellence of its appearance, system, and conduct,—fully support the claim of the regiment to the favour of the crown, the confidence of the government, and the admiration of the country.

[To face page 74.

17th Lancers, 1832. Review Order.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Captain Basil exchanged to the Fifteenth Light Dragoons, and was killed at Emsdorf on the 16th of July, 1760.

[2] This anecdote of the corps was related by His Majesty King William IV., who, when Prince William Henry, reviewed the regiment while it was stationed at New York, and, in 1833, related at his own table some particulars respecting its services in America.

[3] Earl Cornwallis's despatch.

[4] During the action the American Colonel Washington called out, "Where is now the boasting Tarleton?" Cornet Patterson of the Seventeenth was riding up to attack him, and was shot by Washington's orderly Trumpeter. Anecdote by Lieut.-General Sir Evan Lloyd, who served with the regiment in America.

[5] Statement of Lieut.-General Sir Evan Lloyd.

[6] Serjeant Stephenson was offered a commission in an infantry corps, as a reward for his conduct on this occasion, which he declined at the recommendation of several officers, who hoped to be able to procure him promotion in his own regiment; but they either fell victims to the climate or were removed to other corps, and he died, on service with his regiment at Bombay, in 1813.

[7] Statement of Lieut.-General Sir Evan Lloyd.

[8] In November, 1817, Lieut.-Colonel William Carden died at the cantonments of the regiment at Ruttapore, near Kaira, where a handsome monument was erected with the following inscription:—

Here are deposited the remains of
Lieut.-Colonel W. Carden,
late of H. M. 17th Dragoons, and Commanding Officer
on the N. D. Guzerat; who died at this place
on the 13th of November, 1817,
aged 48 years.

THE OFFICERS OF HIS REGIMENT HAVE ERECTED THIS MONUMENT, NOT MERELY TO RECORD HIS EMINENCE AS A SOLDIER, BUT AS A TRIBUTE OF THEIR AFFECTIONATE REGARD TO HIS MEMORY, AND TO EXPRESS THE DEEP REGRET WHICH THE LOSS OF THE NUMEROUS VIRTUES HE POSSESSED HAS OCCASIONED.

A friend to truth; in soul sincere:

In action faithful, and in honour clear.

SUCCESSION OF COLONELS

OF

THE SEVENTEENTH

REGIMENT OF LIGHT DRAGOONS;—

LANCERS.

John Hale,

Appointed 27th April, 1763.

John Hale held a commission in the Forty-seventh Foot, and served in Scotland during the rebellion of 1745-6. He was promoted to Captain in 1752, and to the Majority of the regiment in 1755. On the breaking out of the seven years' war he proceeded with the Forty-seventh to North America, and was promoted to the Lieut.-Colonelcy of the regiment on the 19th of March, 1758. He commanded the Forty-seventh regiment in the expedition against Cape Breton, under Lieut.-General, afterwards Lord, Amherst; was distinguished for intrepidity at the landing on the 8th of June, 1758, and also served with credit at the siege of Louisburg, which surrendered on the 26th of July. On the 30th of August he embarked with his regiment from Louisburg, and proceeded to the support of Major-General Abercromby, who had been repulsed in an attack on the French fort of Ticonderago, on the west shore of Lake Champlain. In 1759 he commanded the Forty-seventh in the expedition against Quebec, under Major-General James Wolfe, and when appointed to this arduous enterprise, he was honoured with the local rank of Colonel in America. Sailing up the river St. Lawrence a landing was effected, and several actions took place, in which Colonel Hale was distinguished for the cool and steady manner in which he led the Forty-seventh into the fight. At the battle of Quebec, on the 13th of September, 1759, Major-General Wolfe fell, mortally wounded, while in the act of leading the Twenty-eighth Foot to the charge with bayonets; Colonel Hale brought the Forty-seventh into action in a very gallant manner, and the charge of the two regiments (Twenty-eighth and Forty-seventh) was irresistible. After the surrender of Quebec, Colonel Hale was selected to proceed to England with despatches, and he arrived in London on the evening of the 16th of October. He was well received at Court, and being a talented officer, well acquainted with the nature of the service of cavalry, infantry, and artillery, his merits procured him the favour of his Sovereign.

