Historical Record of the Thirteenth Regiment of Light Dragoons

Chapter III: Part 3

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FRANCIS LIGONIER, descended from the ancient family of Ligonier, many years resident in Languedoc, in France. Being of the Protestant religion, he withdrew from that country in the time of Louis XIV., and, with his brother John, (afterwards Earl Ligonier,) entered the British service. In his first commission he was designated Francis de Ligonier, but the _de_ was afterwards discontinued. He was appointed major of the eighth horse, now seventh dragoon guards, in 1729, and lieut.-colonel in 1737, and under his care that regiment became celebrated for efficiency and exemplary conduct in quarters and in the field. He commanded the eighth horse at the battle of Dettingen, where he highly distinguished himself, and was wounded; and he was rewarded in April, 1745, with the colonelcy of the forty-eighth foot, from which he was removed in October to the THIRTEENTH Dragoons. He served under Lieut.-General Hawley, in Scotland, in January, 1746, and while suffering from an attack of the pleurisy, he quitted his bed to command the cavalry at the battle of Falkirk, where he again signalized himself; but fatigue, and exposure to the cold and wet, brought on a disease, of which he died a few days afterwards, much regretted by all who knew him.

PHILIP NAISON,

_Appointed 17th February, 1746_.

This officer entered the army in 1708, and he acquired a reputation for attention to his duties and for personal bravery. He was many years in the royal dragoons, and commanded that regiment at the battle of Dettingen, where it captured the standard of the Mousquetairs Noirs. He was also wounded at the head of the royal dragoons at the battle of Fontenoy; and in 1746 King George II. rewarded him with the colonelcy of the THIRTEENTH Dragoons. He died in 1750.

SIR CHARLES ARMAND POWLET, K.B.,

_Appointed 26th January, 1751_.

CHARLES ARMAND POWLET, choosing the profession of arms, obtained a commission as cornet of horse in 1710; he served many years in the household cavalry, and was promoted to the lieut.-colonelcy of the first troop of horse grenadier guards by King George II., who afterwards rewarded him with the colonelcy of the ninth regiment of marines, by commission dated the 27th of December, 1740. At the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle his regiment was disbanded; and in November, 1749, he was appointed colonel of the ninth foot; he was also promoted to the rank of major-general, was honoured with the dignity of a knight of the bath, and held an appointment in the establishment of the Prince of Wales. In 1751 he was removed to the THIRTEENTH Dragoons: he died in November of the same year.

THE HONORABLE HENRY SEYMOUR CONWAY,

_Appointed 25th December, 1751_.

THE HONORABLE HENRY SEYMOUR CONWAY, second son of Lord Conway, and brother of Francis Earl of Hertford, was appointed lieutenant in the first foot guards in 1737, captain and lieut.-colonel in 1741, and in 1746 he was appointed aide-de-camp to the Duke of Cumberland, and promoted to the colonelcy of the fifty-ninth (now forty-eighth) foot. He was removed to the thirty-fourth foot in 1749, to the THIRTEENTH Dragoons in 1751, and to the fourth horse, now seventh dragoon guards, in 1754. In 1756 he was promoted to the rank of major-general, and in 1759 to that of lieut.-general, and he was removed to the royal dragoons in the same year. He commanded a division of the allied army in Germany under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick in 1761; and the British forces in Germany were placed under his orders during the absence of the Marquis of Granby. He was also one of the grooms of the bed-chamber to his majesty, and a member of parliament; and having voted against ministers on the great question of military warrants, in 1764, he resigned his court appointment and military commands; but in 1768 he was appointed colonel of the fourth dragoons. In 1770 he succeeded the Marquis of Granby in the colonelcy of the royal regiment of horse guards; in 1772 he was promoted to the rank of general, and in 1793 to that of field-marshal. He died in 1795; at which period he was eldest general officer, and first field-marshal in the army.

JOHN MOSTYN,

_Appointed 8th July, 1754_.

