Duke of Kingston's Regiment of Light Horse

The Duke of Kingston's Regiment of Light Horse was a temporary light cavalry regiment of the British Army, raised in Nottinghamshire in 1745 during the Jacobite rising. It was established and financed at his own expense by Evelyn Pierrepont, 2nd Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull, a prominent landowner and political figure. The regiment was organized in response to the Jacobite challenge to the Hanoverian succession and was intended to provide mobile mounted troops for government operations. The unit was modeled on the light cavalry and hussar formations then associated with Central Europe. This reflected a developing British interest in fast-moving mounted troops capable of reconnaissance, pursuit, communication, and harassment, rather than the formal shock tactics traditionally associated with heavy cavalry. It was ranked as the 10th Regiment of Horse, although its short existence and temporary wartime character distinguished it from the established permanent regiments of the British cavalry establishment. The regiment served during the suppression of the Jacobite rising of 1745. Its most notable combat experience came at the Battle of Culloden on 16 April 1746, where government forces defeated the Jacobite army commanded by Charles Edward Stuart. The regiment's participation placed it within the wider British campaign that ended the immediate military threat to the Hanoverian government in Scotland. The unit's record was also marked by serious disciplinary problems. Because it had been newly raised and many of its troopers were not regular soldiers, the regiment was reported to have behaved with limited discipline. After Culloden, while pursuing retreating Jacobite forces along the road toward Inverness, members of the regiment killed civilians, including women and children. These actions formed one of the darker aspects of the government's post-battle repression and are central to the historical assessment of the regiment. The men had enlisted only for the duration of the conflict. Once the immediate military emergency had passed, the regiment was disbanded at Nottingham in September 1746. Prince William, Duke of Cumberland, subsequently absorbed almost all of its personnel into the newly formed Duke of Cumberland's Regiment of Light Dragoons. According to the cited historical accounts, all but eight of the original men entered the new regiment. The Duke of Kingston's Regiment therefore left no continuing independent regimental organization, but its personnel and wartime experience contributed to another British cavalry unit.

The regiment was created in Nottinghamshire in 1745 by Evelyn Pierrepont, 2nd Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull, who raised and financed it personally. Its formation occurred during the Jacobite rising, when supporters of Charles Edward Stuart challenged the government of George II and the Hanoverian succession. The regiment was designed as a light cavalry force and was modeled on hussar formations from Central Europe, whose mobility and operational flexibility were increasingly attractive to European armies. The British Army ranked the new formation as the 10th Regiment of Horse. Although the designation placed it within the cavalry establishment, the regiment was a wartime creation whose members enlisted for the duration of the fighting rather than for permanent service. This temporary basis, combined with the rapid recruitment of men who were not regular soldiers, affected the unit's discipline and long-term institutional character. The regiment joined the government campaign against the Jacobites and fought at Culloden in April 1746. The battle ended the principal Jacobite field threat and was followed by a forceful government effort to pursue and suppress the defeated movement. During this pursuit, members of the regiment were involved in the killing of civilians, including women and children, on the road toward Inverness. Historical accounts describe the unit as behaving in a comparatively undisciplined manner, particularly in the aftermath of the battle. These actions are an important part of the regiment's legacy and place it within the broader violence of the post-Culloden reprisals. With the rising defeated and the men contracted only for the duration of the conflict, the regiment was disbanded at Nottingham in September 1746. Its dissolution did not mean that its personnel disappeared from military service. Prince William, Duke of Cumberland, enlisted nearly the entire surviving body of men into the newly created Duke of Cumberland's Regiment of Light Dragoons; only eight of the original personnel reportedly did not transfer. The Duke of Kingston's Regiment consequently existed for roughly one year and did not develop the continuous institutional history of a permanent British cavalry regiment. Its historical significance lies in three areas: the role of private initiative in rapidly expanding government forces during the Jacobite crisis; the early British use of a light cavalry model influenced by continental hussars; and the ethical and disciplinary consequences of employing hastily raised troops in a brutal counterinsurgency campaign. The regiment should therefore be understood as a short-lived military unit, not as a modern commercial brand or continuing organization.

1. 1746Fought at Culloden

   The regiment took part in the government victory over the Jacobite army at the Battle of Culloden.

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2. 1746Disbanded at Nottingham

   The temporary regiment was disbanded in September after its men completed their wartime service.

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3. 1746Personnel transferred to a new light dragoon regiment

   Prince William, Duke of Cumberland, enlisted all but eight of the original men into the newly formed Duke of Cumberland's Regiment of Light Dragoons.

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4. 1745Regiment raised in Nottinghamshire

   Evelyn Pierrepont, 2nd Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull, raised and personally financed the regiment during the Jacobite rising.

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5. 1745Organized as a light cavalry formation

   The regiment was modeled on Central European hussars and was ranked as the 10th Regiment of Horse.

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A privately raised, European-influenced light cavalry regiment intended to provide mobile government forces during the Jacobite rising. Unlike a commercial brand, it was a historical military formation rather than a consumer-facing enterprise.

• Light cavalry serviceMilitary formation1745

  The regiment's principal function was mounted military service for the British government during the Jacobite rising. As a light cavalry unit, it was intended to offer mobility for reconnaissance, pursuit, communication, and operations against retreating forces. Its organization drew on the hussar model rather than the slower, more heavily equipped cavalry formations traditionally used for battlefield shock action.

• 1745Suppression of the Jacobite rising

  Great Britain

  The regiment was raised and deployed as part of the government response to the Jacobite rising of 1745, which sought to restore the Stuart line to the British throne.

  Outcome. Government forces defeated the Jacobite army at Culloden in 1746, after which the regiment was disbanded and most of its men transferred to another cavalry formation.

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• 1746Civilian killings during the post-Culloden pursuitControversy

  Historical accounts report that members of the newly raised regiment killed civilians, including women and children, along the Inverness road while pursuing retreating Jacobite troops. The episode reflected the unit's reported lack of discipline and the wider brutality of the post-Culloden reprisals.

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1. Duke of Kingston's Regiment of Light Horse
2. Historical record of the fourteenth, or the King's, regiment of Light Dragoons