Military Subjects: Organization, Strategy & Tactics

British Cavalry Regiments and the Men Who Led Them 1793-1815: 2nd Dragoon Guards

By Steve Brown

Secondary Titles:

The Queen’s

Regimental History

1685:

20 June – raised as Earl of Peterborough’s Horse

Colonels

1773: 

15 July

George, Marquess Townshend

1807:

18 September

Sir Charles Craufurd

Stations and Combats

1793:

Increased from 9 to 12 troops; 2 squadrons Blackwell; to Ostend; Tournai; Rosendahl; Dunkirk; Ghent

1794:

Ghent; Tournai; April – Cateau; WILLEMS; Vaux; Tournai

1795:

Lower Saxony; Weser; November – Bremenlee; to South Shields; reduced from 12 to 8 troops

1796:

Ipswich; Romford; Wimbledon; Romford;

1797:

Romford; Salisbury; Southampton

1798:

Southampton; June - Salisbury; Windsor; August – Dorchester & Weymouth; December - Croydon

1799:

Croydon; Wimbledon; September – Windsor; Hertford; increased from 8 to 10 troops

1800:

Hertford; Southampton; Wellingborough; Peterborough; June – Exeter; Taunton; Truro; Totnes

1801:

Exeter; August – Bristol; Bath

1802:

Bath; reduced from 10 to 8 troops; Carlisle; to Scotland ; August - Piershill

1803:

Piershill; June – to Ireland ; Dundalk; Lisburn; Drogheda; July – 5 troops to Dublin

1804:

July – 6 troops to Curragh, 2 troops to Longford; September – 8 troops at Phillipstown

1805:

Curragh; December – Dublin; to Liverpool

1806:

Birmingham; Coventry; March – Dorchester; Blandford; increased 8 to 10 troops; August – Plymouth for South America expedition; returned to port; Salisbury

1807:

Salisbury; Chichester; Arundel

1808:

Chichester; Hastings; Rye; Eastbourne; December – Canterbury

1809:

Canterbury; July – 6 troops to Ramsgate; to Walcheren; Flushing; September – to Ramsgate; Canterbury

1810:

Canterbury; April – London (Burdett Riots); Canterbury

1811:

Canterbury; June – Wimbledon; July – Lancashire & Yorkshire

1812:

Lancashire, Yorkshire, Leicestershire – Anti-Luddite actions

1813:

8 troops to Ramsgate – for Peninsula – did not embark

1814:

January – Dover – Louis XVIII departure guard; June – London; July – Scotland ; reduced from 10 to 8 troops

1815:

Scotland ; increased from 8 to 10 troops; June – 6 troops to Dover; to Ostend; August – Paris; Army of Occupation

1818:

November – Calais; to Home.

Careers of Senior Officers (shown as highest rank attained in regiment in the period)

Lt Col George Augustus, Lord Herbert

Born Wiltshire 1759; MP 1780 to 1794; Major in 22nd Light Dragoons 2 April 1781; Lieutenant-Colonel in 2nd Dragoon Guards 13 December 1782 (on transfer from 22nd Light Dragoons); commanded 2nd Dragoon Guards 1782 to 1794; brevet Colonel 12 October 1793; served in Flanders 1793 to 1794; 11th Earl of Pembroke 1794; subsequently Major-General 26 February 1795; Colonel of 6th Dragoons 1797; Lieutenant-General 24 April 1802; Governor of Guernsey 1805; General 1 January 1812; died London 1827.

Lt Col Charles Gregan Craufurd

Born Scotland 1763, older brother of future Light Division commander Robert Craufurd; Major in 2nd Dragoon Guards 29 January 1794; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 12 February 1794; Lieutenant-Colonel 1 March 1794; Deputy Adjutant-General on continent 1794; brevet Colonel 26 January 1797; Colonel of Rutland Fencible Cavalry 28 August 1799; on half pay 1800; subsequently Major-General 25 September 1803; Colonel of 2nd Dragoon Guards 18 September 1807; Lieutenant-General 25 July 1810; died 1821.

Major Thomas Masters

Major in 2nd Dragoon Guards 21 September 1795; retired September 1797.

Lt Col James Hay

Served in Flanders 1793 to 1795; Major in 2nd Dragoon Guards May 1794; Lieutenant-Colonel in 29th Light Dragoons 16 September 1795 (on transfer from 2nd Dragoon Guards); served in West Indies 1795 to 1796; Lieutenant-Colonel in 1st Dragoon Guards May 1797; Lieutenant-Colonel in 2nd Dragoon Guards 19 December 1797; commanded a cavalry depot at Maidstone July 1799; brevet Colonel 25 September 1803; Brigadier-General on staff 1804 yo 1807; subsequently Major-General 25 July 1810; Lieutenant-General 4 June 1814; on staff in Ireland 1814; General 1837; died Edinburgh 1837.

Lt Col Richard Dupuis

Born London 1763; Major in 2nd Dragoon Guards 28 September 1797; Lieutenant-Colonel 28 August 1799; retired November 1803.

Major Hon. Saville Henry Lumley (-Saunderson)

Born Yorkshire 1768, son of Richard, 4th Earl of Scarborough; Major in 2nd Dragoon Guards 26 October 1797; Lieutenant-Colonel in 52nd Foot 4 December 1798.

Major Edgar Hunter

Major in 2nd Dragoon Guards 29 November 1798 (on transfer from 1st Dragoon Guards); Lieutenant-Colonel of 19th Light Dragoons 27 January 1801.

