The 17th Lancers (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, most famous for its participation in the Charge of the Light Brigade in the Crimean War.

The Beginning

In 1759 Colonel John Hale of the 47th Foot was ordered home by General James Wolfe just prior to the General's death, with the final dispatches and news of Wolfe's victory in the Battle of Quebec. Hale was awarded with land in Canada and to raise a regiment of light dragoons for his bringing news of the victory. The regiment was known as the 18th Regiment of (Light) Dragoons and was also known as Hale's Light Horse after its founder. The admiration that General Wolfe had maintained with his men was evident when Colonel Hale chose the new cap badge of the 18th of the Death's Head with the motto "Or Glory".

In 1761 it was renumbered as the 17th. Also that year regiment saw service in Germany In 1766 the regiment was renumbered again, this time as the 3rd Regment of Light Dragoons. In 1764 the regiment arrived in Ireland where it was based for many years. In 1769 it regained the 17th numeral as the 17th Regiment of (Light) Dragoons.

The regiment were dispatched to North America in 1775, arrived in Boston, then being besieged by American rebels in their War of Independence. They took part in the Battle of Bunker Hill, a British victory but at a heavy price in casualties. The regiment was moved to Halifax and subsequently took part in the expedition to capture Long Island which was successfully captured. They also took part in numerous other engagements throughout the duration of the war where they were part of Tarleton's Legon , a unit commanded by the charismatic Banastre Tarleton. The American War of Independence was officially concluded in 1783. An officer of the regiment, Captain Stapleton, had the distinction of being the one to hand George Washington the final declaration of the cessation of hositlties.

The regiment returned home where they remained until 1795 when the regiment, while in the West Indies, acted as Marines during the French Revolutionary War. The regiment was split up into detachments and saw service in a number of islands there. While they were there they gained the nickname the "Horse Marines" while they were were acting as marines aboard a Royal Navy warship.

In 1806 the regiment took part in the diastrous expedition to Spanish-controlled South America, then an ally of France during the Napoleonic Wars. Sir Home Riggs Popham had orchestrated an expedition against South America of his own iniative, having not been sanctioned to undertake such an expedition by the British Government. The invasion failed, however, a second invasion was launched, the 17th were part of it, and the second force, under the command of Sir Samuel Auchmuty, were oblivious to the first invasion's failure. The British force laid siege and subsequently captured Montevideo (now capital of Uruguay). The following year the 17th were part of the force, under the command of John Whitelocke who had replaced Auchmuty as commander, that launched an ill-advised attempt to seize Buenos Aires (now capital of Argentina) but this failed abysmally. The British force were consequently forced to surrender and did not return home until 1808. Sir Home Popham and John Whitelocke were later court-martialled, with Popham being reprimanded and Whitelocke dismissed from the Army.

The regiment were dispatched to India only shortly after returning home. In 1817 they took part in the 3rd Mahratta War, the last war against the Mahratta Empire which ensured that Britain gained control of much of present-day India. They suffered greatly in India during their stay, not through fighting but through disease which decimated the regiment's numbers. In 1822 its title was altered again when it reroled as a Lancer regiment, become the 17th Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (Lancer) and the following year it returned home and on its journey discovered this change.

Despite the seemingly archaic nature of the usuage of the Lance in preference to the carbine, the changes had been implemented by the Duke of York, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army who had been impressed by the Polish Lancers participation in the Battle of Waterloo where they fought on the side of Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1826 Lord Bingham (later Lord Lucan of Crimean War infamy) became the regiment's new comamnder when he bought a Lieutenant-Colonelcy commission. He was a stickler for the to have an immaculate appearance to such an extent that the regiment became known as Bingham's Dandies.

A Charge Into Destiny

The regiment had been stationed across the UK since 1823 but did not go abroad until 1854 when the Crimean War, between the UK and her allies against Russia, began. The regiment was part of a combined British and French expedition dispatched to the Ottoman Empire to assist it after Russia had invaded its territory. By the time the expedition arrived the Ottomans had repulsed the invasion and indeed pushed the Russians back into their own territory. The force was subseuqently sent to invade the Crimea in what is now the Ukraine, to attack the important naval base of Sevastopol, where the Russian Fleet posed a substantial threat to British interests in the Mediterranean.

The regiment was part of the Light Brigade , under the command of Major-General the Earl Cardigan, which landed with the rest of the British forces at a place known as Calamity Bay . It took part in a minor skirmish at the Bulganek River and subsequently took part in the Battle of Alma on the 20 September.

During the Siege of Sevastopol (which had began in September) the 17th Lancers took part in the Battle of Balaklava on the 25 October. During the battle the regiment took part in a cavalry charge that became known as the "Charge of the Light Brigade", which spawned much controversy and indeed a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. The Commander-in-Chief of British forces General Lord Raglan issued an order to be sent via Captain Nolan to the commander of the Cavalry Division Lord Lucan, conveying Lord Raglan's wishes for the Light Brigade to attack recently captured British artillery on the Causeway Heights before they could be taken away by the Russians. However, the order was misinterpreted and was believed to be an order to attack Russian artillery in the valley of the Fediukhine Heights and the Causeway Heights.

'Charge of the Light Brigade', Painting by Richard Caton Woodville (1825-1855)

The Earl Cardigan subsequently ordered his Light Brigade to began the advance at a trot, with the 17th Lancers and 13th Light Dragoons leading the Brigade, heading into a maelstrom of Russian artillery, infantry and cavalry. The Light Brigade advanced to their objective and came under heavy artiller fire from all sides, which inflicted heavy casualties on the Light Brigade. The Brigade upon nearing the enemy then went into a full charge and the 17th Lancers, commanded by Captain William Morris, dispersed the Russian artillery before smashing straight itno the Russian cavalry and pushing them back. The Light Brigade were unable to consolidate their position, however, having insufficient forces avaliable to them (the Heavy Brigade had not advanced further into the valley) and were thus forced to withdraw to their starting positions, coming under artillery and musket fire and cavalry attack as they did so.

