HOUSEHOLD CAVALRY INFORMATION - THE LIFE GUARDS 1660-1815

BRIEF REGIMENTAL HISTORY OF

THE LIFE GUARDS 1660-1815

LG Badge

THE LIFE GUARDS

1660 - 1815

1660	Just before the restoration of King Charles II, a Royal mounted bodyguard was formed in Holland, from eighty Royalists who had gone into exile with the King after the Battle of Worcester (1652). In March 1660, the King appointed officers to three Troops of Horse Guards, which formed at the King's return to England in May 1660. These three Troops were originally commanded by Lord Gerard of Brandon, Sir Charles Berkeley and Sir Phillip Howard.
1661	A Fourth (Scots) Troop was raised in Edinburgh, 2nd April 1661, commanded by James, Earl of Newburgh. This Troop joined the English establishment early in the reign of Queen Anne.
1678	Three Troops of Horse Grenadier Guards (mounted infantry) were added to the three English Troops of Horse Guards in 1678. They were disbanded in January 1680 but re-raised in 1684.
1685	The Horse Guards were engaged at Sedgemoor (Monmouth Rebellion).

1660

Image From 1660

Private Gentleman of
the 1st or His Majesty's
Own Troop of Guards

This Regiment dates its origin from the Restoration,
when eighty cavalier
gentlemen, under the
command of Lord Gerard,
were formed into the personal bodyguard of Charles II, and were called on parade "Gentlemen of
the Life Guards".

The corporals were commissioned officers ranking with the "eldest Lieutenant of Horse" in
other regiments of
cavalry.

1742

Image From 1742

Trooper of
Horse Grenadiers

The Horse Grenadiers
were formed in 1693 and
1702. They were armed
with fusils and bayonets, hatchets, pistols, swords
and grenade pouches.

The pointed cloth grenadier
cap is of the type depicted
by Hogarth, and bears the
Royal Arms and Star
of the Garter.

The details of the dress
are taken from a curious
old print in the British
Museum, dated 1743.
They were absorbed into
the 1st and 2nd Life Guards
in 1788.

1740-60

Image From 1740-1760

Negro Trumpeter

At about this period,
there was attached
to the Life Guards a
huge negro - who was
a trumpeter.

The uniform was almost identical with that worn
on state occasions by
the bands today, except that he wore a cocked hat instead of the velvet cap.

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1689 - 1693	The Horse Guards and Horse Grenadier Guards took part in the Jacobite wars in Flanders and Ireland, and fought at Walcourt, the Boyne, Steenkirk and Landen.
1742 - 1746	3rd and 4th Troops of Horse Guards and 2nd Troop Horse Grenadiers served on the continent during the War of Austrian Succession. They played a leading role in the rout of the French Household Cavalry at Dettingen (1743) and covered the infantry's retreat after Fontenoy (1745).
1746	The 3rd and 4th Troops of Horse Guards were disbanded.
1753	The Horse Guards building was completed, near to the site of the Holbein Gate of Whitehall Palace (which was destroyed by fire in 1698). It was then the official - and only - entrance to the King's London residence at St James's Palace, and remained so after King George III moved to Buckingham House in 1762. The Mall was closed at both ends until Trafalgar Square was completed (1841). Queen Victoria retained Horse Guards as the official entrance to Buckingham Palace, which it still is today. This is why The Queen's Life Guard is posted here, and the name 'Horse Guards' refers to its original guardians from 1660 to date.

1st Scots Troop LG - 1698

1st Scots Troop of Life Guards - 1698

2nd Scots Troop Horse Grenadiers - 1751

2nd Scots Troop Horse Grenadiers - 1751

Cap Badge - First Life Guiards

1st Life Guards

Badge - 2nd Life Guards

2nd Life Guards

1788	The Troops of Horse Guards were disbanded and re-formed as the 1st and 2nd Regiments of Life Guards. In 1922 the 1st and 2nd Life Guards amalgamated and until 1928 were styled 'The Life Guards (1st and 2nd)'. In 1928 the name of the Regiment became 'The Life Guards'.
1811	The beginning of the Regency marked the large number of drastic changes in dress which continued until the present-day State uniform of the Regiment became fixed early in Victoria's reign.
1813 - 1814	Both 1st and 2nd Life Guards participated in the Peninsular Campaign; a Squadron of the 1st Life Guards was the first to enter Vittoria after the battle (21st June 1813).
1815	The 1st and 2nd Life Guards formed the front charging line of the Household Cavalry Brigade at Waterloo. The famous charge against the French Cuirassiers took place at the height of the battle and saved the British centre from being overrun.