24th Regiment of (Light) Dragoons

24th Light Dragoons
Officer of the 24th Light Dragoons circa 1795, courtesy of Somerset Council and the South West Heritage Trust, 2020
Active1794–1819
Disbanded1819
Country United Kingdom
BranchBritish Army
TypeCavalry
Nickname(s)Loftus Regiment
Motto(s)Death or Glory
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Lord William Bentinck

English Establishment

The regiment was raised by Colonel William Loftus[1] and was commissioned on the 20th March, 1794 as the 24th Regiment of (Light) Dragoons,[2] which was sworn in at Netley Camp, near Southampton. On the 1st of October, Colonel Loftus was commissioned as the Colonel of the Regiment,[3] moving his Headquarters to Blandford in Dorset in the same month, billeting in neighbouring towns and villages for six months. Lt. Colonel Lord William Bentinck was appointed to command the regiment, reporting at Blandford by the 28th December, 1794.[4] The portrait of a (mounted) dragoon depicted here shows him wearing a blue uniform with yellow facings, and silver lace & buttons, where the helmet has a leopardskin turban bearing the motto "Death or Glory".

Loftus had raised the regiment with the intention of serving in Ireland, deliberately recruited mostly from Norfolk men[5] and not Irish recruits to reduce the potential for conflicts of interest. Once orders for assignment to Ireland had been completed,[6] the Regiment moved to Bath in April 1795, under orders to march to Liverpool for embarkation to Ireland, landing at Dublin on 2 May.[7]

Irish Establishment

Bentinck commanded the Regiment in Ireland,[8] quartered in Clonmel initially. Bentinck took a squadron to Armagh in response to the Battle of the Diamond, transferring his headquarters to Armagh in October. On December the 25th, the entire Regiment was transferred to the Irish Establishment.[9] The Regiment retained its presence in Armagh in 1796 and 1797,[10] latterly to guard against a landing of French invasion force in the north.[11] In the year of Irish rebellion in 1798, the 24th were given repeatedly marching orders to defend against the landing of French troops who were to support the uprising. When the rebellion itself broke out on June 7th in Antrim, the Regiment was headquartered in Armagh under Bentinck’s command. When French troops under General Humbert did land at Killala on August 22nd, the 24th were ordered by General Nugent to march to Enniskillen, where Bentinck was required to take command as Brigadier[12]. French reinforcements were expected to bolster General Humbert’s small force but nobody knew where they might land. After Humbert was defeated in early September, the Regiment was brought back north to relieve the defences at Belturbet, Cavan and Enniskillen in expectation of a larger imminent invasion force[13]. As it turned out, the 24th probably never faced the French, who were defeated a month later by weather and a naval battle. By the 24th of October 1798, it was all over for French intervention in Ireland; the Regiment returned to its headquarters in Armagh and thereafter to Dublin for the rest of its service in Ireland.[14]

A new beginning

Loftus had hatched the concept of raising a regiment of Cavalry in Ireland as early as 1783[15] but he lacked the experience, funding and support to carry it through. Ten years later, he succeeded in raising both funds and support, as concerns were increasing about the French Revolutionary Wars. There is no contemporary record that the regiment was raised as Fencible but following the Treaty of Amiens, the 24th Regiment was disbanded in 1802 along with the 22nd, 23rd, and 28th Regiments.

In the following year, the 27th Regiment of (Light) Dragoons was renamed the 24th serving in India, where they were exposed to an adventurous period of service under the command of Lord Lake, gaining the right to wear an Elephant badge with the honor ‘HINDOSTAN’. In general orders issued on the departure of the regiment from India on October 8th, 1818, its services were very highly spoken of[16] but in 1819, they left Bengal to return to England, when on 4 May 1819, the Prince Regent ordered the 24th to be abandoned.[17] On the 24th of May, 1819, the Regiment was abandoned at Chatham.

Action
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References
  1. Lord Amherst (1794-04-03). "Approval promoting Major William Bentinck to Lt. Colonel". Letter to Lt. Colonel William Loftus. p. PW Ja 244.
  2. An alphabetical guide to certain war office and other military records, Public record office lists & indexes, 1963, Number 53 p.323
  3. Carman, William Y (2000). "24TH LIGHT DRAGOONS". Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research. 78 (315): 219.
  4. Loftus, Col William (1794-12-31). "Regimental business". Letter to Lt. Col. Lord William Bentinck. p. PW Ja 249.
  5. Loftus, Charles (1877). My Life, from 1815-1849 volume I. London: Hurst & Blackett. p. 116.
  6. Fawcett, Sir William (1795-04-02). "Mobilisation orders for the 24th Light Dragoons for Ireland". Letter to General William Loftus. p. 35.
  7. Carman, William Y (2000). "24TH LIGHT DRAGOONS". Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research. 78 (315): 219.
  8. Finns Leinster Journal, 30th May 1795, p.2
  9. Loftus, General William (1796-08-08). "Transfer of the 24th Light Dragoons Regiment Establishment to Ireland". Letter to Lt Colonel Lord William Bentinck.
  10. Belfast Newsletter, 11th June 1798, p.3
  11. Lake, General (1796-08-08). "Deployment of the 24th Light Dragoons to Dundalk". Letter to General William Loftus.
  12. General Nugent (1798-08-24). "Marching orders of the 24th Regiment of (Light) Dragoons". Letter to Colonel Lord William Bentinck. p. # T2905/21/98.
  13. General Nugent (1798-09-29). "Marching orders of the 24th Regiment of (Light) Dragoons". Letter to Colonel Lord William Bentinck. p. # T2905/21/104.
  14. Ó Muirí, Réamonn (1983). "Lt John Lindley St. Leger, United Irishman". Seanchas Ardmhacha: Journal of the Armagh Diocesan Historical Society. 11 (1): 133–201.
  15. Ely, Lord (1783-12-28). "Proposal to raise a regiment of cavalry in Ireland". Letter to Captain William Loftus. p. 21.
  16. Mackie, Charles (1901). Norfolk Annals VOl I. Norwich: Norfolk Chronicle. p. 172.
  17. Carman, William Y (2000). "24TH LIGHT DRAGOONS". Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research. 78 (315): 220.
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