I offer for sale a very rare, regimental, Horse Hoof momento for the 14th King’s Hussars. This militaria item comprises the horse hoof, with shoe attached, of a treasured horse which served a mounted Army Officer of that regiment, during the reign of Queen Victoria. The hoof has the regimental badge attached to the front of it, but no other indication as to the horse’s name, rider or incident/battle or campaign involved. It is still a stunningly good piece of militaria and would grace any serious collector’s study desk.
This piece was purchased decades ago from an antique shop in Kew, London by the previous owner and was six hundred pounds to purchase back then. It has been out of the market a very long time and is still in excellent overall condition, all organic parts having been treated with a resin or varnish back in Victorian times.
I offer this trophy today at £995
Due to the organic material involved in this piece of militaria, I would prefer to sell it within the UK only.
Short history of the 14th King’s Hussars.
The regiment, originally known as Dormer’s Dragoons, was raised in 1715 as a cavalry regiment in the British Army by Brigadier-General James Dormer, to combat the first Jacobite rebellion (they fought at the Battle of Preston in 1715). They were then sent to Ireland in 1717 to police various areas and remained there until 1742. After this they fought in the second Jacobite rebellion of 1745-46, but these campaigns did not go well for them. The regiment then returned to Ireland in 1747 and was formally renamed as the 14th Regiment of Dragoons, in 1751. In 1776 it became a light dragoon regiment and again was renamed as: The 14th Regiment of Light Dragoons.
In 1776 two troops were detached and sent to the Low Countries for service in the Flanders campaign. In 1795 another seven troops were deployed to the French Colony of Saint-Domingue during the Haitian Slave Revolution, where they helped to defeat 1,200 ex-slaves who were sympathetic to the new revolutionary regime in France.
In 1791 the Regiment provided an escort to Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal of Prussia. Thereafter, as a mark of gratitude, the Regiment was authorised to adopt the Prussian Eagle as their badge, to be worn on the right-hand-side of their Tarleton helmet.
The regiment was dispatched to Lisbon in December 1808 to join Sir Arthur Wellesley’s Army, which was engaged in the Peninsular War. They fought at the Second Battle of Porto in May 1809, at the Battle of Talavera in July 1809 and saw hard action at Barquilla in 11th July 1810. The regiment fought in many other battles and sieges during this campaign, including the Battle of Salamanca in July 1812. During the Battle of Vitoria in June 1813 the regiment captured a silver chamberpot belonging to King Joseph Bonaparte, the brother of Emperor Napoleon, which resulted in the regimental nickname of “The Emperor’s Chambermaids”. They advanced into France providing a supporting role in the Battle of Orthez in February 1814 and were at the Battle of Toulouse in April of the same year. They returned to England in July 1814, before immediately deploying two squadrons for campaign in North America, in the closing stages of the War of 1812. At the conclusion of the War of 1812 they returned to Ireland.
The regiment was renamed in July 1830, to mark the coronation of William IV as the 14th (The King's) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons, and it took part in the suppression of the Bristol Riots in October 1831. It was dispatched to India in May 1841. They campaigned in the First and Second Anglo-Sikh Wars and also took part in the Anglo-Persian War in 1857.
The regiment returned to India in May 1857 and took part in Central Indian Campaign during 1858 in the latter stages of the Indian Rebellion. Major James Leith was awarded the Victoria Cross during this campaign; the regiment were ordered home in February 1860. The title of the regiment was simplified in August 1861 to the 14th (King's) Hussars.