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
He was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the island of Minorca in
1763, and was promoted to the rank of Major-General in 1770. In
the following year this meritorious officer was rewarded with the
Colonelcy of the Ninth Dragoons; in 1774 he was constituted Governor
of Quebec; and in 1775 he obtained the Colonelcy of the FIRST IRISH
HORSE (now FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS). Two years afterwards he was
promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General; in 1778 he was removed
from the FIRST IRISH HORSE to the Sixth Enniskillen Dragoons; and was
further promoted to the rank of General in 1793: he is stated to have
been one of the most celebrated swordsmen of his time. The decease of
this distinguished veteran occurred on the 13th of December, 1797, at
Hampton, from whence he was removed with great state for interment in
Westminster Abbey on the 21st of that month.
GEORGE WARDE.
_Appointed 1st April, 1778._
GEORGE WARDE entered the army in the reign of George II.;
was appointed Captain in the Eleventh Dragoons in 1748, and
Major of the same corps in June, 1756. In 1758 he obtained the
Lieutenant-Colonelcy of the Fourth Dragoons, at the head of which
corps he served many years, and brought it into so high a state of
discipline, that, whenever King George III. reviewed the corps,
he expressed his approbation of its excellent condition in the
strongest terms. He was promoted to the rank of Colonel in the army
in 1772, and in the succeeding year he obtained the Colonelcy of the
Fourteenth Dragoons. The rank of Major-General was conferred on this
officer in 1777; he was promoted to the Colonelcy of the FIRST IRISH
HORSE (now FOURTH DRAGOON GUARDS) in the following year; and was
advanced to the rank of Lieutenant-General in 1782. In 1792 he was
appointed Commander-in-Chief in Ireland, and while in that country
he devoted much of his time to the bringing of his regiment,--the
FOURTH ROYAL IRISH DRAGOON GUARDS,--into a most perfect condition
for active service. He possessed the soundest ideas of what cavalry
ought to be; he had an aversion to slow movements, and although
nearly seventy years of age, he exercised his regiment five times a
week,--often leading it across the country over hedge and ditch, to
the astonishment of every one. He was promoted to the rank of General
in 1796, and died on the 11th of March, 1803. He was celebrated
for philanthropy, and was represented by historians as a man 'of
inviolable, disinterested integrity, public and private; and the
bestower of benefactions scarcely less secret than extensive.'
MILES STAVELEY.
_Appointed 12th March, 1803._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account