The 17th Lancers (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1759 and notable for its participation in the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War. The regiment was amalgamated with the 21st Lancers to form the 17th/21st Lancers in 1922. History Seven Years War In 1759, Colonel John Hale of the 47th Foot was ordered back to Britain with General James Wolfe's final dispatches and news of his victory in the Battle of Quebec in September 1759. After his return, he was rewarded with land in Canada and granted permission to raise a regiment of light dragoons. He formed the regiment in Hertfordshire on 7 November 1759 as the 18th Regiment of (Light) Dragoons, which also went by the name of Hale's Light Horse. The admiration of his men for General Wolfe was evident in the cap badge Colonel Hale chose for the regiment: the Death's Head with the motto "Or Glory". The regiment saw service in Germany in 1761 and was renumbered the 17th Regiment of (Light) Dragoons in April 1763 In 1764 the regiment went to Ireland. In May 1766 it was renumbered again, this time as the 3rd Regiment of Light Dragoons. It regained the 17th numeral in 1769 as the 17th Regiment of (Light) Dragoons. American Revolution Led by Lt Col Samuel Birch, the regiment was sent to North America in 1775, arriving in Boston, then besieged by American rebels in the American Revolutionary War. It fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill, a costly British victory, in June 1775. The regiment was withdrawn to Halifax. It fought at the Battle of Long Island in August 1776 at the Battle of White Plains in October 1776 and at the Battle of Fort Washington in November 1776. It was in action again at the Battle of Forts Clinton and Montgomery in October 1777, the Battle of Crooked Billet in May 1778 and the Battle of Barren Hill later that month. The regiment provided a detachment for operations in the southern colonies as part of Tarleton's Legion, a mixture of infantry and cavalry, and was engaged in a number of battles. The legion, commanded by Banastre Tarleton, was founded in 1778 by Loyalist contingents from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. As the attached regular cavalry, the 17th Light Dragoons clung on to an identity separate from the provincials,