The 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1693. It saw service for three centuries including the First and Second World Wars. The regiment survived the immediate post-war reduction in forces, and went on to distinguish itself in the battles of the Korean War, but was recommended for amalgamation in the 1957 Defence White Paper prepared by Duncan Sandys. The regiment was amalgamated with the 4th Queen's Own Hussars, to form the Queen's Royal Irish Hussars in 1958.
The regiment was first raised by Henry Conyngham as Henry Conyngham's Regiment of Dragoons in Derry in 1693, and ranked as the 8th Dragoons.[1] They soldiered at home as part of the Irish Establishment [2] but were deployed to Spain in 1704 to take part in the War of the Spanish Succession.[3]
The regiment took part in a skirmish near Tanarite at which Henry Conyngham was killed: Robert Killigrew took over but was also killed at the Battle of Almansa in April 1707. Under their new colonel, John Pepper, the 8th Dragoons routed a Spanish cavalry regiment at the Battle of Almenar in July 1710, and, according to tradition, took possession of the enemy regiment's crossbelts. This earned the regiment the nickname "Crossbelt Dragoons", borne for many years. The regiment was captured in its entirety at the Battle of Brihuega in December 1710.[3]
The regiment returned home and was disbanded in 1714. It was re-raised again in 1715 and deployed to Scotland as part of the response to the Jacobite rising of 1715 and again for the Jacobite rising of 1745.[3] The regiment then moved back to Ireland, where, in 1751, they were formally titled as the 8th Regiment of Dragoons and numbered for the first time as the 8th Dragoons.[1] In 1775 they received their first title, "The 8th King's Royal Irish Light Dragoons".[1] The regiment was renamed in 1777 for King George III as the 8th (The King's Royal Irish) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons.[1] The regiment was deployed to the Low Countries in 1794 for service in the Flanders Campaign and took part in a skirmish at Bousbecque where they captured the French guns. After being directed by King George III to wear buff accoutrements as an honour, the regiment returned to England in November 1795.[3]
The regiment deployed to South Africa to control the Boers in 1796, then transferred to North Africa and went on to India in 1802 to put down the activities of Daulat Scindia and Yashwantrao Holkar. It fought at the Battle of Laswari in November 1803; Scindia was defeated and Holkar submitted after 3,000 of his men died at Farakhabad in 1805; a peace treaty was signed in January 1806. The regiment then stormed two fortresses belonging to the rebellious Pindaris in September 1812.[3] In 1814, the regiment then took on the Gurkhas, who were seeking to extend the boundaries of Nepal; Colonel Rollo Gillespie was killed in an action at Kalunga: his horse, Black Bob, became a regimental mascot. In 1818, the colonel of the regiment, Sir Banastre Tarleton, received orders that the regiment was to convert to a hussar regiment, retitled the 8th (The King's Royal Irish) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (Hussars)[1] The regiment returned to England in 1819.[3] The regiment escorted Queen Victoria and Prince Albert on their first visit to Dublin in 1849.[3]
During the Crimean War, the regiment formed part of the Light Brigade. The regiment set sail from Plymouth in early March 1854. Five ships were needed to transport them to the Black Sea. The Echunga, Mary Anne and the Shooting Star left first, followed by the Medora and the Wilson Kennedy on 1 May.[4] The next battle was near the River Alma in September 1854 and the 8th Hussars were awarded the battle honour for a convincing defeat of the enemy. On 28 September, following a report that Russian troops were out in front of Balaklava town, the troop of the 8th, which made up Lord Raglan's escort under Captain Chetwode, was thrown out in skirmishing order. The Horse Artillery then came up and opened fire, causing the Russians to abandon all their wagons and flee from the scene. Some 70 wagons and carts were captured, some only containing small arms ammunition, which was destroyed. The rest of the wagons contained black bread. The troops were allowed to pillage the wagons that did not contain anything of value to the Commissariat. As a result, within a few minutes, the ground was strewn with various pieces of clothing – Hussar uniforms, fur cloaks, and wigs. The carriages were said to belong to the suite of Prince Menshikov. After this engagement until 25 October, the regiment furnished patrols and outpost duties, being billeted close to vineyards and barns containing water, corn, hay and fuel.[5]
In October, Balaklava and the Charge of the Light Brigade took place. It was started when 25,000 Russians tried to capture Balaklava, the British Army's only port, defended by the 93rd Highlanders, some Turks, and the Cavalry Division. Lieutenant Colonel Sherwell led the King's Royal Irish Hussars, forbidding two soldiers to carry their swords in the charge because they had "Disgraced the regiment by smoking in the presence of the enemy". The charge through the crossfire into the mouths of the Russian guns is vividly described by Lieutenant the Hon S Calthorpe, an 8th Hussar ADC.
