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This is a list of Cavalry Regiments of the British Army from the mid-18th century until the 1930s, when the last regiment was mechanised and transferred to the Royal Armoured Corps.
Introduction
editRank and numbering
editEstablishment of precedence
editThe rank of regiments of the British Army was first fixed during the Nine Years' War. Doubts as to the respective rank of regiments fighting in the Spanish Netherlands led William III to command a Board of General Officers meeting on 10 June 1694 to establish the order of precedence of the various units. Further boards were convened by Queen Anne and George I in 1713 and 1715 to decide the rank of regiments raised after 1694.[1]
The rank or precedence of regiments was fixed by the following criteria:
- English regiments, raised in England, should rank from their date of raising.
- English, Scots and Irish regiments, raised for service of a foreign power, should rank from the date that they came onto the English establishment.[1]
This led to anomalies, such as the Royal Irish Regiment, raised in 1684, being ranked as the 18th of the line, junior to eleven regiments raised between 1685 and 1688.[1]
Numbering
editWhile regiments were known by the name of their colonel, or by their royal title, the number of their rank was increasingly used. Thus, in the Cloathing Book of 1742, which illustrated the patterns of uniforms worn by the King's forces, the regiments of horse and dragoons are designated simply by numbers.[2]
The substitution of numbers for names was completed by a royal warrant of 1751. The document, which used numbers for the regiments throughout, decreed that no colonel was "to put his Arms, Crest, Device or Livery on any part of the Appointments of the Regiment under his command." Furthermore, in the centre of the regiment's standard or guidon was to be "painted or embroidered in gold Roman characters the number of the Rank of the Regiment".[3]
As the size of the army expanded and contracted during the various conflicts of the 18th and 19th centuries, junior regiments were raised and disbanded. Accordingly, there were often a number of different regiments that bore the same number of different periods. Additionally, there were occasional partial renumberings.[4]
Royal and subsidiary titles
editThe 1751 warrant confirmed the royal titles or other special designations of the
[3] In later years, other regiments were allowed to bear the names of the monarch or other members of the royal family.
List of regiments
editFollowing the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 an English and a Scottish Army were formed, later combined to form the British Army in 1707. Initially the cavalry arm consisted of three types of regiments:
- Life Guards, technically part of the royal household;
- Regiments of Horse
- Dragoons, originally a form of mounted infantry.
Over time dragoons became heavy cavalry virtually indistinguishable from regiments of horse.
In 1746 there was a reorganisation: the 1st Horse joined the Life Guards as part of the Household Cavalry. The remaining regiments of horse were either converted to dragoons (but with the new title of "dragoon guards" marking their seniority to the existing regiments of dragoons) or transferred to the Irish Establishment. Both of the latter measures were largely on financial grounds as... The four regiments of horse on the Irish Establishment were subsequently converted to dragoon guards in 1788.
Household Cavalry
editOn 26 January 1661 Charles II designated three existing troops of Horse Guards as his "Household Cavalry".[5] The number and designation of troops varied over time, and there was a reorganisation in 1746.[6] In 1687 the grenadiers who had formed part of the troops of Horse Guards were formed into separate troops of Horse Grenadier Guards.[7] On 24 June 1788 the troops of Horse Guards and Horse Grenadier Guards were reorganised as the 1st and 2nd Regiments of Life Guards.[8]
| Number or Rank | Titles | Date of raising or coming onto establishment | Fate | Successor 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1st, or His Majesty's Own Troop of Horse Guards | 1658 Formed in Holland by followers of Charles II |
Formed part of 1st Regiment of Life Guards 1788 | Life Guards |
Regiments of Horse
edit| Number or Rank | Titles | Date of raising or coming onto establishment | Fate | Successor 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal Regiment of Horse Guards[9] | 1661 Raised as the The Royal Regiment of Horse, or Horse Guards based on a disbanded regiment of the parliamentary army dating from 1650. Ranked as 1st Horse, on household establishment from 1687 and officially ceased to be a regiment of horse in 1746.[9] |
Transferred to Household Cavalry in 1827 as the Royal Horse Guards | Blues and Royals |
| 1st Irish Horse or The Blue Horse |
1746 Renumbering of 5th Regiment of Horse and transfer to the Irish establishment. |
