holding the commissions of ensign in Captain Bulwer's independent
company, lieutenant in Captain Davis's independent company, and
captain in the eighty-third regiment, was appointed major in
the Loyal Irish Fencibles, in December, 1794: in March, 1798 he
was removed to the majority of the Fifth Dragoon Guards, and he
served with his regiment in Ireland during the rebellion, which
broke out in the following summer. On the 1st of January, 1800,
he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the army; in
February, 1803, he was appointed lieutenant-colonel, in the Fifth
Dragoon Guards; and on the 25th of July, 1810, he was advanced to
the brevet rank of colonel. He commanded the six troops of the
Fifth Dragoon Guards on foreign service in 1811, and 1812, and
while at the theatre of war he was so conspicuous for a gallant
and chivalrous spirit, with cheerful alacrity in moments of peril
and privation, united with a kind and benevolent disposition, that
he won the affection and esteem of those individuals who had the
happiness of becoming acquainted with him, and he was the favourite
of the troopers of his regiment. At the battle of Salamanca he led
the Fifth Dragoon Guards to the charge with his characteristic
zeal and gallantry; after the fall of Major-General Le Marchant
he was appointed to the command of the heavy brigade, which he
held until the end of the war; and no officer better qualified
for that important trust, or one who possessed the confidence of
the officers and men in a greater degree, could have been found
in the army. He was promoted to the rank of major-general on the
4th of June, 1813; and was afterwards chosen a knight commander of
the honourable military order of the Bath. On the recommencement
of hostilities in 1815, this distinguished officer was placed on
the staff of the army in Belgium, and appointed to the command of
the second cavalry brigade, consisting of the Royal, Scots Greys,
and Inniskilling dragoons, which corps he led to the charge of the
French infantry at the battle of Waterloo with that intrepidity
for which he had always been so eminently distinguished. Having
cut through the first column, he continued his career against
fresh adversaries; while passing through a newly-ploughed field,
which was so soft and miry from recent heavy rain that his charger
sunk deeply in the soil at every step and became exhausted, he
was attacked by a regiment of Polish lancers; being in front of
his brigade, no one was near him except one aide-de-camp, and at
the moment when his horse was unable to extricate itself, a body
of lancers approached him at full speed. His own death he knew
was inevitable; but supposing his aide-de-camp might escape, he
drew from his bosom the picture of his lady, and was in the act of
delivering it and his watch to his attendant, to be conveyed to
his wife and family, when the lancers came up, and they were both
speared on the spot. Thus fell the brave, the ingenuous Ponsonby,
whose death occasioned deep sorrow in the Fifth Dragoon Guards, and
the troopers expressed regret that they were not at Waterloo to
revenge the death of their former commander, who had led them to
battle and to victory. His death is thus alluded to by the Duke of
Wellington in his public despatch. "I have received a report that
Major-General Sir William Ponsonby is killed; and in announcing
this intelligence I have to add the expression of my grief for the
fate of an officer who had already rendered very brilliant and
important services, and was an ornament to his profession."
[14] _Manchester, August 23d, 1820._
Sir,
Although the Fifth Dragoon Guards were only placed at Manchester
as a temporary quarter, I should be wanting in what is due from
me to that distinguished corps, did I withhold from you the
expression of my admiration of it as a regiment, or from the
officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates, my unqualified
approbation of their conduct, and my satisfaction at the readiness
and good-will with which they performed all the duties required of
them whilst under my orders. I request you will do me the honour to
make known these my sentiments to them, with the assurance that it
will be ever gratifying to me to hear of their continued welfare
and prosperity.
I have &c.
JAMES LYON, Major-General.
_Major Irwin, commanding Fifth Dragoon Guards._
SUCCESSION OF COLONELS
OF THE
FIFTH, OR PRINCESS CHARLOTTE OF WALES'S REGIMENT OF DRAGOON GUARDS.
CHARLES EARL OF SHREWSBURY,
_Appointed 29th of July, 1685_.
