Peace having been concluded with the French republic, in 1802, the establishment of the regiment was reduced; but in 1803, the treacherous conduct of Napoleon Bonaparte gave rise to another war, and the establishment was again augmented. When Bonaparte made his ostentatious, but vain, preparations for the invasion of Great Britain, the SEVENTH were stationed at Ipswich and Norwich, and were held in readiness to repel the invaders, should they venture to approach the shores of Britain.
In 1804 the establishment was augmented to ten troops.
In 1805 directions were received for the light dragoon appointments and clothing to be changed for those of HUSSARS; the alteration took place on the 25th of December, 1807; and the regiment subsequently obtained the designation of "SEVENTH, OR QUEEN'S OWN, REGIMENT OF HUSSARS."
After passing six years at Ipswich and Norwich, the SEVENTH HUSSARS proceeded to Guildford in July, 1808; and when on their march they were reviewed by His Royal Highness the Duke of York, on Hounslow-heath. Important events had, in the mean time, transpired on the continent and in the peninsula, and Portugal and Spain had become subject to the tyrannical sway of Bonaparte, who had nearly attained the zenith of his power. Portugal was delivered during the summer of 1808, by British skill and valour; and a powerful effort in aid of the Spaniards, who were endeavouring to free themselves of the French yoke, having been resolved upon by the British government, the SEVENTH HUSSARS were selected to take part in this enterprise.
Eight troops, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel R. H. Vivian, and consisting of two lieut.-colonels (Vivian and Kerrison), two majors (Hon. Berkeley Paget and Hon. G. H. C. Cavendish), eight captains, six lieutenants, four cornets, four staff-officers, six quarter-masters, 717 non-commissioned officers, trumpeters, and privates, and 677 troop-horses, embarked at Portsmouth in October; on arriving at Corunna, in November, the horses were slung overboard, and they swam to the shore. The regiment marched by squadrons to Astorga, from whence it proceeded, with the Tenth and Fifteenth hussars, towards Salamanca, to join the troops advancing from Portugal under Lieut.-General Sir John Moore, K.B. The British commander had been promised that his advance should be covered by a powerful and victorious Spanish army, and that numerous and enthusiastic legions of patriots were ready to co-operate with him; but not a Spanish soldier was in his front;--the enemy was at hand;--those armies with which he had been ordered to co-operate had been routed and dispersed, and Bonaparte was approaching the capital of Spain in triumph. Twenty-three thousand Britons were not able to cope with three hundred thousand French; but Sir John Moore resolved to push boldly forward, and menace the French lines, that he might thus draw Bonaparte with a powerful army from the capital, which would give time for the southern provinces of Spain to organize their means of resistance, and for the discomfited Spanish armies to re-assemble. The boldness and ability with which this resolution was executed, surprised Napoleon, and deserve the commendation of posterity. The SEVENTH HUSSARS were employed in this enterprise, and a piquet of the regiment was engaged on the 21st of December, with the Tenth and Fifteenth hussars, commanded by Lieut.-General LORD PAGET, in driving a body of French dragoons from _Sahagun_, when about twenty of the enemy were killed, and thirteen officers and one hundred and fifty-four men taken prisoners, in a sharp sword-fight which lasted about twenty minutes.