The 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Dragoon Guards was a British army cavalry regiment, officially formed in January 1686 as Shrewsbury's Regiment of Horse. Following a number of name changes, it became the 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Regiment of Dragoon Guards in 1804. In 1922, it was amalgamated with The Inniskillings (6th Dragoons) to form the 5th/6th Dragoons. Its history and traditions continue today in the

Royal Dragoon Guards The Royal Dragoon Guards (RDG) is a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was formed in 1992 by the amalgamation of two other regiments: The 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards and the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards. Based in Battlesbury B ...

, an armoured cavalry unit of the British Army.

History

On 1 January 1686, several independent troops of horse raised in response to the 1685

Monmouth Rebellion The Monmouth Rebellion, also known as the Pitchfork Rebellion, the Revolt of the West or the West Country rebellion, was an attempt to depose James II, who in February 1685 succeeded his brother Charles II as king of England, Scotland and Ir ...

were formed into the Earl of Shrewsbury's Regiment of Horse. After the 1688

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...

, it served in the Williamite War in Ireland, including the Battle of the Boyne and the First Siege of Limerick. When the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarch ...

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 The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in 1801. During the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

, the unit was commanded by William Cadogan, close aide to the

Duke of Marlborough General (United Kingdom), General John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, 1st Prince of Mindelheim, 1st Count of Nellenburg, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, (26 May 1650 – 16 June 1722 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) was an Engl ...

. It was engaged in many of Marlborough's battles and sieges, including Blenheim, Ramillies and Malplaquet; after the

Peace of Utrecht The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vacant throne of ...

in 1713, it resumed garrison duties in Ireland, where it spent most of the next 80 years. Battle of Salamanca

Renamed Second Irish Horse in 1746, it then became 5th Regiment of Dragoon Guards in 1788. On the outbreak of the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...

in 1793, it was posted to Flanders where it fought at the April 1794 Battle of Beaumont. The unit returned to Ireland and helped suppress the

1798 Irish Rebellion The Irish Rebellion of 1798 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1798; Ulster-Scots: ''The Hurries'') was a major uprising against British rule in Ireland. The main organising force was the Society of United Irishmen, a republican revolutionary group influenced ...

, including the battles of Arklow,

Vinegar Hill Vinegar is an aqueous solution of acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains 5–8% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting simple sugars to ...

and

Ballinamuck Ballinamuck () is a village in north County Longford, Ireland. It was the scene of the Battle of Ballinamuck, where a French army aiding the United Irishmen rebellion of 1798 was defeated. The French soldiers were eventually repatriated. The Iri ...

. In 1804, it was retitled 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Regiment of Dragoon Guards after

Princess Charlotte Princess Charlotte may refer to: People * Charlotte Christine of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1694–1715), wife of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich of Russia and mother of Tsar Peter II, Emperor of Russia * Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans (1700–1761), wife of ...

, later simplified to 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Dragoon Guards. Private Michael McNamara - 5th Dragoon Guards

Posted to Spain in 1810, it was part of Le Marchant's brigade during the Peninsular campaign. The

Battle of Salamanca The Battle of Salamanca (in French and Spanish known as the Battle of Arapiles) on 22July 1812 was a battle in which an Anglo-Portuguese army under the Earl of Wellington defeated Marshal Auguste Marmont's French forces at Arapiles, so ...

in July 1812 is considered one of

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

'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.' The regiment celebrated 'Salamanca Day' until its dissolution in 1922; the tradition continues among several units of the modern British army. Redesignated heavy cavalry, it was sent to the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

in 1853 and fought in the October 1854

Battle of Balaclava The Battle of Balaclava, fought on 25 October 1854 during the Crimean War, was part of the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–55), an Allied attempt to capture the port and fortress of Sevastopol, Russian Empire, Russia's principal naval base on the Bl ...

. 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. A small detachment joined the 1885 Nile Expedition in 1885 but its next serious action was during the 1899–1902

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

, when it fought at the battles of Elandslaagte and Ladysmith. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, it formed part of the British Expeditionary Force that landed in France in August 1914. 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.

Regimental museum

Enniskillen Cathedral of St. Macartin North Aisle Royal Inniskilling Dragoons Window Detail Insigna 1685-1922 2012 09 17.jpg, Memorial window at

St Macartin's Cathedral, Enniskillen St Macartin's Cathedral, Enniskillen, is one of two cathedral churches in the Diocese of Clogher (Church of Ireland), Diocese of Clogher (the other is St Macartan's Cathedral, Clogher) in the Church of Ireland. It stands on high ground overlook ...

St Mary's Church Eccleston, Old Churchyard - GWGC grave of J Whiston (d 1918).JPG, J Whiston, 5th Dragoon Guards; gravestone,

St Mary's Church, Eccleston St Mary's Church is in the village of Eccleston, Cheshire, England, on the estate of the Duke of Westminster south of Chester. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building. It ...

