In 1778 the Troops of Horse Guards were disbanded and re-formed as the 1st and 2nd Life Guards, a period from which the majority of today's state dress originates. They formed the front charging line of The Heavy Brigade at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, staging the famous charge against the French Cuirassiers that saved the British centre from being overrun.

During the nineteenth century, The Life Guards served in Egypt, as part of the Household Cavalry Regiment, taking part in the romantic Moolight Charge at Kassassin, and also in the Sudan and South Africa. During the First World War The Life Guards saw action at Mons, Le Cateau, The Marne, Ypres, Loos, Poelcappelle, Passchendaele and most notably at Zandvoorde where The Life Guards lost two complete Squadrons. Early in 1918 they gave up their horses and were converted to Machine Gun Battalions, becoming the 1st and 2nd Guards Machine Gun Battalions respectively. They reverted to their proper names shortly after the Armistice.
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