Converted to the 4th Dragoon Guards in 1788 | The Royal Dragoon Guards | |
| 2 | The Queen's Own Regiment of Horse (1685-1714) The King's Regiment of Horse (1714-1746) |
1685 Raised by James II in 1685 in rsponse to the Monmouth Rebellion. Ranked as 2nd Horse. |
Converted 1746 to become the (1st) King's Dragoon Guards | 1st Queen's Dragoon Guards |
| 2nd Irish Horse or The Green Horse |
1746 Renumbering of 6th Regiment of Horse and transfer to the Irish establishment. |
Converted to the 5th Dragoon Guards in 1788 | The Royal Dragoon Guards | |
| 3 | The 3rd Regiment of Horse (1685-1711)[10] The Princess of Wales's Own Royal Regiment of Horse (1711-1727) |
1685 Raised by James II in 1685 in response to the Monmouth Rebellion. Ranked as 3rd Horse. |
Converted 1746 to become the (2nd) Queen's Dragoon Guards | 1st Queen's Dragoon Guards |
| 3rd Irish Horse | 1746 Renumbering of 7th Regiment of Horse and transfer to the Irish establishment. |
Converted to the 6th Dragoon Guards in 1788 | Royal Scots Dragoon Guards | |
| 4 | The 4th Regiment of Horse[11] |
1685 Raised by James II in 1685 in response to the Monmouth Rebellion. Ranked as 4th Horse. |
Converted 1746 to become the (3rd) Dragoon Guards | Royal Scots Dragoon Guards |
| 4th Irish Horse or The Black Horse[12] |
1746 Renumbering of 8th Regiment of Horse and transfer to the Irish establishment. |
Converted to the 7th (Princess Royal's) Dragoon Guards in 1788 | The Royal Dragoon Guards | |
| 5 | The 5th Regiment of Horse[13] |
1685 Raised by James II in 1685 in response to the Monmouth Rebellion. Ranked as 5th Horse. |
Disbanded 1691 | |
| The 5th Regiment of Horse | 1691 Renumbering of 6th Horse on disbanding of existing 5th Regiment. |
Transferred to Irish Establishment as 1st Horse in 1746 | The Royal Dragoon Guards | |
| 6 | The 6th Regiment of Horse | 1685 Raised by James II in 1685 in response to the Monmouth Rebellion. |
Renumbered to 5th Horse on disbandment of existing 5th Regiment in 1691 | The Royal Dragoon Guards |
| The 6th Regiment of Horse | 1691 Renumbering of 7th Horse on disbanding of existing 5th Regiment. |
Transferred to Irish Establishment as 2nd Horse in 1746 | The Royal Dragoon Guards | |
| 7 | The 7th Regiment of Horse | 1685 Raised by James II in 1685 in response to the Monmouth Rebellion. |
Renumbered to 6th Horse on disbandment of existing 5th Regiment in 1691 | The Royal Dragoon Guards |
| The 7th Regiment of Horse | 1691 Renumbering of 8th Horse on disbanding of existing 5th Regiment. |
Transferred to Irish Establishment as 3rd Horse in 1746 | Royal Scots Dragoon Guards | |
| 8 | The 8th Regiment of Horse | 1685 Raised by James II in 1685 in response to the Monmouth Rebellion. |
Renumbered to 7th Horse on disbandment of existing 5th Regiment in 1691 | Royal Scots Dragoon Guards |
| The 8th Regiment of Horse[12] | 1691 Renumbering of 9th Horse on disbanding of existing 5th Regiment. |
Transferred to Irish Establishment as 4th Horse in 1746 | The Royal Dragoon Guards | |
| 9 | The 9th Regiment of Horse[12] | 1685 Raised by James II in 1685 in response to the Monmouth Rebellion. |
Renumbered to 8th Horse on disbandment of existing 5th Regiment in 1691 | The Royal Dragoon Guards |
- ^ a b c Cannon, Richard (1848). Historical Record of the Eighteenth or Royal Irish Regiment of Foot. London: HMSO. pp. 14–15.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Representation of the Cloathing of His Majesty's Household and of all the forces upon the Establishments of Great Britain and Ireland. 1742.
{{cite book}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ a b Royal Warrant 1 July 1751 (PRO/WO/26/21) reprinted in Edwards (1953) pp. 194-200
- ^ Swinson (1972) pp.197–205
- ^ Swinson, Arthur (1972). A Register of the Regiments and Corps of the British Army. London: The Archive Press. p. 3. ISBN 0-85591-000-3.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ T F Mills. "Horse Guards". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 18 December 2007. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
- ^ T F Mills. "Horse Grenadier Guards". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 20 December 2007. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
- ^ Hew Strachan] (1975). British Military Uniforms 1768 - 1796. Arms and Armour Press. pp. 35–36. ISBN 9780853683490.
- ^ a b Swinson (1972), p.73
- ^ Known by the colonel's name: the Earl of Peterborough (1685-1688), Edward Villiers (1688-1694), Richard Leveson (1694-99), Daniel Harvey (1699-1712), John Bland
- ^ Known by the colonel's name: jjjjj
- ^ a b c Also known by the name of the colonel: *William Cavendish (1688 - 1690) *Meinhardt Schomberg (Duke of Schomberg from 1693) (1690 - 1711) *Charles Schomberg, Marquess of Harwich (1711 - 1713) *Charles Sybourg (1713 - 1720) * John Ligonier, 1st Earl Ligonier (1720 - 1749) *Sir John Mordaunt (1749) *Henry de Grangues (1749 - 1751)
- ^ Known by the colonel's name: jjjjj