CHARLES TALBOT succeeded, when in the seventh year of his age, to
the title of EARL OF SHREWSBURY, on the decease of his father who
died on the 16th of March, 1667, of a wound received in a duel with
the Duke of Buckingham. In 1681 he was appointed lord-lieutenant
of the county of Stafford; and having previously devoted much time
to the consideration of the doctrines of Christianity, on the
discovery of the Popish plot he abjured the tenets of the church
of Rome. He, however, continued steadfast in his loyalty even to
a Popish sovereign, and on the breaking out of the rebellion of
the Duke of Monmouth in June, 1685, he raised a troop of horse
for the service of King James II, and in the following month he
was appointed colonel of the regiment which now bears the title
of FIFTH DRAGOON GUARDS. He soon afterwards discovered that the
arbitrary measures of the court were directed to the subversion
of the Protestant religion, of which he was become a determined
supporter; and having resigned his commission and mortgaged his
estate for forty thousand pounds, he proceeded to Holland and made
an offer of his sword and purse to the Prince of Orange, provided
His Highness would attempt to deliver England from the power of the
papists. From this period, until the revolution in 1688, his active
mind was engaged in the glorious and patriotic labour of devising
plans for the good of his native country, and he was one of the
nobles in whom the Prince of Orange placed the greatest confidence,
and by whose advice he was principally guided.
When William and Mary were elevated to the throne, the Earl of
Shrewsbury was sworn of the Privy Council, and appointed principal
Secretary of State; and in April, 1694, he was elected a Knight of
the Most Noble Order of the Garter, and created Marquis of Alton
and DUKE OF SHREWSBURY. After devoting himself to the service of
his king and country in the important office of principal Secretary
of State, for a period of ten years, he sustained a serious injury
in the breast, from an unlucky fall of his horse while hunting,
which rendered him incapable of attending so closely to business
as his office required, and he resigned the seals as Secretary
of State, but was shortly afterwards appointed Lord Chamberlain
of the Household. This office he resigned in 1700, in order to
proceed to a warmer climate, and he resided for a short period at
Montpellier in France. After the decease of the King of Spain and
the accession of the Duke of Anjou to the throne of that kingdom,
he quitted France and proceeded to Geneva, and subsequently crossed
the Alps into Italy. After his return to England he was reappointed
by Queen Anne to the office of Lord Chamberlain, and in 1712 he was
appointed ambassador to the French court to finish the negociations
for peace. In 1713 he was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland;
and in the reign of George I. he was a member of the Privy Council
and Lord Chamberlain of the Household. He was one of the most
accomplished gentlemen of the age in which he lived; was remarkably
handsome in person, had an admirable address, was just in his
dealings, and distinguished for gallantry among the ladies; but was
studious and reserved as a public character. He died at Isleworth
on the 1st of February, 1718.
MARMADUKE LORD LANGDALE,
_Appointed 22d January, 1687_.
This nobleman was the son of Sir Marmaduke Langdale of Holme, in
Spaldingmore, Yorkshire, who, when the rebellion broke out in the
reign of Charles I., raised at his own charge three companies of
foot and a troop of horse for the king's service, with which force
he defeated a party of Scots at Corbridge in Northumberland. Having
been appointed to the command of a body of troops sent by the King
from Oxford into Lincolnshire, he defeated Colonel Rosseter; then
marching against Fairfax, put him to flight and relieved Pontefract
Castle. He subsequently took Berwick-upon-Tweed, and the castle
of Carlisle, but being involved in the defeat of the Duke of
Hamilton, he was taken prisoner at Preston. Having escaped from
confinement he fled to the continent, and in February, 1658, he was
elevated to the peerage by the title of BARON LANGDALE of Holme, in
Spaldingmore, Yorkshire.
MARMADUKE, second LORD LANGDALE, imbibed from his father strict
principles of loyalty and attachment to the crown, and being known
to be a faithful adherent to the house of Stuart, he was considered
a suitable person to be placed at the head of the Seventh Regiment
of Cuirassiers, now Fifth Dragoon Guards, at the critical period
when the proceedings of the court had alarmed the nation, and
commotions were expected to follow; but he was soon afterwards
relieved from that charge by an officer of more experience in
military affairs, and appointed to the important trust of Governor
of Hull. This place he held in the interest of James II. at the
Revolution in 1688; but he was surprised and made prisoner by
Colonel Copeley, and a party of men who had taken arms and declared
for the Prince of Orange. His lordship was not afterwards employed
in any public capacity; and he died in 1703.
