The 19th Light Dragoons was a

cavalry regiment Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

created in 1781 for service in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. The regiment served in India until 1806, and in North America during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It be ...

, and was disbanded in Britain in 1821.

History

Great Britain

On 25 April 1779 warrants were issued to raise three regiments of light dragoons, the 19th, 20th and 21st, to address potential French aggression during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. The 19th was made up of drafts from the 1st and 2nd Dragoon Guards and the 4th and 10th Dragoons. The 19th did not see overseas service and was disbanded in June 1783.

India

The regiment was raised by Colonel Sir John Burgoyne (a cousin of General

John Burgoyne General John Burgoyne (24 February 1722 – 4 August 1792) was a British general, dramatist and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1761 to 1792. He first saw action during the Seven Years' War when he participated in several bat ...

) as the 23rd Regiment of Light Dragoons on 24 September 1781 for service in India. There had been no European cavalry to that date in India, and successive commanders there had called upon the regular British Army to supply a cavalry unit. The regiment arrived at Fort St. George,

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

in 1782 and became the first British cavalry regiment to serve in India. In 1786, the regiment was renumbered as the 19th Regiment of Light Dragoons. The 19th played a major role in the

Anglo-Mysore Wars The Anglo-Mysore Wars were a series of four wars fought during the last three decades of the 18th century between the Sultanate of Mysore on the one hand, and the British East India Company (represented chiefly by the neighbouring Madras Pres ...

and Anglo-Maratha Wars. Their first campaign was against

Tipu Sultan Tipu Sultan (born Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu, 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799), also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery.Dalrymple, p. 243 He i ...

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude o ...

from 1790 to 1792. After defeating Tipu, the 19th were on garrison duty until 1799 when war broke out with Tipu again. This time, the Sultan was killed during the Siege of Seringapatam in May 1799. In 1800, the 19th fought

Dhondia Wagh Dhondia Wagh (died 10 September 1800) was a military soldier and adventurer in 18th century India. He started his career in the service of Hyder Ali, the ruler of Mysore. During the Third Anglo-Mysore War, he deserted Ali's successor Tipu Sultan, ...

's rebel army and in 1803, led by Major-General Arthur Wellesley (who later became the

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister ...

), they participated in the

Battle of Assaye The Battle of Assaye was a major battle of the Second Anglo-Maratha War fought between the Maratha Empire and the British East India Company. It occurred on 23 September 1803 near Assaye in western India. An outnumbered Indian and British f ...

in September 1803. In this battle, the outnumbered British troops defeated a

Maratha The Marathi people ( Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed a ...

army and the regiment was subsequently awarded the

battle honour A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible. In European military t ...

of "

Assaye Assaye is a small village in the Jalna district of the state of Maharashtra in western India. The village was the location of the Battle of Assaye in 1803, fought between the Maratha Empire and the British East India Company The East Indi ...

" and presented with an honorary

colour Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...

. The 19th Light Dragoons then spent time garrisoning various British outposts. They were stationed at Cheyloor in 1802, at

Arcot Arcot (natively spelt as Ārkāḍu) is a town and urban area of Ranipet district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Located on the southern banks of Palar River, the city straddles a trade route between Chennai and Bangalore or Salem, betw ...

in 1803, in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

in 1804, and at Arcot again from 1805 to 1806. The regiment was summoned to

Vellore Vellore (English: ), also spelt as Velur (), is a city and the administrative headquarters of Vellore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Palar River in the northeastern part of Tamil Nadu and is separa ...

on the night of 10 July 1806 to rescue the

69th Regiment of Foot The 69th (South Lincolnshire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1756. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 41st (Welch) Regiment of Foot to form the Welch Regiment in 1881. History Formation T ...

who had been the victims of a

revolt Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...

by Indian

sepoy ''Sepoy'' () was the Persian-derived designation originally given to a professional Indian infantryman, traditionally armed with a musket, in the armies of the Mughal Empire. In the 18th century, the French East India Company and its ot ...

