The 3rd (The King's Own) Hussars was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1685. It saw service for three centuries, including the First and the Second World Wars, before being amalgamated with the 7th Queen's Own Hussars, to form the Queen's Own Hussars in November 1958.
History
The Glorious Revolution
The origins of the King's Own Hussars lie in the 1685 Monmouth and Argyll rebellions which forced James II to borrow the Scots Brigade from his son-in-law William of Orange, later William III. On 16 June, three troops were detached from the Duke of Somerset's Royal Dragoons and their captains ordered to recruit additional volunteers from the London area, including Middlesex and Essex. The unit was based in Acton, West London to guard approaches to the City of London but the rebellion collapsed after defeat at Sedgemoor on 6 July without the regiment seeing action. Three new troops, one independent and two newly raised were now added to the original three to form The Queen Consort's Regiment of Dragoons.
Alexander Cannon a Scot who previously served in the Dutch Scots Brigade was appointed Colonel in August 1687. On 5 November 1688, William III landed at Torbay in the invasion later known as the Glorious Revolution and James assembled his army on Salisbury Plain to block an advance on London. However, many now changed sides; the majority of the Queen Consort's Regiment followed Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Leveson into William's camp while Cannon and his own troop remained loyal, staying with James as he retreated to London. On 31 December, Leveson replaced Cannon as Colonel and as was customary, the regiment now took his name and became Leveson's Dragoons.
Williamite War in Ireland
In August 1689 the regiment, numbering approximately 400 officers and men organised into six troops, was sent to Ireland to take part in the Williamite War in Ireland. James fled from England to France in December 1688 but landed with an army at Cork, Ireland in March 1689, finding that most Irish Catholics supported him. A Williamite army under William landed south of Belfast on 13 August and encountered little resistance from local Jacoite forces before entering the city on 17 August; Leveson's Dragoons landed in Ireland four days later, taking up position just outside Belfast. Early records of the activities of the regiment are scarce, but it appears that it advanced with the rest of the Williamite forces southwards on 2 September, advancing to the town of Newry, but failing to catch the garrison of the town as it retreated. The Williamite army moved south to Dundalk, which they fortified. They did not advance any further as a 35,000-strong Jacobite army, was reportedly encamped nearby at Ardee. The regiment encountered a small Jacobite force and killed five of its soldiers on 20 September, but was forced to wait until October to take part in its first major action. On 27 October, 200 troopers from the regiment, along with a detachment from the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons, raided Ardee, killing a number of sentries and capturing a large number of cattle and horses. In November, the Williamite army moved northwards and the regiment saw action one last time before entering winter quarters at Lisburn; on 26 November, 60 troopers from the regiment were reconnoitring near Charlemont when they encountered a detachment from the town's garrison; they engage it, taking several prisoners. The regiment then retired to its winter quarters to rest and took on approximately 200 recruits shipped from England to replace losses from disease; whilst the exact casualty figures for the regiment are unknown, the entire army had suffered approximately 6,000 casualties as a result of fever, ague and dysentery by November.Childs, John. (1997). "The Williamite War 1689–1691". In Thomas Bartlett & Keith Jeffery (Eds.), A Military History or Ireland, p.125. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. The regiment emerged from winter quarters in mid-February 1690 and immediately saw action; a gazette issued from Belfast on 14 February announced that a regimental squadron had formed part of a raiding force which crossed into Jacobite lines, burnt down a castle and looted a town, killing 10 Jacobite troops and taking 20 prisoner. The next recorded action by the regiment took place on 22 June, when a squadron and a company of infantry from the Tangier Regiment encountered a fort garrisoned by a Jacobite force of some infantry and approximately 500 cavalry; the defending force stood its ground and fought a pitched battle until its commanding officer was killed and the rest of the Jacobites retreated.
The regiment was present for the Battle of the Boyne on 1 July, forming part of the 36,000-strong Williamite army that engaged the 25,000-strong Jacobite army commanded by James II. During the closing stages of the battle, a large portion of James' cavalry repeatedly charged the advancing Williamite infantry to provide protection for the retreating Jacobite infantry, and were able to reach the village of Donore. The village was sited on an area of high ground from which the dismounted cavalrymen were able to fire down on the advancing Williamite troops. To counter this move, a squadron from the regiment charged up the hill and engaged the dismounted cavalry whilst the remainder of the regiment outflanked the village and attacked the Jacobite force from the rear, inflicting a large number of casualties. After routing this force, the regiment joined up with a Dutch cavalry unit and advanced. Sighting another Jacobite cavalry force, the Dutch cavalry attacked, but were repelled with heavy losses and retreated down a narrow lane. As the Dutch regrouped, Leveson's men dismounted and took up position amongst the hedgerows lining the lane, as well as a nearby house; when the Jacobite cavalry advanced down the lane, they came under fire from the regiment, inflicting heavy losses and forcing the survivors to retreat. The battle was a decisive victory for the Williamite forces, with James forced to retire first to Dublin and then to France as the Williamite army advanced south and captured Dublin on 4 July. The regiment did not take part in the capture of Dublin, instead it was ordered to advance to the city of Waterford, where it accepted the surrender of the city's garrison (as well as the garrison of the nearby port of Youghal) and remained for the rest of the summer. One of the regiment's troops patrolled the surrounding area, with a detachment engaging a large band of armed Catholic citizens who had been attacking Protestant settlements in the area; the detachment killed 60 and took 12 prisoner, as well as attacking the village of Castlemartyr and taking its Jacobite garrison prisoner. The remainder of the regiment moved to Limerick and took part in the failed siege of that city, although the specifics of what the regiment did are unknown. Before the regiment retired to its winter quarters in December, it engaged and dispersed several more armed bands of civilians and came to the aid of a detachment from the 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot, who had been ambushed by Jacobite infantry and had taken shelter in a ruined castle; a troop from the regiment drove off the infantry and escorted the Inniskilling detachment to safety.
