The ancient Armies of England were composed of Horse and Foot; but the feudal troops established by William the Conqueror in 1086, consisted almost entirely of Horse. Under the feudal system, every holder of land amounting to what was termed a "knight's fee," was required to provide a charger, a coat of mail, a helmet, a shield, and a lance, and to serve the Crown a period of forty days in each year at his own expense; and the great landholders had to provide armed men in proportion to the extent of their estates; consequently the ranks of the feudal Cavalry were completed with men of property, and the vassals and tenants of the great barons, who led their dependents to the field in person.
In the succeeding reigns the Cavalry of the Army was composed of Knights (or men at arms) and Hobiliers (or horsemen of inferior degree); and the Infantry of spears and battle-axe men, cross-bowmen, and archers. The Knights wore armour on every part of the body, and their weapons were a lance, a sword, and a small dagger. The Hobiliers were accoutred and armed for the light and less important services of war, and were not considered qualified for a charge in line. Mounted Archers[1] were also introduced, and the English nation eventually became preeminent in the use of the bow.
About the time of Queen Mary the appellation of "Men at Arms" was changed to that of "Spears and Launces." The introduction of fire-arms ultimately occasioned the lance to fall into disuse, and the title of the Horsemen of the first degree was changed to "Cuirassiers." The Cuirassiers were armed cap-à-pié, and their weapons were a sword with a straight narrow blade and sharp point, and a pair of large pistols, called petronels; and the Hobiliers carried carbines. The Infantry carried pikes, matchlocks, and swords. The introduction of fire-arms occasioned the formation of Regiments armed and equipped as infantry, but mounted on small horses for the sake of expedition of movement, and these were styled "Dragoons;" a small portion of the military force of the kingdom, however, consisted of this description of troops.
The formation of the present Army commenced after the Restoration in 1660, with the establishment of regular corps of Horse and Foot; the Horsemen were cuirassiers, but only wore armour on the head and body; and the Foot were pikemen and musketeers. The arms which each description of force carried, are described in the following extract from the "Regulations of King Charles II.," dated 5th May, 1663:—
"Each Horseman to have for his defensive armes, back, breast, and pot; and for his offensive armes, a sword, and a case of pistolls, the barrels whereof are not to be undr. foorteen inches in length; and each Trooper of Our Guards to have a carbine besides the aforesaid armes. And the Foote to have each soldier a sword, and each pikeman a pike of 16 foote long and not undr.; and each musqueteer a musquet with a collar of bandaliers, the barrell of which musquet to be about foor foote long and to conteine a bullet, foorteen of which shall weigh a pound weight[2]."
The ranks of the Troops of Horse were at this period composed of men of some property—generally the sons of substantial yeomen: the young men received as recruits provided their own horses, and they were placed on a rate of pay sufficient to give them a respectable station in society.
On the breaking out of the war with Holland in the spring of 1672, a Regiment of Dragoons was raised[3]; the Dragoons were placed on a lower rate of pay than the Horse, and the Regiment was armed similar to the Infantry, excepting that a limited number of the men carried halberds instead of pikes, and the others muskets and bayonets; and a few men in each troop had pistols; as appears by a warrant dated the 2nd of April, 1672, of which the following is an extract:—
"Charles R.
"Our will and pleasure is, that a Regiment of Dragoones which we have established and ordered to be raised, in twelve Troopes of fourscore in each beside officers, who are to be under the command of Our most deare and most intirely beloved Cousin Prince Rupert, shall be armed out of Our stoares remaining within Our office of the Ordinance, as followeth; that is to say, three corporalls, two serjeants, the gentlemen at armes, and twelve soldiers of each of the said twelve Troopes, are to have and carry each of them one halbard, and one case of pistolls with holsters; and the rest of the soldiers of the several Troopes aforesaid, are to have and to carry each of them one matchlocke musquet, with a collar of bandaliers, and also to have and to carry one bayonet[4], or great knive. That each lieutenant have and carry one partizan; and that two drums be delivered out for each Troope of the said Regiment[5]."
Several regiments of Horse and Dragoons were raised in the first year of the reign of King James II.; and the horsemen carried a short carbine[6] in addition to the sword and pair of pistols: and in a Regulation dated the 21st of February, 1687, the arms of the Dragoons at that period were commanded to be as follows:—
"The Dragoons to have snaphanse musquets, strapt, with bright barrels of three foote eight inches long, cartouch-boxes, bayonetts, granado pouches, buckets, and hammer-hatchetts."
