4th Troop of Horse Guards
Encyclopedia
The 4th Troop of Horse Guards was the Scottish unit within the Horse Guards Regiment
. It was part of the United Kingdom military establishment from 1709 to 1746, but before the Union of the Parliaments, it had been an independent unit in Scotland, sometimes referred to in modern works as the Scots Troop of Horse. The unit's establishment is usually dated to 1661, although its antecedents extend back to the fifteenth century.
. A regular succession of captains is recorded from then on, but the size and organization of the unit changed several times: in 1584 it was a small mounted escort of forty veteran troopers, its lowest recorded strength, but in 1594 it reached what was probably its largest size, mustering four cavalry troops plus 400 infantry. Although the guard was retained in Scotland after the Union of the Crowns
, the unit was downsized to just ten men in 1609, and it seems to have been disbanded in 1628.
After 1628, there seems to have been no separate Guard in Scotland, although when Charles I raised a Life Guard to fight in the English Civil War
, it incorporated a sizable Scottish contingent, including the commanding officer, Lord Bernard Stewart
.
as lieutenant-colonel and as captain of the bodyguard troop. Eglinton was captured early in 1651, but the Life Guard appears to have fought at the Battle of Worcester
, after which Newburgh escaped into exile.
After the Restoration, Newburgh mustered a revived bodyguard troop in Edinburgh in March 1661, numbering four officers, five NCOs, and 120 troopers, plus a surgeon and clerk, three trumpeters and a drummer. This was a prestige unit, in which the lowest-ranking NCOs held captains' commissions from the Civil War, and the lowliest troopers were gentlemen's sons. It ranked as the senior unit of Scotland's new standing army.
At the same time, a second troop of guards was raised, commanded directly by the Lord High Commissioner
, effectively the Scottish viceroy for the absent king in London, who was also Captain-General of the army. When the Earl of Rothes
fell from office in 1667, he retained command of his troop along with the ceremonial dignity of Lord Chancellor
, but the unit was disbanded in 1676 due to military cost-cutting and replaced in its ceremonial role by the volunteer Company of Archers
. Two years later, the officers of the disbanded troop formed a new unit separate from the life guard, the first of several Independent Troops of Horse which were combined into a regiment
in 1682.
From 1676 onwards, the Scottish life guard consisted effectively of a single troop, usually identified as the "Troop of Life Guard" or "Life Guard of Horse", but it could be described as a nominal "Royal Regiment of Horse Guards" in the reign of James VII and II, and its officers were now explicitly regarded as the equivalent of regimental field officer
s, led by the "Colonel and Captain".
In 1688, during the Glorious Revolution
, all but one of the officers remained loyal to King James, or at the very least, resigned their commissions; but William of Orange
quickly appointed the Earl of Drumlanrig
to command a reconstituted Scots Troop. From 1690, they were based in England, initially as a bodyguard for Queen Mary
while the English Life Guards were with William in Ireland. They did not deploy to Scotland until 1697.
In 1709, due to the full merger of the separate English and Scottish armies, the unit was transferred to the British establishment, where it was designated as the 4th Troop of Horse Guards.
On its transfer to the British Establishment, the Scots Troop moved back to London in 1709. The unit still remained distinctively Scottish, but it became a unit reserved for the rich, with even a trooper's appointment costing 100 guineas, and the men being expected to supply their own horses. Nonetheless, the troopers distinguished themselves at the Battle of Dettingen
and Battle of Fontenoy
, but in 1746, the Horse Guards were reorganized. The Scots Troop, along with the Duke of York's Troop
, ceased to exist as a unit, although the continuity of the 4th Troop was later vested in the 2nd Troop of Horse Guards
.
Horse Guards Regiment
The Horse Guards Regiment was a regiment only in name: it actually consisted of several independent troops raised initially on the three different establishments...
. It was part of the United Kingdom military establishment from 1709 to 1746, but before the Union of the Parliaments, it had been an independent unit in Scotland, sometimes referred to in modern works as the Scots Troop of Horse. The unit's establishment is usually dated to 1661, although its antecedents extend back to the fifteenth century.
