This post will look at numbering in the 15th (King's) Hussars between 1881 and 1906. The cavalry regiments were unaffected by Cardwell's reforms which saw the majority of the infantry regiments being re-designated along territorial or county lines. However, my starting point for this post is 1881 although my data goes back a good deal further than this.
The database and information on this blog have been compiled as a result of studying service records in WO 97 (British Army pensions to 1913), WO 363 (WW1 service records) and WO 364 (WW1 pension records). All of these series are now online. Click on the links for further information.
1767 joined on 19th May 1881
1862 joined on 5th January 1882
1988 joined on 26th May 1883
2109 joined on 16th April 1884
2205 joined on 13th February 1885
2305 joined on 27th June 1886
2403 joined on 5th January 1887
2537 joined on 13th February 1888
2641 joined on 27th March 1889
2737 joined on 20th March 1890
2814 joined on 1st March 1891
3054 joined on 26th July 1892
3132 joined on 23rd January 1893
3225 joined on 23rd January 1894
3383 joined on 7th January 1895
3491 joined on 22nd January 1896
3605 joined on 20th January 1897
3803 joined on 15th June 1898
3938 joined on 23rd January 1899
4115 joined on 7th May 1900
4205 joined on 16th May 1901
4313 joined on 24th February 1902
4354 joined on 15th January 1903
4653 joined on 6th September 1905
My last number on my 15th Hussars database prior to the change in numbering is 4664 on 1st October 1905. In late 1906 or early 1907 numbering in the cavalry changed and numbers were allocated to corps rather than to individual regiments within those corps. For further reading see:
1. Queen's & King's Regulations: regimental numbering.
2. Cavalry numbering in 1906.
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This from Naval & Military Press:
In August 1914 the organisation of the infantry division called for a reconnaissance element which was provided by a squadron of cavalry, and it was the role of the 15th Hussars (15 H) to provide that squadron for each of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Infantry Divisions. The other three divisions of the original BEF were served by squadrons of the 19th Hussars and so it may seem appropriate that when, in 1922, the number of cavalry regiments were reduced by amalgamations, the 15th combined with the 19th to form a new regiment - the 15th/19th Hussars. When war came in 1914 15 H had been back in England nearly two years after an overseas tour of fourteen years, and by 18th August the three squadrons were in France with their divisions. The first four chapters describe the involvement of the squadrons in the early fighting - Mons and the retreat, Marne, Aisne and Ypres. In April 1915 the regiment was re-formed as a single unit and posted to the newly formed 9th Cavalry Brigade in 1st Cavalry Division (as was 19 H); their places in the three infantry divisions were taken by Yeomanry. For the rest of the war the Regiment remained in the 9th Brigade, 3rd Cavalry Division, on the Western Front and fought in many actions as their twenty-three Battle Honours testify. They were awarded one of the earliest VCs to be won, Cpl Garforth.
There are five appendices, one of them is a diary of marches, billets and bivouacs of the Regiment from 27th July 1914 to 6th September 1919 and another most useful one gives the strengths of the Regiment (officers and other ranks) on various dates between 29th April 1915 and 31st March 1921; figures are also given for riding, draught and pack horses and mules. The casualty lists show not only fatalities but also wounded, identifying those wounded more than once, and those missing. There is a list of officers of the Regiment and attached officers who served between 1914 and 1922, and a list of NCOs and men who were commissioned during the war. There is an index.
