In the summer of 1715 the colonelcy of the regiment was conferred on the Lieut.-Colonel, Richard Viscount Irving, in succession to Brigadier-General Hamilton. [Sidenote: 1716] A rebellion in favour of the Pretender broke out in Scotland in the autumn of this year, and the Earl of Mar headed the insurgent clans; but the SIXTEENTH did not take the field: the protection of Fort William was entrusted to their charge; and they were in garrison at this place in the early part of 1716, when the rebellion was suppressed by the troops under the Duke of Argyle. [Sidenote: 1717] [Sidenote: 1724] In December, 1717, Viscount Irving was removed to the second horse, now first dragoon guards, and was succeeded by Lieut.-Colonel John Cholmeley; and this officer dying in April, 1724, King George I. conferred the colonelcy on Henry Earl of Deloraine (son of James Duke of Monmouth), from the Scots troop of horse-grenadier-guards. [Sidenote: 1725] [Sidenote: 1727] The regiment was employed on home service in Great Britain during the whole of the reign of King George I.; it was one of the corps selected to proceed to Holland in 1727, to assist the Dutch in their war with the Imperialists; but no embarkation took place. [Sidenote: 1730] On the 9th of July, 1730, the Earl of Deloraine was removed to the seventh horse, now sixth dragoon-guards, and the colonelcy of the regiment was conferred by King George II. on Colonel Roger Handasyd, from the twenty-second regiment. [Sidenote: 1737] In 1737 the British merchants complained of the depredations committed on their vessels by the Spaniards in South America. A Convention was entered into between the two Crowns, which was, however, violated by the Spaniards in many instances. [Sidenote: 1739] On the 23rd of October, 1739, a declaration of war against Spain was proclaimed, when the establishment of the regiment was augmented. [Sidenote: 1740] In the summer of 1740 the regiment pitched its tents near Newbury, where an encampment was formed of two regiments of horse, three of dragoons, and four of infantry, under Lieut.-General Wade. The SIXTEENTH left the camp and embarked on board the fleet, where they served as Marines a short time, and afterwards landed at Portsmouth. In the autumn they furnished a detachment to accompany the expedition to the West Indies, under General Lord Cathcart, who died on the passage. [Sidenote: 1741] The expedition arrived at Jamaica in January, 1741, and the detachment of the SIXTEENTH was employed in the attempt on _Carthagena_, the capital of an extensive and wealthy province in the country of Terra Firma, in South America. The violent periodical rains occurred before the conquest was achieved, and the armament proved of insufficient strength to capture the place; the country became deluged with water, the health of the soldiers was seriously impaired, and the enterprise was abandoned. The detachment of the SIXTEENTH was nearly annihilated by disease. [Sidenote: 1742]