Lieut.-General Sir John Cope, who had arrived at Dunbar with a
small body of infantry, and he advanced towards Edinburgh, when the
rebel army was put in motion to meet him. On the 20th of September
the King's troops confronted the insurgents near _Prestonpans_
and the night was passed in the field: the FOURTEENTH dragoons,
commanded by Lieut.-Colonel William Wright, furnished videttes
and patrols on the flanks of the army. Before day-break, on the
following morning, a chosen band of Highlanders advanced through
the thick atmosphere, and attacked the right of the King's troops;
their sudden advance in the dark, their superior numbers, and
peculiar mode of fighting, struck with consternation the few men
who guarded the artillery, and who faced about and fled. The
dragoons advanced to charge the Highlanders; but seeing the very
superior numbers of their opponents, and being discouraged by the
loss of their artillery, they made only a feeble effort to stem
the torrent of battle, and afterwards retired from the field.
Several officers, and a few private soldiers, however, behaved with
great gallantry, and among others, Major RICHARD BOWLES, of the
FOURTEENTH dragoons, particularly distinguished himself; the few
troopers, who rallied round him, had been cut down, and his own
horse killed; but he continued to fight on foot; he was surrounded,
and had received eleven wounds, when a rebel leader interposed and
saved his life. When once troops are put into confusion, and are
afterwards closely pressed by the enemy, no reserves being at hand
for them to rally upon, the difficulty of restoring order becomes
particularly great, and, in this instance, the loss of the battle
was the result. The FOURTEENTH dragoons withdrew from the field,
and afterwards marched to Berwick.
The regiment subsequently joined the army assembled under
Field-Marshal Wade at Newcastle; when the rebels penetrated into
Derbyshire, it was employed in covering Yorkshire; and when the
young Pretender made a precipitate retreat to Scotland, the
FOURTEENTH dragoons marched to Edinburgh, where a few regiments
were assembled under Lieut.-General Hawley.
[Sidenote: 1746]
On their return to Scotland, the rebels besieged Stirling Castle;
and Lieut.-General Hawley put the King's troops in motion to raise
the siege. The FOURTEENTH dragoons left Edinburgh on the 13th of
January, 1746; they took part in driving a body of rebels out of
Linlithgow, and were subsequently encamped near _Falkirk_.
On the 17th of January, as the soldiers were at dinner in the camp,
the approach of the rebel army was descried, and the troops moved
towards some high grounds on Falkirk-moor, where the insurgent
bands were formed. The action was commenced by a charge of the
cavalry; the enemy's first line was broken, and some execution
done; but the second line of insurgents repulsed the dragoons. The
infantry was, soon afterwards, brought into the fight; but a heavy
storm of wind and rain beat so violently in the soldiers' faces, as
nearly to blind them, and the wet prevented their muskets giving
fire. Several regiments retired in some disorder; others maintained
their ground and repulsed the Highlanders, and after dark the whole
withdrew to Linlithgow and afterwards to Edinburgh.
The Duke of Cumberland subsequently took the command of the troops
in Scotland, and advanced towards Stirling; when the rebels made a
precipitate retreat. His Royal Highness pursued; but the FOURTEENTH
dragoons were left behind, and were directed to patrol along the
roads leading westward from Edinburgh, to prevent the rebels
obtaining intelligence. At length the Highlanders were overpowered
in the field of Culloden, and the rebellion was suppressed.
[Sidenote: 1747]
In 1747 the regiment returned to Ireland, and was stationed in that
country during the succeeding forty-eight years.
[Sidenote: 1749]
Lieut.-General Hamilton died on the 8th of July, 1749, and King
George II. conferred the colonelcy of the FOURTEENTH dragoons on
Lieut.-General James, Lord Tyrawley, from the tenth regiment of
Foot.
[Sidenote: 1751]
The following description of the clothing and guidons of the
regiment is taken from the Royal Warrant, dated the 1st of July,
1751.
COATS,--scarlet; double-breasted, without lappels; lined with
_lemon colour_; slit sleeves turned up with lemon colour; the
button-holes worked with narrow white lace; the buttons of white
metal, set on three and three; a long slash pocket in each skirt;
and a white worsted aiguillette on the right shoulder.
WAISTCOATS AND BREECHES,--lemon colour.
HATS,--bound with silver lace, and ornamented with a white loop and
a black cockade. Red forage cap turned up with lemon colour, and
XIV. D. on the flap.
BOOTS,--of jacked leather, reaching to the knee.
