THE MAKING OF THE 17TH LIGHT DRAGOONS
[Sidenote: 1760]
Details of the regiment’s stay at Coventry are wanting, the only
discoverable fact being that, in obedience to orders from headquarters,
it was carefully moved out of the town for three days in August during
the race-meeting. But as these first six months must have been devoted
to the making of the raw recruits into soldiers, we may endeavour, with
what scanty material we can command, to form some idea of the process.
First, we must premise that with the last order for the augmentation of
establishment was issued a warrant for the supply of the regiment with
bayonets, which at that time formed an essential part of a dragoon’s
equipment. Swords, it may be remarked, were provided, not by the Board
of Ordnance, but by the Colonel. It is worth while to note in passing
how strong the traditions of 1645 still remain in the dragoons. The
junior subaltern is indeed no longer called an ensign, but a cornet;
but the regiment is still ruled by the infantry drum instead of the
cavalry trumpet.
[Illustration:
Farrier. Officer. Trumpeter.
1763.]
Let us therefore begin with the men; and as we have already seen what
manner of men they were, physically considered, let us first note how
they were dressed. Strictly speaking, it was not until 1764 that the
Light Dragoon regiments received their distinct dress regulations;
but the alterations then made were so slight that we may fairly take
the dress of 1764 as the dress of 1760. To begin with, every man was
supplied by the Colonel, by contract, with coat, waistcoat, breeches,
and cloak. The coat, of course, was of scarlet, full and long in
the skirt, but whether lapelled or not before 1763 it is difficult to
say. Lapels meant a good deal in those days; the coats of Horse being
lapelled to the skirt, those of Dragoon Guards lapelled to the waist,
while those of Dragoons were double-breasted and had no lapels at all.
The Light Dragoons being a novelty, it is difficult to say how they
were distinguished in this respect, but probably in 1760 (and certainly
in 1763) their coats were lapelled to the waist with the colour of the
regimental facing, the lapels being three inches broad, with plain
white buttons disposed thereon in pairs.
The waistcoat was of the colour of the regimental facing--white, of
course, for the Seventeenth; and the breeches likewise. The cloaks
were scarlet, with capes of the colour of the facing. In fact, it
may be said once for all that everything white in the uniform of the
Seventeenth owes its hue to the colour of the regimental facing.
Over and above these articles the Light Dragoon received a pair of
high knee-boots, a pair of boot-stockings, a pair of gloves, a comb, a
watering or forage cap, a helmet, and a stable frock. Pleased as the
recruit must have been to find himself in possession of smart clothes,
it must have been a little discouraging for him to learn that his coat,
waistcoat, and breeches were to last him for two, and his helmet,
boots, and cloak for four years. But this was not all. He was required
to supply out of an annual wage of £13: 14: 10 the following articles
at his own expense:--
4 shirts at 6s. 10d. £1 7 4
4 pairs stockings at 2s. 10d. 0 11 4
2 pairs shoes at 6s. 0 12 0
A black stock 0 0 8
Stock-buckle 0 0 6
1 pair leather breeches 1 5 0
1 pair knee-buckles 0 0 8
2 pairs short black gaiters 0 7 4
1 black ball (the old substitute for blacking) 0 1 0
3 shoe-brushes 0 1 3
---------
£4 7 1
=========
Nor was even this all, for we find (though without mention of their
price) that a pair of checked sleeves for every man, and a powder bag
with two puffs for every two men had likewise to be supplied from the
same slender pittance.
Turning next from the man himself to his horse, his arms, and
accoutrements, we discover yet further charges against his purse, thus--
Horse-picker and turnscrew £0 0 2
Worm and oil-bottle 0 0 3½
Goatskin holster tops 0 1 6
Curry-comb and brush 0 2 3
Mane comb and sponge 0 0 8
Horse-cloth 0 4 9
Snaffle watering bridle 0 2 0
-------------
£0 11 7½
=============
Also a pair of saddle-bags, a turn-key, and an awl.
All these various items were paid for, “according to King’s regulation
and custom,” out of the soldier’s “arrears and grass money.” For his
pay was made up of three items--
“Subsistence” (5d. a day nominal) £9 2 0 per annum.
