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{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name= 19th Royal Hussars (Queen Alexandra's Own)
|image=19th Royal Hussars Cap Badge.jpg
|caption=Cap badge of the 19th Royal Hussars
|dates= 1858–1922
|country= {{flagcountry|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}}
|allegiance=
|branch= [[File:Flag of the British Army.svg|23px]] [[British Army]]
|type= Cavalry
|role= Line Cavalry
|size= One Regiment
|command_structure=
|current_commander=
|garrison=
|ceremonial_chief=
|colonel_of_the_regiment=
|nickname=
|patron=
|motto=
|colors=
|march=
|mascot=
|decorations=
|battles=
|notable_commanders=
|anniversaries=
}}

The '''19th Royal Hussars (Queen Alexandra's Own)''' was a [[Cavalry regiments of the British Army|cavalry regiment]] of the [[British Army]], created in 1858. After serving in the [[World War I|First World War]], it was amalgamated with the [[15th The King's Hussars]] to form the [[15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars]] in 1922.

==History==
===Early history===
[[File:Major-General Sir J.D.P. French.jpg|thumb|left|[[John French, 1st Earl of Ypres|Lord French]], who joined the 19th Royal Hussars as a junior officer in March 1874]]
The regiment was originally raised in [[Bengal]] by the [[East India Company]] as the '''1st Bengal European Light Cavalry''' in 1858, for service in the response to the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857|Indian Rebellion]].<ref name="regiments.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/cav/D19c(H).htm |title=19th Royal Hussars (Queen Alexandra's Own) |publisher=regiments.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080118041250/http://regiments.org/regiments/uk/cav/D19c%28H%29.htm |archive-date=18 January 2008}}, regiments.org</ref> During the rebellion, a lieutenant of the regiment, [[Hugh Henry Gough]], received the [[Victoria Cross]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=22212|page=5516|date=24 December 1858}}</ref>

As with all other "European" units of the Company, they were placed under the command of the [[The Crown|Crown]] in 1858, and subsequently formally moved into the British Army in 1862 when they were designated as [[hussar]]s as the '''19th Hussars'''.<ref name="regiments.org"/> At this time, the regiment was authorised to inherit the [[battle honour]]s of the disbanded [[19th Light Dragoons]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.army.mod.uk/documents/general/RAC_History_Hussars.pdf | title =RAC History: Hussars | publisher = [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]] | year = 2008 | format = PDF | access-date = 1 December 2008}}</ref> [[John French, 1st Earl of Ypres|John French]], who later became a field marshal, joined the regiment as a junior officer in March 1874.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=24074|page=1591|date=10 March 1874}}</ref>

[[File:19th Hussars, 1882.jpg|thumb|An officer of the 19th Hussars, 1882]]
The regiment saw action at [[Battle of Tel el-Kebir]] in September 1882 during the [[Anglo-Egyptian War]]<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.britishbattles.com/egypt-1882/tel-el-kebir-1882.htm|title= Battle of Tel el-Kebir| publisher=British Battles|access-date=6 September 2016}}</ref> and the regiment took possession of the wells, which were a vital resource in desert warfare, at the [[Battle of Abu Klea]] in January 1885 during the [[Mahdist War]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.britishbattles.com/egypt-1882/abu-klea.htm|title= Battle of Abu Klea|publisher=British Battles|access-date=6 September 2016}}</ref> It also fought at the [[Siege of Ladysmith]] in winter 1899 during the [[Second Boer War]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.angloboerwar.com/?option=com_content&view=article&id=509|title=19th Hussars|publisher=Anglo-Boer War|access-date=6 September 2016}}</ref> The regiment was titled the '''19th (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own) Hussars''' after [[Alexandra of Denmark|Alexandra, Princess of Wales]] in 1902 and, when Alexandra became Queen Consort in 1908, the name changed to the '''19th (Queen Alexandra's Own Royal) Hussars'''.<ref name="regiments.org"/>

===First World War===
With the outbreak of the [[World War I|First World War]], the regiment was split up, with squadrons attached to the [[4th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|4th]], [[5th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|5th]] and [[6th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|6th Infantry Division]]s as divisional cavalry squadrons;<ref name="trail">{{cite web|url=http://www.1914-1918.net/hussars.htm |title=The Hussars], The Long, Long Trail|access-date=6 September 2016}}</ref> all three divisions moved to France with the [[British Expeditionary Force (World War I)|British Expeditionary Force]], and saw action in the [[Battle of Le Cateau]] in August 1914, the [[Great Retreat|Retreat from Mons]] later that month, the [[First Battle of the Marne|Battle of the Marne]] in September 1914, the [[First Battle of the Aisne|Battle of the Aisne]] later that month and the [[Battle of Armentières]] in October 1914.<ref name="regiments.org"/>