CLOAKS,--Scarlet, with a lemon-coloured cape; the buttons set on
three and three, upon white frogs or loops, with a red and green
stripe down the centre.
HORSE FURNITURE,--of lemon-coloured cloth; the holster caps and
housings having a border of white lace, with a red and green stripe
down the centre; XIV. D. embroidered upon a red ground, within a
wreath of roses and thistles, on the housing; and upon the holster
caps G.R., with the crown over it, and XIV. D. underneath.
OFFICERS,--distinguished by silver lace and embroidery; and a
crimson silk sash worn across the left shoulder.
QUARTER MASTERS,--to wear a crimson sash round their waists.
SERJEANTS,--to have narrow silver lace on the cuffs, pockets, and
shoulder-straps; silver aiguillettes; and green, red, and white
worsted sashes tied round their waists.
DRUMMERS AND HAUTBOYS,--clothed in lemon-coloured coats, lined and
faced with scarlet, and ornamented with white lace, having a red
and green stripe down the centre: red waistcoats and breeches.
GUIDONS,--the first, or King's guidon, to be of crimson silk,
with a silver and red fringe; in the centre, the rose and thistle
conjoined, and crown over them, with the motto _Dieu et mon
droit_ underneath; the white horse in a compartment in the first
and fourth corners; and XIV. D., in silver characters, on a
lemon ground, in a compartment in the second and third corners:
the second and third guidons to be of lemon-coloured silk; in
the centre XIV. D. on a red ground within a wreath of roses and
thistles on the same stalk; the white horse, on a red ground,
in the first and fourth compartments; and the rose and thistle
conjoined, on a red ground, in the second and third compartments;
the third colour to have a figure 3, on a circular red ground,
under the wreath.
[Sidenote: 1752]
Lieut.-General Lord Tyrawley commanded the regiment two years,
and was removed, in July, 1752, to the third dragoons, and was
succeeded by Colonel Lewis Dejean, whose regiment of foot had been
disbanded at the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748-9.
[Sidenote: 1756]
[Sidenote: 1757]
Colonel Dejean was promoted to the rank of major-general in 1756,
and in 1757 he was removed to the third Irish Horse, now sixth
dragoon guards; and His Majesty conferred the colonelcy of the
FOURTEENTH dragoons on Colonel John Campbell, from the fifty-fourth
regiment.
[Sidenote: 1759]
[Sidenote: 1761]
[Sidenote: 1765]
The rank of major-general was conferred on Colonel Campbell in
1759; in 1761 his uncle, Archibald, third Duke of Argyle, died,
when his father, General John Campbell of the Scots Greys,
succeeded to that title, and Major-General Campbell of the
FOURTEENTH Dragoons obtained the designation of MARQUIS OF LORNE:
he was removed to the first, the royal regiment of foot, in 1765,
and was succeeded in the command of the FOURTEENTH dragoons, by
Colonel Charles Fitzroy, (afterwards Lord Southampton) whose
regiment of foot had been disbanded at the peace of Fontainbleau in
1763.
[Sidenote: 1768]
On the 19th December, 1768, a warrant was issued, by authority of
King George III., for regulating the standards, guidons, clothing,
&c., of the regiments of cavalry, in which it was directed,
that the uniform of the FOURTEENTH dragoons should be red, with
_lemon-coloured_ facings, without lappels, with silver lace; the
uniform, &c., being the same as prescribed by the Royal Warrant of
the 1st July, 1751.
[Sidenote: 1772]
Colonel Fitzroy was promoted to the rank of major-general
and removed to the third dragoons, in 1772, when King George
III. conferred the colonelcy of the FOURTEENTH dragoons on
Lieut.-General Daniel Webb, from the eighth foot.
[Sidenote: 1773]
Lieut.-General Webb died in 1773, and was succeeded by Colonel
George Warde, from the lieut.-colonelcy of the fourth dragoons.
[Sidenote: 1775]
[Sidenote: 1776]
[Sidenote: 1777]
Hostilities between Great Britain and her North American Colonies
commenced in 1775, and the rugged valleys and trackless forests
which became the theatre of this war, were not adapted for the
operations of heavy dragoons. The necessity of having a greater
proportion of light cavalry had become apparent, and in 1776, the
FOURTEENTH, which were then in Ireland, were constituted a corps of
LIGHT DRAGOONS. The standard height for men and horses was reduced;
the cocked hats were replaced by helmets; arms and appointments of
a lighter description were adopted, and in the annual army list for
1777, the regiment was designated, "THE FOURTEENTH LIGHT DRAGOONS."
