The QUEEN'S OWN dragoons left Scotland in April, 1742: and soon after their arrival in England, they were selected to form part of an army of sixteen thousand men, sent to the Netherlands under the command of Field-Marshal the Earl of Stair, to support the interests of the Queen of Hungary and Bohemia. The regiment embarked in the early part of August; and after landing at Ostend, marched a few stages up the country, where it halted until the beginning of the following year.
In February, 1743, the regiment commenced its march for Germany; and after taking part in several manœuvres, it was encamped at Aschaffenburg, where King George II. and the Duke of Cumberland joined the army. On the 26th of June, as the troops were marching along the bank of the river Maine, a French force was discovered in position near _Dettingen_, a village in the Bavarian States, in the circle of the Lower Rhine; and King George II. commanded the British, Austrians, and Hanoverians to form line opposite the enemy. After a severe cannonade of several hours' duration, the French advanced from their formidable position, and a series of charges of cavalry, with a heavy fire of musketry, commenced on the left of the allied army, and extended along the front. During the heat of the engagement, the regiment which forms the subject of this memoir, had an opportunity of displaying its intrepidity and prowess in close combat with the cavalry of the opposing army, and obtained the approbation of its sovereign. The British dragoons encountered the French _gens d'armes_ and household cavalry, and, though without armour, they fought their steel-clad opponents with signal gallantry. Twice the British horsemen were forced back; but, rallying and returning to the charge, at the third onset they overthrew the opposing squadrons, and chased them from the field with great slaughter, and with the loss of several standards and kettle drums. The infantry of the allied army evinced great bravery, and a complete victory was gained over the enemy.
The QUEEN'S OWN regiment of dragoons had Lieutenant Falconer, Cornet Hobey, one serjeant, ten rank and file, and twenty-two horses killed; Lieutenant Frazer, Cornet St. Leger, one quarter-master, two serjeants, thirteen rank and file, and thirteen horses wounded: Cornet St. Leger afterwards died of his wounds.