A few months previous to Colonel Hale's arrival in England, King George II. had resolved to add to his land forces entire regiments of light cavalry; soon after the victory at Quebec was made known, His Majesty reviewed the first of these regiments, "Eliott's Light Horse," in Hyde Park, and was so much pleased with its appearance and activity, that Colonel Hale was appointed to superintend the formation of an additional light regiment, now the Seventeenth Lancers, of which he was appointed Lieut.-Colonel Commandant on the 7th of November, 1759, and Colonel on the 27th of April, 1763. In 1770 he was appointed Governor of Limerick, when he was succeeded in the colonelcy of his regiment by Colonel Preston. He was promoted to the rank of Major-General in 1772, to that of Lieut.-General in 1777; and to that of General on the 12th of October, 1793. He died on the 20th of March, 1806, at the Plantations, near Guisborough, Yorkshire, leaving behind him seventeen children.

George Preston,

Appointed 2nd November, 1770.

George Preston was many years an officer in the Scots' Greys, and served with his regiment in 1743 at the battle of Dettingen, where the Greys captured the white standard of the French household troops. The Greys also served at the battle of Fontenoy in 1745, at Roucoux in 1746, and in 1747 highly distinguished themselves at Val, where Captain George Preston was wounded. His meritorious conduct was rewarded, in 1757, with the Lieut.-Colonelcy of the Greys, at the head of which corps he served in Germany under Prince Ferdinand, of Brunswick, from 1758 to 1762. At the battle of Minden in 1759, Warbourg in 1760, Kirch Denkern in 1761, and Grobenstein in 1762, the Greys had the honour of serving, and they signalized themselves in numerous skirmishes, on which occasions Lieut.-Colonel Preston was distinguished for discretion and personal bravery; and he returned to England in 1763, with the reputation of being an excellent cavalry officer. In 1770 he was rewarded with the Colonelcy of the Seventeenth Light Dragoons; in 1772 he was promoted to the rank of Major-General, and to that of Lieut.-General in 1777: in 1782 he was appointed to the Colonelcy of the Scots' Greys. He died at Bath in 1785.

The Honourable Thomas Gage,

Appointed 18th April, 1782.

The Honourable Thomas Gage, second son of Thomas, first Viscount Gage, of Castle Island, in Ireland, having served some time in the subordinate commissions, was appointed Major of the Forty-fourth Foot in February, 1747, and he was further promoted to the Lieut.-Colonelcy of the regiment on the 2nd of March, 1751. He was serving with his regiment in America, when a dispute occurred between Great Britain and France respecting the territory on the banks of the Ohio, and he commanded the advance-guard of the forces sent against Fort Du Quesne, which the French had built to command the entrance into the country on the Ohio and Mississippi. In the disastrous action on the 9th of July, 1755, Major-General Braddock was killed and Lieut.-Colonel Honourable Thomas Gage was wounded. He continued to serve in America, where he raised a provincial regiment, which was numbered the Eightieth, Light-armed, Foot, of which he was appointed Colonel in May, 1758: he was also appointed Brigadier-General in North America, and the efforts of the army effected the conquest of Canada, which has continued to form part of the British dominions from that period. He was promoted to the rank of Major-General in 1761, and in the same year he performed the duty of Commander-in-Chief in North America, and also succeeded Sir Jeffrey Amherst as Colonel-in-Chief of the Sixteenth regiment, which he held two months, when Lieut.-General Amherst was re-appointed. In March, 1762, he was appointed Colonel of the Twenty-second Foot; and in April, 1770, he was promoted to the rank of Lieut.-General. When the misunderstanding between Great Britain and her North American colonies began to assume a serious aspect, he was appointed Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief of Massachusetts Bay, and he arrived at Boston in May, 1774. Hostilities commenced in the following year, and his active exertions to suppress the rebellion were rewarded in August, 1775, with the appointment of Commander-in-Chief in North America, which he resigned in a few months afterwards. In April, 1782, he was appointed Colonel of the Seventeenth Light Dragoons; he was promoted to the rank of General in November following, and in 1785 he was removed to the Eleventh Dragoons. He died in 1787.