RICHARD HAMILTON,
_Appointed 15th February, 1687_.
RICHARD HAMILTON was many years in the service of Louis XIV. of
France, during the period that monarch was permitted, by King
Charles II., to employ an English regiment of horse and one English
and one Scots brigade of foot in his service. While engaged in the
French wars he acquired the character of a gallant and enterprising
officer; and he quitted the service of Louis XIV. when Charles
II. demanded the return of his subjects from France in 1678. On
the breaking out of Monmouth's rebellion he raised a troop of
dragoons for the service of King James II., and was afterwards
appointed colonel of one of the regiments of dragoons embodied at
that period. After the suppression of the rebellion he was sent
with his regiment to Ireland, and being a Papist and an officer of
experience, he assisted Tyrconnel in remodelling the Irish army,
by dismissing the Protestants and replacing them with Papists. His
fame as an officer, and his zeal for his religion, occasioned him
to be placed at the head of the Seventh Regiment of Cuirassiers;
but the remodelling of the English army was not completed when the
Revolution took place, and the Roman Catholic officers and soldiers
were placed in confinement. At this period Earl Tyrconnel had given
out new commissions for levying thirty thousand men in Ireland,
and reports were spread that a general massacre of the Protestants
would take place; Richard Hamilton, though a Papist, was believed
to be a man of honour, and he was known to have great influence
with Tyrconnel, and also with the Irish Papists of all ranks, and
having promised either to induce the Lord Lieutenant to resign the
government, or to return and give an account of the negotiation,
he was released from confinement and sent to Ireland; but on
his arrival at Dublin he violated his engagement, and persuaded
Tyrconnel to hold Ireland in the interest of King James. This
breach of trust was rewarded with the rank of lieutenant-general,
and an important post in the Irish army; but he did not long
enjoy his new honours,--having been wounded and taken prisoner at
the battle of the Boyne. Immediately after he was made prisoner,
he was brought into the presence of King William, who put some
questions to him respecting the Irish army, which he answered in
the affirmative, and added the words _upon my honour_: the King
repeated the words _your honour!_ and turned from him, which was
all the rebuke His Majesty gave him for his faithless conduct. He
remained a prisoner until the termination of the war in Ireland,
when he was exchanged for Lord Mountjoy, and proceeding to France,
he appears to have passed the remainder of his life in that country.
JOHN COY,
_Appointed 31st December, 1688_.
This officer served a short time with the French army in the reign
of Louis XIV., and afterwards commanded a troop in the Duke of
Monmouth's regiment of horse, which regiment was disbanded in
1678. In 1680 he raised a troop of horse for service at Tangier
in Africa; this fortress being besieged by the forces of the
Emperor of Morocco, he proceeded to that country immediately,
and distinguished himself in action with the Moors. In 1683 his
troop of horse was constituted Royal Dragoons; with which corps he
continued to serve, and was engaged at the battle of Sedgemoor in
1685. In 1686 he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of Shrewsbury's
Cuirassiers: and at the Revolution in 1688 he was promoted to the
Colonelcy of the regiment; with which he served with distinction
in Ireland and Flanders. Having become infirm from age and long
service, he obtained the King's permission to dispose of his
commission, in 1697, to the Earl of Arran; and from this period he
led a retired life until his decease.
CHARLES EARL OF ARRAN,
_Appointed 1st July, 1697_.