The regiment was brought together again in April 1915, and attached to the [[9th Cavalry Brigade (United Kingdom)|9th Cavalry Brigade]] in the [[1st Cavalry Division (United Kingdom)|1st Cavalry Division]], with whom it served for the remainder of the war.<ref name="trail"/> It saw action at the [[Second Battle of Ypres]] in spring 1915, gaining battle honours for the [[Second Battle of Ypres|Battle of St Julien]] in April 1915 and the [[Second Battle of Ypres|Battle of Frezenberg]] in May 1915. The regiment went on to fight at the [[Battle of Flers–Courcelette]] in September 1916, part of the [[Battle of the Somme]]. It also served at the [[Battle of Cambrai (1917)|Battle of Cambrai]] in November 1917, at the [[Battle of Amiens (1918)|Battle of Amiens]] in August 1918 and at the [[Canada's Hundred Days|Pursuit to Mons]] in autumn 1918.<ref name="regiments.org"/>

The regiment was retitled '''19th Royal Hussars (Queen Alexandra's Own)''' in 1921 and shortly thereafter disbanded when stationed in [[Mathura|Muttra]], India, as part of the post-War reduction in forces.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Thompson|first=Ralph|title=The 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars: A Pictorial History|publisher=Quoin Publishing Limited|year=1989|isbn=1-85563-004-4|location=Huddersfield}}</ref> Most of the officers and men were transferred to other cavalry regiments in India, and a cadre was briefly resurrected in 1922 in order to amalgamate with the [[15th The King's Hussars]], to form the [[15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars]].<ref name="regiments.org"/>

==Regimental museum==
The regimental collection is held by the [[Discovery Museum]] in [[Newcastle upon Tyne]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lightdragoons.org.uk/museum.html|title=Charge! The story of England's Northern Cavalry|publisher=Light Dragoons|access-date=2 June 2018}}</ref>

==Battle honours==
[[File:Battle of Abu Klea, William Barnes Wollen.jpg|thumb|The [[Battle of Abu Klea]] at which the 19th Royal Hussars successfully secured the wells, in January 1885, [[William Barnes Wollen]]]]
The regiment’s battle honours were as follows:<ref name="regiments.org"/>
*''Early wars'': Mysore, Seringapatam, Assaye, Niagara, Tel-el-Kebir, Egypt 1882 '84, Abu Klea, Nile 1884-85, Defence of Ladysmith, South Africa 1899-1902
*''The Great War'': Le Cateau, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914, Armentières 1914, Ypres 1915, Frezenberg, Bellewaarde, Somme 1916 '18, Flers-Courcelette, Cambrai 1917 '18, St Quentin, Rosières, Amiens, Albert 1918, Bapaume 1918, Hindenburg Line, St Quentin Canal, Beaurevoir, Pursuit to Mons, France and Flanders 1914-18

==Victoria Cross==
* [[William Thomas Marshall]], Quartermaster Sergeant in the [[Mahdist War|Sudan campaign]], 29 February 1884
[[File:Victoria Cross Winners- Pre 1914. Q80590.jpg|thumb|William Thomas Marshall VC]]

==Colonel-in-Chief==
* 1914: [[Alexandra of Denmark|Queen Alexandra]] (died 1925)

==Regimental colonels==
Colonels of the regiment were:<ref name="regiments.org"/>
;1st Bengal European Light Cavalry (renamed 1st Bengal European Cavalry, 1859)
*1858 Maj-Gen. Thomas Mathew Taylor

;19th Hussars (1862)
*1862–1865: Gen. [[William Pattle]]
*1865–1872: Gen. [[John Hall (Buckingham MP)|John Hall]]
*1872–1889: Gen. [[John Yorke (British Army officer)|John Yorke]], CB
*1889–1902: Lt-Gen. [[Coote Synge-Hutchinson]]
;19th (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own) Hussars, 1902 (renamed 19th (Queen Alexandra's Own Royal) Hussars, 1908 and 19th Royal Hussars (Queen Alexandra's Own), 1921)
*1902–1921: F.M. Sir [[John French, 1st Earl of Ypres|John Denton Pinkstone French, 1st Earl of Ypres]], KP, GCB, OM, GCVO, KCMG (to [[15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars]])
*''1921 regiment disbanded''
*''one squadron re-formed and amalgamated with [[15th The King's Hussars]] to form the [[15th/19th Hussars]]''

==See also==
*[[British cavalry during the First World War]]
*[[White mutiny]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

{{Light Dragoons}}
{{British Cavalry Regiments World War I}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}

{{#seo:
|keywords=Cavalry regiments of the British Army, Hussar regiments of the British Army, Honourable East India Company regiments, Military units and formations established in 1857, Military units and formations disestablished in 1922, 1858 establishments in India
|description=
}}

[[Category:Cavalry regiments of the British Army]]
[[Category:Hussar regiments of the British Army]]
[[Category:Honourable East India Company regiments]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1857]]
[[Category:Cavalry regiments of the British Army in World War I|H19]]
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1922]]
[[Category:1858 establishments in India]]

19th Royal Hussars - Revision history

MetaBOT at 16:08, 8 July 2023