The regimental collection is held in the

Cheshire Military Museum The Cheshire Military Museum is a military museum in Chester, Cheshire, England. History The museum has been housed in the former A Block in Chester Castle since 1972. It covers the history of four British Army regiments connected with the Cou ...

at Chester Castle.

List of Colonels

The colonels of the regiment were as follows: Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury by Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt.jpg, Earl of Shrewsbury
1686-1687 File:William Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan by Louis Laguerre.jpg, William Cadogan
1703-1712 Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham by Jean Baptiste van Loo.jpg, Viscount Cobham
1744-1745 cardigan.jpg, Earl of Cardigan
1859-1860 James Yorke Scarlett (1799-1871), British soldier.jpg, Sir James Scarlett
1860-1871 Tom Bridges 1918.jpg, Sir Tom Bridges
1920-1922

1686 Named after Colonel eg Shrewsbury's Horse

*1686: Earl of Shrewsbury; resigned in 1687 and joined

William III William III or William the Third may refer to: Kings * William III of Sicily (c. 1186–c. 1198) * William III of England and Ireland or William III of Orange or William II of Scotland (1650–1702) * William III of the Netherlands and Luxembourg ...

in the Dutch Republic; *1687: Marmaduke Langdale, 2nd Baron Langdale; *1687: Richard Hamilton; Irish Catholic, removed from command and jailed in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...

31 December 1688; *1688: John Coy; Lieutenant-Colonel of the regiment since 1686, experienced veteran with service in France and the Tangier Garrison; *1697:

Charles Butler, 1st Earl of Arran Lieutenant-General Charles Butler, 1st Earl of Arran (of the second creation), ''de jure'' 3rd Duke of Ormonde (1671–1758) was an Anglo-Irish peer. His uncle Richard was the 1st Earl of Arran of the first creation. The titles were re-create ...

; *1703: William Cadogan, later Earl Cadogan;

Marlborough Marlborough may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Marlborough, Wiltshire, England ** Marlborough College, public school * Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England * The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England Austral ...

's quartermaster-general and head of intelligence, succeeded him as

Master-General of the Ordnance The Master-General of the Ordnance (MGO) was a very senior British military position from 1415 to 2013 (except 1855–1895 and 1939–1958) with some changes to the name, usually held by a serving general. The Master-General of the Ordnance was ...

in 1722. *1712: George Kellum; in service with the regiment since its formation in 1686; *1717: Robert Napier *1740: Clement Neville *1744: Field Marshall Viscount Cobham; *1745: Thomas Wentworth (died November 1747);

1746 2nd Irish Horse

*1747:

Thomas Bligh Lieutenant General Thomas Bligh (1685–1775) was an Kingdom of Ireland, Irish-born Kingdom of Great Britain, British soldier, best known for his service during the Seven Years' War when he led a series of amphibious raids, known as "Naval Descen ...

Cannon p. 37 *1758:

John Waldegrave, 3rd Earl Waldegrave General John Waldegrave, 3rd Earl Waldegrave (28 April 1718 – 22 October 1784) was a British politician and soldier. Career Waldegrave was the youngest son of the 1st Earl Waldegrave. He joined the 1st Regiment of Foot in 1735, rising to the ...

*1760: Hon. John Fitzwilliam

1788 5th Regiment of Dragoon Guards

*1789: John Douglas *1790: Thomas Bland; previously served 36 years with the 7th Dragoon Guards;

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

*1816: Prince Léopold Georg Christian Friedrich of Saxe-Saalfeld-Coburg

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

*1831: Gen. Sir John Slade; died aged 97 in 1859 and served in the Peninsular War, where contemporaries described him as 'that damned stupid fellow.' *1859: Lt-Gen.

James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan Lieutenant-General James Thomas Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan, (16 October 1797 – 28 March 1868), styled as Lord Cardigan, was an officer in the British Army who commanded the Light Brigade during the Crimean War, leading its charge ...

; commanded the Light Brigade in the Crimean War; *1860: Gen. Hon. Sir James Scarlett; acted as CO of the regiment from 1840, led the Charge of the Heavy Brigade at Balaclava; *1871: Gen. Richard Parker; *1885: Gen. Sir Thomas Westropp McMahon *1892: Lt-Gen. Somerset Gough-Calthorpe, 7th Baron Calthorpe *1912: Maj-Gen. Richard Temple Godman *1912: Maj-Gen. William Edward Marsland *1920: Lt-Gen. Sir George Tom Molesworth Bridges *''1922: Regiment amalgamated with The Inniskillings (6th Dragoons) to form the 5th/6th Dragoons''

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * * * {{British Cavalry Regiments World War I Cavalry regiments of the British Army Dragoon Guards 1685 establishments in England Military units and formations disestablished in 1922 Military units and formations established in 1685 DG5 Regiments of the British Army in the Crimean War Princess Charlotte of Wales (1796–1817)