Horse Grenadier Guards
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The Horse Grenadier Guards were a series of cavalry troops in the British Household Cavalry between 1687 and 1788. Originally attached to the Horse Guards, they became independent for a century before being disbanded. However, the men of the troops formed the basis of the new troops of Life Guards.
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[edit] History
Horse grenadiers were first raised in 1660 in conjunction with the establishment of the Horse Guards. The Horse Guards consisted of gentlemen volunteers, but each troop of Guards was augmented by 60 grenadiers, raised in the usual fashion from the lower classes.[1] These grenadiers functioned as mounted infantry, riding with the Horse Guards but fighting with grenades and muskets on foot.[2][3]
In 1687, the horse grenadiers were separated from the Horse Guards as the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Troop of Grenadiers, one for each of the three existing troops of Horse Guards. As with the Horse Guards, the captains commanding the troops ranked as Captain & Colonel. However, in 1693, the three troops were amalgamated into one troop, the Horse Grenadier Guards. Another troop, the Scots Troop of Grenadiers, was raised in 1702 as part of the Scottish Army, associated with the 4th or Scots Troop of Horse Guards. These became part of the British establishment in 1709, and the grenadiers became the 2nd Troop of the Horse Grenadier Guards.
In 1788, army reforms broke up the "gentlemen's club" of the Horse Guards. The two extant troops of Horse Guards became the Life Guards, and the private gentlemen who had heretofore made up the ranks of the regiment were largely pensioned off.[2][4] The Horse Grenadier Guards were disbanded at the same time, and many of the men transferred to the Life Guards[5], making up the bulk of the new regiment. The wholesale replacement of aristocrats by common troopers gave the Life Guards the derisory nickname of "Cheeses" or "Cheesemongers".[3][2]
[edit] Captains & Colonels, 1st Troop, Horse Grenadier Guards
- Hon. George Cholmondeley (4 October 1693 – 2 February 1715)
- Richard Lumley, Lord Lumley (2 February 1715 – 11 December 1717)
- Hon. John Fane (11 December 1717 – 7 August 1733)
- Sir Robert Rich, 4th Baronet (7 August 1733 – 13 May 1735)
- Sir Charles Hotham, 5th Baronet (13 May 1735 – 10 February 1738)
- James Dormer (10 February 1738 – 25 December 1742)
- Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham (25 December 1742 – 25 April 1745)
- Richard Onslow (25 April 1745 – 16 March 1760)
- Thomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Effingham (30 October 1760 – 19 November 1763)
- John West, Viscount Cantelupe (21 November 1763 – 21 March 1766)
- John Whitwell, 4th Baron Howard de Walden (21 March 1766 – 8 June 1788)
[edit] Captains & Colonels, 2nd Troop (Scots), Horse Grenadier Guards
- William Forbes, 13th Lord Forbes (12 May 1702 – 4 May 1704)
- John Lindsay, 19th Earl of Crawford (4 May 1704 – December 1713)
- George Keith, 10th Earl Marischal (5 January 1714 – 1 June 1715)
- Henry Scott, 1st Earl of Deloraine (1 June 1715 – 17 July 1717)
- George Forrester, 5th Lord Forrester (17 July 1717 – 21 April 1719)
- Hon. Henry Berkeley (21 April 1719 – May 1736)
- Francis Howard, 1st Earl of Effingham (21 June 1737 – 25 December 1740)
- John Lindsay, 20th Earl of Crawford (25 December 1740 – 1 April 1743)
- James O'Hara, 2nd Baron Tyrawley (1 April 1743 – 25 April 1745)
- John Leslie, 10th Earl of Rothes (25 April 1745 – 5 June 1745)
- William Stanhope, 2nd Earl of Harrington (5 June 1745 – 1 April 1779)
- Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst (21 April 1779 – 23 March 1782)
- Prince Frederick Augustus (23 March 1782 – 1 November 1784)
- Hugh Percy, 2nd Duke of Northumberland (1 November 1784 – 8 June 1788)
[edit] References
- ^ Tincey, John; Gerry Embleton (1994). The British Army 1660-1704. Great Britain: Osprey Publishing, 43. Retrieved on 2008-06-05.
- ^ a b c Knollys, W.W. (August 1877). "Regimental Distinctions, Traditions, and Anecdotes". The Gentleman's Magazine CCXLI: 225–226. Piccadilly: Chatto & Windus.
- ^ a b Household Cavalry. Retrieved on 2008-06-05.
- ^ Holmes, Richard (2002). Redcoat: The British Soldier in the Age of Horse and Musket. W. W. Norton & Company, 103. ISBN 0393052117. Retrieved on 2008-06-05.
- ^ Holden, Robert (1888-05-01). "The Grenadiers of the British Army". Illustrated Naval and Military Magazine VIII (47).