The mounted Guard before 1650
The recorded history of the royal guard in Scotland dates from the 1440s, when Sir Patrick Gray is recorded as captain of the guard under King James IIJames II of Scotland
James II reigned as King of Scots from 1437 to his death.He was the son of James I, King of Scots, and Joan Beaufort...
. A regular succession of captains is recorded from then on, but the size and organization of the unit changed several times: in 1584 it was a small mounted escort of forty veteran troopers, its lowest recorded strength, but in 1594 it reached what was probably its largest size, mustering four cavalry troops plus 400 infantry. Although the guard was retained in Scotland after the Union of the Crowns
Union of the Crowns
The Union of the Crowns was the accession of James VI, King of Scots, to the throne of England, and the consequential unification of Scotland and England under one monarch. The Union of Crowns followed the death of James' unmarried and childless first cousin twice removed, Queen Elizabeth I of...
, the unit was downsized to just ten men in 1609, and it seems to have been disbanded in 1628.
After 1628, there seems to have been no separate Guard in Scotland, although when Charles I raised a Life Guard to fight in the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, it incorporated a sizable Scottish contingent, including the commanding officer, Lord Bernard Stewart
Lord Bernard Stewart
Lord Bernard Stewart was a Scottish aristocrat who served as a Royalist commander in the English Civil War. He was the youngest of five sons of Esmé Stewart, 3rd Duke of Lennox and his wife Katherine Clifton, 2nd Baroness Clifton, and the brother of James Stewart, 1st Duke of Richmond.Lord Bernard...
.
The Life Guard, 1650-1709
In 1650, when Charles II landed in Scotland, a mounted regiment of Life Guards was formed, with the Earl of Eglinton as Colonel or Captain-General, and Viscount NewburghJames Levingston, 1st Earl of Newburgh
James Livingston, 1st Earl of Newburgh was a Scottish peer.He succeeded his father as 2nd Baronet, styled "of Kinnaird", in 1628, and in 1647, as Sir James Livingston of Kinnaird, 2nd Baronet, was created Viscount of Newburgh in the Peerage of Scotland with remainder to the heirs male of his body...
as lieutenant-colonel and as captain of the bodyguard troop. Eglinton was captured early in 1651, but the Life Guard appears to have fought at the Battle of Worcester
Battle of Worcester
The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 at Worcester, England and was the final battle of the English Civil War. Oliver Cromwell and the Parliamentarians defeated the Royalist, predominantly Scottish, forces of King Charles II...
, after which Newburgh escaped into exile.
After the Restoration, Newburgh mustered a revived bodyguard troop in Edinburgh in March 1661, numbering four officers, five NCOs, and 120 troopers, plus a surgeon and clerk, three trumpeters and a drummer. This was a prestige unit, in which the lowest-ranking NCOs held captains' commissions from the Civil War, and the lowliest troopers were gentlemen's sons. It ranked as the senior unit of Scotland's new standing army.
At the same time, a second troop of guards was raised, commanded directly by the Lord High Commissioner
Lord High Commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland
The Lord High Commissioners to the Parliament of Scotland, sometimes referred to as the fifth estate of the Estates of Scotland, were the Scottish Sovereign's personal representative to the Parliament of Scotland following James VI of Scotland's accession to the throne of England and his becoming,...
, effectively the Scottish viceroy for the absent king in London, who was also Captain-General of the army. When the Earl of Rothes
John Leslie, 1st Duke of Rothes
John Leslie , son of John Leslie, 6th Earl of Rothes, was the 7th Earl of Rothes and 1st Duke of Rothes. He was a descendant of Princess Beatrix, sister of King Malcolm III of Scotland...
fell from office in 1667, he retained command of his troop along with the ceremonial dignity of Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor of Scotland
The Lord Chancellor of Scotland was a Great Officer of State in pre-Union Scotland.Holders of the office are known from 1123 onwards, but its duties were occasionally performed by an official of lower status with the title of Keeper of the Great Seal...