The pace of our Cavalry increased every moment, until they went thundering along the valley, making the ground tremble beneath them. On they went headlong to death, disregarding aught but the object of their attack. At length they arrived at the guns, their numbers sadly thinned, but the few that remained made fearful havoc amongst the enemy's artillery.[3]
As part of the second wave of the brigade's attack, the 8th were in line with the 4th Light Dragoons and, advancing in support at a steady pace, came under fire. Wounded men and horses from the leading squadrons kept dashing out, making the lines unsteady. With the pace increasing, the 4th were not checked by their officers and the lines separated. In spite of the fall of men and horses, the regiment passed the remains of the battery in the valley.[6] The 8th pushed through the line of Russian gunners to the remnants of the first line in retreat, unaware that a Russian brigade of light cavalry was at hand. A regiment of Russian lancers was advancing from behind, as the 8th Hussars went through the infantry crossfire and lost half their men. The remnants of the brigade formed up, totalling about 70 men. They decided to attack the Russian lancers, eventually overthrowing them. The ground was now opened up for the brigade to retire, the 8th now pursued their course to their original position, followed by all the other horsemen of the other regiments and, as their horses became blown or wounded, they tailed. The Russians were now recovering in confidence and they pursued the dismounted men. The officers of the 8th called off the men, freeing up the ground for artillery fire, which gave many the chance to escape. Overall, two officers and 19 other ranks were killed and two officers and 18 other ranks were wounded. One officer and seven other ranks were taken prisoner-of-war.[7]
The Battle of Inkerman was won by the infantry in November as the harsh winter of 1854–55 set in, killing 9,000 men. However, the loss of these men did not stop the 8th Hussars from overcoming the Russians at Kertch. In September 1855, Sevastopol fell after nearly a year, and a peace treaty was signed in March 1856.[3]
Of the 293 other ranks who had set out for the Crimea with the regiment, two were promoted to officer rank, 42 were invalided, 68 died of wounds or disease, 26 were killed in action or died immediately afterward. One private deserted to the Russians and 154 returned with the regiment to England, including 65 who had been to the Danube. Of the 230 troop horses that had set out for the Crimea with the regiment, only 30 were brought home, including 13 that had been to the Danube.[8]
The 8th spent a year in England but were called to India to help suppress the Indian rebellion of 1857 and were ready for war in February 1858. The most celebrated action of the war came three months later at Gwalior when a squadron of the 8th, under Captain Heneage fought a large Indian force under Rani Lakshmibai trying to leave the area. The 8th Hussars charged into the enemy, killing swathes of Indian soldiers, taking two guns and continuing the charge right through the Phul Bagh encampment. Rani Lakshmibai, the Queen of Jhansi state, dressed as a cavalry leader, was badly wounded. She did not want the British to capture her body, so she told a hermit to burn her body. General Sir Hugh Rose awarded the squadron four Victoria Crosses under Clause 13 of the Victoria Cross warrant.[9] This meant that one officer, one NCO, and two for the corporals and troopers, all to be elected by their comrades. Captain C W Heneage, Sergeant J Ward, Farrier G Hollis and Private J Pearson were chosen to be recipients. The citation was published in the London Gazette of 28 January 1859, and read:[10]
War-Office, 26 January 1859.
THE Queen has been graciously pleased to confirm the grant of the Decoration of the Victoria Cross to the undermentioned Officer, Non-Commissioned Officer, Farrier, and Private of Her Majesty's 8th Hussars, which decoration has been provisionally conferred upon them by Major-General Sir Hugh Henry Rose, G.C.B., Commanding the Central India Field Force, in accordance with the rules laid down in Her Majesty's Warrant instituting the same, on account of an Act of Bravery performed by them in India, as recorded against their several names, viz.:
Captain (now Brevet-Major) Clement Walker Heneage, No. 1584. Serjeant Joseph Ward, No. 1298. Farrier George Hollis, No. 861. Private John Pearson
Date of Act of Bravery, 17 June 1858.
Selected for the Victoria Cross by their companions in the gallant charge made by a squadron of the Regiment at Gwalior, on 17 June 1858, when, supported by a division of the Bombay Horse Artillery and Her Majesty's 95th Regiment, they routed the enemy, who were advancing against Brigadier Smith's position, charged through the rebel camp into two batteries, capturing and bringing into their camp two of the enemy's guns, under a heavy and converging fire from the Fort and Town.
(Field Force Orders by Major-General Sir Hugh Henry Rose, G.C.B., Commanding Central India Field Force, dated Camp, Gwalior, 28 June 1858.)
