In 1689 James II Stuart, the dethroned King of England, landed in Ireland with aid provided by the French in an attempt to overthrow William of Orange.

During the Defence of Enniskillen in 1689 the Governor of the town Gustav Hamilton raised three regiments to fight on the side of William of Orange.

An oath was taken by each man upon a bible: I, D. H., do hereby testify and declare, and upon the Holy Evangelists swear, that I will own and acknowledge Gustavus Hamilton, Esq., Chief Governor of this town of Enniskillen, and shall give due obedience to him and my superior officers in all his and their commands, and shall to the utmost of my power and ability defend him, them, and this place, with the country adjacent, together with the Protestant religion and interest, with my life and fortune, against all that shall endeavour to subvert the same.

The "Enniskilliners" came upon a force of horse and foot at the churchyard of Belturbet and what followed is described by Thomas Witherow:Tuesday proved to be a day of incessant rain, so that all military operations were for the time suspended; but a Council of War was held by the Enniskilleners, and, as it was in vain to think of overtaking Sutherland, it was resolved to attack the party in Belturbet.

In addition, a great quantity of provisions amounting to twenty tons of bread, flour, wheat, and malt, was sent to Enniskillen by water.

Thirteen commissioned officers were detained as prisoners, but the two hundred common soldiers were taken to Enniskillen, and were employed in erecting the fort, which was then approaching completion.

The Inniskillings were commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Muter, who was wounded during the battle and took charge of the Brigade on the death of Major-General Sir William Ponsonby.

The Greys, who had been in a theoretical reserve position, according to W. A. Thorburn, late curator at the National War Museum of Scotland, "moved straight to their front, which took them through the ranks of the Gordons.

He was ordered to take it to the rear, which he reluctantly did, but sat on his horse for sometime watching the engagement before finally setting off for Brussels with his trophy.

The rest of the French columns believed what they saw could only be an advance guard, and were now under the mistaken impression that they were being attacked by large numbers of cavalry.

At this point the divisions of Marcognet and Donzelot were not completely shaken, although contrary to romantic legend, the Union Brigade did not, and could not, defeat an Army Corps of some 16,900 infantry on their own.

Having carried out a highly successful defensive action in support of infantry, the Union Brigade lost all cohesion and refused to recognize or hear any orders.

[17] Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Dalrymple White took over command of the regiment and led it in action at the Battle of Balaclava in October 1854.

Floundering at obstacles such as ditches or coppices they headed towards the massed ranks of Russian cavalry, pressing on inexorably at a mere 8 miles an hour.

Twice I was unhorsed, and more than once I had to grip my sword tighter, the blood of foes streaming down over the hilt, and running up my very sleeve....now we were lost in their ranks - now in little bands battling - now in good order together, now in and out.

[22] The squadrons of the regiment then rejoined, and formed part of the cavalry brigade which served in all the engagements in the general advance on Pretoria, one of the Boer capitals, which was captured on 5 June 1900.

They took part in the battles of Diamond Hill (June 1900) and Belfast (August 1900), and in the following cavalry advance on Barberton in the Eastern Transvaal.

The regiment subsequently joined a column under the command of Colonel Michael Rimington in the Orange River Colony, taking part in miscellaneous raids and drives there throughout the last year of the war, which ended with the Peace of Vereeniging on 31 May 1902.