, but the unit was disbanded in 1676 due to military cost-cutting and replaced in its ceremonial role by the volunteer Company of Archers
Royal Company of Archers
The Royal Company of Archers is a ceremonial unit that serves as the Sovereign's Bodyguard in Scotland, a role it has performed since 1822 and the reign of King George IV, when the company provided a personal bodyguard to the King on his visit to Scotland. It is currently known as the Queen's...
. Two years later, the officers of the disbanded troop formed a new unit separate from the life guard, the first of several Independent Troops of Horse which were combined into a regiment
Regiment of Horse
The Regiment of Horse was a cavalry unit active in Scotland in the late seventeenth century, which played an important role in the events of that period.-Independent Troops of Horse, 1678-1682:...
in 1682.
From 1676 onwards, the Scottish life guard consisted effectively of a single troop, usually identified as the "Troop of Life Guard" or "Life Guard of Horse", but it could be described as a nominal "Royal Regiment of Horse Guards" in the reign of James VII and II, and its officers were now explicitly regarded as the equivalent of regimental field officer
Field officer
A field officer is an army, marine, or air force commissioned officer senior in rank to a company officer but junior to a general officer; in some navies, it is an officer who is a Lieutenant Commander, Commander, or Captain....
s, led by the "Colonel and Captain".
In 1688, during the Glorious Revolution
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
, all but one of the officers remained loyal to King James, or at the very least, resigned their commissions; but William of Orange
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
quickly appointed the Earl of Drumlanrig
James Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry
James Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry and 1st Duke of Dover was a Scottish nobleman.He was the eldest son of William Douglas, 1st Duke of Queensberry and his wife Isabel Douglas, daughter of William Douglas, 1st Marquess of Douglas.Educated at the University of Glasgow, he was appointed a...
to command a reconstituted Scots Troop. From 1690, they were based in England, initially as a bodyguard for Queen Mary
Mary II of England
Mary II was joint Sovereign of England, Scotland, and Ireland with her husband and first cousin, William III and II, from 1689 until her death. William and Mary, both Protestants, became king and queen regnant, respectively, following the Glorious Revolution, which resulted in the deposition of...
while the English Life Guards were with William in Ireland. They did not deploy to Scotland until 1697.
In 1709, due to the full merger of the separate English and Scottish armies, the unit was transferred to the British establishment, where it was designated as the 4th Troop of Horse Guards.
4th Troop of Horse Guards
Before 1709, two other troops on the English establishment had been designated 4th Horse Guards. The 4th (Lord Dover's) Troop of Horse Guards was formed in 1686 and disbanded in 1689 upon the deposition of James II. A Dutch troop of horse designated Garde du Corps van Zijne Majesteit (His Majesty's Life Guards) was placed on the English establishment in 1689, ranked as the 4th Troop of Life Guards, and returned to Dutch service in 1699.On its transfer to the British Establishment, the Scots Troop moved back to London in 1709. The unit still remained distinctively Scottish, but it became a unit reserved for the rich, with even a trooper's appointment costing 100 guineas, and the men being expected to supply their own horses. Nonetheless, the troopers distinguished themselves at the Battle of Dettingen
Battle of Dettingen
The Battle of Dettingen took place on 27 June 1743 at Dettingen in Bavaria during the War of the Austrian Succession. It was the last time that a British monarch personally led his troops into battle...
and Battle of Fontenoy
Battle of Fontenoy
The Battle of Fontenoy, 11 May 1745, was a major engagement of the War of the Austrian Succession, fought between the forces of the Pragmatic Allies – comprising mainly Dutch, British, and Hanoverian troops under the nominal command of the Duke of Cumberland – and a French army under Maurice de...
, but in 1746, the Horse Guards were reorganized. The Scots Troop, along with the Duke of York's Troop
3rd Troop of Horse Guards
The 3rd Troop of Horse Guards was formed in 1658 as the 2nd, or The Duke of York's Troop of Horse Guards from followers of Charles II in exile in Holland. In 1670, it became the 3rd Troop of Horse Guards and was absorbed by the 1st Troop of Horse Guards in 1746.-Colonels of the 3rd Troop of Horse...
