5th Dragoon Guards

Last updated
5th Dragoon Guards (Princess Charlotte of Wales's)
5th Dragoon's badge.jpg
Badge of the 5th Dragoon Guards
Active1685–1922
Disbanded1922
CountryFlag of England.svg  England (1685–1697)
Saint Patrick's Saltire.svg  Ireland (1698–1800)
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom (1801–1922)
BranchArmy
TypeCavalry of the Line
RoleHeavy Cavalry
Size1 battalion
Nickname(s)The Green Horse [1]
The Green Dragoons [2]
The Old Farmers [2]
Motto(s)Vestigia nulla restorsum (Latin – We do not retreat)
March(Quick) The Gay Cavalier
(Slow) Soldier's chorus from Gounod's Faust
AnniversariesSalamanca Day
Engagements The Boyne 1690 Blenheim 1704 Ramillies 1706 Malplaquet 1709 Salamanca 1812 Balaclava 1854
Battle honours Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, Malplaquet, Beaumont, Salamanca, Vittoria, Toulouse, Peninsula, Balaklava, Sevastopol, Defence of Ladysmith, South Africa 1899–1902; France and Flanders 1914–18 [lower-alpha 1] [3]
Commanders
Notable
commanders		 1st Earl Cadogan
7th Earl of Cardigan

The 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Dragoon Guards was a British army cavalry regiment, officially raised in January 1686 as Shrewsbury's Regiment of Horse or the Earl of Shrewsbury's Horse.

Contents

By 1687, it was known as Langsdale's Horse, from 1687 to 1688 as Hamilton's Horse, then from 1688 to 1691 as John Coy's Horse. In 1691, it was given a number and known as the 6th Horse. In 1697 the regiment was known as Arran's Horse and later became Cadogan's Horse.

As Coy's Horse, the regiment fought at the Battle of the Boyne. In 1804 it became the 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Regiment of Dragoon Guards.

In 1922, the regiment was amalgamated with the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons to form the 5th/6th Dragoons. Its history and traditions continue today in the Royal Dragoon Guards, an armoured cavalry unit of the British Army. [4]

History

5th Dragoon Guards at Vinegar Hill, 1798 Vinhill.gif
5th Dragoon Guards at Vinegar Hill, 1798

On 1 January 1686, several independent troops of horse raised in response to the 1685 Monmouth Rebellion were formed into the Earl of Shrewsbury's Regiment of Horse. [5] It was first commanded by Lord Shrewsbury, with John Darcy, Lord Conyers, as his lieutenant-colonel. [6]

After the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the regiment served in the Williamite War in Ireland, including fighting at the Battle of the Boyne and the First Siege of Limerick. [7] When the Nine Years' War ended in 1697, the regiment escaped disbandment by being made part of the Irish military establishment, where it remained until the creation of the United Kingdom in 1801. [8]

During the War of the Spanish Succession, the unit was commanded by William Cadogan, close aide to the Duke of Marlborough. It was engaged in many of Marlborough's battles and sieges, including Blenheim, Ramillies and Malplaquet; after the Peace of Utrecht in 1713, it resumed garrison duties in Ireland, where it spent most of the next 80 years. [9]

Le Marchant's charge at Salamanca, July 1812; 5th dragoons right foreground Battle of Salamanca.jpg
Le Marchant's charge at Salamanca, July 1812; 5th dragoons right foreground

Renamed Second Irish Horse in 1746, it then became 5th Regiment of Dragoon Guards in 1788. [3] On the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in 1793, it was posted to Flanders where it fought at the April 1794 Battle of Beaumont. [8] The unit returned to Ireland and helped suppress the 1798 Irish Rebellion, including the battles of Arklow, Vinegar Hill and Ballinamuck. [7] In 1804, it was retitled 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Regiment of Dragoon Guards after Princess Charlotte, later simplified to 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Dragoon Guards. [3]

Michael MacNamara, who took part in the 1854 Charge of the Heavy Brigade; photographed ca 1856 Private Michael McNamara - 5th Dragoon Guards.jpg
Michael MacNamara, who took part in the 1854 Charge of the Heavy Brigade; photographed ca 1856

Posted to Spain in 1810, it was part of Le Marchant's brigade during the Peninsular campaign. The Battle of Salamanca in July 1812 is considered one of Wellington's greatest victories and Le Marchant's attack as the 'single most destructive charge made by a brigade of cavalry in the whole Napoleonic period.' [10] The regiment celebrated 'Salamanca Day' until its dissolution in 1922; the tradition continues among several units of the modern British army. [11]

Redesignated heavy cavalry, it was sent to the Crimean War in 1853 and fought in the October 1854 Battle of Balaclava. [7] The Charge of the Heavy Brigade was a famous action but casualties were relatively light; the Brigade as a whole lost 92 dead and wounded in total, 15 of whom came from the 5th Dragoon Guards. [12] A small detachment joined the 1885 Nile Expedition in 1885 but its next serious action was during the 1899–1902 Second Boer War, when it fought at the battles of Elandslaagte and Ladysmith. [13]