[Sidenote: 1778]
In 1778, Major-General Warde was removed to the first Irish horse,
now fourth dragoon guards, and was succeeded in the colonelcy of
the FOURTEENTH light dragoons, by Major-General Robert Sloper.
[Sidenote: 1784]
In 1784 the clothing of the light dragoon regiments was changed
from scarlet to _dark blue_; and the following orders were issued
on this subject, dated--
_Adjutant General's Office,
Dublin, 18th May, 1784._
'His Majesty's pleasure having been signified to the Lord
Lieutenant, that the clothing of the light dragoon regiments shall
hereafter be made in conformity to the following regulations, it
is the Commander-in-Chief's order that the said regulations be
observed accordingly.'
_Regulations for the Clothing of the Light Dragoons._
The clothing of a private light dragoon is to consist of a jacket,
shell, under-waistcoat, and leather breeches.
The jacket and shell to be of _blue_ cloth; the collars and cuffs
of the royal regiments to be red, and those of the other regiments
to be of the colour of the facing of the regiment; looped upon the
breast, edged with white cord, and to be lined with white, the 11th
and 13th regiments excepted, which are to be lined with _buff_. The
under waistcoat to be of flannel with sleeves, and made so as to be
buttoned within the waistband of the breeches.
The breeches to be of buckskin.
N.B. The make of the dress and method of placing the cord upon
the breast of the jacket, to be exactly conformable to the pattern
approved by His Majesty.
_Officers and Quarter Masters._--The dress-uniform of the officers
and quarter-masters of the light dragoons to be made according to
the King's regulations of the 19th December, 1768, excepting that
the coats are to be _blue_ and faced with the same colour as the
private men, and that the _Royal_ regiments are to be faced with
_scarlet_.
_Field Uniform of the Officers and Quarter Masters._--The jacket
and shell to be made up in the same manner as those of the men,
excepting that the shell is to have sleeves, and that the looping
is to be made of _silver_, the 13th regiment excepted, which is to
be of _gold_.
_Serjeants._--The serjeants of the light dragoons to be
distinguished by gold or silver looping.
_Corporals._--The corporals of the light dragoons to be
distinguished by a gold or silver cord, round the collar and cuffs.
_Trumpeters._--The trumpeters to have a jacket and shell, the
colour and facing of the regiment, with lace, instead of looping,
in front and down the seams.
N.B. A pattern suit may be seen at the Commander-in-Chiefs office
at the Royal Hospital.
(Signed) H. PIGOT,
_Adjutant General_.
The foregoing orders were sent to the officers commanding the 8th,
12th, 13th, 14th, 17th, and 18th light dragoons; to the Earl of
Drogheda; to the major of brigade for the general officers; and to
the agents, Messrs. Montgomery, Wybrants, and Cane.
[Sidenote: 1791]
[Sidenote: 1793]
The regiment remained in Ireland performing the usual duties of a
cavalry corps on home service, until the events attendant on the
French revolution occasioned it to be employed in continental and
colonial warfare. When this revolution assumed its wild and violent
character, the spirit of republicanism soon extended to the French
West India Islands. The resolution to grant the immediate freedom
of the slaves, for which they were unprepared, was followed, in
1791, by acts of outrage and spoliation committed by the blacks
against the properties of their owners. In 1793 the planters of St.
Domingo obtained British aid; and the revolutionists afterwards
received assistance from France.
[Sidenote: 1794]
[Sidenote: 1795]
In the same year, a British army appeared in Flanders under the
Duke of York, to arrest the progress of the French aggressions on
the continent; and in 1794, two troops of the FOURTEENTH light
dragoons were withdrawn from Ireland to engage in the contest. On
their arrival in Flanders, the two troops of the regiment were
attached to the eighth light dragoons; and they formed part of the
van of the forces under Lieut.-General the Earl of Moira, on the
march from Ostend to join the army under His Royal Highness the
Duke of York. The squadron of the FOURTEENTH also shared in the
toils and hardships of the winter campaign in Holland; it took part
in several skirmishes with the enemy, and after enduring great
privation and suffering from an unusually severe season, which
occasioned the loss of several men and horses, it arrived in the
early part of 1795, in Germany, where it was incorporated in the
eighth regiment of light dragoons.
The contest in the West Indies had, in the meantime, been carried
on with varied success, and the seven troops of the FOURTEENTH
light dragoons in Ireland were ordered to give up their horses to
the twenty-fourth light dragoons at Clonmel, and to embark for
the West Indies dismounted. This transfer took place under the
direction of Major-General Egerton, who bore testimony to the
alacrity with which the officers and men prepared for embarkation.
