Dragoons - The Mounted Foot Soldier
Dragoons were mounted infantry; they were trained in horse riding as well as fighting skills.
The dragoon regiments where established in most European armies durin the late 17th century and early 18th century. During the 18th Century the dragoon's usage altered and evolved into light cavalry units and personnel.
The name is possibly derived from a type of firearm (called a dragon) carried by dragoons of the French Army. There is no distinction between the words dragon and dragoon in French.
It was also claimed that a galloping infantry man with his loose coat and the burning match resembled a Dragon.
Early Dragoons were not organized in squadrons or troops as were cavalry, but in company’s like the infantry. Their officers and non-commissioned officers bore infantry ranks.
Dragoons used drummers, to communicate orders on the battlefield.
5th Royal Irish Lancers
The origins of the 5th Royal Irish Lancers can be traced back to 1689 when the cavalry was known as Wynne's Regiment of Enniskillen Dragoons, formed by James Wynne.
Wynnes dragoons left Ireland for England to enlist in Williams Army, after enforced inactivity during the various attempts to raise the Siege of Derry.
Once James Wynne was promoted to colonel, he fought at the head of ‘Wynnes Dragoons’ at the battle of Newtownbutler, which was fought before the arrival of the main Williamite army from England.
Wynnes dragoons appeared to have joined Schomberg’s army only shortly before the Battle of the Boyne and after they had been deployed widely as patrols. During the battle they galloped too far in pursuit of their enemy's horse and were soon in trouble; however they rallied and returned to engage the enemy. Eventually the whole Jacobite army was in retreat.
From 1692 – 1693 the Dragoons were garrisoned at Fermoy and in 1694 they were sent to France to fight in the Flanders Campaign against the French until 1698. During this battle a regimental agent ‘John Pain’ wrote how Wynne was wounded in action and three months later he wrote to James younger brother, Lt-Colonel Owen Wynne, who was also serving in Flanders, expressing his condolences on James Death. He died from his wounds he received at Roeselare at the age of 50.
The New Commander was Charles Ross and it was under him that the regiment returned to Ireland. In 1702, the regiment was again on the march back to the mainland Europe to fight French again with Marlborough’s army in the Low Countries, such as Ramillies, Oudenarde and Malplaquet. They gained further distinction along with the Scots Greys for capturing both the regiment du Roi (Kings Regiment) and the regiment de Picardie. Due to this victory, they gained esteemed honour of wearing Grenadiers caps and they regiment was renamed ‘The Royal Dragoons of Ireland’.
6th Inniskilling Dragoons
The regiment where active from 1689 – 1922 and was a cavalry regiment in the British army. It was in service for three centuries, before being amalgamated into the 5th/6th dragoons in 1922.
The regiment was first raised as Sir Albert Cunningham's regiment of dragoons in 1689, by the regimenting of various independent troops. By the mid1700's, when the system of numbering regiments was introduced in the British Army, it was ranked as the 6th Dragoons. They later where nicknamed the "Black Dragoons" and in 1751 was formally titled as the 6th (Inniskilling) Regiment Of Dragoons, later simply the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons.
They became one of the most famous cavalry regiments of all time. One of their most notable battles was the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. They also fought with distinction at the Battle of Waterloo in the charge of the union brigade and again during the Crimean War as part of the successful charge of the heavy brigade against superior numbers at the battle of Balaklava.
History
During the “Defence of Enniskillen” (1689) in the Williamite War in Ireland the governor of the town Gustav Hamilton raised three regiments to fight on the side of William of Orange. One of those was the regiment of dragoons which would be later known as the “Inniskilling Dragoons”. An oath was taken by each man:
I, D. H., do hereby testify and declare, and upon the Holy Evangelists swear, that I will own and acknowledge Gustavus Hamilton, Esq., Chief Governor of this town of Enniskillen, and shall give due obedience to him and my superior officers in all his and their commands, and shall to the utmost of my power and ability defend him, them, and this place, with the country adjacent, together with the Protestant religion and interest, with my life and fortune, against all that shall endeavour to subvert the same. So help me God, and the holy contents of this book.
At this time it was custom to name the regiment after its commanding officer – Conyngham’s Dragoons.
When James II; the dethroned king of England landed in Ireland in 1689 aided by the French in an attempt to over throw King William. Sir Albert Conyngham raised a regiment of mounted troops from the town of Inniskilling; whom later became the 6th Dragoons. They fought at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.
After the relief of the Siege of Derry in 1689 the regiment continued its pursuance of the Williamite War.
On Wednesday 19th June an attempt was made to force contact with Jacobite forces under command of Brigadier Sutherland. The “Enniskilliners” came upon a force of horse and foot at the churchyard of Belturbet and what followed is described by Thomas Witherows:
