War of Spanish Succession 1701-14
Almenara 27 June 1710
The Regiment, then known as Pepper’s Dragoons, played a vital role in the Allied cavalry’s defeat of the Spanish horse at the Battle of Almenara. Both sides had drawn up their cavalry facing each other with their infantry struggling to catch up and reach the field of battle.
The Battle of Almenara 1710
Out of twenty-six squadrons of Allied cavalry, sixteen charged across the valley into two lines of Spanish, numbering forty-two squadrons in all, putting them totally to flight and driving them from the battlefield.
In this action, Pepper’s Dragoons overthrew a corps of Spanish cavalry and seized their crossbelts, which were later worn by them as a mark of the distinction they won at the battle of Almenara. From this battle, the regiment won its title “The Crossbelt Dragoons”.