During the First World War, it formed part of the British Expeditionary Force that landed in France in August 1914. [14] Retitled 5th Dragoon Guards (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) in 1921, the following year it was amalgamated with the Inniskillings (6th Dragoons), to form 5th/6th Dragoons. [3]

Regimental museum

The regimental collection is held in the Cheshire Military Museum at Chester Castle. [15] [16]

List of Colonels

The colonels of the regiment were as follows: [3]

1686 Named after Colonel eg Shrewsbury's Horse

1746 2nd Irish Horse

1788 5th Regiment of Dragoon Guards

1804 5th (the Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Regiment of Dragoon Guards

1823 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Dragoon Guards

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Mons, Le Cateau, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914, La Bassée 1914, Messines 1914, Armentières 1914, Ypres 1914 '15, Frezenberg, Bellewaarde, Somme 1916 '18, Flers-Courcelette, Arras 1917, Scarpe 1917, Cambrai 1917 '18, St. Quentin, Rosières, Amiens, Albert 1918, Hindenburg Line, St. Quentin Canal, Baurevoir, Pursuit to Mons

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Ponsonby (British Army officer)</span> Anglo-Irish politician and British Army officer

Major-General Sir William Ponsonby was an Anglo-Irish politician and British Army officer who served in the Peninsular War and was killed at the Battle of Waterloo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards</span> Military unit

The 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment of the British Army formed in 1922 by the amalgamation of the 5th Dragoon Guards and the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons. It served in the Second World War and the Korean War. In August 1992, as a consequence of the Options for Change defence cuts, the regiment was amalgamated with the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards to form the Royal Dragoon Guards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dragoon Guards</span> Historical division of the UK army

Dragoon Guards is a designation that has been used to refer to certain heavy cavalry regiments in the British Army since the 18th century. While the Prussian and Russian armies of the same period included dragoon regiments among their respective Imperial Guards, different titles were applied to these units.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carabiniers (6th Dragoon Guards)</span> British Army cavalry regiment

The Carabiniers (6th Dragoon Guards) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was formed in 1685 as the Lord Lumley's Regiment of Horse. It was renamed as His Majesty's 1st Regiment of Carabiniers in 1740, the 3rd Regiment of Horse (Carabiniers) in 1756 and the 6th Regiment of Dragoon Guards in 1788. After two centuries of service, including the First World War, the regiment was amalgamated with the 3rd Dragoon Guards (Prince of Wales's) to form the 3rd/6th Dragoon Guards in 1922.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">10th Royal Hussars</span> British Army cavalry regiment

The 10th Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army raised in 1715. It saw service for three centuries including the First World War and Second World War but then amalgamated with the 11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own) to form the Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales's Own) in October 1969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">13th Hussars</span> British Army cavalry regiment

The 13th Hussars was a cavalry regiment of the British Army established in 1715. It saw service for three centuries including the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War and the First World War but then amalgamated with the 18th Royal Hussars, to form the 13th/18th Royal Hussars in 1922.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Irish Regiment (1684–1922)</span> Military unit

The Royal Irish Regiment, until 1881 the 18th Regiment of Foot, was an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army, first raised in 1684. Also known as the 18th Regiment of Foot and the 18th Regiment of Foot, it was one of eight Irish regiments raised largely in Ireland, its home depot in Clonmel. It saw service for two and a half centuries before being disbanded with the Partition of Ireland following establishment of the independent Irish Free State in 1922 when the five regiments that had their traditional recruiting grounds in the counties of the new state were disbanded.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st King's Dragoon Guards</span> British Army cavalry regiment

The 1st King's Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army. The regiment was raised by Sir John Lanier in 1685 as the 2nd Queen's Regiment of Horse, named in honour of Queen Mary, consort of King James II. It was renamed the 2nd King's Own Regiment of Horse in 1714 in honour of George I. The regiment attained the title 1st King's Dragoon Guards in 1751. The regiment served as horse cavalry until 1937 when it was mechanised with light tanks. The regiment became part of the Royal Armoured Corps in 1939. After service in the First World War and the Second World War, the regiment amalgamated with the 2nd Dragoon Guards in 1959 to form the 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards</span> British Army cavalry regiment

The 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1685 as the Earl of Arran's Regiment of Cuirassiers. It was renamed as the 4th Dragoon Guards in 1788 and service for two centuries, including the First World War, before being amalgamated with 7th Dragoon Guards, to form the 4th/7th Dragoon Guards in 1922.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">12th Royal Lancers</span> British Army cavalry regiment

The 12th Royal Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army first formed in 1715. It saw service for three centuries, including the First World War and the Second World War. The regiment survived the immediate post-war reduction in forces, but was slated for reduction in the 1957 Defence White Paper, and was amalgamated with the 9th Queen's Royal Lancers to form the 9th/12th Royal Lancers in 1960.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays)</span> British Army cavalry regiment

The 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was first raised in 1685 by the Earl of Peterborough as the Earl of Peterborough's Regiment of Horse by merging four existing troops of horse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3rd Dragoon Guards</span> British Army cavalry regiment