This nobleman descended from the illustrious family of Butler, so
renowned in the past ages for the many valiant, and loyal persons
it has produced. He was the second son of Thomas Butler Earl of
Ossory, (a nobleman distinguished for deeds of valour, loyalty to
his sovereign, and the mild and social virtues which rendered him
an ornament to society,) and grandson of the celebrated James,
_first_ Duke of Ormond. Having served under King William III. in
Ireland and Flanders, where he evinced the same martial spirit and
private virtues which had adorned his ancestors, he was elevated to
the peerage of Ireland in January, 1693, by the titles of Baron of
Cloghgrenan in the Queen's county, Viscount of Tullo in the county
of Cutherlough, and EARL OF the islands of ARRAN in the county of
Galway; he was also, at the same time, created an English peer by
the title of Lord Butler, of Weston, in the county of Huntingdon.
On the 16th of February, 1694, he was promoted to the colonelcy of
a newly raised regiment of horse (which was disbanded at the peace
of Ryswick), and in the summer of 1697 he purchased the colonelcy
of the SIXTH HORSE, now Fifth Dragoon Guards. In March, 1703, he
was promoted to the colonelcy of the Third Troop of Life Guards,
which gave him the privilege of taking the court duty of gold stick
in waiting to Queen Anne; in 1712 Her Majesty constituted him
Master-General of the Ordnance in Ireland; and in the following
year appointed him Governor of Dover Castle, and Deputy Warden of
the Cinque Ports. Soon after the accession of King George I. his
Lordship was elected Chancellor of the University of Oxford. After
the impeachment of his brother, James, second Duke of Ormond, for
high treason, the Earl of Arran quitted the army. In February,
1716, he was constituted Lord High Steward of Westminster: and in
1721 he was permitted, by an Act of Parliament, to purchase his
brother's forfeited estates. He died on the 17th of December, 1758,
at the advanced age of eighty-eight years.
WILLIAM CADOGAN,
_Appointed 2d March, 1703_.
WILLIAM CADOGAN descended from a family of great honour and
antiquity in Wales; and having embraced the profession of arms,
he distinguished himself under King William III. in Ireland and
Flanders, and was appointed major of the Inniskilling Dragoons.
On the breaking out of hostilities in 1701, his great merit and
abilities, which had become conspicuous in the preceding war,
occasioned him to be promoted to the rank of colonel in the
army, and appointed (1st June, 1701) quartermaster-general of
the troops sent to Holland. He eminently distinguished himself
under the great Duke of Marlborough, whose confidence and esteem
he possessed in a high degree, and was promoted, in 1703, from
the Inniskilling Dragoons to the colonelcy of the SIXTH HORSE.
Advancing with the army into Germany he signalized himself at the
battle of Schellenberg, on the 2d of July, 1704, where he had
several shots through his clothes, and was wounded in the thigh.
At the battle of Blenheim he evinced that undaunted bravery and
greatness of soul with which he was signally endowed, and was
promoted immediately afterwards to the rank of brigadier-general.
In the following year he again signalized himself at the forcing
of the French lines, where his regiment defeated the Bavarian
Guards and took four standards; and in the memorable battle of
Ramilies, fought on the 23d of May, 1706, he acquired new honour,
and was despatched shortly after the action with a body of troops
to summon Antwerp, which fortress surrendered to him in a few days.