, ceased to exist as a unit, although the continuity of the 4th Troop was later vested in the 2nd Troop of Horse Guards
2nd Troop of Horse Guards
The 2nd Troop of Horse Guards was originally formed in 1659 for Spanish service as Monck's Life Guards. It was successively renamed 3rd, or The Duke of Albemarle's Troop of Horse Guards , 3rd, or The Lord General's Troop of Horse Guards and, finally, 2nd, or The Queen's Troop of Horse Guards...
.
Scots Troop (1661-1709), 4th Troop (1709-1746)
- Col. James Livingston, 1st Earl of NewburghJames Levingston, 1st Earl of NewburghJames Livingston, 1st Earl of Newburgh was a Scottish peer.He succeeded his father as 2nd Baronet, styled "of Kinnaird", in 1628, and in 1647, as Sir James Livingston of Kinnaird, 2nd Baronet, was created Viscount of Newburgh in the Peerage of Scotland with remainder to the heirs male of his body...
, 1661-1671 - Col. John Murray, 1st Marquess of AthollJohn Murray, 1st Marquess of AthollJohn Murray, 1st Marquess of Atholl, KT was a leading Scottish royalist and defender of the Stuarts during the English Civil War of the 1640s, until after the rise to power of William and Mary in 1689...
, 1671-1678 - Col. James Graham, 3rd Marquess of Montrose, 1678-1684
- Col. George Livingston, 4th Earl of Linlithgow, 1684-1688
- Col. James Douglas, 2nd Duke of QueensberryJames Douglas, 2nd Duke of QueensberryJames Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry and 1st Duke of Dover was a Scottish nobleman.He was the eldest son of William Douglas, 1st Duke of Queensberry and his wife Isabel Douglas, daughter of William Douglas, 1st Marquess of Douglas.Educated at the University of Glasgow, he was appointed a...
, 1688-1696 - Maj-Gen. Archibald Campbell, 1st Duke of ArgyllArchibald Campbell, 1st Duke of ArgyllArchibald Campbell, 1st Duke of Argyll, 10th Earl of Argyll was a Scottish peer.-Biography:The eldest son of Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll and Mary Stuart, daughter of James Stuart, 4th Earl of Moray, Campbell sought to recover his father's estates...
, 1696-1703 - F.M. John Campbell, 2nd Duke of ArgyllJohn Campbell, 2nd Duke of ArgyllField Marshal John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll, 1st Duke of Greenwich KG , known as Iain Ruaidh nan Cath or Red John of the Battles, was a Scottish soldier and nobleman.-Early Life:...
, 1703-1715 - Col. John Cochrane, 4th Earl of DundonaldEarl of DundonaldEarl of Dundonald is a title in the Peerage of Scotland.The Earldom was created in 1669 for the Scottish soldier and politician William Cochrane, 1st Earl of Dundonald, along with the subsidiary title of Lord Cochrane of Paisley and Ochiltree, with remainder to his heirs male, failing which to his...
, 1715-1719 - Col. George Forrester Baillie, 5th Lord ForresterLord ForresterThe title Lord Forrester was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1633 for Sir George Forrester, Bt who had already been created a baronet in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia in 1625...
, 1719-1727 - F.M. Richard Boyle, 2nd Viscount ShannonRichard Boyle, 2nd Viscount ShannonField Marshal Richard Boyle, 2nd Viscount Shannon PC was a British military officer and statesman.-Military career:...
, 1727-1740 - Brig-Gen. Francis Howard, 1st Earl of EffinghamFrancis Howard, 1st Earl of EffinghamBrigadier-General Francis Howard, 1st Earl of Effingham was an English peer and army officer....
, 1740-1743 - Lt-Gen. John Lindsay, 20th Earl of CrawfordJohn Lindsay, 20th Earl of CrawfordLieutenant-General John Lindsay, 20th Earl of Crawford was a Scottish peer and the first colonel of the Black Watch on its formation in 1739.He was the son of Lt.-Gen...
, 1743-1746