The troop of HORSE consisted of three officers, one quarter-master, four corporals, one trumpeter, and one hundred private men; the ranks were completed with veterans of the civil war, who were armed with cuirasses, iron head-pieces called potts, long swords, and a pair of large pistols, to which a short carbine was afterwards added: they were mounted on long-tailed horses of superior weight and power, wore high boots reaching to the middle of the thigh, and scarlet vests: the officers wore hats decorated with a profusion of feathers; and both officers and men ornamented their horses' heads and tails with large bunches of ribands. The officers of this troop were,-- THE EARL OF PETERBOROUGH, Captain and Colonel. ROBERT LEECH, Captain-Lieutenant. JAMES MORDAUNT, Cornet. The appearance and equipment of the officers and men were commended in the ephemeral publications of that period. They embarked in the middle of December, and in a letter to the Earl of Peterborough, dated the 21st of December, the King observed: 'I desire you to lett those honest men knowe who are along with you, y^t they shall allwayes be in my particular care and protection as persons y^t venture themselves in my service. And so, wishing you a good voyage, I remain, &c., CHARLES R.'[8] [Sidenote: 1662] [Sidenote: 1663] The troops arrived at Tangier in January, 1662, and a war commencing soon afterwards between the British occupants of this part of Africa and the Moors, frequent encounters occurred between detachments of the garrison of Tangier and the barbarians, in which the former had a decided superiority, and the English horsemen became celebrated for gallant achievements.[9] The veteran EARL OF TEVIOT, who was appointed governor of Tangier in 1663, in succession to the Earl of Peterborough, occasionally penetrated into the adjacent country at the head of a detachment of horse, and many brilliant exploits were performed by the gallant English troopers, among the rocks, in the woods, and on the plains of this part of Africa, where they frequently surprised lurking parties of Moors, and captured cattle and other booty. The Africans were, however, expert horsemen, and fought with lance, sword, and short fusils. [Sidenote: 1664]