17th Lancers The 17th Lancers ( Duke of Cambridge ' s Own ) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army , notable for its participation in the Charge of the Light Brigade in the Crimean War . Various amalgamations have resulted in its absorption into the Queen ' s Royal Lancers ( which has also incorporated the 5th , the 16th and the 21st Lancers ) . 1759 – 1854 . In 1759 , Colonel John Hale of the 47th Foot was ordered back to Britain with General James Wolfe ' s final dispatches and news of his victory in the Battle of Quebec . After his return , he was rewarded with land in Canada and granted permission to raise a regiment of light dragoons . He formed the regiment in Hertfordshire on 7 November 1759 as the 18th Regiment of ( Light ) Dragoons , which also went by the name of Hale ' s Light Horse . The admiration of his men for General Wolfe was evident in the cap badge Colonel Hale chose for the regiment : the Death ' s Head with the motto " Or Glory " . The regiment was renumbered the 17th in 1761 and saw service in Germany . In 1766 it was renumbered again , this time as the 3rd Regiment of Light Dragoons . In 1764 the regiment went to Ireland , where it was based for many years . It regained the 17th numeral in 1769 as the 17th Regiment of ( Light ) Dragoons . The 17th was sent to North America in 1775 , arriving in Boston , then besieged by American rebels in their War of Independence . The 17th fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill , a costly British victory . The 17th was withdrawn to Halifax . In 1776 , the 17th fought in the Long Island campaign . Later , in 1780 , the regiment provided a detachment for operations in the southern colonies as part of Tarleton ' s Legion , a mixture of infantry and cavalry , and was engaged in a number of battles . The legion , commanded by Banastre Tarleton , was founded in 1778 by Loyalist contingents from Pennsylvania , New Jersey , and New York . As the attached regular cavalry , the 17th clung on to an identity separate from the provincials , even refusing to exchange their fading scarlet clothing for the legion ' s green jackets . They sustained heavy losses in the Battle of Cowpens in January 1781 after being ordered by Tarleton to charge a formation of American militia . Although their charge was initially effective , the dragoons , numbering about 50 , were quickly surprised and outnumbered by concealed American cavalry , under Colonel William Washington , and driven back in disarray . The American War of Independence officially ended in 1783 . An officer of the regiment , Captain Stapleton , had the distinction of delivering to George Washington the despatch confirming the declaration of the cessation of hostilities . The 17th returned to Britain , where it remained until 1795 , when it sailed for the West Indies to reinforce depleted forces battling the French . Two troops were used to suppress an uprising by " Maroons " in Jamaica soon after arriving in the Caribbean . Other detachments were embarked aboard HMS " Success " as " supernumeraries " . Their experience at sea has been suggested by regimental historians to have gained the regiment the nickname " Horse Marines " . In 1806 , the 17th took part in the disastrous expeditions to Spanish - controlled South America , then an ally of France during the Napoleonic Wars . Sir Home Riggs Popham had orchestrated an expedition against South America without the British government ' s sanction . This invasion failed , but a second invasion was launched . The 17th was part of this second force , under Sir Samuel Auchmuty . The British force besieged and captured Montevideo . In 1807 , the 17th were part of the force , now under John Whitelocke , that tried to capture Buenos Aires , but this failed abysmally . The British force ( including the 17th ) , was forced to surrender , and did not return home until 1808 . ( Popham and Whitelocke were court - martialled . ) The 17th was sent to India shortly after returning home . In 1817 they took part in the Third Mahratha War . Disease ravaged the regiment during its residency . Whilst in India , the British Army nominally re - classified the 17th as lancer s , and added " lancers " as a subtitle to its regimental designation in 1822 . The 17th did not learn of its new status until 1823 , when , during a stopover at Saint Helena on its journey back to Britain , a copy of the Army List was obtained . Although the weapon ' s use had endured in parts of continental Europe , the lance had not been in British service for more than a century . Its reintroduction by the Duke of York , Commander - in - Chief of the British Army , owed much to the performance of Napoleon Bonaparte ' s Polish Uhlan s . The lancer regiments adopted their own version of the Uhlan uniform , including the czapka - style headdress . In 1826 , Lord Bingham ( later the 3rd Earl of Lucan ) became the regiment ' s commanding officer when he bought its lieutenant - colonelcy for the reputed sum of £25 , 000 pounds . During his tenure , Bingham invested heavily in the 17th , purchasing uniforms and horses , giving rise to the regimental nickname " Bingham ' s Dandies " . As lancers the 17th retained the white facings that had distinguished the regiment as light dragoons . Crimean War . The 17th had been stationed in Britain since 1823 when the Crimean War began in 1854 . The 17th was part of a combined British and French expedition assembled to support the Ottoman Empire in its war with Russia . The intention of the expedition was to invade the Crimea ( in present - day Ukraine ) and capture the naval base of Sevastopol . The 17th was part of the Light Brigade , under the command of Major - General Lord Cardigan , which landed with the British forces at a place known as Calamity Bay . It took part in a minor skirmish at the Bulganek River and subsequently took part in the Battle of Alma on 20 September . During the Siege of Sevastopol ( which began in September ) the 17th Lancers took part in the Battle of Balaklava on 25 October . During the battle , the regiment took part in a cavalry charge that became known as the Charge of the Light Brigade , which spawned much controversy and indeed a poem by Alfred , Lord Tennyson . The Russians captured redoubts on the Causeway Heights , which held some British artillery . The army commander , Lord Raglan , issued an order for the Light Brigade to attack there before the guns could be taken away by the Russians . The order was sent via