“Arrears” (2d. a day nominal) 3 1 0 „
“Grass money” 1 11 10 „
-----------
£13 14 10 „
===========
We must therefore infer that his “subsistence” could not be stopped for
his “necessaries” (as the various items enumerated above are termed);
but none the less twopence out of the daily stipend was stopped for his
food, while His Majesty the King deducted for his royal use a shilling
in the pound from the pay of every soul in the army. Small wonder that
heavy bounty-money was needed to persuade men to enlist.
What manner of instruction the recruit received on his first appearance
it is a little difficult to state positively, though it is still
possible to form a dim conception thereof. The first thing that he was
taught, apparently, was the manual and firing exercise, of which we are
fortunately able to speak with some confidence. As it contains some
eighty-eight words of command, we may safely infer that by the time a
recruit had mastered it he must have been pretty well disciplined. The
minuteness of the exercise and the extraordinary number of the motions
sufficiently show that it counted for a great deal. “The first motion
of every word of command is to be performed immediately after it is
given; but before you proceed to any of the other motions you must
tell one, two, pretty slow, by making a stop between the words, and in
pronouncing the word _two_, the motion is to be performed.” In
those days the word “smart” was just coming into use, but “brisk” is
the more common substitute. Let us picture the squad of recruits with
their carbines, in their stable frocks, white breeches, and short black
gaiters, and listen to the instructions which the corporal is giving
them:--
“Now on the word _Shut your pans_, let fall the primer and take
hold of the steel with your right hand, placing the thumb in the upper
part, and the two forefingers on the lower. Tell _one, two_, and
shut the pan; tell _one, two_, and seize the carbine behind the
lock with the right hand; then tell _one, two_, and bring your
carbine briskly to the recover. Wait for the word. Shut your--pans,
one--two, one--two, one--two.”
There is no need to go further through the weary iteration of “Join
your right hand to your carbine,” “Poise your carbine,” “Join your
left hand to your carbine,” whereby the recruit learned the difference
between his right hand and his left. Suffice it that the manual and
firing exercise contain the only detailed instruction for the original
Light Dragoon that is now discoverable. “Setting-up” drill there was
apparently none, sword exercise there was none, riding-school, as we
now understand it, there was none, though there was a riding-master.
A “ride” appears to have comprised at most twelve men, who moved in a
circle round the riding-master and received his teaching as best they
could. But it must not be inferred on that account that the men could
not ride; on the contrary the Light Dragoons seem to have particularly
excelled in horsemanship. Passaging, reining back, and other movements
which call for careful training of man and horse, were far more
extensively used for purposes of manœuvre than at present. Moreover,
every man was taught to fire from on horseback, even at the gallop; and
as the Light Dragoons received an extra allowance of ammunition for
ball practice, it is reasonable to conclude that they spent a good deal
of their time at the butts, both mounted and dismounted.
As to the ordinary routine life of the cavalry barrack, it is only
possible to obtain a slight glimpse thereof from scattered notices.
Each troop was divided into three squads with a corporal and a sergeant
at the head of each. Each squad formed a mess; and it is laid down as
the duty of the sergeants and corporals to see that the men “boil the
pot every day and feed wholesome and clean.” The barrack-rooms and
billets must have been pretty well filled, for every scrap of a man’s
equipment, including his saddle and saddle-furniture, was hung up
therein according to the position of his bed. As every bed contained
at least two men, there must have been some tight packing. It is a
relief to find that the men could obtain a clean pair of sheets every
thirty days, provided that they returned the foul pair and paid three
halfpence for the washing.
The fixed hours laid down in the standing orders of the Light Dragoons
of 14th May 1760 are as follows:--
The drum beat for--
_Réveille_ from Ladyday to Michaelmas 5.30 A.M. Rest of year 6.30
Morning stables „ „ 8 A.M. „ 9.0
Evening stables „ „ 4 P.M. „ 3.0
“Rack up” „ „ 8 P.M.
Tattoo[1] „ „ 9 P.M. „ 8.0
If there was an order for a mounted parade the drum beat--
1st drum--“To horse.” The men turned out, under the eye of the
quartermaster and fell in before the stable door in rank entire.
