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Governor General's Body Guard


The Governor General's Body Guard was a Canadian Army, militia, Household Cavalry regiment.

The regiment dates as far back as 1822 in York, Upper Canada (now Toronto). For the remainder of the 19th century this troop was recognized as the cavalry of the city of Toronto. It has links to the 1st York Light Dragoons formed in 1810 by Captain (later Major) John Button or Button's Troop (commanded until 1831). Also known as 'Denison's Troop', it began as the York Dragoons under the command of Captain George Taylor Denison I. Under the Militia Act of 1793, service in the militia was mandatory for all healthy male citizens aged 16 to 60 years. Like most militia in Canada during this period, the Dragoons were raised and financed by wealthy gentry, in this case the Denison family, as volunteers were not part of a regular army. The Dragoons began as a local mounted infantry company linked to the parent West York Regiment of Militia. This peculiar organization was a practice that started during the American Revolution with the Loyalist militia regiment the "Queen's York Rangers". Light cavalry was needed to provide dispatch duty, scouting, flank protection and picketing for the infantry battalion. Full militia cavalry regiments were too expensive to operate and large scale cavalry operations were of little use in the dense forests of eastern North America. The cavalry troop was sufficient to serve the purpose and militia infantry were allowed to raise cavalry troops under the Militia Act of 1808. This unit, like many local military units, was made up of volunteers and formed to supplement the presence of British Army units in Upper Canada. The company or troop broke from the parent infantry battalion and became an independent troop of cavalry in 1839.

The troop was one of only two fully uniformed militia units to rally to the flag with the threat of unrest and rebellion within the colony, in 1837. The troop was given new uniforms, fully armed and redesignated the "Queens Light Dragoons" (QLD). Operating alongside the local Markham Troop, forming a squadron, the QLD participated in a number of actions during the rebellion to include Gallows Hill, Navy Island and Town of Scotland. The Toronto troop was on active service for several months during this crisis.


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