17th Duke of Cambridges Own Lancers 1905 (c)

Watercolour by Richard Simkin, 1905 (c).

17th (Duke of Cambridge's Own) Lancers charging in review order.

In 1759, Colonel Hale of the 47th Foot was sent back to Britain with the news of General James Wolfe's death at the Battle of Quebec. As a reward, he was commissioned to raise the 18th Light Dragoons. In memory of Wolfe's demise, the regiment's cap badge was a skull and crossbones, and its motto 'Death or Glory'. In 1763, it was re-numbered 17th in the order of precedence.

The 17th Lancers famously participated in the fateful Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War (1854-1856). It also participated in the latter stages of the Zulu War (1879) and the Boer War (1899-1902).