The 3rd Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1685 as the Earl of Plymouth's Regiment of Horse. It was renamed as the 3rd Regiment of Dragoon Guards in 1751 and the 3rd Dragoon Guards in 1765. It saw service for two centuries, including the First World War, before being amalgamated into the 3rd/6th Dragoon Guards in 1922.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons</span> British Army cavalry regiment

The 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1689 as Sir Albert Cunningham's Regiment of Dragoons. One of the regiment's most notable battles was the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690. It became the 6th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Dragoons in 1751. The regiment also fought with distinction in the Charge of the Union Brigade at the Battle of Waterloo and again as part of the successful Charge of the Heavy Brigade against superior numbers at the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War. The First World War sounded the death knell for mounted cavalry as it became apparent that technology had moved forward with greater destructive power and made horsed cavalry redundant on the modern battlefield. The British Army reorganised and reduced its cavalry corps by disbanding or amalgamating many of its famous cavalry regiments. The Inniskillings was one of those affected. It saw service for two centuries, including the First World War, before being amalgamated with 5th Dragoon Guards to form 5th/6th Dragoons in 1922.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">7th Dragoon Guards</span> Military unit

The 7th Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1688 as Lord Cavendish's Regiment of Horse. It was renamed as the 8th Horse in 1694 and the 7th Dragoon Guards for Princess Charlotte in 1788. It saw service for two centuries, including the First World War, before being amalgamated with the 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards, to form the 4th/7th Dragoon Guards in 1922.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3rd The King's Own Hussars</span> Cavalry regiment of the British Army

The 3rd Hussars was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1685. It saw service for three centuries, including the First and the Second World Wars, before being amalgamated with the 7th Queen's Own Hussars, to form the Queen's Own Hussars in November 1958.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">4th Queen's Own Hussars</span> British Army cavalry regiment, 1685–1958

The 4th Queen's Own Hussars was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1685. It saw service for three centuries, including the First World War and the Second World War. It amalgamated with the 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars, to form the Queen's Royal Irish Hussars in 1958.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">16th The Queen's Lancers</span> British Army cavalry regiment

The 16th The Queen's Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1759. It saw service for two centuries, before being amalgamated with the 5th Royal Irish Lancers to form the 16th/5th Lancers in 1922.

During the First World War the British Armed Forces was enlarged to many times its peacetime strength. This was done mainly by adding new battalions to existing regiments. Although sometimes identified by shoulder titles, generally the new battalions could not be identified from appearance. Consequently, the units in this list have been assembled considering only those as having a uniquely different cap badge.

The First World War British Cavalry Corps was formed 9 October 1914.

References

  1. ↑ Regimental nicknames and traditions of the British army. London: Gale & Polden. 1916. p. 9. Retrieved 2010-03-10.
  2. 1 2 Burnham, Robert; McGuigan, Ron (2010). The British Army against Napoleon. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Frontline Books. p. 122. ISBN   978-1-84832-562-3.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Mills, T.F. "5th Dragoon Guards (Princess Charlotte of Wales's)". regiments.org. Archived from the original on February 4, 2005. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
  4. ↑ "The Royal Dragoon Guards; who we are". Army. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  5. ↑ Cannon, Richard (1839). The Fifth, Princess Charlotte of Wales' Dragoons Guards. William Clowes & Sons. pp. 4–5.
  6. ↑ "Darcy, Hon. John (1659–89) of Hornby Castle" in Basil Duke Henning, ed., The House of Commons, 1660–1690: Introductory survey (1983), pp 191–192
  7. 1 2 3 "5th Dragoon Guards (Princess Charlotte of Wales's)". National Army Museum. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  8. 1 2 "5th Dragoon Guards". British Empire. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  9. ↑ Cannon, p. 34
  10. ↑ Fletcher, I. (1999). Galloping at Everything: The British Cavalry in the Peninsula and at Waterloo 1808–15. Spellmount, Staplehurst. pp. 184–186. ISBN   1-86227-016-3.
  11. ↑ "Rifles Mark Salamanca Day With Families". Forces.net. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  12. ↑ "Battle of Balaclava". British Battles. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  13. ↑ "5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Dragoon Guards". Anglo-Boer War. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  14. ↑ "The Dragoon Guards". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  15. ↑ Cheshire Military Museum, Army Museums Ogilby Trust, archived from the original on 17 June 2011, retrieved 18 February 2011
  16. ↑ "5th Dragoon Guards". British Empire. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  17. ↑ Child, John (1990). The British Army of William III, 1689–1702. Manchester University Press. p. 16. ISBN   978-0719025525.
  18. ↑ Child, p.16
  19. ↑ Dalton, Charles (1904). English army lists and commission registers, 1661–1714 Volume VI. Eyre & Spottiswood. p. 30.
  20. ↑ Cannon p. 6
  21. 1 2 3 Cannon p. 37
  22. ↑ Cannon p. 79
  23. ↑ Lloyd, E. M. (2004). "Slade, Sir John, first baronet". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/25706.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.