The first Second Troop of Life Guards consisted originally of a number of loyal gentlemen who had fought for King Charles I. After his murder they fled to the continent, and entered the Spanish service with the title of “His Royal Highness The Duke of York’s Troop of Guards.” After the peace of 1659 they retired to the Netherlands till 1660, when King Charles II. made them the Second Troop of Life Guards. It became the Third Troop in 1670, and was disbanded in 1746. The Regiment has the same origin as the First Life Guards. It wore cuirasses from its formation to 1698, and resumed them in 1821. It bears the Royal Arms as its crest. It obtained its sea-green facings in honour of Queen Catherine, whose favourite colour it was. It is not known when the facings were changed, but it was between 1690 and 1742; its standard was changed from crimson to blue in 1758. ROYAL HORSE GUARDS. -------------------------+-----------------+----------------------- | Colour of | Titles. +--------+--------+Campaigns, Battles, &c. |Uniform.|Facings.| -------------------------+--------+--------+----------------------- The Royal Regiment of |Scarlet,| Blue, |Walcourt, 1689. Horse. 1661–1687| 1661--.|1661--. |Flanders, 1689–1690. The Royal Regiment of | | |Boyne, 1690. Horse Guards. | | |Anghrim, 1691. 1687–1750| | |Dettingen, 1743. Royal Horse Guards Blue. | | |Fontenoy, 1745. 1750–1819| | |Flanders, 1742–1745. Royal Horse Guards. | | |Minden, 1759. 1819---- | | |Warbourg, 1760. | | |Wilhelmstahl, 1762. | | |Germany, 1758–1762. | | |Cateau, 1794. | | |Tournay, 1794. | | |Flanders, 1794–1795. | | |Peninsula, 1812–1814. | | |Waterloo, 1815. | | |Netherlands, 1815. -------------------------+--------+--------+----------------------- This Regiment is the only Regiment of Cavalry now in existence that formed part of the Parliamentary Army during the reign of King Charles I., and was then known as Colonel Unton Crook’s. At the Restoration it was called “The Royal Regiment.” It wore cuirasses from its formation to 1698, and resumed them in 1821. It bears the Royal Arms as its crest.