14th Light Dragoon, North America – 1812

The 14th Light Dragoon Regiment was one of three English cavalry regiments to participate in the War of 1812, along with the 19th Light Dragoon Regiment, which had been in Canada for a longer time, and the 6th Dragoon Regiment, which served only during the Chesapeake Campaign and as a staff escort.

The 14th Light Dragoon Regiment was engaged in the campaign launched against Louisiana in 1814, the aim of which was to capture the city of New Orleans in order to strike a blow to the flourishing trade in that part of the United States.

The regiment committed only two squadrons to this campaign and arrived in North America without its horses, hoping to find some there. Unfortunately, the regiment’s entire horsepower fell into the hands of an American privateer, and the unit fought on foot.

The campaign was short and ended with the disaster at New Orleans and the capture of Fort Bowyer near the city of Mobile, before ending as soon as news of the signing of the Treaty of Ghent reached the British expeditionary force.

For more details on this unit, see here: The 14th Light Dragoons in the War of 1812