Officers then inspected their troops; and each troop was told
off in three divisions.
2nd drum--“Preparative.” By the Adjutant’s order.
3rd drum--“A flam.” The centre division stood fast; the right
division advanced, and the left division reined back, each two
horses’ lengths.
4th drum--“A flam.” The front and rear divisions passaged to
right and left and covered off, thus forming the troop in three
ranks.
5th drum--“A march.” The quartermasters led the troops to their
proper position in squadron.
6th drum--“A flam.” Officers rode to their posts (troop-leaders
on the flank of their troops), facing their troops.
7th drum--“A flam.” The officers halted, and turned about to
their proper front.
Then the word was given--“Take care” (which meant “Attention”). “Draw
your swords;” and the regiment was thus ready to receive the three
squadron standards, which were escorted on to the ground and posted in
the ranks, in the centre of the three squadrons.
Each squadron was then told off into half-squadrons, into three
divisions, into half-ranks, into fours, and into files. As there are
many people who do not know how to tell off a squadron by fours, it may
be as well to mention how it was done. The men were not numbered off,
but the officer went down each rank, beginning at the right-hand man,
and said to the first, “You are the right-hand man of ranks by fours.”
Then going on to the fourth he said, “You are the left-hand man of
ranks by fours,” and so on. Telling off by files was a simpler affair.
The officer rode down the ranks, pointing to each man, and saying
alternately, “You move,” “You stand,” “You move,” “You stand.” Conceive
what the confusion must have been if the men took it into their heads
to be troublesome. “Beg your honour’s pardon, but you said I was to
stand,” is the kind of speech that must have been heard pretty often in
those days, when field movements went awry.
If the mounted parade went no further, the men marched back to their
quarters in fours, each of the three ranks separately; for in those
days “fours” meant four men of one rank abreast. If field movements
were practised, the system and execution thereof were left to the
Colonel, unhampered by a drill-book. There was, however, a batch of
“evolutions” which were prescribed by regulation, and required of
every regiment when inspected by the King or a general officer. As
these “evolutions” lasted, with some modification, till the end of
the century, and (such is human nature) formed sometimes the only
instruction, besides the manual exercise, that was imparted to the
regiment, it may be as well to give a brief description thereof in
this place. The efficiency of a regiment was judged mainly from its
performance of the evolutions, which were supposed to be a searching
test of horsemanship, drill, and discipline.
First then the squadron was drawn up in three ranks, at open order,
that is to say, with a distance equal to half the front of the squadron
between each rank. Then each rank was told off by half-rank, third of
rank, and fours; which done, the word was given, “Officers take your
posts of exercise,” which signified that the officers were to fall
out to their front, and take post ten paces in rear of the commanding
officer, facing towards the regiment. In other words, the regiment was
required to go through the coming movements without troop or squadron
leaders. Then the caution was given, “Take care to perform your
evolutions,” and the evolutions began.
To avoid tedium an abridgment of the whole performance is given at
some length in the Appendix, and it is sufficient to say here that the
first two evolutions consisted in the doubling of the depth of the
column. The left half-ranks reined back and passaged to the right until
they covered the right half-ranks; and the original formation having
been restored by more passaging, the right half-ranks did likewise.
The next evolution was the conversion of three ranks into two, which
was effected by the simple process of wheeling the rear rank into
column of two ranks, and bringing it up to the flank of the front and
centre ranks. Then came further variations of wheeling, and wheeling
about by half-ranks, thirds of ranks, and fours; each movement being
executed of course to the halt on a fixed pivot, so that through all
these intricate manœuvres the regiment practically never moved off
its ground. No doubt when performed, as in smart regiments they were
performed, like clockwork, these evolutions were very pretty--and of
course, like all drill, they had a disciplinary as well as an æsthetic
value; but it must be confessed that they left a blight upon the
British cavalry for more than a century. It is only within the last
twenty years that the influence of these evolutions, themselves a
survival from the days of Alexander the Great, has been wholly purged
from our cavalry drill-books.