Lt Col John Gaspard le Marchant

Born Amiens 1766; served in Flanders 1793 to 1794; Major in 16th Light Dragoons 9 September 1794 (on transfer from 2nd Dragoon Guards); brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 6 April 1797; Lieutenant-Colonel in Hompesch Hussars 8 April 1797; Lieutenant-Colonel in 29th Light Dragoons June 1797; Lieutenant-Colonel in 7th Light Dragoons 10 June 1797; Lieutenant-Colonel in 2nd Dragoon Guards 19 July 1799; commanded 2nd Dragoon Guards 1799 to 1803; founded Royal Military College 1801; on half-pay 15th Light Dragoons February 1803; brevet Colonel 30 October 1805; Lieutenant-Colonel in 6th Dragoon Guards 25 July 1811; subsequently Major-General 4 June 1811; commanded cavalry brigade in Peninsula August 1811 to July 1812; killed in action at Salamanca.

Major Edward Vicars

Major in 2nd Dragoon Guards 10 September 1799 (on transfer from 2nd Life Guards); brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 11 May 1802; exchanged to 21st Light Dragoons 7 July 1810.

Major Herbert Taylor

Major in 2nd Dragoon Guards 22 January 1801; Lieutenant-Colonel in 9th West India Regiment 19 February 1802.

Lt Col George Augustus Leathes

Major in 1st Foot 9 November 1803; Lieutenant-Colonel in 2nd Dragoon Guards 17 November 1803 (on transfer from 1st Foot); exchanged to York Hussars December 1803.

Lt Col Sir James Erskine, Bt.

Served in Flanders 1793 to 1795; Major in 37th Foot 19 May 1794; Lieutenant-Colonel in 15th Light Dragoons 27 February 1796; served in Helder 1799; brevet Colonel 1 January 1800; Lieutenant-Colonel in 2nd Dragoon Guards 10 February 1803; Brigadier-General on home staff 3 March 1804; subsequently Major-General 28 August 1808; commanded a brigade in 1st Division in Peninsula October 1810 to February 1811; temporary commander of 5th Division February to May 1811; Lieutenant-General 4 June 1813; died London 1825.

Major George Pownall Adams

Born 1780; Major in 2nd Dragoon Guards 5 February 1802; served in Ireland 1803; to Lieutenant-Colonel in 25th Light Dragoons 8 December 1804.

Lt Col Robert Ballard Long

Born Chichester 1771; Served in Flanders 1793 to 1795; served in Irish Rebellion 1798; Lieutenant-Colonel in 2nd Dragoon Guards 3 December 1803 (exchanged from half-pay of York Hussars); to Lieutenant-Colonel in 15th Light Dragoons 12 December 1805.

Lt Col James Kearney

Major in 12th Light Dragoons 27 May 1802; Major in 2nd Dragoon Guards 1 June 1805 (on exchange from 12th Light Dragoons); served in Walcheren 1809; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 25 July 1810; Lieutenant-Colonel 16 June 1814; commanded 2nd Dragoon Guards 1814 to 1830; brevet Colonel 12 August 1819.

Lt Col Hon. William de Blaquiere

Born Ireland 1778; Major in 25th Light Dragoons 1 February 1798; Lieutenant-Colonel in 25th Light Dragoons 22 January 1801; exchanged to Lieutenant-Colonel in 2nd Dragoon Guards 30 July 1807; to Lieutenant-Colonel in 71st Foot 30 July 1810.

Lt Col George, Lord Beresford

Born Ireland 1781, half brother of William Carr Beresford; served in West Indies 1796 to 1798; Major in 6th Dragoon Guards 3 December 1800; Lieutenant-Colonel in Dillon’s Regiment 24 September 1803; Lieutenant-Colonel in 71st Foot 16 August 1804; exchanged to 2nd Dragoon Guards 30 July 1807; brevet Colonel 1 January 1812; subsequently Major-General 4 June 1814; died 1839.

Major William Frederick Spicer

Major in 2nd Dragoon Guards 2 February 1805; exchanged to Lieutenant-Colonel in 12th Light Dragoons 1 June 1805.

Major William Spearman

Major in 21st Light Dragoons 23 March 1805; exchanged to 2nd Dragoon Guards 5 July 1810; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 4 June 1811.

Major William Gordon

Born 1776; convicted of manslaughter in the course of duty at Sandwich April 1814 (fined £50); Major in 2nd Dragoon Guards 21 July 1814; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 12 August 1819; retired 1824; drowned in shipwreck off Glamorgan, 1831.

Sources:

War Office. Army Lists 1796 to 1815. London: various years.

McKenna, Michael G. The British Army – And Its Regiments and Battalions. West Chester, Ohio: The Nafziger Collection. 2004.

Park, S.J. and Nafziger, G.F. The British Miltary – Its System and Organization 1803-1815. Cambridge, Ontario: Rafm Co. Inc. 1983.

Reid, Stuart. Wellington’s Officers, Volume 1. Leigh-On-Sea: Patrizan Press, 2008.

Philippart, John. The Royal Military Calendar, or Army Service and Commission Book. London: A.J. Valpy, 1820.

Queens Dragoons Website. October 2009.

London Gazette Website. October 2009.

Wikipedia. October 2009. Various pages.

 

Placed on the Napoleon Series: November 2009

 

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