Historical Record of the First, or the Royal Regiment of Dragoons: Containing an Account of Its Formation in the Reign of King Charles the Second, and of Its Subsequent Services to 1839Cannon, Richard
History
Historical Record of the First, or the Royal Regiment of Dragoons: Containing an Account of Its Formation in the Reign of King Charles the Second, and of Its Subsequent Services to 1839
Cannon, Richard
Great Britain. Army -- History; Great Britain. Army. Dragoons, 1st (Royal)
[60] "The infantry complained they had suffered much from our
absence and tardy arrival, though, God knows, we had lost no
time."--_Major Radclyffe's Journal._
[61] Now Colonel A. K. Clark Kennedy, C.B. and K.H.,
lieutenant-colonel of the seventh dragoon guards.
[62] Francis Stiles was rewarded with an ensigncy in the sixth
West India regiment on the 11th of April, 1816, and was placed on
half-pay on the 28th of December, 1817: he died in London on the
9th of January, 1828.
[63] "I was in command of the centre squadron of the ROYAL DRAGOONS
in this charge. While following up the attack, I perceived, a
little to my left, in the midst of a body of infantry, an Eagle
and Colour, which the bearer was making off with towards the rear.
I immediately gave the order, 'Right shoulders forward,' to my
squadron, at the same time leading direct upon the Eagle, and
calling out to the men with me to 'Secure the colours.' The instant
I got within reach of the officer who carried the Eagle, I ran my
sword into his right side, and he staggered and fell, but did not
reach the ground on account of the pressure of his companions.
As the officer was in the act of falling, I called out, a second
time, to some men close behind me, 'Secure the colour; it belongs
to me!' The standard coverer, Corporal Stiles, and several other
men, rushed up, and the Eagle fell across my horse's head, against
that of Corporal Stiles, who came up on my left. As it was falling
I caught the fringe of the flag with my left hand, but could not
at the first pull up the Eagle: at the second attempt, however,
I succeeded. Being in the midst of French troops, I attempted to
separate the Eagle from the staff, to put it into the breast of my
coatee; but it was too firmly fixed. Corporal Stiles said, 'Pray,
Sir, do not break it!' to which I replied 'Very well; carry it off
to the rear as fast as you can,' which he did. Though wounded, I
preferred remaining in the field in the command of my squadron,
which I did until near seven o'clock in the evening, when I was
obliged to withdraw; having had two horses killed under me, and
having received two wounds, which confined me to my quarters at
Brussels nearly two months."--_Captain Clark's Narrative of the
Capture of the Eagle._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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