Carabiniers (6th Dragoon Guards)

The Carabiniers (6th Dragoon Guards) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was formed in 1685 as the Lord Lumley's Regiment of Horse. It was renamed as His Majesty's 1st Regiment of Carabiniers in 1740, the 3rd Regiment of Horse (Carabiniers) in 1756 and the 6th Regiment of Dragoon Guards in 1788. After two centuries of service, including the First World War, the regiment was amalgamated with the 3rd Dragoon Guards (Prince of Wales's) to form the 3rd/6th Dragoon Guards in 1922.

Carabiniers (6th Dragoon Guards)
Cap badge of the 6th Carabiniers
Active1685–1922
Country Kingdom of England (1685–1707)

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

 United Kingdom (1801–1922)
BranchArmy
TypeLine Cavalry
RoleCavalry
SizeOne regiment
Motto(s)"Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense" Anglo-Norman (Shame upon him who evil thinks)
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Henry Leader

History
Richard Lumley, 1st Earl of Scarbrough, the first Colonel of the regiment

The regiment was raised during the reign of James II, by Richard Lumley, 1st Earl of Scarbrough, who recruited an independent troop of horse in response to the 1685 Monmouth Rebellion. It was subsequently used to create Lord Lumley's Regiment of Horse, and ranked as the 9th Regiment of Horse; the Queen Dowager then gave approval for Lumley to use the title The Queen Dowager's Horse.[1]

Lumley was removed in early 1687 for refusing to admit Catholic officers, and replaced by the loyalist Sir John Talbot.[2] Sir George Hewett took over after the 1688 Glorious Revolution, but died in 1689 during the Williamite War in Ireland, and was followed by Richard Beverley. In 1690, it became the 8th Regiment of Horse; transferred to Flanders for the Nine Years' War, it was renamed The King's Regiment of Carabineers in 1692.[1] The regiment was ranked as the 7th Horse in 1694[1] and it fought at the Battle of Blenheim in August 1704 and the Battle of Ramillies in May 1706 during the War of the Spanish Succession.[3]

The regiment was renamed the His Majesty's 1st Regiment of Carabiniers in 1740[1] and it took part in the response to the Jacobite rising in 1745.[3] It was then transferred to the Irish establishment in 1746 and re-ranked as the 3rd Horse.[1] It was next re-designated the 3rd Regiment of Horse (Carabiniers) in 1756 and then transferred back to the British establishment as the 6th Regiment of Dragoon Guards in 1788.[1] It saw action in Flanders again in 1793 during the French Revolutionary Wars.[3] It then became the 6th Regiment of Dragoon Guards (Carabineers) in 1826.[1] It saw action at the Siege of Sevastopol during the Crimean War and was deployed to Afghanistan in the late 1870s during the Second Anglo-Afghan War.[3]

Following the outbreak of the Second Boer War in South Africa, the regiment was sent there in November 1899. They took part in the relief of Kimberley in February 1900.[4] After the war ended in June 1902, the Carabiniers was transferred to Bangalore, as part of the Madras command. 500 officers and men left Natal for India that August.[5] In 1906, the regiment took part in the parade at the Grand Durbar (the visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to Bangalore).[3]

It landed in France at the outbreak of the First World War as part of the 4th Cavalry Brigade in the 1st Cavalry Division on 16 August 1914 for service on the Western Front.[6] It took part in the Battle of Mons in August 1914, the First Battle of the Marne in September 1914, the First Battle of Ypres in October 1914 and the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915 before going on to see further action at the Battle of the Somme in Autumn 1916, the Battle of Arras in April 1917 and the Battle of Cambrai in November 1917.[3]

In October 1922, the regiment was amalgamated with the 3rd Dragoon Guards (Prince of Wales's) to form the 3rd/6th Dragoon Guards.[1]

Regimental museum

The regimental collection is held in the Cheshire Military Museum at Chester Castle.[7] Some items are also held by the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Museum at Edinburgh Castle.[8]

Battle honours
March past by the Carabiniers (6th Dragoon Guards), 1905

The regiment's battle honours were as follows:[1]

Colonels

The regiment's colonels were as follows:[1]

1685 The Queen Dowager's Regiment of Horse

1692 The King's Regiment of Carabineers

1740 His Majesty's 1st Regiment of Carabiniers

1756 3rd Regiment of Horse (Carabiniers)

1788 6th Regiment of Dragoon Guards

1826 6th Regiment of Dragoon Guards (Carabineers)

Uniforms and Insignia

The original uniform of the Queen Dowager's Regiment of Horse is recorded as including a red coat lined with green. In common with other regiments of Horse, cuirasses were worn until 1699. In 1715 the regimental facing colour was changed to pale yellow. In 1768 white lapels were adopted by Royal Warrant. Silver epaulettes were worn by the officers. In 1812 a new model of leather helmet was issued, carrying the title of "6th Dragoon Guards or Carabiniers". In 1861 a complete change of uniform was authorized by Queen Victoria, following the conversion of the regiment to a light cavalry role and appearance.[10] Thereafter until 1914 the full dress of the regiment was entirely dark blue with white facings. Although the designation of Dragoon Guards was retained, the 6th was the only dragoon regiment in the British Army to wear dark blue tunics instead of scarlet. After 1873, a white plume was worn on the brass[11] helmet.[12]

The distinctive feature of the collar and cap badges as worn from 1900 and 1902 respectively, was the appearance of crossed carbines under a crown and above the regimental title.

See also

References
  1. "6th Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers)". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 4 February 2005. Retrieved 5 August 2016.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. Helms, Henning 1983, p. 526.
  3. "6th Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers)". National Army Museum. Archived from the original on 2016-08-10. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  4. "6th Dragoon Guards". Anglo-Boer War. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  5. "The Army in South Africa – Troops returning home". The Times (36853). London. 22 August 1902. p. 5.
  6. "The Dragoon Guards". The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  7. Cheshire Military Museum, Army Museums Ogilby Trust, archived from the original on 17 June 2011, retrieved 18 February 2011
  8. "Welcome". Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Museum. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  9. "No. 27483". The London Gazette. 17 October 1902. p. 6569.
  10. Carman, Michael. British Cavalry Regiments since 1660. p. 126. ISBN 0-7137-1043-8.
  11. Dress Regulations for the Army 1914
  12. Carman, W.Y. Uniforms of the British Army. The Cavalry Regiments. pp. 63–65. ISBN 0-906671-13-2.

Sources
  • Helms, MW, Henning, Basil Duke (1983). TALBOT, John (1630-1714), of Lacock Abbey, Wilts., Long Acre, Westminster and Salwarp, Worcs in The History of Parliament 1660-1690. Secker & Warburg.
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