The regiment left its winter quarters in February 1691 and immediately saw action, forming part of a combined force of infantry and cavalry that engaged a 2,000-strong Jacobite force near Streamstown and forced it to retreat; the role that the regiment played in this action led to Leveson being promoted to Brigadier-General. In May, the majority of the Williamite army moved north and besieged the town of Athlone, which fell after eleven days, but the regiment took no part in the siege, having been ordered to encamp in the county of Mullingar. At the beginning of July, the regiment formed part of the 12,000-strong Williamite army that defeated an 8,000-strong Jacobite army during the Battle of Aughrim, taking part in a massed cavalry charge that breached the Jacobite positions around the village of Aughrim. The Battle of Aughrim was a decisive victory for King William, with a number of leading Jacobite generals being killed, and the Williamite forces pressed their advantage; they forced the surrender of Galway on 20 July and then began a second siege of Limerick in August. The regiment did not take part directly in the siege, instead being detached in late August and ordered to advance south-west into Kerry to reconnoitre and harass Jacobite forces in the area around Limerick. On 2 September, the regiment ambushed and routed two regiments of Jacobite cavalry, and several days later subdued a number of Jacobite garrisons between Cork and Limerick. The regiment inflicted a number of casualties, but more importantly captured thousands of cattle and oxen; one contemporary source states that the majority of the army's provisions for the siege of Limerick were provided by the regiment. On 22 September, Limerick fell to the Williamite forces, effectively ending the conflict in Ireland; the regiment was withdrawn to its winter quarters and was then transported to England in the spring of 1692.
Nine Years' War The regiment remained in England for nearly three years before it saw battle again. During this period, in which it recruited to refill its ranks, it lost Colonel Leveson when he was promoted to the rank of Major-General by King William. (Leveson was dispatched to command forces fighting in the Spanish Netherlands as part of the English contribution to the Nine Years' War before dying in March 1699 at Belvoir Castle). He was replaced by Thomas, 5th Baron Fairfax of Cameron in January 1694; as a consequence, the regiment lost the title of Leveson's Dragoons and reverted to its previous title of The Queen's Dragoons.
In the spring of 1694, the regiment was reviewed by King William, along with a number of other English units, and was then transported to the Netherlands, landing at Willemstad, (nowadays in North Brabant) on 16 April. After two months, the regiment marched to join the main body of the English Army at Tirlemont in Flanders, encamping to the rear of the Army's positions in order 'to cover His Majesty's quarters'. The regiment spent the summer of 1694 as part of a brigade with the Royal Horse Guards and Royal Scots Greys, taking part in manoeuvres and skirmishing with enemy troops before retiring to winter quarters in October near Ghent. By February 1695, the strength of the regiment had increased from six to eight troops, and the regiment had also gained another new commander, with Lord Fairfax being replaced by William Lloyd, previously the Lieutenant-Colonel of Essex's Dragoons.
During the summer of 1695, while the majority of the English forces were occupied with the second siege of Namur, the regiment formed part of a force that occupied the city of Diksmuide with the intention of luring away French forces that were seeking to relieve the siege of Namur. The force was successful, luring a large number of French troops away from Namur who proceeded to besiege the city; instead of holding Diksmuide as intended, however, the Danish general commanding the force surrendered the city on 18 July and, as a consequence, the regiment became prisoners of war. The officer commanding the regiment demanded that the regiment be allowed to attempt to break the siege of the city and escape, but the general denied the request.Childs, p. 287 Although the request was denied, many of the officers and troopers broke their weapons to deny them to the French before they surrendered. The regiment remained in captivity for several weeks, only being released when the siege of Namur was successful and the commander of the French forces there, the Duke of Boufflers, surrendered the city; after a period of negotiation with Louis XIII, Boufflers was exchanged for all English prisoners of war.