Thomas Earl of Lincoln,

Appointed 4th February, 1785.

Lord Thomas Pelham Clinton, second son of Henry, ninth Earl of Lincoln, and first Duke of Newcastle, chusing the profession of arms, was appointed Captain and Lieut.-Colonel in the First Foot Guards on the 5th of April, 1775, and, on the decease of his brother, in 1778, he obtained the title of Earl of Lincoln. He was promoted to the rank of Colonel in 1780, and in 1782 he obtained the Colonelcy of the Seventy-fifth, or the Prince of Wales's Regiment of Foot, which was disbanded at the termination of the American war, in 1783. In 1785 he obtained the Colonelcy of the Seventeenth Light Dragoons; in 1787 he was promoted to the rank of Major-General, and he succeeded to the dignity of Duke of Newcastle on the decease of his father, in 1794. He died in 1795.

Oliver de Lancey,

Appointed 20th May, 1795.

Oliver de Lancey descended from a respectable family settled in North America. When a disposition to make themselves independent appeared in the Colonies, he wrote a pamphlet entitled, "Considerations on the Propriety of Imposing Taxes on the British Colonies," which was first printed in America, and afterwards went through the press several times in London. Proceeding to Great Britain, he procured the commission of Cornet in the Fourteenth Dragoons, in 1766, and in May, 1773, he was appointed Captain in the Seventeenth Light Dragoons, in which corps he remained forty-nine years. In 1774 he was sent with despatches for the Commander-in-Chief, and was directed to provide accommodation for his regiment, which was then under orders for America; also to provide remount horses for his corps and for the artillery and other departments of the army. On arriving at Boston he was sent to New York, to accomplish the objects of his mission; but, hostilities commencing, he returned to Boston, where his regiment arrived about the same time, and he remained at this place during the blockade and bombardment, until it was evacuated in 1776, when he proceeded to Halifax, and afterwards to Staten Island. He commanded a squadron of the Seventeenth on Long Island, distinguished himself in the driving back of the American piquets, and also at the battle of Brooklyn. Crossing the river to New York he had further opportunities of signalizing himself, and in the spring of 1777 he served in the Jerseys, where the squadron under his orders had several rencounters with detachments of the enemy. In the following winter he proceeded to Philadelphia, was actively employed in the spring of 1778 in various services in Pennsylvania, and was engaged in covering the march of the army from thence to New York. On the 3rd of June, 1778, he was promoted to the Majority of his regiment, which he commanded while it was stationed on Long Island, and afterwards in the lines in front of New York, where skirmishes occurred almost daily. He was subsequently appointed Deputy Quarter-Master-General to the expedition to South Carolina, where he served at the siege of Charlestown, and in several expeditions under Earl Cornwallis; and in 1781 he was promoted to the rank of Lieut.-Colonel, and appointed Adjutant-General in America, in succession to Major John André, who was made prisoner by the Americans and executed as a spy. At the termination of the war he was appointed to arrange the military claims made by persons who had served in America; and he was placed at the head of a commission for settling the accounts of the army during the war. In 1790 he was appointed Deputy Adjutant-General, with the rank of Colonel in the army; in 1794 he obtained the Lieut.-Colonelcy of the Seventeenth Light Dragoons, and was appointed Barrack-Master-General, which he held ten years; he was also promoted to the rank of Major-General on the 3rd of October, 1794. On the 20th of May, 1795, he was farther rewarded with the Colonelcy of his regiment. He was promoted to the rank of Lieut.-General in 1801, and to that of General in 1812. He was many years a Member of Parliament. He died in September, 1822, after serving the crown fifty-six years.

Lord Robert Edward Henry Somerset, K.C.B.,

Appointed 9th September, 1822.

Removed to the Royal Dragoons in 1829, and to the Fourth, or Queen's Own, Light Dragoons in 1836.

Sir John Elley, K.C.B., K.C.H.,

Appointed 23rd November, 1829.

