FAMOUS REGIMENTS OF THE BRITISH ARMY.* Ma. DAVENPORT Awaits has
done for the army, and done well, what has long since and in many differentforms been done for the navy of England. It is true that in the latter case the task is far more limited in extent and less difficult of execution, besides appealing directly to the prevailing national sentiment of pride in the "wooden walls "—now so completely things of the past. A ship in and out of commission scarcely outlives a generation, and her history is usually confined to that of a few great naval engagements about the same time, or one or two celebrated single combats. The old tradition by which a ship of the same name was always on the stocks directly sentence of dissolution was pronounced against any famous seventy-four or frigate has been abandoned, and it is not possible now for the associations of our old Bellerophon, Arethusas, or Shannons to be revived in the shape of the monstrous masses of iron which now pass current for ships. The old fighting seventy-fours may still exist for many years as blockships, or be cut down, lengthened, and iron-plated, or be subjected to any of the operations in which the Admiralty occasionally delights to spend enormous sums, with very disproportionate results, but all the associations of the English navy are gone except those connected with the abstract qualities of the English sailor. But it is -very different with regard to the army. There are regiments now in the service which under almost identically the same organization as at the present time have served for a couple of centuries in all parts of the globe. To do justice to the history of such a regiment re- quires no little research and judicious compression, while the diffi- culty of selection from the numerous corps of nearly balanced claims to distinction must have been considerable. Mr. Daven- port Adams has only included nine in his present work, and even with the most careful condensation the record of their services extends over a closely printed volume of more than three hun- dred pages. There is scarcely a battalion in the British army whose history would not supply ample material for a brilliant romance of fact, but to the nine chosen by Mr. Adams the dis- tinction of being primi inter pares must at least be conceded. It is just over the two centuries since the nucleus was formed of " that great and renowned army which has in the present century marched triumphant into Madrid and Paris, Canton and Canda- liar." The first corps raised in England in accordance with our present system, and in fact the first germ of an English standing army, was the Coldstream Guards, raised by General Monk at Coldstream on the Border. In the course of a few years, although Charles II. was compulsorily cautious in his steps towards the establishment of a standing army, several others were added, and by 1665 the British infantry consisted of four regiments besides the Guards,—the let, Royals ; the 2nd, Queen's ; the 3rd, or Buffs ; and the 4th, or King's Own. Before the close of the cen- tury a grenadier company furnished with hand grenades had been added to each regiment, bayonets had been introduced, several regiments of fusiliers originally intended to protect artil- lery had been raised, and the principle of a standing army of con- siderable numbers fairly established. Light horse were introduced in 1745, and lancers in the reign of George III. It is within the last few years, however, that the greatest changes have taken place in the British army, both in morale and materiel. But the improvements of modern science in gunnery and the introduction of totally new systems of musketry need not break off the power of associations, or destroy the memory of triumphs achieved under far different conditions, and the advancement and elevation of the soldier himself only renders him more capable of becoming acquainted with and appreciating the traditions of his corps.
Of course the post of honour is accorded by Mr. Adams to the eventful history of the 1st Royals. It has a definite history extending to an earlier date than that of any other regiment, and in addition can fairly claim to inherit the traditions of more than one body of men which had centuries before rendered Scotch gallantry proverbial throughout Continental Europe. Close upon a thousand years ago the Carlovingian monarchs had a Scotch body-guard, in the Crusades Louis IX. was attended by 100 Scotch guards, and in the fifteenth century upwards of 7,000 Scotch served under the Dauphin of France against the English, and to them was principally entrusted the defence of the country against the English. They were nearly annihilated by the Duke of Bed- ford in 1423, but they had gained a reputation for valour which rendered a Scotch contingent an object of most eager contention by every belligerent in Europe. They never again fought in such • Famous Regiments of the British Army, their Origin and Services. By W. H. Davenport Adams, author of "Scenes from the Drama of European History" " Memorable Battles in English History." London: James Hogg and Bout. 1864. force in a French field, though the Scotch body-guard w:s always kept up ; but in 1590 a body of Scots served against the League under Henri Quatre. In the early part of the next century the actual nucleus of the 1st Royals assumed definite form. A large body of Scotch troops were attracted by the fame of Gus- tavus Adolphus, and fought against Russia and Poland during ten or more years. They were joined in 1625 by a troop of Scots who had been fighting in Germany under their Colonel, Sir John Hepburn, and for another ten years these gallant free companions marched well-nigh throughout Europe, from the Elbe to the Danube, always fighting and always getting in the way of the hardest blows. In 1635 the remnant joined the forces of the Duke of Saxe Weimar, and served the campaign of that year in conjunction with their compatriots in the French service. In 1630 Sir John Hepburn was killed, and was succeeded by Colonel James Hepburn, whose place on his meeting with the same fate was filled by Lord James Douglas. For the next twenty years Is Regiment Douglas, then 8,000 strong, remained faithful to French allegiance, though the majority of French mer- cenaries had gone over to Spain, and in 1661, at the request of Charles II., they came to England, and ob- tained rank as the 1st Royal Scotch Regiment in the Eng- lish Army. After serving for several years in Ireland and sub- sequently again with the French in Holland, it was finally incor- porated in the English service in time to take a prominent part in the battle of Sedgemoor. In 1689 the Royals were despatched to Holland, in 1692 they fought splendidly at Steenkirk under a Douglas, who lost his life in recovering a captured regimental colour. They fought again at Landen, and took the leading part in the greatest triumph that had attended English arms for more than two centuries—the storming of Namur. Even the cold- blooded William of Orange was moved to enthusiasm. Laying his hand on the shoulder of the Elector of Bavaria, he exclaimed, " Look ! look at my brave English !" At Schellenberg, Blenheim, Ramillies, and Malplaquet, the Royals were always in the thick of the fray. Culloden, Corsica, Toulon, the conquest of Canada, the capture of the Spanish West Indies, were all shared in by one or more battalions of the Royals. In the present century a glorious campaign in Egypt—whence the sphinx that figures in the colours of the Royals—the capture of the Danish West Indies, Corunna, the entire Peninsular war, the American war, Quatre Bras Waterloo, the Mahratta war, the Canadian rebellion, and the Crimea, complete the long battle-roll of the "let Royals.
