Historical Record of the Seventh, or the Queen's Own Regiment of Hussars: Containing an Account of the Origin of the Regiment in 1690, and of Its Subsequent Services to 1842Cannon, Richard
History
Historical Record of the Seventh, or the Queen's Own Regiment of Hussars: Containing an Account of the Origin of the Regiment in 1690, and of Its Subsequent Services to 1842
Cannon, Richard
Great Britain. Army -- History; Great Britain. Army. Queen's Own Hussars, 7th
After passing six years at Ipswich and Norwich, the SEVENTH HUSSARS
proceeded to Guildford in July, 1808; and when on their march
they were reviewed by His Royal Highness the Duke of York, on
Hounslow-heath. Important events had, in the mean time, transpired
on the continent and in the peninsula, and Portugal and Spain had
become subject to the tyrannical sway of Bonaparte, who had nearly
attained the zenith of his power. Portugal was delivered during the
summer of 1808, by British skill and valour; and a powerful effort
in aid of the Spaniards, who were endeavouring to free themselves
of the French yoke, having been resolved upon by the British
government, the SEVENTH HUSSARS were selected to take part in this
enterprise.
Eight troops, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel R. H. Vivian, and
consisting of two lieut.-colonels (Vivian and Kerrison), two
majors (Hon. Berkeley Paget and Hon. G. H. C. Cavendish), eight
captains, six lieutenants, four cornets, four staff-officers,
six quarter-masters, 717 non-commissioned officers, trumpeters,
and privates, and 677 troop-horses, embarked at Portsmouth in
October; on arriving at Corunna, in November, the horses were slung
overboard, and they swam to the shore. The regiment marched by
squadrons to Astorga, from whence it proceeded, with the Tenth and
Fifteenth hussars, towards Salamanca, to join the troops advancing
from Portugal under Lieut.-General Sir John Moore, K.B. The British
commander had been promised that his advance should be covered
by a powerful and victorious Spanish army, and that numerous and
enthusiastic legions of patriots were ready to co-operate with
him; but not a Spanish soldier was in his front;--the enemy was at
hand;--those armies with which he had been ordered to co-operate
had been routed and dispersed, and Bonaparte was approaching the
capital of Spain in triumph. Twenty-three thousand Britons were
not able to cope with three hundred thousand French; but Sir John
Moore resolved to push boldly forward, and menace the French lines,
that he might thus draw Bonaparte with a powerful army from the
capital, which would give time for the southern provinces of Spain
to organize their means of resistance, and for the discomfited
Spanish armies to re-assemble. The boldness and ability with which
this resolution was executed, surprised Napoleon, and deserve the
commendation of posterity. The SEVENTH HUSSARS were employed in
this enterprise, and a piquet of the regiment was engaged on the
21st of December, with the Tenth and Fifteenth hussars, commanded
by Lieut.-General LORD PAGET, in driving a body of French dragoons
from _Sahagun_, when about twenty of the enemy were killed,
and thirteen officers and one hundred and fifty-four men taken
prisoners, in a sharp sword-fight which lasted about twenty minutes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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