The regiment embarked on the 25th of February, 1795, under the
command of Lieut.-Colonel Arthur Carter; on arriving at _St.
Domingo_, it was furnished with such horses as could be procured,
and it was soon engaged in active operations against the bands of
armed negroes and mulattoes who had enrolled themselves under the
banners of the French republic.
[Sidenote: 1796]
[Sidenote: 1797]
During the years 1796 and 1797, numerous actions occurred; but
against a hundred thousand trained blacks who had been instructed
in European discipline, the few British troops on the island
were unable to do more than exhibit many brilliant examples of
discipline and valour. In an enterprise against the post of
_Mirebalais_ in the beginning of June, 1797, a detachment of
the FOURTEENTH, Eighteenth, and Twenty-first light dragoons,
commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Carter of the FOURTEENTH, distinguished
themselves. They drove twelve hundred of the enemy with three
pieces of cannon from a strong position, captured two guns, and
chased a number of opponents into the river Artibonite, capturing
their ammunition, mules, &c. The conduct of Lieut.-Colonel Carter,
and of the dragoons under his orders, was commended in the public
despatches. The climate of St. Domingo was, however, so very
injurious to the health of European soldiers, that the regiment
was soon reduced to a skeleton. The few surviving men who were fit
for service, were permitted to volunteer into other corps, and the
remainder, twenty-five in number, embarked for England, where they
arrived in the month of October, and were stationed at Chelmsford.
On the 1st of June, 1797, General Sir Robert Sloper. K.B., was
removed to the fourth dragoons, and the colonelcy of the FOURTEENTH
was conferred on Major-General John William Egerton, afterwards
Earl of Bridgewater, from first lieut.-colonel of the seventh
light dragoons. This officer being on the staff when the few men
of the regiment arrived from St. Domingo, he was employed in
superintending the recruiting and remounting of his corps, and in
a short time he had the satisfaction of seeing it a fine body of
light cavalry mustering six hundred mounted men, who were divided
into eight troops.
[Sidenote: 1798]
In August, 1798, King George III. was graciously pleased to approve
of the regiment being styled "the FOURTEENTH, or the DUCHESS OF
YORK'S OWN Regiment of Light Dragoons," in honour of Frederica
Charlotte Ulrica Catherina, Princess Royal of Prussia, who was
married to His Royal Highness the Duke of York in 1791; at the same
time the Royal authority was given for the FOURTEENTH to assume
the "PRUSSIAN EAGLE" as a regimental badge, and the colour of the
facing of the regiment was changed from lemon-yellow to _orange_.
[Sidenote: 1800]
[Sidenote: 1802]
The establishment was augmented to ten troops, of ninety rank
and file each, in 1800; but at the peace of Amiens, in 1802, a
reduction of two troops took place.
[Illustration: GUIDON OF THE FOURTEENTH, OR THE DUCHESS OF YORK'S
OWN LIGHT DRAGOONS, M DCC XCVIII.
[_To face page 18._
]
[Sidenote: 1803]
[Sidenote: 1804]
[Sidenote: 1807]
Hostilities were resumed in 1803, and in 1804 the regiment was
again augmented to ten troops of ninety rank and file each, for
which a supply of new carbines and pistols was received in 1807,
from the ordnance stores.
[Sidenote: 1808]
The French Emperor, Napoleon Buonaparte, having attempted to reduce
Spain and Portugal to subjection to his power, a British army
proceeded to Portugal to aid the inhabitants in their struggles
for freedom. Portugal had been delivered, and the army under
Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore was advancing into Spain, when
the FOURTEENTH (the DUCHESS OF YORK'S OWN) regiment of light
dragoons, was ordered to embark for the Peninsula. The regiment
marched to Falmouth, where it was put on board of transports, and
arrived at Lisbon on the 23rd of December under the command of
Colonel Samuel Hawker.
[Sidenote: 1809]
The return to England of the troops which had served under
Lieut.-General Sir John Moore, whose career of honour was
terminated at the battle of Corunna, left only a small British
force in the Peninsula, and these troops were quartered near
Lisbon, from whence the FOURTEENTH light dragoons advanced in
the early part of 1809, to Bucellas, an out-post of the army.
In April the regiment formed the advance-guard on the march of
the army to Coimbra, and in the beginning of May it was united
in brigade with the sixteenth and twentieth light dragoons under
Major-General Cotton, and was reviewed on the plains of Coimbra by
Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Wellesley. The French troops under
Marshals Soult and Victor had, in the meantime, invaded Portugal,
and Marshal Soult had captured Oporto.