After several years' experience, little advantage was found to accrue from having Cavalry Regiments formed almost exclusively for engaging the enemy on foot; and, the Horse having laid aside their armour, the arms and equipment of Horse and Dragoons were so nearly assimilated, that there remained little distinction besides the name and rate of pay. The introduction of improvements into the mounting, arming, and equipment of Dragoons rendered them competent to the performance of every description of service required of Cavalry; and, while the long musket and bayonet were retained, to enable them to act as Infantry, if necessary, they were found to be equally efficient, and of equal value to the nation, as Cavalry, with the Regiments of Horse.
In the several augmentations made to the regular Army after the early part of the reign of Queen Anne, no new Regiments of Horse were raised for permanent service; and in 1746 King George II. reduced three of the old Regiments of Horse to the quality and pay of Dragoons; at the same time, His Majesty gave them the title of First, Second, and Third Regiments of Dragoon Guards: and in 1788 the same alteration was made in the remaining four Regiments of Horse, which then became the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Regiments of Dragoon Guards.
At present there are only three Regiments which are styled Horse in the British Army, namely, the two Regiments of Life Guards, and the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards, to whom cuirasses have recently been restored. The other Cavalry Regiments consist of Dragoon Guards, Heavy and Light Dragoons, Hussars, and Lancers; and although the long musket and bayonet have been laid aside by the whole of the Cavalry, and the Regiments are armed and equipped on the principle of the old Horse (excepting the cuirass), they continue to be styled Dragoons.
The old Regiments of Horse formed a highly respectable and efficient portion of the Army, and it is found, on perusing the histories of the various campaigns in which they have been engaged, that they have, on all occasions, maintained a high character for steadiness and discipline as well as for bravery in action. They were formerly mounted on horses of superior weight and physical power, and few troops could withstand a well-directed charge of the celebrated British Horse. The records of these corps embrace a period of 150 years—a period eventful in history, and abounding in instances of heroism displayed by the British troops when danger has threatened the nation—a period in which these Regiments have numbered in their ranks men of loyalty, valour, and good conduct, worthy of imitation.
Since the Regiments of Horse were formed into Dragoon Guards, additional improvements have been introduced into the constitution of the several corps; and the superior description of horses now bred in the United Kingdom, enables the commanding officers to remount their regiments with such excellent horses, that, whilst sufficient weight has been retained for a powerful charge in line, a lightness has been acquired, which renders them available for every description of service incident to modern warfare.
The orderly conduct of these Regiments in quarters has gained the confidence and esteem of the respectable inhabitants of the various parts of the United Kingdom in which they have been stationed; their promptitude and alacrity in attending to the requisitions of the magistrates in periods of excitement, and the temper, patience, and forbearance which they have evinced when subjected to great provocation, insult, and violence from the misguided populace, prove the value of these troops to the Crown, and to the Government of the country, and justify the reliance which is reposed on them.
[1] In the 14th year of the reign of Edward IV. a small force was established in Ireland by Parliament, consisting of 120 Archers on horseback, 40 Horsemen, and 40 Pages.
[2] Military Papers, State Paper Office.
[3] This Regiment was disbanded after the Peace of 1674.
[4] This appears to be the first introduction of bayonets into the English Army.
[5] State Paper Office.
[6] The first issue of carbines to the regular Horse appears to have taken place in 1684; the Life Guards, however, carried carbines from their formation in 1660.—Vide the 'Historical Record of the Life Guards.'
The records of the military events of the remote ages speak of heavy-armed horsemen being accompanied by others mounted and equipped for light services. The Barons and Knights, who rode the powerful horses celebrated by historians, and took the field completely cased in steel, had a few light-armed attendants; the feudal horsemen were variously armed; and the practice of employing Light, as well as Heavy Cavalry, was adopted, to a limited extent, by several commanders of antiquity. Armour, proof against arrow, lance, and sword, and men and horses of colossal appearance, in whom the greatest amount of weight and physical power, consistent with a moderate share of activity, could be combined, were however held in the highest estimation; but eventually the great advantage of having a portion of Cavalry in which lightness, activity, and celerity of movement, might form the principal characteristics, was discovered. The introduction of fire-arms occasioned armour to be gradually laid aside, or limited to a few heavy horsemen; superiority of weight was no longer thought so necessary; and in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the use of Light Cavalry became more general than formerly.