Meanwhile at this time (and for full forty years after for that matter)
an immense deal of time was given up to dismounted drill; for the
dragoons had not yet lost their character of mounted infantry. To
dismount a squadron, the even numbers (as we should now say) reined
back and passaged to the right; and the horses were then linked with
“linking reins” carried for the purpose, and left in charge of the two
flank men, while the rest on receiving the word, “Squadrons have a care
to march forward,” formed up in front, infantry wise, and were called
for the time a battalion. This dismounted drill formed as important a
feature of an inspection as the work done on horseback. Probably the
survival of the march past the inspecting officer on foot may be traced
to the traditions of those days.
If it be asked how time was found for so much dismounted work, the
explanation is simple. From the 1st of May to the 1st October the troop
horses were turned out to grass, and committed to the keeping of a
“grass guard”--having, most probably, first gone through a course of
bleeding at the hands of the farriers. It appears to have mattered but
little how far distant the grass might be from the men’s quarters; for
we find that if it lay six or eight miles away, the “grass guard” was
to consist of a corporal and six men, while if it were within a mile or
two, two or three old soldiers were held to be amply sufficient. Men
on “grass guard” were not allowed to take their cloaks with them, but
were provided with special coats, whereof three or four were kept in
each troop for the purpose. “Grass-time,” it may be added, was not the
busy, but the slack time for cavalrymen in those days--the one season
wherein furloughs were permitted.
The close of the “grass-time” must have been a curious period in the
soldier’s year, with its renewal of the long-abandoned stable work and
probable extra tightening of discipline. On the farriers above all
it must have borne heavily, bringing with it, as we must conclude,
the prospect of reshoeing every horse in the regiment. Moreover, the
penalty paid by a farrier who lamed a horse was brutally simple: his
liquor was stopped till the horse was sound. Nevertheless the farrier
had his consolations, for he received a halfpenny a day for every horse
under his charge, and must therefore have rejoiced to see his troop
stable well filled. The men, probably, in a good regiment, required
less smartening after grass-time than their horses. Light Dragoons
thought a great deal of themselves, and were well looked after even on
furlough. At the bottom of every furlough paper was a note requesting
any officer who might read it to report to the regiment if the bearer
were “unsoldierly in dress or manner.” We gather, from a stray order,
“that soldiers shall wear their hair _under_ their hats,” that
even in those days men were bitten with the still prevailing fashion of
making much of their hair; but we must hope that Hale’s regiment knew
better than to yield to it.
Every man, of course, had a queue of leather or of his own hair, either
hanging at full length, in which case it was a “queue,” or partly
doubled back, when it became a “club.” Which fashion was favoured by
Colonel Hale we are, alas! unable to say,[2] but we gain some knowledge
of the _coiffure_ of the Light Dragoons from the following
standing orders:--
“The Light Dragoon is always to appear clean and dressed in a
soldier-like manner in the streets; his skirts tucked back, a black
stock and black gaiters, but _no powder_. On Sundays the men are
to have white stocks, and be well powdered, but no grease on their
hair.”
Here, therefore, we have a glimpse of the original trooper of the
Seventeenth in his very best: his scarlet coat and white facings neat
and spotless, the skirts tucked back to show the white lining, the
glory of his white waistcoat, and the sheen of his white breeches.
“Russia linen,” _i.e._ white duck, would be probably the material
of these last--Russia linen, “which lasts as long as leather and costs
but half-a-crown,” to quote one of our best authorities. Then below the
white ducks, fitting close to the leg, came a neat pair of black cloth
gaiters running down to dull black shoes, cleaned with “black ball”
according to the regimental recipe. Round on his neck was a spotless
white stock, helping, with the powder on his hair, to heighten the
colour of his round, clean-shaven face. Very attractive he must have
seemed to the girls of Coventry in the spring of 1760. What would we
not give for his portrait by Hogarth as he appeared some fine Sunday in
Coventry streets, with the lady of his choice on his arm, explaining
to her that in the Light Dragoons they put no grease on their heads,
and in proof thereof shaking a shower of powder from his hair on to
her dainty white cap! Probably there were tender leave-takings when
in September the regiment was ordered northward; possibly there are
descendants of these men, not necessarily bearing their names, in
Coventry to this day.