The remaining year of the Mutiny consisted of the pursuit of the rebel forces. On 5 September 1858, a squadron of "D" Troop, 8th Hussars, caught the mutineers at Beejapore, inflicting heavy losses. Of the 850 enemy troops, no less than 450 bodies were counted dead on the field. On 8 September 1858, at Beejapore, when both the officers attached to the troop were disabled, Troop Sergeant-Major James Champion, although severely wounded himself at the start of the action, continued to do his duty and wounded several of the enemy. For this action, he too was awarded the Victoria Cross. From then on, until 21 May 1859, when the Headquarters Troop reached Nusserabad, all troops had been in search of the rebels. In its time in India, the 8th had gone through two hot-weather campaigns, H.Q. Troop had shifted camp 300 times and marched over 3000 miles with some of the other Troops marching close to 4000 miles. Reaching Meerut in February 1861, there was an epidemic of cholera in which the regiment lost two officers and thirty-one men. The title of the regiment was simplified in 1861 to the 8th (The King's Royal Irish) Hussars.[1]
The 8th Hussars were based at the Curragh in County Kildare, Ireland, between 1869 and 1875. In 1994, a man watching racehorses being trained on the Curragh glimpsed a small piece of metal being thrown up with mud by a horse galloping by; this turned out to be a Victoria Cross (minus its bar). It was presumed to have been one of the four awarded to the 8th Hussars as at the time, and until 1881, soldiers were required to wear all their medals while on duty, and it was thought likely to have belonged to either George Hollis or John Pearson as the other two medals were accounted for; Pearson's collection of medals, including his VC, were subsequently sold at auction in 2004.[11][12]
The future Field Marshal Sir John French, who prided himself on his Irish ancestry despite his family having lived in England since the eighteenth century, was commissioned as a lieutenant in the 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars in February 1874, but there is no evidence that he ever served with them. He transferred to the 19th Hussars in March 1874[13] possibly as he was better able to afford the £500–£600 per annum required by his new regiment. His biographer Richard Holmes wrote that the 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars at this time had a reputation as an expensive regiment for junior officers, who sometimes drank claret for breakfast.[14]
The regiment returned to India in 1879 and then moved on to Afghanistan to bolster Lord Roberts' army, which was engaged in the Second Anglo-Afghan War; the regiment returned home in 1889.[3]
In October 1899, war broke out between the United Kingdom and the Boer republics in South Africa. The regiment sailed to South Africa on the SS Norseman in February 1900, arriving in Cape Town early the next month.[15] Along with the 7th Dragoon Guards and the 14th Hussars they formed the 4th Cavalry Brigade under Brigadier General Dickson. On 1 May 1900, the Boers made a stand in a strong position at Houtnek, where the forces of Ian Hamilton faced stiff competition. In a telegram of 2 May Lord Roberts said: "Hamilton speaks in high terms of the services of the 8th Hussars under Colonel Clowes and a made-up regiment of Lancers, which came into Broadwood's brigade and assisted in making the Boers evacuate their position". The 8th then marched from Machadodorp to Heidelberg with the 14th Hussars and M Battery, under the command of Colonel Mahon. On 13 October, Mahon "became heavily engaged near Geluk with a body of 1100 men with four guns." Mahon succeeded in holding his position until forces under John French came to his assistance when the Boers were driven back in a south-easterly direction, having sustained some losses. The 8th lost 2 officers, Lieutenants P A T Jones and F H Wylam and 7 men, with 2 officers and 8 men wounded. Eight officers and 8 non-commissioned officers were mentioned in Lord Roberts' final despatches of 2 April and 4 September 1901. In the first three months of 1901, the 8th was in the column of Colonel Charles Edmond Knox, at one point sweeping to the Swazi border.[16]
During the later phases of the war, the Eastern Transvaal to the borders of Zululand were the principal scenes of the regiment's operations. One officer and 1 non-commissioned officer were mentioned by Lord Kitchener during the war, and in the final despatch, the names of 4 officers, 2 non-commissioned officers, and 1 private were added. Colonel Le Gallais[17] of the 8th Hussars had done splendid service as a leader of Mounted Infantry, and he fell on 6 November 1900[18] after he had inflicted a defeat on De Wet at Bothaville. Colonel Mahon, also an old 8th Hussar, was celebrated for his conduct of the Mafeking Relief column.[19]
After returning to England, the 8th had over six years without hostilities before returning to India in August 1914 arriving at Ambala as part of the 3rd (Ambala) Cavalry Brigade. They remained in India for three months until they were recalled due to the outbreak of the First World War. They arrived in Marseilles on 10 November 1914 where they joined the 1st Indian Cavalry Division.[20]
