  The 15th Hussars was the first regiment of Light Dragoons raised for permanent service in 1759 by Colonel Eliott, the gallant defender of Gibraltar, afterwards Lord Heathfield. It was named after him "Eliott's Light Horse." In 1767 the regiment was made "Royal" as a reward for its services in Germany, and in 1768 styled the "King's Light Dragoons." Its present title it received in 1806. This regiment was authorized to bear on its helmets the following inscription: "Five battalions of Foot defeated and taken by this regiment, with their colours, and nine pieces of cannon, at Emsdorff, 16th July, 1760." In 1794, the 15th, at Villiers-en-Cauchies, charged enormously superior numbers of all arms. It succeeded in its object at a terrible sacrifice. In 1799, the troopers had given them the honour of decking their helmets with scarlet feathers. Nicknamed "The Fighting Fifteenth." (Depot, Woolwich.) The Cypher of Queen Charlotte within the Garter. "Beaumont," "Willems," "Talavera," "Fuentes d'Onor," "Salamanca," "Vittoria," "Nive," "Peninsula," "Waterloo," "Bhurtpore," "Ghuznee, 1839," "Affghanistan, 1839," "Maharajpore," "Aliwal," "Sobraon," "Relief of Kimberley," "Paardeberg," "South Africa, 1900-02." Motto: Aut cursu, aut cominus armis (Either in the charge, or hand to hand). Uniform, Scarlet. Facings, Blue. Head-dress, Lance cap of black leather with upper part and top of dark blue cloth; black plume. Forage cap, Scarlet, with blue band. Allied Regiment, 16th Light Horse of Canada, Regina, Saskatchewan. Linked Regiment, 17th (Duke of Cambridge's Own) Lancers. |
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