7th Cavalry Brigade ( United Kingdom ) The 7th Cavalry Brigade was a cavalry brigade of the British Army . It served in the Napoleonic Wars , notably at the Battle of Waterloo . It was reformed in 1914 and served on the Western Front as part of the 3rd Cavalry Division until the end of World War I . Napoleonic Wars . The 7th Cavalry Brigade was formed for the Waterloo Campaign in 1815 and consisted of It was commanded by Colonel Sir Friedrich von Arentschildt . The brigade took part in the Battle of Waterloo , though the 13th Light Dragoons was detached to the 5th Cavalry Brigade . Stationed to the rear of the infantry squares , it helped to fend off Ney ' s massed cavalry attacks from 4pm onwards . During the battle , the Hussars suffered 130 casualties ( 44 killed , 86 wounded ) and the Light Dragoons 108 ( 12 killed , 78 wounded , 18 missing ) . This represented a loss rate of about 20 % . World War I . Formation . The brigade was formed on 1 September 1914 at Ludgershall , Wiltshire for the 3rd Cavalry Division . It commanded the three Household Cavalry regiments , the only regular cavalry regiments remaining in the United Kingdom after mobilization of the BEF and its transport to France . A Royal Engineers signal troop also joined on formation . The 1st Life Guards joined from Hyde Park , the 2nd Life Guards from Regent ' s Park and the Royal Horse Guards from Windsor . Each regiment only consisted of two squadrons as each had provided a squadron to the Household Cavalry Composite Regiment in 4th Cavalry Brigade in August 1914 . The detached squadrons did not rejoin their parent regiments until 11 November 1914 . The brigade landed at Zeebrugge on 7 October 1914 and deployed to the Western Front in France and Belgium . K Battery , Royal Horse Artillery ( six 13 pounder s ) joined the division ' s Royal Horse Artillery Brigade from VI Brigade , RHA at Christchurch on 1 October and was permanently attached to 7th Cavalry Brigade on 16 October . On 29 February 1916 , a Machine Gun Squadron was formed from the machine gun sections of the brigade ' s constituent regiments . The 3rd Cavalry Division was initially formed with just two cavalry brigades – the 6th and 7th . To bring the division up to the standard strength of three brigades , the 8th Cavalry Brigade was formed in Belgium on 20 November 1914 . The Royal Horse Guards was transferred to the new brigade on 21 November and was replaced by the Leicestershire Yeomanry from the North Midland Mounted Brigade in England . Reconstituted . In March 1918 , the 4th ( formerly 1st Indian ) and 5th ( formerly 2nd Indian ) Cavalry Divisions were broken up in France . The Indian elements were sent to Egypt where they formed part of the new 4th and 5th Cavalry Divisions which played a major part in the successful conclusion of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign . The British and Canadian units remained in France and most of them were transferred to the 3rd Cavalry Division causing it to be extensively reorganized . The Household Cavalry regiments were concentrated in the 7th Cavalry Brigade ; they left the brigade on 10 March when they were dismounted and converted to machine gunners as No . 1 ( 1st Life Guards ) , No . 2 ( 2nd Life Guards ) and No . 3 ( Royal Horse Guards ) Battalions of the Guards Machine Gun Regiment at Étaples . They were replaced in the brigade on the same day by 7th Dragoon Guards , 6th Dragoons and 17th Lancers . Chronicle . The brigade served with the 3rd Cavalry Division on the Western Front until the end of the war . In 1914 , the division saw action in the defence of Antwerp ( 9 and 10 October ) and the First Battle of Ypres , notably the battles of Langemarck ( 21 – 24 October ) , Gheluvelt ( 29 – 31 October ) and Nonne Bosschen ( 11 November ) . In 1915 , it took part in the Second Battle of Ypres ( Battle of Frezenberg Ridge , 11 – 13 May ) and the Battle of Loos ( 26 – 28 September ) . 1916 saw no notable actions , but in 1917 the division saw action in the Battle of Arras ( First Battle of the Scarpe , 9 – 12 April ) . At other times , the brigade formed a dismounted unit and served in the trenches ( as a regiment under the command of the brigadier ) . 1918 saw the return of the war of movement and the division took part in the First Battle of the Somme notably the Battle of St Quentin ( 21 – 23 March ) , Actions of the Somme Crossings ( 24 and 25 March ) and Battle of the Avre ( 4 and 5 April ) ; the Battle of Amiens and the battles of the Hindenburg Line ( Battle of Cambrai , 8 and 9 October and the Pursuit to the Selle , 9 – 12 October ) . Its final action was in the Advance in Flanders ( 9 – 11 November ) . At the Armistice , units of the division had reached the River Dender at Leuze and Lessines in Belgium , when orders were received that they would cover the advance of the Second Army into Germany . They started the advance on 17 November , divisional headquarters being established at Waterloo on 21 November . Transport difficulties meant that the only one cavalry division could advance with Second Army so the following winter was spent in Belgium . By 31 March 1919 , the division was demobilized . Commanders . The 7th Cavalry Brigade had the following commanders :