16th (The Queen's) Lancers

Also known as 16th Lancers.

Chronology

• 1759 raised as the 16th Regiment of (Light) Dragoons
• 1766 renamed the 2nd (or The Queen's) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons
• 1769 renamed the 16th (The Queen's) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons
• 1816 renamed the 16th (The Queen's) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (Lancers)
• 1861 became the 16th (The Queen's) Lancers
• 1921 retitled as the 16th The Queen's Lancers
• 1922 amalgamated with the 5th Royal Irish Lancers to form the 16th/5th The Queen's Royal Lancers
• 1954 became the 16th/5th The Queen's Royal Lancers
• 1993 amalgamated with the 17th/21st Lancers to form The Queen's Royal Lancers

Service in British India

16th Lancers Aliwal memorial in Canterbury Cathedral

• 1822 India
• 1825 Jat War
• 1839 1st Afghan War
• 1843 Gwalior
• 1844 Meerut
• 1845 1st Sikh War, see below

• Battle of Aliwal

• 1865 India
• 1890 Lucknow
• 1897 Umballa
• 1897 North West Frontier

Due to the return of the 16th Lancers to England, on 1 November 1875 2 privates transferred to the 13th Hussars

1st Sikh War

The regiment fought in the Battle of Aliwal on the 28th January 1846, suffering many casualties. Names of the fallen listed on the Aliwal memorial pictured can also be found on Stephen Lewis' memorials website (list of other ranks and list of Officers).

A description of the 16th's experience at Aliwal can be found in the battle article.

British Library holdings

• History of the Sixteenth, the Queen's Light Dragoons (Lancers), 1759 to 1912 by Colonel Henry Graham, published 1912. Volume 2 1912 to 1925 published 1926.

FIBIS resources

• "Boy Soldier to Lancer: John Arnfield in the Anglo -Sikh Wars" by Ainslie Sharpe FIBIS Journal Number 26 Autumn 2011, pages 31-40 For details of how to access this article, see FIBIS Journals

John Arnfield transferred from the 3rd Regiment of Foot, the Buffs 1 April 1840, age 20 possibly because his sister had married a sergeant in the 16th Lancers at Meerut in 1838. He served in the Gwalior Campaign and the 1st Sikh War He remained with the regiment in India until it returned to England, when he transferred to the 9th Lancers 1 April 1846

Recommended Reading

Three Cheers for the Queen—Lancers Charge! By W. J. Gould. (The Experiences of a Sergeant of 16th Queen’s Lancers in Afghanistan, the Gwalior War, the First Sikh War and the Kaffir War). Available from the FIBIS Shop

External Links

Wikipedia

• 16th Queen's Lancers
• 16th/5th The Queen's Royal Lancers
• Queen's Royal Lancers

Other

• The Queen's Royal Lancers Regimental Museum. Covers the 5th, 16th, 17th, and 21st Lancers
  • History: 16th The Queen's Lancers
  • History: 16th/5th The Queen's Royal Lancers
• Memorial in Bangalore (on Stephen Lewis' website) - a transcription of names of Officers and men who died whilst the 16th were in India between 1865 and 1876. Names of those who died during the Sutlej Campaign (1st Sikh War 1845-46) are also on the site (linked above).
• The Band of the 16th Lancers worldmilitarybands.com

Historical books online

• Historical record of the Sixteenth, or the Queen’s Regiment of Light Dragoons; Lancers: containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1759, and of its subsequent services to 1841 Google Books 1842 Indian service commenced page 87 in 1822
• Ten years in India, in the 16th Queen's Lancers by WJD Gould (1837-1846) [Archive.org]. In 1846 when the Regiment left India for England, those who wished to stay in India could transfer to either the 3rd Light Dragoons or the 9th Lancers (page 108).
• Military service and adventures in the Far East: including sketches of the campaigns against the Afghans in 1839 and the Sikhs in 1845-6, Volume 2 by Daniel Henry Mackinnon (1849) Google Books