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This regiment was raised as the 29th Dragoons on 25th March 1795 and remained in Nottingham throughout 1795 and 1796. It was at several stations in England and initially, its uniform was blue with buff facings. It sailed for India in the latter half of 1798, and at that time its uniform was changed to grey with scarlet cuffs and collars. By June 1799 it was stationed at [[Fort William]], [[Calcutta]].
The 29th Dragoons (as they then were), along with the 8th and 27th Dragoons, formed part of an army commanded by [[Gerard Lake|General Gerard Lake ]] which fought the Mahratta forces under Scindia in the [[2nd Maratha War]]. The fighting began in August 1803 and continued with short intermissions until 1805. During these years, Lake's men stormed and captured the strong places of [[Aligarh]], [[Agra]] and [[Deig]]; fought pitched battles at [[Delhi]], [[Laswaree]] and outside [[Deig]], four times unsuccessfully assaulted the fortress of [[Bharatpur]], marched many hundreds of miles and engaged in numerous skirmishes and minor actions. On 1st November 1803 the regiment displayed 'exemplary valour' in the action fought near [[Laswaree]]. As a result, it was awarded the Battle Honour 'Leswarree'. The Elephant (the symbol of India) was placed in the centre of the Regimental Standards and the troops had the word 'Leswarree' inscribed on the front of their helmets.
On 16th July 1804 the regiment was renumbered the 25th Dragoons. From 1806 to 1813 it was stationed at [[Bangalore]]. In August 1810, a troop of the 25th proceeded on an Expedition to the Île de France (now known as Mauritius), landing there on 30th November and defeating the French three days later. They returned to India in February 1811.
In 1819 the regiment received orders to disband and the overwhelming majority of its soldiers transferred to other regiments then stationed in South India, including the [[13th Light Dragoons]], [[22nd Light Dragoons]] and various European Veteran Battalions of the East India Company. HM 25th Light Dragoons was disbanded at Chatham, England on 24th November 1819.
== External links ==
*[http://www.lightdragoons.org.uk/regimental_history/index.php Light Dragoons Regimental History] www.lightdragoons.org.uk
*[http://web.archive.org/web/20070807154127/http://members.ozemail.com.au/~clday/bull.htm Bull Family History in India] from Cathy Day’s archived website Family History in India . William Bull was in the [[23rd Light Dragoons|19th Light Dragoons]], later transferring, in order to remain in India, to the 25th Light Dragoons and the [[Carnatic European Veteran Battalion]]. His son-in-law William Drudge joined the 25th Light Dragoons , later transferring in 1819, again to remain in India, to the [[22nd Light Dragoons]], and then the [[13th Light Dragoons]].
===Historical books online===
*[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=JEgVAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA86 Page 86 [In India<nowiki>]</nowiki>] ''A Memoir of Major-General Sir R.R. Gillespie'' [by William Thorn] 1816 Google Books. On 7 May 1805 Gillespie exchanged into the [[19th Lancers|Nineteenth Light Dragoons]], then in India, to where he proceeded overland from England. The Nineteenth Light Dragoons being ordered to Europe, Gillespie, on 16 April 1807 exchanged into the [[8th (The King's Royal Irish) Hussars|8th Royal Irish Light Dragoons]] and saw service in the Punjab (page 108); on 5 January 1809 he exchanged into the Twenty-fifth Light Dragoons (page 111) where he appears to have remained until 1811 when subsequently he commanded the First Division in the [[Java Expedition]] of 1811 (page 120).
[[Category:British Army Cavalry Regiments]]