North America

The regiment embarked for England on 20 October 1806, and remained in Britain until the outbreak of the war with the United States in 1812. The 19th were one of three British regular cavalry units that served in North America during the War of 1812, and the only one to serve in Canada. (The

14th Light Dragoons The 14th King's Hussars was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1715. It saw service for two centuries, including the First World War, before being amalgamated with the 20th Hussars to form the 14th/20th King's Hussars in 1922 ...

served on campaign in New Orleans but had no horses, The 6th Inniskilling Dragoons served on the East coast of the United States.) The regiment's first three squadrons arrived at

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

in May 1813 and were mounted on horses procured in

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec ...

. Two squadrons were sent to

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North Americ ...

where they were involved in the blockade and re-capture of Fort George, and the destruction of Black Rock and Buffalo in

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. sta ...

. Elements of the two squadrons participated in Colonel Thomas Pearson's delaying action against Brigadier General

Winfield Scott Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786May 29, 1866) was an American military commander and political candidate. He served as a general in the United States Army from 1814 to 1861, taking part in the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, the early s ...

's brigade during the American invasion of 1814. They subsequently fought at the

Battle of Chippawa The Battle of Chippawa, also known as the Battle of Chippewa, was a victory for the United States Army in the War of 1812, during its invasion on July 5, 1814, of the British Empire's colony of Upper Canada along the Niagara River. This battle a ...

in July 1814, the

Battle of Lundy's Lane The Battle of Lundy's Lane, also known as the Battle of Niagara, was a battle fought on 25 July 1814, during the War of 1812, between an invading American army and a British and Canadian army near present-day Niagara Falls, Ontario. It was one o ...

later in the month and the

Siege of Fort Erie The siege of Fort Erie, also known as the Battle of Erie, from 4 August to 21 September 1814, was one of the last engagements of the War of 1812, between British and American forces. It took place during the Niagara campaign, and the Americans s ...

in August 1814. Another troop pursued American raiders who had struck at Battle of Malcolm's Mills in November 1814. For these actions, the regiment earned the battle honour of "Niagara". The other squadron had been stationed south of

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

at The Halfway house (Saint Luc area as well as Fort Lennox and The Block houses along the Lacolle border) and participated in the

Battle of Plattsburgh The Battle of Plattsburgh, also known as the Battle of Lake Champlain, ended the final British invasion of the northern states of the United States during the War of 1812. An army under Lieutenant General Sir George Prévost and a naval squadr ...

in September 1814. In the autumn of 1814, the two squadrons serving on the Niagara rejoined the other squadron. The regiment served south of Montreal until the end of the war. They were sent back to England in August 1816.Biddulph, p.218–219

Disbandment

The 19th Light Dragoons were re-equipped as

lancer A lancer was a type of cavalryman who fought with a lance. Lances were used for mounted warfare in Assyria as early as and subsequently by Persia, India, Egypt, China, Greece, and Rome. The weapon was widely used throughout Eurasia during the ...

s in September 1816 and renamed the 19th Lancers. The regiment remained in Britain until it was disbanded on 10 September 1821 due to reductions in size of the British Army. In 1862, the

19th Hussars The 19th Royal Hussars (Queen Alexandra's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, created in 1858. After serving in the First World War, it was amalgamated with the 15th The King's Hussars to form the 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars in ...

were created and given permission to inherit the battle honours of the 19th Light Dragoons.

Regimental Colonels

Colonels of the regiment were: ;23rd Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (1781) *1781–1785: Sir John Burgoyne, Bt. ;19th Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (1786) *1786–1814: Gen. Sir

William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe, KB PC (10 August 172912 July 1814) was a British Army officer who rose to become Commander-in-Chief of British land forces in the Colonies during the American War of Independence. Howe was one of three brot ...

, KB *1814–1815: Gen. Sir William Payne, Bt. ;19th Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (Lancers) (1816) *1815–?1821: Gen.

Sir John Ormsby Vandeleur General Sir John Ormsby Vandeleur (1763 – 10 December 1849) was a British Army officer who fought in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. Biography Vandeleur, born in 1763, was the son of Richard Vandeleur (died 1772) and Elinor, da ...

, GCB *''1821: Regiment disbanded''

Notes

References

* *

External links

19th Light Dragoons in the War of 181219th Light Dragoons at FIBIS19th Light Dragoons re-enactment group
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Cavalry regiments of the British Army Light Dragoons Dragoons 19th Light Dragoons officers 1781 establishments in Great Britain 1821 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Military units and formations established in 1781 Military units and formations disestablished in 1821 British military units and formations of the War of 1812