During the seventy years' war between Spain and the United Provinces of the Netherlands, Prince Maurice of Nassau (afterwards Prince of Orange) selected a few English and Dutch heavy-armed Lancers, and constituted them Carabineers, for skirmishing, and other services of a similar character. The Emperor of Germany formed regiments of Hungarian Hussars, who were light men on small horses. The Carabineers were of an intermediate class, being much heavier than the Hussars, and lighter than the English Lancers and Cuirassiers, who rode powerful horses, and wore armour on the head, body, and limbs. The French monarchs adopted the practice of having a few Carabineers in each troop of Horse; and, in 1690, Louis XIV. added a troop of Carabineers to each Regiment of Cavalry. During the campaign of 1691, these troops formed a Carabineer brigade; but their motley appearance, and the defects of the plan, occasioned them to be constituted a regiment of Carabineers, and clothed in blue. In 1693 the French King added a regiment of Hussars to the Cavalry of his army.[7]
In England the same principle was partially carried out; the heavy horse laid aside their armour, excepting cuirasses; they were mounted on horses of less weight than formerly, and they were supplied with carbines by King Charles II. In 1685, King James II. raised several independent troops of Light Horse, and one of them (Sir Thomas Burton's) was retained in his service until the Revolution in 1688, when it was disbanded. In 1691–2 King William III. constituted the Seventh Regiment of Horse, now Sixth Dragoon Guards, a corps of Carabineers, as an honorary distinction, and for the performance of services for which the other regiments of Horse, being Cuirassiers, were not well adapted. The object was to combine with strength and power a greater degree of activity and speed than was to be found in the Cavalry at that period; and His Majesty appears to have contemplated having several corps of this description in his service, as he designated this the First Regiment of Carabineers; but no second regiment was formed.[8] In 1694 a troop of foreign Hussars formed part of the Army commanded by King William in Flanders.[9]
During the wars of Queen Anne the Regiment of Carabineers was again supplied with cuirasses, and was mounted on the same description of horses as the other regiments; retaining, however, the title of Carabineers. The activity, size, weight, and strength of the horses ridden by the British Cuirassiers and Heavy Dragoons, with the bravery and muscular powers of the men, established their superiority in continental warfare over the Cavalry of other nations; they acquired great celebrity in the valley of the Danube and on the plains of the Netherlands, in the early part of the eighteenth century, under the renowned John Duke of Marlborough; and after the peace of Utrecht, in 1713, the reputation of the British Horse and Dragoons was so high that no alteration was thought necessary, and many years elapsed without any attempt being made to revive the practice of having either Carabineers, or Light Horse, in the British Army.
The great utility of the Light Cavalry of the continental armies had, in the mean time, become apparent. Improvements in military tactics, and in the arming and equipment of corps, were taking place in various countries; and a spirit of emulation extending itself to Great Britain, on the breaking out of the rebellion in 1745, his Grace the Duke of Montague evinced his loyalty and public spirit by raising a Regiment of Carabineers for the service of King George II.; at the same time, his Grace the Duke of Kingston, with equal zeal and generosity, raised, at his own expense, a Regiment of Light Horse. The latter regiment approximated, in the lightness of the men, horses, and equipment, to the Hussars of the continental armies; the Duke of Montague's Carabineers were of a heavier description of Cavalry.
At this period the old Cavalry Regiments rode black horses (excepting the Scots Greys) with docked tails; but the Duke of Kingston's Regiment was mounted on light horses of various colours, with swish or nag tails. The accoutrements were as light as possible: the men carried short carbines slung to their sides by a moveable swivel, pistols, and light swords inclined to a curve.
The usefulness of the Duke of Kingston's Regiment of Light Horse was proved in Scotland, where it served under His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland, and was found qualified for every description of service; the light horses traversing hilly grounds with facility. It distinguished itself on several occasions, particularly at the battle of Culloden, on the 16th of April, 1746, when it charged the clans with signal gallantry, and evinced great spirit and activity in the pursuit of the rebel army upwards of three miles from the field of battle. The Duke of Cumberland was highly pleased with its behaviour during the period it was under his command; and the conduct of the Light Horse throughout the contest reflected credit on the noble peer who had raised them.
The rebellion being suppressed, the regiment was, in consequence of the conditions on which the men had enlisted, directed to be disbanded; but the Duke of Cumberland so highly approved of its conduct that he obtained permission to embody as many of the men as would re-enlist, as his own Regiment of Light Dragoons.
