Author Description

The Lancers originated in a unit - Wynn's Dragoons - raised to put down the 1715 Jacobite rebellion at the battle of Preston. It was also used to put down the 1798 Irish rebellion, culminating in the battle of Vinegar Hill. The Lancers took part in two of the more ill-starred miliary ventures of the era - the failed assault on Buenos Aires and the Walcheren expedition - but was more successful in the Peninsular War. Transferred to India, it took part in the conquest of the Punjab and the relief of Lucknow in the Indian Mutiny. The Lancers marched on Kabul in the Second Afghan War and relieved the siege of Kimberley in the Boer War, when it was also present at Cronje's Boer surrender at Paardeburg. The Lancers came into their own in the guerilla operations on the Veldt that followed - when they were up against the cavalry of the legendary Boer commando leader, Chistiaan De Wet. In the Great War, although held in reserve for much of the conflict, the Lancers took part in the open warfare of 1914 and once more in 1918. This complete history of the unit follows them up to the mechanisation and changeover to armour between the world wars.