Captain Louis Nolan to Lord Lucan , commander of the Cavalry Division . It is believed , however , that Nolan misinterpreted the order as an order to attack Russian artillery in the valley between the Fediukhine Heights and the Causeway Heights . It has been speculated that Captain Nolan , an authority on cavalry tactics , actually directed Lucan toward the wrong guns in order to test his tactical theories , although this view has not found wide currency . Lord Cardigan then ordered his Light Brigade to began the advance at a trot , with the 17th and 13th Light Dragoons leading the Brigade , heading into a concentration of Russian artillery , infantry and cavalry . The Light Brigade advanced to their objective and came under heavy artillery fire from all sides , which inflicted many casualties . The Brigade , upon nearing the enemy , then went into a full charge . The 17th Lancers , commanded by Captain William Morris , drove through the Russian artillery before smashing straight into the Russian cavalry and pushing them back . The Light Brigade were unable to consolidate their position , however , having insufficient forces ( the Heavy Brigade had not advanced further into the valley ) and had to withdraw to their starting positions , coming under artillery and musket fire and cavalry attack as they did so . Despite the mistakes that culminated in unnecessary loss , the charge reasserted the renown of the British cavalry , to such an extent that Russian cavalry refused outright to confront them in battle for the duration of the war . The 17th Lancers suffered quite heavily . Of the 147 men of the 17th , just 38 were at the roll call the following morning . The Light Brigade as a whole suffered 118 men killed and 127 wounded out of a total of 673 men and 362 horses lost , effectively destroying the unit as a fighting force . The 17th took part in the Battle of Inkerman on 5 November , although only in a minor role . It did not return home with the conclusion of the war in 1856 . After the inception of the Victoria Cross ( VC ) in 1856 , three members of the 17th received the award for acts of gallantry in the charge : These were Troop Sergeant - Major John Berryman , Sergeant - Major Charles Wooden , and Sergeant John Farrell . British Empire Service . In December 1857 the 17th arrived in India to reinforce the effort to suppress the Indian rebellion against British rule . By the time the regiment was prepared for service , the rebellion was effectively over , although it did pursue Tantia Topi . During the course of the pursuit , Lieutenant Evelyn Wood earned the Victoria Cross for gallantry on two separate occasions . Tantia Topi was ultimately captured and hanged by the British . The 17th Lancers remained in India until 1863 , when it returned to Britain . In India , the 17th became the 17th Regiment of Lancers . When , in 1876 , it gained Prince George , Duke of Cambridge as its Colonel - in - Chief , the regiment adopted the title of the 17th ( The Duke of Cambridge ' s Own ) Lancers . The 17th was sent to Natal Colony for the Zulu War . On 4 July 1879 , the 17th fought at the Battle of Ulundi under Sir Drury Curzon Drury - Lowe . The 17th was posted inside a large British infantry square during the attack by the Zulu Army , which had surrounded the British . When the attack appeared to be wavering , the 17th Lancers were ordered to advance . Their charge routed the warriors with heavy loss . The battle proved to be decisive . The 17th returned to India the same year , remaining there until about 1890 when they returned home . In 1900 the 17th returned to Southern Africa for the Second Boer War . They missed the large pitched battles , but would still see substantial action during the war . In 1900 , Sergeant Brian Lawrence won the regiment ' s fifth and final VC at Essenbosch Farm . The 17th ' s most significant action was at the Battle of Elands River ( Modderfontein ) in September 1901 . C Squadron of the 17th was attacked by Boers under Jan Smuts whom the cavalrymen mistook for British troops . The Boers took advantage of a mist to encircle the British camp . When Smuts ' vanguard ran head - on into a Lancer patrol , the British hesitated to fire because many of the Boers wore captured British uniforms . The Boers immediately opened fire and attacked in front while Smuts led the remainder of his force to attack the British camp from the rear . The British party suffered further casualties at a closed gate that slowed them down . All six British officers sustained wounds and four were killed . Only Captain Sandeman , the commanding officer , and Lieutenant Lord Vivian survived . The 17th Lancers had suffered 29 killed and 41 wounded before surrendering , while Boer losses were one killed and six wounded . The 17th returned home in 1902 with the conclusion of the war . The regiment left for India in 1905 , where it remained until the First World War . First World War . At the beginning of the First World War , the 17th Lancers formed part of the Sialkot Cavalry Brigade of the 1st Indian Cavalry Division . The regiment landed in France in November 1914 . In the static warfare of the Western Front , the 17th was often restricted to infantry roles , such as the occupation of trenches . The 17th was eventually used in its conventional cavalry role in 1917 , at the Battle of Cambrai , which happened to feature the first large - scale use of tank s . In 1918 the 17th was transferred to the 7th Cavalry Brigade , part of the 3rd Cavalry Division . That year the men got another chance to prove their worth as a cavalry regiment during the last - gasp German Spring Offensive . The 17th functioned as mobile infantry during the attack , plugging gaps whenever the need arose , both as cavalry and as infantry . The 17th also saw service in the British counter - attack , including the Battle of Amiens . After the signing of the Armistice on 11 November 1918 , the 17th remained in continental Europe , joining the British Army of the Rhine in Cologne , Germany . The regiment then served in County Cork , Ireland , where it operated against the Irish Republican Army during the War of Independence . In 1921 , the 17th had its title altered to the 17th Lancers ( Duke of Cambridge ' s Own ) . Amalgamation . In 1922 the 17th was amalgamated with the 21st Lancers ( Empress of India ' s ) to form the 17th / 21st Lancers . This regiment was amalgamated with the 16th / 5th Queen ' s Royal Lancers in 1993 to form the Queen ' s Royal Lancers .