This officer was a native of Leeds, and, being intended for the law, was articled to a solicitor in London; but preferring the profession of arms, he enlisted at Leeds, on the 5th of November, 1789, as a private trooper in the Royal Horse Guards (Blues). His conduct was generally approved of by his officers, and his attachment to the army remaining undiminished, his father enabled him to purchase the appointment of Quartermaster of a troop in the following year, namely, on the 4th of June, 1790; he was promoted to a Cornetcy, by purchase, on the 6th of June, 1794. He accompanied the four troops of the Blues to Flanders in 1793, as Acting Adjutant; and serving under His Royal Highness the Duke of York, he was present at several engagements, where the Blues distinguished themselves, particularly at Cateau on the 26th of April, 1794, where Acting Adjutant Elley evinced signal gallantry. He served with his regiment in the retreat through Holland to Germany, and, returning to England in November, 1795, he was promoted to a Lieutenantcy, by purchase, on the 26th of January, 1796. The rank of Captain-Lieutenant was conferred on this meritorious officer on the 24th of October, 1799, and he was promoted to Captain of a troop, by purchase, on the 26th of February, 1801. He was employed as Aide-de-camp to Major-General Staveley on the Staff of Great Britain, when the country was threatened with invasion by Buonaparte. He was promoted, by purchase, to Major of the Royal Horse Guards on the 29th of November, 1804, and to Lieut.-Colonel, by purchase, on the 6th of March, 1808. In 1808 he served as Assistant Adjutant-General to the cavalry of the army, which advanced into Spain under Lieut.-General Sir John Moore, and was at the cavalry action at Sahagun, where the Fifteenth Hussars highly distinguished themselves; also at Benevente, where the French Imperial Guards were driven across the Esla with severe loss. Lieut.-Colonel Elley was also present at several other skirmishes, and at the battle of Corunna. The appointment of Assistant Adjutant-General to the cavalry of the British army in Portugal and Spain was held by Lieut.-Colonel Elley from 1809 to 1814; he proved a most valuable officer, and performed the duties of his situation with great ability during those arduous campaigns, in which the British troops gained many honours. He was present at most of the battles in Portugal, Spain, and France, until the power of Buonaparte was subdued and the Bourbon dynasty was restored to the throne of France. He received several severe wounds, particularly at Salamanca, where he narrowly escaped being taken prisoner; he was promoted to the rank of Colonel on the 7th of March, 1813: in 1815 he was appointed Assistant Adjutant-General to the cavalry of the army in Flanders, under His Grace the Duke of Wellington, and served at the battle of Waterloo[9]. He was rewarded with a silver medal for the battle of Waterloo; a cross and three clasps for the battles of Sahagun, Benevente, Talavera, Fuentes d'Onor, Salamanca, Vittoria, Orthes, and Toulouse. He was also constituted Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath; Knight Commander of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order; Knight of Maria Theresa of Austria; Knight of St. George of Russia (fourth class). He was promoted to the rank of Major-General on the 12th of August, 1819; in 1821 he was appointed Governor of Galway, and in 1829 he was rewarded with the Colonelcy of the Seventeenth Lancers: in 1837 he was promoted to the rank of Lieut.-General. He died on the 28th of January, 1839, at his residence, near Andover, and was interred at the Chapel Royal, at Windsor.

Sir Joseph Stratton, K.C.H.,

Appointed 28th January, 1839.

Removed to the Eighth, or the King's Royal Irish, Regiment of Light Dragoons, Hussars, on the 24th of August, 1839.

Sir Arthur Benjamin Clifton, K.C.B., K.C.H.,

Appointed 24th August, 1839.

LONDON: HARRISON AND CO., PRINTERS, ST. MARTIN'S LANE.

FOOTNOTE:

[9] In Scott's Letters to his Kinsfolk it is recorded of Sir John Elley, that there were found, on the field of Waterloo, more than one of Napoleon's cuirassiers cleft to the chine by the stalwart arm of this gallant officer.

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE

Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within the text and consultation of external sources.

Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text, and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained. For example, advance-guard, advance guard; patrole; piquets; promptitude.

Pg 10, 'from Lientenant' replaced by 'from Lieutenant'.
Pg 48, 'of Rio de Janiero' replaced by 'of Rio de Janeiro'.
Pg 65, 'under the commmand' replaced by 'under the command'.
Pg 78, 'duty of Commmander-' replaced by 'duty of Commander-'.