5th Dragoon Guards

5th Dragoon Guards (Princess Charlotte of Wales's)

Badge of the 5th Dragoon Guards
Active 1685-1922
Country

 Kingdom of England (1685–1707)
 Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1746, 1788–1800)

 Kingdom of Ireland (1746–1788)
 United Kingdom (1801–1922)
Branch Army
Type Cavalry of the Line
Role Heavy Cavalry
Size 1 Regiment
Nickname(s) The Green Horse[1]
Motto(s) Vestigia nulla restorsum (Latin - We do not retreat)
March (Quick) The Gay Cavalier
Anniversaries Salamanca Day
Commanders
Notable
commanders		 7th Earl of Cardigan

The 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1685 as the Duke of Shrewsbury's Regiment of Horse. It was renamed as the 5th Regiment of Dragoon Guards in 1788 and as the 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Regiment of Dragoon Guards in 1804. It saw service for two centuries, including the First World War, before being amalgamated with The Inniskillings (6th Dragoons), to form the 5th/6th Dragoons in 1922.

History

Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury, the first Colonel of the regiment

The regiment was first raised by Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury as the Duke of Shrewsbury's Regiment of Horse in 1685, as part of the response to the Monmouth Rebellion by the regimenting of various independent troops, and was ranked as the 6th Regiment of Horse.[2] It fought at the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690[3] and the Siege of Limerick in August 1691 during the Williamite War in Ireland.[4] It was part of the covering force at the Siege of Namur in 1695 during the Nine Years' War and then fought at the Battle of Blenheim in August 1704, the Battle of Ramillies in May 1706 and the Battle of Malplaquet in September 1709 during the War of the Spanish Succession.[4]

William Simpson's lithograph depicting the 5th Dragoon Guards at Balaclava during the Crimean War

In 1746 the regiment was transferred to the Irish establishment, where it was ranked as the 2nd Regiment of Horse, and transferred back to the British establishment in 1788 as the 5th Regiment of Dragoon Guards.[2] It charged the French and made them to fall back at the Battle of Beaumont in April 1794 during the French Revolutionary Wars.[4] The regiment went on to fight at the Battle of Arklow, where it charged the rebels on 9 June 1798, the Battle of Vinegar Hill on 21 June 1798 and the Battle of Ballinamuck in September 1798 during the Irish Rebellion.[3] In 1804 it took the title 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Regiment of Dragoon Guards (later simply the 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Dragoon Guards) for Princess Charlotte.[2] It saw action at the Battle of Salamanca in July 1812, Battle of Vitoria in June 1813 and Battle of Toulouse in April 1914 during the Napoleonic Wars.[4] It also took part in the charge of the Heavy Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava in October 1854 during the Crimean War and in the Battle of Abu Klea in January 1885 during the Mahdist War.[3]

The regiment saw action at the Battle of Elandslaagte and the Battle of Lombard's Kop in October 1899 during the Anglo-Boer War.[5] It landed in France at the outbreak of the First World War as part of the 1st Cavalry Brigade in the 1st Cavalry Division on 16 August 1914 for service on the Western Front.[6] After the war, it retitled as 5th Dragoon Guards (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) in 1921, and was amalgamated with The Inniskillings (6th Dragoons), to form the 5th/6th Dragoons the following year.[2]

Battle honours

Rough Rider Michael MacNamara of the 5th Dragoon Guards after serving in the Crimean War in 1856

The regiment's battle honours were as follows:[2]

Colonels

Grave of J Whiston of the 5th Dragoon Guards at St Mary's Church, Eccleston
Memorial window at St Macartin's Cathedral, Enniskillen

Colonels of the regiment have been as follows:[2]

1685 Duke of Shrewsbury's Horse

1751 2nd Regiment of Horse

1788 5th Regiment of Dragoon Guards

1804 5th (the Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Regiment of Dragoon Guards

5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Dragoon Guards - (1823)

See also

References

  1. ↑ Regimental nicknames and traditions of the British army. London: Gale & Polden. 1916. p. 9. Retrieved 2010-03-10.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Mills, T.F. "5th Dragoon Guards (Princess Charlotte of Wales's)". regiments.org. Archived from the original on February 4, 2005. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 "5th Dragoon Guards (Princess Charlotte of Wales's)". National Army Museum. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "5th Dragoon Guards". British Empire. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  5. ↑ "5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Dragoon Guards". Anglo-Boer War. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  6. ↑ "The Dragoon Guards". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 5 August 2016.

Further reading

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