On the 16th of August he commanded a body of troops employed in
covering a foraging party near Tournay, and advancing with his
characteristic boldness too near the town, he was surprised by a
party of the enemy and made prisoner; he was, however, released on
his parole three days afterwards, and was subsequently exchanged
for Baron Palavicini. In January, 1707, he was promoted to the
rank of major-general, and he was afterwards appointed minister
plenipotentiary to the government of the Spanish Netherlands,
in which employment he evinced the most admirable dexterity in
business, and a peculiar aptitude in conducting negotiations. He
commanded the van of the army in the movements which preceded and
led to the battle of Oudenarde in 1708, and on this occasion his
peculiar merits again shone forth; also in the part which he took
in covering the siege of Lisle, in the action at Wynendale, and
in forcing the passage of the Scheldt; and on the 1st of January,
1709, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general. On the
day preceding the battle of Malplaquet he was sent to confer
with the French commander, and when near the enemy's position he
indicated to a colonel of artillery, by dropping his glove, the
spot where a battery was to be placed on the following morning,
which proved of great importance. During the siege of Mons he
went voluntarily into the trenches to encourage the soldiers in
the attack of a ravelin, when his aide-de-camp was killed at his
side, and he was dangerously wounded in the neck. Every additional
campaign added new lustre to his rising reputation, and in that
sublime display of military talent by which the French lines were
forced in the summer of 1711, and Bouchain captured, he performed
a distinguished part, as detailed in the Historical Record of the
Fifth Dragoon Guards. When political events occasioned the removal
of the Duke of Marlborough from all his appointments dependent on
the crown, Lieutenant-General Cadogan, who had shared with this
illustrious commander in his toils, dangers, and triumphs, and
who, like him, was stedfast in his devotion to the Protestant
interest, and to the succession of the house of Hanover, was
removed from his appointments of quartermaster-general and governor
of the Tower, and called upon to dispose of his regiment for
three thousand pounds to General Kellum. He was soon afterwards
gratified by witnessing the accession of King George I., by whom
he was appointed Colonel of the Second Foot Guards, Master of the
Robes, and envoy extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the States
General of Holland, in which capacity he conducted negotiations
of great importance, and displayed those gifts of nature with
which his mind was adorned; and while thus employed he was
appointed Governor of the Isle of Wight. On the breaking out of
the rebellion of the Earl of Mar, he changed the labours of the
cabinet for those of the field, and in the depth of winter, in the
midst of the most piercing frosts and snow, he evinced unshaken
perseverance in extinguishing the flame of rebellion in Scotland,
and was made a Knight of the most ancient order of the Thistle.
On the 30th of June, 1716, he was elevated to the peerage by the
title of LORD CADOGAN, Baron of Reading. In the autumn of the
same year he was again sent as plenipotentiary to the States of
Holland; on his return in 1717 he was sworn of the Privy Council,
and afterwards promoted to the rank of general; and in May,
1718, he was created Baron of Oakley, Viscount of Caversham, and
EARL CADOGAN. He was subsequently employed in negotiations of an
important character with the house of Austria, Court of Spain, and
States of Holland; and on the decease of the Duke of Marlborough
in 1722, he was appointed General Commanding-in-Chief of the army.
This distinguished nobleman died on the 17th of July, 1726, and was
buried in Westminster Abbey.
GEORGE KELLUM,
_Appointed 22d December, 1712_.
GEORGE KELLUM obtained the commission of cornet in the Earl of
Shrewsbury's regiment of horse, now Fifth Dragoon Guards, when
that corps was embodied in 1685, and he served in Ireland and the
Netherlands, under King William III. Having been promoted to the
lieutenant-colonelcy, he commanded the regiment in the wars of
Queen Anne, and was promoted to the rank of colonel in the army in
1703. In the following year he distinguished himself at the battle
of Schellenberg, and led the regiment to the charge with signal
gallantry at the glorious battle of Blenheim. At the forcing of
the French lines in 1705, he acquired additional laurels; and at
the memorable battle of Ramilies, the squadrons under his orders
were again victorious. In 1707 he was promoted to the rank of
brigadier-general; in 1708 he commanded a brigade at the battle
of Oudenarde; and in 1709 at that of Malplaquet; in 1710 he was
promoted to the rank of major-general; and in 1712 to that of
lieutenant-general; and in the same year he purchased the colonelcy
of the regiment in which he had served so many years: he was,
however, removed in 1717, and died on the 27th of December, 1732.
ROBERT NAPIER,
_Appointed 27th May, 1717_.
This officer was appointed cornet in the SIXTH HORSE, now FIFTH
DRAGOON GUARDS, in January, 1692, and served with the regiment
in the Netherlands until the peace of Ryswick. In 1702 he was
promoted to the majority, and while serving with his regiment in
Germany he was severely wounded at the battle of Schellenberg. In
1705 he was with his regiment at the forcing of the French lines,
and in 1706 he was at Ramilies, and was promoted to the rank of
colonel in the army a few days after the battle. He continued to
serve at the theatre of war; was appointed brigadier-general in
1711; and obtained the colonelcy of the regiment in 1717. He was
promoted to the rank of major-general in 1727; and to that of
lieutenant-general in 1735: and died on the 10th of November, 1739.
