The King's
Royal Hussars
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The King's |
Royal Hussars |
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The 14th King's Hussars "The 14th Light Dragoons captured a silver chamberpot belonging to Napoleon's Brother. The Emperor's Chambermaids were born"
The early regimental history of the 14th follows a very similar route to that of it's sister regiments. Raised in 1715 to counter the Jacobite revolution the regiment were originally called after the name of the current Commanding Officer. In the case of the 14th regiment of Dragoons, Brigadier General James Dormer took the regiment to Preston where he was promptly injured during one of the battles with the revolutionaries. 1717 saw the regiment posted to Ireland where they were to remain until 1742 when they returned to England as Hamilton's Dragoons. Prestonpas and Falkirk beckoned during the second Jacobite rebellion, 1747 saw a return to Ireland until 1795. The Light Dragoon title became official when in 1776 the practice of identification by the name of the current CO stopped. War with France broke out in 1792 and this action saw elements of the regiment in the form of 2 Troops sent to join the Duke of York's Army in the low countries in 1794. This campaign was particularly badly managed but the men of the 14th made the best of a bad thing and saw action at Boxtell, Tuyl, Geldermalsen, Bueren and Elst. The survivors of the expedition found themselves in Osnabruck where they became absorbed into the ranks of the 8th Dragoons. The remainder of the 14th, some 7 Troops were posted to Haiti where life was as unpleasant due to the unsuitability of the ground for cavalry and the ever present diseases of various types. Of the more than 400 men whom were sent to Haiti only 25 returned to England in the October of 1797. The main cause of these losses were the diseases mentioned earlier and the transfer of men to other units that remained in the area. The regiment were retitled in 1791 to The 14th (Duchess of York's Own) Regiment of Light Dragoons.
The regiment provided the escort for Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal of Prussia on her arrival in England. In 1791 the Duchess married The Duke of York and the change of title mentioned above took place. As a mark of special favour, authority was granted for the regiment to adopt the Prussian Eagle as a badge to be worn on the right side of the Tarleton helmet.. The colour of the regiments facings were changed from Yellow to Orange along with the colour of the then Crimson regimental Guidon. Although the wearing of the Prussian eagle was discontinued in 1915, it now appears as the cap badge of The King's Royal Hussars.
The Orange colored Guidon 1798. the Prussian eagle can be seen in the centre of the Guidon
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