Prior to World War I the brigade was based at Aldershot in England and originally consisted of three cavalry regiments, and a Royal Engineers signal troop. After the declaration of war in August 1914, the brigade was deployed to the Western Front in France, where an artillery battery joined the brigade the following September and a Machine Gun Squadron in February 1916.[2]
Life Guards (left) and Horse Guards (right) charging.
From June 1809, Wellington organized his cavalry into one, later two, cavalry divisions (1st and 2nd) for the Peninsular War.[3] These performed a purely administrative, rather than tactical, role;[4] the normal tactical headquarters were provided by brigades commanding two, later usually three, regiments.[5] The cavalry brigades were named for the commanding officer, rather than numbered.[a] For the Hundred Days Campaign, he numbered his British cavalry brigades in a single sequence, 1st to 7th.[b] The 1st Cavalry Brigade consisted of:
Following the end of the Second Boer War in 1902 the army was restructured, and the 1st Cavalry Brigade was established at Aldershot (South Cavalry Barracks) attached to the 1st Army Corps.[15] Brigadier-General Henry Scobell was appointed in command from 1 April 1903.[16]
First World War
Men of the machine gun section of the 11th Hussars in the trenches at Zillebeke during the winter of 1914–1915.
^This could be a source of confusion as brigades acquired new commanders, or they moved between brigades. For example, Fane's Brigade became De Grey's Brigade from 13 May 1810 when Henry Fane went to Estremadura;[6] De Grey's Brigade was broken up 29 January 1812.[7] On 20 May 1813, Fane took over Slade's Brigade;[8] the second Fane's Brigade was unrelated to the original one although coincidentally, and to add to the potential confusion, the 3rd Dragoon Guards served in both.[9]
Becke, Major A.F. (1935). Order of Battle of Divisions Part 1. The Regular British Divisions. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. ISBN1-871167-09-4.
Clarke, W.G. (1993). Horse Gunners: The Royal Horse Artillery, 200 Years of Panache and Professionalism. Woolwich: The Royal Artillery Institution. ISBN09520762-0-9.
Haythornthwaite, Philip J. (1990). The Napoleonic Source Book. London: Guild Publishing.
Reid, Stuart (2004). Wellington's Army in the Peninsula 1809–14. Volume 2 of Battle Orders Series. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN1-84176-517-1.
Smith, Digby (1998). The Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill Books. ISBN1-85367-276-9.