Dspite the mistakes that culminated in unneccasary loss, the charge reasserted the renown of the British cavalry, to such an extent that Russian cavalry refused outright to confront them in battle for the duration of the war. The 17th Lancers suffered quite heavily. Of the 147 men of the 17th, just 38 were at the roll call the following morning. The Light Brigade as a whole suffered 118 men killed and 127 wounded out of a total of 673 men, as-well as 362 horses lost, effectively destroying the unit as a fighting force.

The regiment took part in the Battle of Inkerman on the 5 November, though only in a minor role. It did not return home in 1856 with the conclusion of the war with the Treaty of Paris.

After the inception of the Victoria Cross (VC) in 1856, three members of the regiment were awarded the VC for their bravery in the Charge. These were Troop Sergeant-Major John Berryman, Sergenat-Major Charles Wooden and Sergeant John Farrell.

In 2004, during the 150th Anniversary of the charge, a commemoration of the event was held where the charge took place in the Crimea.

Distant Empire

In December 1857 the regiment arrived in India as reinforcements for British forces there to help quell the Indian Mutiny which had broken out in May after some Sepoys of the Indian Army had mutinied. By the time the regiment was ready to commence operations in 1858 the mutiny was effectively over. The regiment took part of a pursuit to capture the rebel leader Tantia Topi. During that pursuit the regiment gained its fourth VC after Lieutenant Henry Evelyn Wood performed a number of actions of bravery at Sinwaho when he was commanding a cavalry troop who routed a large number of rebels. Tantia Topi was eventually apprehended, court-martialled and hanged for his involvement in the mutiny. The mutiny was eventually ended in June 1858 and the regiment returned home in 1863.

In 1861 the regiment's title had been was altered again, becoming the 17th Regiment of Lancers. In 1876 it gained the Duke of Cambridge as its Colonel-in-Chief and the regiment's name was duly altered to the 17th (The Duke of Cambridge's Own) Lancers.

In 1879 the 17th left home for Natal Colony where they arrived that same year and subsequently took part in the Zulu War against Cetewayo's Zululand. On the 4 July the regiment fought at the Battle of Ulundi . The regiment was inside a large British infantry squares during the initial Zulu attack who surrounded the British before the Zulu attack began to waver and the 17th Lancerswere unleashed and their charge decimated the Zulu warriors. The battle was such a decisive victory that the Zulus would never that they took to the field to fight the British again, ensuring that Ulundi was the last battle of the Zulu War. The regiment returned to India the same year, remaining there until about 1890 when they returned home.

In 1900 the regiment returned to Southern Africa to take part in the Boer War. They had missed the large pitched battles though would still see substantial action during the war. In 1900 Sergeant Brian Lawrence was involved in an incident at Essenbosch Farm that saw him winning the regiment's fifth and final VC. The regiment's most significant action came at the Battle of Modderfontein in September 1901. C Squadron of the regiment performed with great bravery during the engagement after they were ambushed by Boers and became surrounded, having intially thought the Boers to be British until being opened fire upon, and C Squadron refused to surrender which resulted in about 35 Lancers being killed and many wounded. Most of their participation in the war revolved around the regiment taking part in numerous small-scale operations against the Boers.

The regiment returned home in 1902 with the conclusion of the war, and in 1905 arrived in India where they remained until the beginning of the First World War in 1914, between the UK, France and their allies against Germany and their allies.

First World War

The regiment was part of the Sialkot Cavalry Brigade , 1st Indian Cavalry Division and arrived in Marseilles, France in November 1914. The regiment was utilised as infantry which included manning the trenches in the Western Front due to static warfare, rather than mobile warfare in which the 17th Lancers would have been in their element, becoming a predominant aspect of the Western Front.

In 1917 the regiment was finally utilised in its traditional cavalry during the Battle of Cambrai, which also saw the first large-scale use of tanks during the war, showing the stark contrast between the future of wafare and the 17th Lancers and the other horse regiments. In 1918 the regiment was transferred to the 7th Cavalry Brigade , part of the 3rd Cavalry Division and that year they finally got another chance to prove their worth as a cavalry regiment during the last-gasp German Spring Offensive. The Allies had fallen back in chaos and the 17th were used as mobile infantry, plugging gaps whenever the need arose, being utilised in the cavalry and infantry role. The regiment subsequently saw service in the British counter-attack, including at the Battle of Amiens which also saw a large use of tanks.

When the war ended in November 1918, the regiment was subsequently dispatched to Liege in Belgium and then onto Cologne, Germany where they were part of the British Army of Occupation . In 1920 the regiment was moved to Ireland where they took part in operations against the IRA and Sinn Fein. In 1921 the regiment's title was altered slightly to become the 17th Lancers (Duke of Cambridge's Own).

In 1922 the regiment was amalgamated with the 21st Lancers (Empress of India's) to form the 17th/21st Lancers . They too were amagalmated with the 16th/5th Queen's Royal Lancers in 1993 to form the Queen's Royal Lancers.

Battle Honours

• Alma, Balaklava, Inkerman, Sevastopol, Central India , South Africa 1879, South Africa 1900-1902

• First World War: Festubert , Somme 1916 1918, Morval, Cambrai 1917 1918, St. Quentin, Avre , Lys , Hazebrouck , Amiens, Hindenburg Line, St. Quentin Canal , Beaurevoir , Pursuit to Mons , France and Flanders 1914-18