His Majesty's thanks and particular satisfaction were communicated to His Grace the Duke of Kingston, for his zeal and affection for His Majesty's person and Government; and His Grace was desired to convey to the officers and soldiers His Majesty's high sense of their loyalty, activity, and gallant behaviour, at a period of national danger. The regiment was afterwards disbanded at Nottingham, and nearly every man engaged in the Regiment of Light Dragoons, of which, as a signal mark of honour and distinction, His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland was appointed Colonel.
The Duke of Cumberland's Light Dragoons were mounted on active nag-tailed horses, from fourteen and a half to fifteen hands high. The men were from five feet eight to five feet nine inches in height; and their equipment was upon a new and light plan, but retaining the cocked hat of the Heavy Dragoon pattern. This regiment served in the Netherlands, with the Army commanded by His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland: its general usefulness was fully established, and it distinguished itself at the battle of Val, in 1747. The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle having put an end to the war, it returned to England, and was disbanded in 1749.
From this period the value of light horsemen was more appreciated in England than formerly; the general utility of this arm, on home and foreign service, had been fully proved; and at the commencement of hostilities with France, in 1755, King George II. resolved to possess the advantage of a body of Light Cavalry in the approaching contest. His Majesty accordingly commanded a troop of Light Dragoons to be added to the First, Second, and Third Regiments of Dragoon Guards, and First, Second, Third, Fourth, Sixth, Seventh, Tenth, and Eleventh Regiments of Dragoons. The First, Second, Third, and Fourth Irish Horse (now Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Dragoon Guards), and the Fifth, Eighth, Ninth, Twelfth, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Dragoons, being on the Irish establishment, did not receive the same addition.
These troops of Light Dragoons were mounted, armed, equipped, and trained, according to specific instructions, calculated to render them available for the services for which they were designed. Several of them were reviewed in Hyde Park by His Majesty; and their neat appearance, celerity of movement, and the spirited and exact manner in which they performed their evolutions, were much admired.
Nine of these troops were formed into a brigade in 1758, under the command of one of the King's aides-de-camp, Colonel George Augustus Eliott, of the Horse Grenadier Guards; and they were employed in the expeditions to the coast of France under Charles Duke of Marlborough and Lieut.-General Bligh. They landed in France twice; skirmished with the French Cavalry; and throughout these enterprises they evinced activity, spirit, and general usefulness. After their return to England, they were augmented to 125 men per troop.
At this period, the war on the Continent had involved most of the European states; and the extended and active operations which were taking place in Germany rendered it necessary for a British force to join the Allied Army under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick. This gave rise to a further augmentation of the Army; and the increased estimation in which Light Cavalry was held induced the King to give directions for the raising of entire Regiments of Light Dragoons, in addition to the five Regiments of Horse, three of Dragoon Guards, and fourteen of Dragoons, already on the British and Irish establishments. The following corps were accordingly embodied:—
Fifteenth, in England, by Colonel George A. Eliott;—now the Fifteenth, or the King's Hussars.
Sixteenth, in England, by Lieut.-Colonel John Burgoyne;—now the Sixteenth, or the Queen's Lancers.
Seventeenth, in Scotland, by Captain Lord Aberdour;—disbanded in 1763.
Eighteenth, in England, by Lieut.-Colonel John Hale;—now the Seventeenth Lancers.
Nineteenth, in Ireland, by Lieut.-Colonel Lord Drogheda;—numbered the Eighteenth in 1763; constituted Hussars in 1807; and after performing much valuable service at home and abroad, it was disbanded at Newbridge, in Ireland, in 1821.
Twentieth, in Ireland, by Captain Sir James Caldwell;—disbanded in 1763.
Twenty-first, or Royal Foresters, in England by Lieut.-General the Marquis of Granby, and Colonel Lord Robert Sutton;—disbanded in 1763.
After the peace of Fontainebleau, three of these corps were disbanded, and the other four continued in the service. The light troops attached to the heavy regiments were also disbanded, but a few men of each troop were afterwards equipped as Light Dragoons.
A more perfect knowledge of the efficiency and capabilities of Light Cavalry, acquired during the campaigns in Germany and Portugal, had advanced the estimation in which that arm was held; and, in 1768, the Twelfth Dragoons (one of the heavy regiments raised by King George I. in 1715), underwent a change of equipment and clothing, and was constituted a corps of Light Dragoons, by General Carpenter, in Ireland.
This alteration served as a precedent for subsequent changes; and further experience, during the American war, from 1775 to 1783, con[Pg xxviii]firming the value of Light Cavalry, the Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Regiments of Dragoons were changed from heavy to light. The Light Dragoons attached to the heavy regiments were incorporated into newly-raised corps, and the following regiments of