Historical Record of the Fourth, or Royal Irish Regiment of Dragoon Guards.: Containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment in 1685; and of Its Subsequent Services to 1838Cannon, Richard
History
Historical Record of the Fourth, or Royal Irish Regiment of Dragoon Guards.: Containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment in 1685; and of Its Subsequent Services to 1838
Cannon, Richard
Great Britain. Army -- History; Great Britain. Army. Royal Irish Dragoon Guards, 4th
From Salisbury and Winchester the regiment, now taking rank as
FIFTH HORSE, was withdrawn in May, 1691, and proceeded to Hertford,
Dartford, and Romford, and one troop furnished the guard at Windsor
for the Queen Dowager, Catherine, consort of the late King Charles
II. In June one troop was in attendance on the Princess Anne at
Tunbridge; and in the autumn the regiment furnished a relay of
escorts to attend the King from Harwich to London, when His Majesty
returned from the Netherlands.
The conquest of Ireland having been achieved, the King was enabled
to augment his army in the Low Countries; and, soon after His
Majesty's arrival in England, GODFREY'S HORSE were selected to
proceed on foreign service. The regiment was, accordingly, embarked
in transports on the river Thames on the 27th of November, and sailed
on the following day. After its arrival in Flanders it went into
quarters at Ghent.
[Sidenote: 1692]
In the spring of the following year, the FIFTH Regiment of Horse
took the field to serve its first campaign with the army under King
William III. in person, who was fighting for the preservation of
the Protestant religion and the balance of power in Europe, against
the forces of Louis XIV. of France. After several movements, King
William attacked the French army, commanded by Marshal Luxembourg,
at its position near _Steenkirk_, on the 24th of July, 1692. The
FIFTH HORSE supported the attacking column, and when the infantry
deployed, it drew up on the right skirts of a wood, through which the
main body of the army had to pass. The leading corps behaved with
signal gallantry, but were repulsed, and the main body of the army
was too far in the rear to give the required support. An immense body
of French cavalry menacing the British infantry, the FIFTH HORSE
were ordered to advance, and they succeeded in checking the enemy's
squadrons. Lord Mountjoy[10], a young nobleman of great promise, who
was serving as a volunteer, was killed by a cannon ball at the head
of the regiment. It soon afterwards received orders to retire, and
this movement was covered by a squadron of Horse Grenadier Guards.
The regiment was subsequently engaged in several movements, and in
the autumn it proceeded into winter-quarters.
[Sidenote: 1693]
Shortly after the battle of Steenkirk, the Princess Anne of Denmark's
regiment of horse,[11] which had lost many men and horses in the
action, was disbanded; and on the 7th of March, 1693, its Colonel,
Francis Langston, was appointed to the command of the FIFTH HORSE,
vice Colonel Charles Godfrey, who retired.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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