To expel the French from _Oporto_, was the first service undertaken
by the British commander; on this occasion two squadrons of the
FOURTEENTH, under Lieut.-Colonel Neil Talbot, were detached
with the Portuguese troops under Marshal Beresford to intercept
the French, if they should attempt to retreat by Amarante; the
remaining three squadrons under Colonel Hawker advanced direct
upon Oporto, and being employed, with the other cavalry on the
advance-piquets, they took part in the rencounters with the enemy
on the 10th and 11th of May. Arriving on the 12th of May, on the
banks of the Douro near Oporto, unperceived by the French, the
English general resolved to pass the river, when two squadrons
of the FOURTEENTH were detached, with the German brigade and two
guns under Major-General John Murray, three miles up the river,
to Barca de Avintas, where they effected a passage in boats. In
the meantime a portion of the army had passed nearer the city, and
was engaged in a fierce action with the enemy, when the FOURTEENTH
light dragoons and the Germans were seen advancing down the
right bank of the river. The French made a precipitate retreat.
The leading squadron of the FOURTEENTH, commanded by Major F.
B. Hervey, and gallantly supported by the second squadron under
Major the Honourable Charles Butler, dashed sword in hand upon the
enemy's rear-guard and overthrew it, as it was pushing through a
narrow road to gain an open space beyond the defile. Some execution
was done, the French General, Laborde, was unhorsed, and General
Foy was wounded; but no other troops advancing to support the
FOURTEENTH, the gallant dragoons had to fight their way back, and
had several men and horses killed and wounded. Major F. B. Hervey
lost his right arm; Captain Peter Hawker, Lieutenants Robert Knipe,
and Evelyn P. Dormer, were wounded.
The conduct of the FOURTEENTH was commended in Sir Arthur
Wellesley's public despatch, and also in general orders. They had
marched eighty miles in four days over the most difficult country,
and they were employed in pursuing, along a mountainous region, the
discomfited French troops, whose line of retreat could be traced by
the smoke of burning houses. Having followed the enemy as far as
Ginjo, the FOURTEENTH light dragoons halted, and afterwards moved
towards Abrantes, where the army was concentrated for operations on
the Tagus.
From Abrantes the army advanced into Spain, and a body of French
troops under Marshal Victor retreated from Talavera de la Reyna.
The Spaniards under General Cuesta pursued with avidity; but the
French were reinforced, and they drove the Spaniards back upon
_Talavera_, where the allied army formed in order of battle;
the FOURTEENTH light dragoons being posted in the rear of
Brigadier-General Alexander Campbell's division.
When the army went into position, Major-General Mackenzie was
left with a division of infantry and a brigade of cavalry, as an
advanced post, in the wood on the right of the Alberche, which
covered the left flank. The French attacked this post between two
and three o'clock on the 27th of July, when the FOURTEENTH light
dragoons were ordered forward, and they crossed the Alberche
river, and sent out a line of skirmishers to cover the retrograde
movements of the infantry. The regiment was employed in skirmishing
until night, and had nine horses killed; Lieutenant Theophilus
Thomas Ellis, and one private soldier wounded.
The FOURTEENTH light dragoons resumed their post in the position
occupied by the allied army, and supported the infantry during the
severe contest on the 28th of July. The left of the British line
was attacked at day-break, and when the enemy was repulsed at
this point, a long pause ensued. An attack on the centre was made
soon after two o'clock, and the French were again driven back;
they also failed in another attack on the left. A strong body of
the enemy advanced against Major-General Sherbrooke's division;
this attack was repulsed by a charge of the whole division with
bayonets; but the brigade of foot guards pursued so far as to be in
danger of being annihilated; when the forty-eighth regiment, and
the FOURTEENTH and sixteenth light dragoons were brought forward,
and the foot guards rallied and again advanced. This was a moment
of great peril to the allied army; but the steady valour of the
British troops prevailed, and the French fell back.
The FOURTEENTH light dragoons had three men and twenty-one horses
killed; Colonel Samuel Hawker, Captains John Chapman, and Peter
Hawker, Lieutenants William Wainman and Thomas Smith, six rank and
file, and three horses wounded; thirteen horses missing; Lieutenant
Evelyn P. Dormer taken prisoner. Lieutenant-Colonel Neil Talbot,
and Major Baker had each a horse killed under him.
Colonel Hawker was rewarded with a gold medal, and the regiment was
subsequently authorised to bear on its guidons and appointments the
word "TALAVERA", in commemoration of its distinguished services in
this action.[10]