On 21 May 1678, two troops were raised by Captains John Strachan and John Inglis with a third under Captain Viscount Kingstoun added on 23 September. These were the first mounted units raised for the Crown in Scotland and were used by John Graham, Viscount Dundee to suppress prohibited Presbyterian assemblies or Conventicles in South-West Scotland. Some of the more extreme Presbyterians took up arms in June 1679, and the dragoons were present at Bothwell Bridge.