CLEMENT NEVILLE,
_Appointed 6th May, 1740_.
CLEMENT NEVILLE entered the army at the Revolution; his first
commission being dated the 6th of December, 1688, and after serving
with distinction in the wars of King William and Queen Anne, he
was promoted to the rank of colonel in the army at the close of
the campaign of 1711. On the 9th of April, 1720, King George I.
conferred on him the colonelcy of the Fourteenth Dragoons, from
which he was removed in 1737 to the Eighth Dragoons, and in 1739
he was promoted to the rank of major-general. The colonelcy of the
SIXTH HORSE was conferred on this veteran in the following year; he
was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general in 1743; and he died
in August, 1744.
RICHARD VISCOUNT COBHAM,
_Appointed 5th August, 1744_.
SIR RICHARD TEMPLE served under King William in the Netherlands,
and on the breaking out of the war of the Spanish succession, he
was promoted to the colonelcy of a newly-raised regiment of foot,
which was disbanded at the peace of Utrecht. He served under
the great Duke of Marlborough, and was conspicuous for a noble
bearing, a greatness of soul, and a contempt of danger, which he
exhibited in a signal manner at the sieges of Venloo and Ruremonde,
at the battle of Oudenarde, and at the siege of the important
fortress of Lisle. In January, 1709, he was promoted to the rank
of major-general, and his conduct at the siege of Tournay, the
sanguinary battle of Malplaquet, and siege of Mons, was rewarded,
in the following year, with the rank of lieutenant-general and
the colonelcy of the Fourth Dragoons. He served under the Duke
of Marlborough in 1711, and had the honour of taking part in the
forcing of the French lines at Arleux, and the capture of the
strong fortress of Bouchain. After the change in the ministry and
the adoption of a new system of policy by the court, the well-known
attachment of this officer to the Protestant succession, occasioned
him to be removed from his regiment; but on the accession of King
George I. he was elevated to the peerage by the title of BARON OF
COBHAM, and in 1715 he was appointed Colonel of the Royal Dragoons.
In 1717 he was appointed Governor of Windsor Castle; in 1718 he
was advanced to the dignity of VISCOUNT COBHAM; and in 1721 he was
removed to the King's Horse, now First Dragoon Guards. He was also
one of the Privy Council, and Governor of the island of Jersey; but
resigned his appointments in 1733. On the change of the ministry in
1742 he was promoted to the rank of field-marshal, and in December
of the same year King George II. conferred upon him the colonelcy
of the First troop of Horse Grenadier Guards. In 1744 he was
removed to the SIXTH HORSE, and in 1745 to the Tenth Dragoons, the
colonelcy of which corps he retained until his decease in 1749.
THOMAS WENTWORTH,
_Appointed 20th June, 1745_.
THOMAS WENTWORTH was appointed to a commission in the army on the
10th of March, 1704, and served several campaigns in the wars
of Queen Anne. In December, 1722, he was promoted to the rank
of colonel in the army, and in 1732 he was appointed colonel of
the Thirty-ninth Foot, from which he was removed in June, 1737,
to the Twenty-fourth Foot. Two years afterwards he was appointed
brigadier-general; in 1741 he was promoted to the rank of
major-general; and in 1745 he was appointed to the colonelcy of
the SIXTH HORSE, which corps became the SECOND IRISH HORSE in the
following year. He served the crown in a diplomatic as well as a
military capacity, and died at the court of Turin in November, 1747.
THOMAS BLIGH,
_Appointed 22d December, 1747_.
This officer entered the army in the reign of King George I.;
rose to the rank of Lieutenant-colonel of the SIXTH HORSE, and in
December, 1740 he was appointed Colonel of the Twentieth Regiment
of Foot. On the 27th of May, 1745, he was promoted to the rank
of brigadier-general; was removed to the Twelfth Dragoons in the
following year, and promoted to the rank of major-general in
1747. He was removed to the colonelcy of the SECOND IRISH HORSE
in December of the same year; and was promoted to the rank of
lieutenant-general in 1754.