horse guardn.
/ˈhɔːs ˌɡɑːd/ 1.
a. One of a body of picked cavalry for special service as a guard; formerly also collective.
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society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > soldier by branch of army > [noun] > mounted soldier > horse-guardsman
horse guard1647
horse-guardsman1816
society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > soldier by branch of army > [noun] > mounted soldier > horse-guardsman > collectively
horse guard1647
1647 J. Sprigge Anglia Rediviva ii. iv. 93 Sallied out..in a full carere, and came upon our Horse guards.
1670 C. Cotton tr. G. Girard Hist. Life Duke of Espernon i. iv. 157 They furiously set upon the Duke's Horse-Guard; who were all presently cut to pieces.
1703 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion II. ix. 506 In the Reserve, were the King's life-Guard..with the King's horse-Guards.
1815 R. Tweddell in J. Tweddell's Rem. 207 (note) Potemkin..was an ensign in the horseguards.
1824 R. Heber Jrnl. 21 Oct. in Narr. Journey Upper Provinces India (1828) I. xv. 383 His [sc. the King of Oudes] horse-guards are fine tall men, and well-mounted.
b. plural. The cavalry brigade of the English Household troops; spec. the third regiment of this body, the Royal Horse Guards (formerly the Oxford Blues).
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society > armed hostility > armed forces > the Army > branch of army > [noun] > cavalry > horse-guards
horse guards1661
Oxford blues1766
1661 in Sir S. D. Scott Brit. Army (1880) 82 His Majestys Regiment of Horse Guards under the command of..Aubrey Earl of Oxford, was mustered this day [16 Febr.] in Tuthill Fields.
1707 J. Chamberlayne Angliæ Notitia (ed. 22) ii. xiv. 183 Of the Troops of the Houshold: And first of the Horse-Guards.
1707 J. Chamberlayne List Govt. Officers in Angliæ Notitia (ed. 22) 559 First troop of Horse-guards..Second Troop of the Guards..Third Troop of the Guards.
1707 J. Chamberlayne List Govt. Officers in Angliæ Notitia (ed. 22) 560 Regiment of Royal Horse Guards.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Guard The Horse-Guards are distinguish'd by Troops: First, second, third, and fourth Troop of Horse-Guards.
1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge xlix. 223 The Horse Guards came riding in among the crowd.
2. plural. The barracks, headquarters or guardhouse of such cavalry; spec. a building in London, opposite Whitehall, bearing this name.The building in London originally served as the guardhouse of the palace of Whitehall and, on the establishment of the Horse Guards, as their guardhouse and barracks; later, while remaining a guardhouse, it became the headquarters of the whole army organization, and subsequently that of the Commander-in-Chief and the military authorities, as distinct from the Secretary of State for War and the civil authorities (whence the uses in sense 3). The buildings served in the 19th cent. as offices for some of the departments of the War Office, the headquarters of several regiments of the Guards, etc. The fact that soldiers of the Household cavalry still perform the duties of the guard helps to keep the name in popular use.
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society > armed hostility > military organization > logistics > quartering > [noun] > quarters > of horse-guards
horse guardsc1660
society > armed hostility > military organization > logistics > quartering > [noun] > quarters > barracks > types of
hut1545
serail1585
seraglio1600
horse guardsc1660
caserne1676
foot barracks1705
c1660 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1644 (1955) II. 290 Next to this the Inquisition house... To this joynes his Holinesse's Horse-Guards.
1666 S. Pepys Diary 9 Nov. (1972) VII. 362 News that White-hall was on fire—and presently more perticulars, that the Horse guard was on fire.
1666 London Gaz. No. 103 Nov. 9.—Between 7 and 8 at night there happened a fire in the Horse Guard House in the Tilt Yard, over against Whitehall.
1679 London Gaz. No. 1455/4 Whoever gives notice of him to Mr. John Bird Sutler at the Horse Guard, shall be well rewarded.
1691 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) II. 212 An order is fixt on the horse guards door by Whitehal.
1698 Mem. E. Ludlow II. 776 Next morning I went with Sir Henry Vane and Major Saloway to the Chamber of the Horse Guards, at Whitehall, where the principal officers use to meet.]
1713 London Gaz. No. 5105/2 The Lords and other Commissioners of Her Majesty's Royal Hospital near Chelsea..will meet at the Horse-Guards on [etc.].
1763 Brit. Mag. Apr. 542/1 I heard a bunter at the Horse-guards..swear she would not venture into the Park.
1842 T. P. Thompson Exercises I. Pref. 3 Like the mounted sentries at the Horse Guards.
3. plural. The personnel of the office of the Commander-in-Chief and the military authorities at the head of the army, esp. as distinct from the Secretary of State for War and the civil authorities. Historical.
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society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > leader or commander > officer or soldier of rank > [noun] > staff officer > staff of officers
ordinary1526
generality1578
generalty1643
staff1781
état-major1805
headquarters1812
horse guards1826
higher command1842
high command1904
family1907
1826 Duke of Wellington in Croker Papers (1884) I. xi. 342 I cant say that I owe my successes to any favour or confidence from the Horse Guards.
1867 G. Smith Three Eng. Statesmen (1882) 37 [The question who shall control the army] does partly present itself whenever an attempt is made to bring the Horse-Guards under constitutional control.
1880 Chambers's Encycl. (at cited word) The word Horse~guards is used conventionally to signify the military authorities at the head of army affairs, in contradistinction to the civil chief, the Secretary of State for War.
4.
a. A sentinel in charge of a horse or horses. North American.
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society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > soldier with special duty > [noun] > guard > guard of specific thing
palace guard1729
train guard1783
horse guard1828
1828 A. Wetmore Diary 30 May in Mo. Hist. Rev. (1914) VIII. 185 Formed our Wagons into an oblong square, and set a horse guard.
1851 M. Reid Scalp Hunters III. i. 6 The horse-guard..stood leaning upon his rifle silent and watchful.
1895 J. McDougall Forest, Lake, & Prairie xx. 134 When you reach the horse-guard..tell him to catch my horse Badger for you.
1907 J. R. Cook Border & Buffalo (1938) 279 The horse-guard brought in the horses.
b. U.S. (See quots.)
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1796 B. Hawkins Lett. 46 A large flie called the horse guard come at the same season, they..attack and destroy all the flies they meet with.
1837 J. L. Williams Territory of Florida 71 Horse Guard, a species of large Hornet that burrows in the sand [and] destroys the flies.
Derivatives
horse-ˈguardsman n. a man of the Royal Horse Guards.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > soldier by branch of army > [noun] > mounted soldier > horse-guardsman
horse guard1647
horse-guardsman1816
1816 J. Scott Paris Revisited vi. 147 A horse-guardsman..was left upon the ground..wounded in a charge.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1899; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1647