The history of the 3rd Buffs is scarcely less remark able. The regiment traces its origin to the English troops employed under the Earl of Leicester, Sir Philip Sidney, and others in the Low Countries during the reign of Elizabeth, and Mr. Adams finds constant illustrations of his subject in the eloquent pages of Mr. Lothrop Motley's "United Netherlands." The field of Zutphen was fought by the men to whom the 3rd Buffs are the unquestionable heirs. In 1605 the " Holland Regiment" was recalled to England, and formally amalgamated with the British infantry forces. For some time they were known as Prince George of Denmark's Regiment, but ulti- mately their buff waistcoats, breeches, and stockings obtained for them the name by which they now go, though the uniform from which they derived it has long since been abandoned. In the Peninsular war the Buffs gained their most imperishable laurels. At Albuera the regiment lost no less than 644 officers and men, one of the regimental colours was shot from the staff and the Ensign who bore it severely wounded, but he tore off the flag and concealed it under Isis body until the fight was over.
The 4th, or King's Own, owe their embodiment to the cession of Tangier to England in 1661, and thh subsequent determination of Charles IL to defend it from the desperate attacks of the Moors. A regiment was levied for the purpose by the Earl of Ossory, and in four months it sailed for Tangier. The fort was ultimately abandoned, and after fighting at Sedgemoor the "Tan- giers " were unhappily compelled to undertake the inglorious duty of preserving order at the executions during the Bloody Assize. They took part in the battle of the Boyne, led by a son of old Duke Schomberg, but their veritable &game de feu was not until Land en, when they made a sullen and desperate retreat in the face of Luxembourg's triumphant hosts. At Namur, together with the Rorie, they formed part of the storming force under "Salamander" Cults. Between 1733 and 1710 the 4th served, strangely enough, as marines, and took part in that capacity in the capture of Gibraltar in the former year. At Falkirk Muir they and the Royals were the only troops that remained steadfast. We cannot follow them through their sub- sequent campaigns. Perhaps their crowning glory was the storming of Badajoz, the marvellous description of which by Sir W. Napier is quoted by Mr. Adams.
The histories of the 23rd Fusiliers, the 42nd Highlanders—or Black Watch—are both given at full length, and the dashing 88th, the Connaught Rangers, famous for their extraordinary brilliancy of charge, are the last of the six foot regiments selected by Mr. Adams. The Scots' Greys and the Enniakillingers bring Mr. Adams's volume to a close. The history of the former is perhaps more popularly known than that of any other English regiment. Although it was not until 1701 that they were mounted on the white horses from which they derived their name, the troops of cavalry commanded by Claverhouse and Dalziel in 1679 were the origin of the regiment. Their charge at Waterloo is one of the best known features of the battle, and celebrated for ever by the cry of Napoleon as he saw them riding through the shattered masses of his last attack, " A present c'est fini I" The Enniskillingers raised by William III. in 1688 have a brilliant history on which to look back. They charged with the Greys at Waterloo, and forty years after the two charged again together at Balaklava.
As we have said, Mr. Adams has done his work well, and deserves the thanks of the nation as well as those of the regi- ments whose glorious achievements he has recorded in a connected form. It is quite well that the English people should be reminded that England, after all, is a military power of some slight weight, and that there have been days when we have taken a very decided line in European politics without caring so very much whether any particular great Power would promise to protect us or not. There is no doubt, too, that besides the noble emulation which gives to each nationality united under the British flag a separate and distinct incentive to daring and good conduct in the field, the regimental esprit de corps is a feeling which can always be appealed to with material results. Mr. Adams quotes incidentally from a speech of the late Prince Consort, delivered when presenting fresh colours to .the 23rd, the last paragraph of which bears so directly on the object of the present volume that we reproduce it:—
" Receive these colours ; one, emphatically called the Queen's,—let it be a pledge of your loyalty to your Sovereign, and of obedience to the laws of your country; the other, more especially the regimental one, —let that be a pledge of your determination to maintain the honour of your regiment. In looking at the one, you will think of your Sovereign ; in looking at the other, you will think of those who have fought, bled, and conquered before you.' "
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