This officer was appointed ensign on the 29th of February, 1732, and after a short service he was promoted to captain in the thirty-first foot, from which he was advanced in 1742 to the commission of captain-lieutenant in the second foot guards. He served with his regiment on the continent, and was wounded at the battle of Fontenoy in 1745. In 1747 he was appointed aide-de-camp to King George II.; in 1751 His Majesty gave him the colonelcy of the seventh regiment of foot, from which he was removed, in 1754, to the THIRTEENTH Dragoons, and in 1757 he was promoted to the rank of major-general: in 1758 he was removed to the fifth, royal Irish, dragoons. He commanded a brigade of infantry under Charles, Duke of Marlborough, in the expedition to St. Maloes, in 1758; in 1759 he was promoted to the rank of lieut.-general, and in 1760 he was removed to the colonelcy of the seventh dragoons. He served under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, in Germany, and signalized himself at many general engagements and skirmishes during the years 1759-60-61, and -62; and at the termination of the war he was appointed colonel of the first dragoon guards; in 1772 he was promoted to the rank of general. He died in March, 1779.

ARCHIBALD DOUGLAS,

_Appointed 18th October, 1758_.

After a progressive service in the subordinate commissions, this officer was promoted to the lieut.-colonelcy of the fourth dragoons in February, 1747; he was also advanced to the rank of colonel in the army, and honoured with the appointment of aide-de-camp to the King. In 1758 His Majesty conferred upon him the colonelcy of the THIRTEENTH Dragoons. He was promoted to the rank of major-general in 1759, and to that of lieut.-general in 1761. He died at Dublin, in October, 1778.

RICHARD PIERSON,

_Appointed 27th November, 1778_.

RICHARD PIERSON was many years an officer in the first foot guards, in which regiment he was appointed major, with the rank of colonel in the army, on the 21st of July, 1760. In 1762 he was promoted to the rank of major-general, and in 1764 he was appointed colonel of the sixty-third regiment of foot, from which he was removed in the following year to the thirty-sixth regiment. In 1772 he was promoted to the rank of lieut.-general; he was also honoured with the dignity of a Knight of the Bath; and in 1778 he was removed to the THIRTEENTH Dragoons. He was taken suddenly ill on his return from the theatre on the night of the 12th of February, 1781, and died before the following morning.

FRANCIS CRAIG,

_Appointed 15th February, 1781_.

FRANCIS CRAIG obtained a commission of ensign and lieutenant in the second foot guards on the 22nd of April, 1742, and he served in that regiment upwards of thirty-three years. He served with the brigade of foot guards in Germany, in 1760-61, and -62, and was promoted to the rank of colonel in the army in 1763. In 1775 he was advanced from first major of the second, to lieutenant-colonel of the first, foot guards, and promoted to the rank of major-general. In 1777 he attained the rank of lieutenant-general; he was appointed colonel of the THIRTEENTH Dragoons in 1781, and promoted to the rank of general in 1793. He was many years governor of Sheerness. He died in 1811, in the eighty-sixth year of his age.

THE HON. SIR HENRY GEORGE GREY, G.C.B., G.C.H.

_Appointed 30th December, 1811_.

SUCCESSION OF LIEUTENANT-COLONELS, THIRTEENTH LIGHT DRAGOONS.

* The Officers, whose names are marked thus,*, were appointed to
a regiment in India, in consequence of commanding the Cavalry
Depôt at Maidstone;--but they did not join the regiment.

FOOTNOTES:

[12] In the _Life of Colonel James Gardiner_, by the Rev. J. Doddridge, D.D., the circumstances connected with his being wounded at Ramilies are detailed, which the Doctor states he had the pleasure of hearing more than once from the colonel's own mouth: but the doctor's memory must have failed in a few points, as there are some palpable errors in the statement, such as--"the French were masters of that spot (Ramilies) though their forces were defeated at some distance;" &c. &c.

[13] Sir Walter Scott.

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE

Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been
corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within
the text and consultation of external sources.

The 2-column list of officers on pages 70/71 has been reordered in
a single column so that all Captains precede all Lieutenants.

All { brackets have been removed from the Table on page 96, since
there is no ambiguity in the etext table. This Table has a 'footnote'
referenced by * which remains placed at the bottom of the Table.

Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text,
and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained. For example,
Field Marshal, Field-Marshal; bedchamber, bed-chamber; patrole;
piquet; riband; signalized; rencounter.

Pg 19, 'Philip Naizon' is also called 'Philip Naison' elsewhere in
the book. Other external sources are also inconsistent in this
regard.
Pg 22, 'Royal Fusileers' replaced by 'Royal Fusiliers'.
Pg 70, 'Lt.-Cl. Patrick' replaced by 'Lt.-Col. Patrick'.

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Historical Record of the Thirteenth Regiment of Light DragoonsChapter III: Part 3

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