ceeded to its coloneley upon the death of the gallant Conyngham (September, 1691). The regiment visited England for the first time in 1708, when apprehensions were entertained of a French invasion. From thence it proceeded, in the spring of 1709, to Scotland, where it was stationed for three years.

When the Earl of Mar raised the standard of rebellion in Scotland (1715), and proclaimed James III. King of Great Britain, two squadrons of the Enniskilleners were attached to the royal army, under the Duke of Argyle, and did good service at Sheriffmuir (November 13). They had 7 men killed, and 6 wounded in the engagement.

In the reign of George II. they were numbered on the establishment as the Sixth Dragoons, the rank which they have since retained; and for a long period their services were confined to home duty, especially on the eastern coast in the suppression of smuggling. The outbreak of the Seven Years' War, however, called them to support the honour of the regiment in the plains of Germany, and at Dettingen (June 16, 1743), they repulsed the French cuirassiers in a brilliant charge. At Fontenoy (April 28, 1745) they made some daring attacks, but were unable to retrieve the fortunes of the day—ruined by the misconduct of the Dutch, and the incapacity of the allied generals.* At Roucoux (October 12, 1746), in conjunction with the Greys and the 7th Dragoons, they drove back the French infantry in superb style, and their gallantry was specially commended in general orders. Not less brilliant were their services at Val (July 1, 1747), when their irresistible charge broke through the array of the French horsemen, and saved the battle on the left wing of the allies. Their loss was severe: 42 killed, and 80 wounded.

On the conclusion of peace in 1749, the 6th Dragoons returned to England, and their establishment was reduced to 285 officers and men. For many years they were solely employed on home service in Great Britain, and distinguished as 'an efficient and well-conducted corps.'

Their troop of light horsemen (first added to the regiment in 1755, and sometimes called hussars) was attached to the expedition, under Charles Duke of Marlborough, which made

We pass over these battles here with briefest notice, because in preceding pages they have been recorded with some detail.

a descent upon the French coast, and destroyed St. Malo, in June 1758. They afterwards joined a second expedition, under General Bligh, which captured Cherbourg. The heavy troops -or dragoons proper-were then despatched to Germany, and served in the allied army commanded by Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick. The entire contingent of British cavalry was under Lord George Sackville, with the Marquis of Granby second in command, and was present at the famous Battle of Minden, fought on August 1, 1759. The British infantry won immortal glory on 'Minden's Plain,' but owing to the misconduct of Lord George Sackville, the Enniskilleners and the other British dragoons were kept in a state of disgraceful inactivity, and their forced inertness deprived the victory of the decisive results which must otherwise have attended it.

The 6th were also present in the successive engagements at Warbourg, on the river Dymel (June 30, 1760); at Zurenberg (September 5); at Campen (October 16); at Kirch-Denkern (July 15, 1761); and Wilhelmsthal (June 24, 1762).

The Treaty of Fontainebleau, in 1763, concluded this desultory and unprofitable war; and the Enniskilleners were recalled to England. The 'light troop' was then disbanded, and various changes in equipment and uniform soon afterwards took place.

The French revolutionary war broke out in 1793, and no long time elapsed before England was involved in the struggle. A British army was then despatched to the Continent, under the Duke of York; and the 6th Dragoons were brigaded with the Blues and Royal Dragoons. They shared in the various operations of the ensuing campaigns; operations which elevated the character of the British soldier for devotion and courage, but equally manifested the incapacity and lack of military ability of his leaders. For the modern reader a record of these operations would be utterly devoid of attraction. Nothing, indeed, can be less interesting than a mere narrative of marches and countermarches, skirmishes and sieges, unrelieved by any flash of genius, or superb manifestation of heroism. War becomes a dull and profitless drama when no great soldier rules the scene, and no memorable victory lights it up with undying lustre. When the battle-music ebbs into silence, and the plumed helm of the conqueror no longer sweeps through the cloud and shadow like a destroying meteor; when genius no

longer orders the array, and the enthusiasm of success ceases to elevate the trooper into the hero; how dark and gloomy the spectacle of the 'tented plain,' how black and barren the annals of the strife! It is only when a Turenne or a Marlborough, a Napoleon or a Wellington occupies the stage, that the drama draws upon it the eyes of the world, or has any special and enduring interest for posterity. It is only when war summons into action the highest powers of a bold and comprehensive intellect, that it can excite the speculation of the philosopher, or amuse the fancy of the student.

The history of the Enniskilleners has, however, two incidents of the most stirring interest and splendid romance-Waterloo and the Crimea-and to these we may now direct the attention of the reader.

In six troops, mustering 450 men, they were despatched to reinforce the Duke of Wellington's army in the Netherlands, when tidings of Napoleon's escape from Elba broke upon astonished England. Brigaded with the 1st Royal Dragoons and Scots Greys, they formed the famous Union Brigade, representing the three portions of the United Kingdom, under Major-General Sir William Ponsonby; and were first engaged in covering the slow and stately retreat of the British army from Quatre Bras to the position of Mont St. Jean, in front of the village of Waterloo (June 17). On the following morning -the memorable June 18, a day ever famous in the history of Europe!-the Union Brigade was massed upon the left of the Charleroi road, to support Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Picton's division, which crowned the high ground above Papelotte and La Haye.

About noon, Napoleon delivered his first grand attack upon the British left, and placed, under Count D'Erlon, four columns of infantry, 18,000 strong, supported by a superb body of cuirassiers, under Kellermann. These advanced, covered by the unceasing fire of seventy-four pieces of artillery, against the left centre of the allied army, and as their stately array ascended the slope, and their skirmishers opened a scattering musketry, a Belgian brigade posted on the ridge, lost heart, and took to flight. 'Happily Wellington's second line was composed of Pack and Kemp's British brigades, under the gallant Picton, than whom no braver son has England ever sorrowed for. He had been sorely wounded at Quatre Bras