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Where Have All the Regiments Gone? The Modern Descendants of the Regiments of the 1815 British Army: the Cavalry RegimentsCompiled by Donald E. GravesIntroduction In 2006, as part of a continued attempt by the Labour government to reduce defence expenditures, the British army underwent a major reduction of its strength and a re-organization of its regiments which resulted in numerous regimental amalgamations with some of them seemingly based on illogical and dubious reasoning. Up to 2006, the lineage of the army could be traced back, without a great deal of difficulty, to its 1815 predecessor; after 2006, this has becoming increasingly difficult, particularly for the infantry regiments. This is the first in a series of articles that will attempt to identify the present day (2009) descendants of the regiments of the 1815 army as recorded in The Army List for that year. In January 2007 the army had a strength of just under 120,000, a figure that includes every man and woman in uniform, whether in combat units, undergoing training or serving in the dental corps. Compare this with the United States Marine Corps alone -- which had 194,000 personnel in April 2008 -- and it can be seen why the British army is having difficulty meeting its commitments in Germany, Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as many other places around the globe. Part I: Cavalry Regiments In 1815 there were 36 cavalry regiments of all types in the army, there are just 9 remaining in existence. It should be noted that The Household Cavalry Regiment actually comprises two distinct entities: The Household Cavalry Regiment proper which is equipped with armoured vehicles and has an operational role and The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, which is a horsed ceremonial unit with two squadrons, one being The Life Guards, the other being The Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st The Royal Dragoons). The Household Cavalry is part of The Household Division, along with the infantry units of The Brigade of Guards (Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots, Irish and Welsh Guards) and is not part of the Royal Armoured Corps as are the other cavalry regiments.
Sources Army List, 1815 Ministry of Defence and regimental websites Victor Sutcliffe, compiler, Regiments of the British Army; A Handbook with Lists (East Rudham, 2008) Arthur Swinson, ed., A Register of the Regiments and Corps of the
British Army (
Placed on the Napoleon Series: February - March 2009
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